Author: Kaluka wanjala

Standard Chartered Bank has today released its results for the period ended 30 June 2024. the bank made Ksh 14.5 billion profit before tax for the first half of 2024. Kariuki Ngari, Chief Executive Officer, said, “We delivered a strong set of results for the first half of the year with profit before tax up 50 per cent to KShs 14.5 billion. Our top-line recorded growth of 25 per cent, supported by continued momentum that saw strong growth in Non funded income ( NFI) from increased transactional volumes, as well strong net interest income. Good cost discipline has enabled us…

Moringa School has partnered with CompTIA to offer an 18-week Cyber Security Analyst Course (CySA+). The collaboration kicked off with a masterclass and networking event aimed at equipping cyber security professionals with the skills and knowledge to safeguard their organizations against emerging threats. The event, themed “Future Proofing the Cyber Security Workforce,” was tailored to the needs of CTOs, CISOs, IT managers, educators, policymakers, and industry leaders. It focused on providing the tools and insights necessary to navigate the rapidly evolving digital landscape. As cyber threats grow in sophistication, the need for a highly trained and agile workforce becomes paramount. Participants in…

Absa Bank has announced plans to expand its agency banking network from 600 outlets to over 17,000 outlets in the next 2 years. The bank’s agency network stands at 600 at the moment and will be expanded in two phases. The first phase will expand the network to 3000 outlets. Through this expansion, Absa hopes to expand accessibility to essential financial services for individuals and businesses within their localities. Customers can use the agency network for cash deposits, withdrawals, and other transactions. This is inline with the bank’s long-term goal of financial inclusion. 17,000 outlets is a good start but is…

Datacentrix has been recognised as IT Services Partner of the Year by Huawei, a global provider of ICT infrastructure and smart devices. The award was presented at the recent Huawei Africa Connect 2024 event. Taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, Africa Connect featured a number of expert Huawei speakers, a 2,500m2 exhibition space and over 2,000 participants. According to Louis Van den Berg, Business Development Manager at Datacentrix, the company has continued to excel with Huawei locally. “Datacentrix earned the title of IP Services Partner of the Year in 2023 for its prowess on the networking side of the…

Kenya Airways PLC has for the first time reported a profit after tax since 2013. For the first half of the financial year ending June 30, 2024, the airline achieved a profit after tax of Kshs 513 million, from the Kshs 21.7 billion loss reported in the similar previous period. The airline attributes the growth to its strategic turnaround plan, Project Kifaru, which emphasises customer obsession, operational excellence, financial discipline, innovation, and sustainability. “The impressive performance reaffirms the operational viability of our business and underscores the effectiveness of the collective efforts by our board, management, and staff,”said Kenya Airways Chairman, Michael…

Uber has finally bowed to pressure and agreed to raise ride charges in Kenya by 10%. The ride hailing app confirmed this yesterday saying the price changes will apply to all its products.  Over the past few weeks, taxi drivers using apps like Uber and Bolt have been complaining saying most of the rates these apps charge are just too low. They claim that the high cost of living and high commission taken by the apps may put them out of business. Some drivers have even been demanding more money from the riders from what is indicated on the app. …

 Binance has announced that from January to July 2024, it prevented over $2.4 billion in losses from potential scams and fraudulent activities that could have impacted more than 1.2 million users. This achievement is the result of Binance’s comprehensive risk management measures, which help to effectively detect and flag suspicious transactions across the platform. Binance employs a sophisticated internal risk engine that conducts real-time monitoring on a 24/7 basis, leveraging a hybrid of artificial intelligence (AI)-based and manual review. This allows the Binance team to dynamically and precisely detect suspicious transactions and take action to protect users quickly. The risk engine operates across…

Bolt has announced a strategic partnership with Hakki Africa to provide vehicle financing for drivers on its platform, in efforts to enhance their earnings. This partnership aims to deploy 1,500 vehicles over the next 18 months to drivers on Bolt’s platform that reach certain criteria for consideration. Driver partners shall have access to lower loan down payments and will receive incentives based on their performance. Hakki Africa offers a credit scoring system and other fintech solutions to provide loans to taxi drivers who have limited access to traditional financial services in Kenya. This partnership between Bolt and Hakki Africa provides…

OPPO is set to launch the Reno 12 series in Kenya later this week. The launch event will be on August 22 in Nairobi. This is the successor to the Reno 11 series that was launched in Kenya earlier this year. I have the OPPO Reno 12 5G for review and will be sharing my thoughts on it in a few days. The OPPO Reno12 series launch comes after the global launch of OPPO’s strategy to democratize AI for all mobile phone consumers across the brand’s device range. Reno12’s series launch will introduce two groundbreaking AI Phones with the Reno12…

d.light has announced the launch of its new customer loyalty program – the first of its kind in the off-grid solar space. d.light officially launched the loyalty scheme, called “d.light Points Program”, in Kenya on 7 August, with plans to extend it to customers in Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria later this year. d.light’s aim is that more than 500,000 customers will benefit from the program before the end of 2024. The d.light Points Program rewards customers who make regular and frequent payments towards their PayGo products with points that can be redeemed for discounts on future purchases and other rewards…