Author: Kaluka wanjala

Summary Mastercard and MTN have partnered to introduce a prepaid virtual card to 13 African markets, including Benin, Nigeria, South Africa, and Rwanda. This card expands international reach for remittance services, and enhanced solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). One of the main outcomes of this partnership is the launch of a prepaid virtual card tailored for MTN’s MoMo customers. This provides MoMo users with access to over 100 million acceptance points worldwide. This move helps advance financial inclusion in Africa, where only 43% of the population is banked, and the majority of payments are still conducted in cash.…

Summary Appetite for enterprise apps in kenya propelled Zoho’s growth in Kenya last year. The company reports that in 2023, it grew by 41% in kenya. This makes Kenya one of the fastest growing markets in Africa. Zoho attributes this growth to localization of its services and competitive pricing. The company shared through its Country Head, Veerakumar Natarajan, today at the Zoholics Kenya conference in Nairobi. Zoho is renowned for its software and business tools, specifically the office suites that include word processing, spreadsheets, CRM, invoicing and other applications. Zoho opened a new office in Kenya last year but had…

Summary Airtel Africa has announced the launch of Airtel Ads. This integrated Demand-Side Platform (DSP) is set to empower advertisers and agencies, providing them with better control over their marketing campaigns. A DSP is a software type that allows an advertiser to buy advertising with the help of automation. With such a platform, you can purchase mobile ads on apps, banner ads on search engines, and video ads on Facebook, Instagram, Google, and even more platforms. It is designed to efficiently manage, purchase, and optimize digital ad inventory across multiple exchanges in real-time. Airtel Ads is powered by Intent.ai and…

Summary At MWC 2024 yesterday, Kenya won the bid to be the next host of the 2024 Transform Africa Summit (TAS). The summit is organized by the Smart Africa Alliance, a Pan-African agency for ICTs, and is set to take place from August 20th to 30th. The Transform Africa Summit is an annual forum bringing together global and regional leaders from government, business and international organizations. It seeks to encourage them to collaborate on new ways of shaping, accelerating and sustaining Africa’s on-going digital revolution. Eliud Owalo, the Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy, said the achievement…

Summary LogRhythm has expanded its partnership with e-finance, a subsidiary of e-finance Investment Group to deliver secure digital transformation in Egypt. The strategic expansion of the partnership sees the integration of LogRhythm into e-finance’s cloud computing platform. e-finance’s customers across critical industries including fintech, government, and healthcare gain access toLogRhythm SIEM to uncover threats, mitigate attacks, and scale their business with confidence. The integration of LogRhythm into its platform enables e-finance to strengthen its support for Egypt’s Vision 2030 initiative to achieve digital transformation and improve operational efficiency within the country. Organizations across public and private sectors benefit from LogRhythm’s intuitive, high-performance analytics, automated…

Summary At Mobile World Congress 2024 (MWC), OPPO introduced the world to its latest innovation—the OPPO Air Glass 3. This next-gen augmented reality (AR) device marks a significant leap in Extended Reality (XR). The OPPO Air Glass 3 Weighing at 50 grams, the OPPO Air Glass 3 is a lightweight binocular AR glasses prototype. The device features a self-developed resin waveguide with a refractive index of 1.70, ensuring a wearing experience similar to regular glasses. With a peak eye brightness exceeding 1,000 nits and a display brightness uniformity of over 50%, the Air Glass 3 offers the best full-color display…

Airtel Africa has partnered with Cisco to introduce a new Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) offering. This partnership is set to change how businesses in Africa approach their digital transformation journey, providing a seamless and secure solution that empowers organizations to accelerate operations without the burden of managing traditional network infrastructure. The NaaS solutions offered by the telecom giant comprises of a range of services, including enhanced security, surveillance, connectivity, and cloud solutions—all delivered through a secure cloud platform. Airtel Africa’s NaaS offerings, powered by Cisco’s Catalyst and Meraki cloud-based platforms, eliminate the need for businesses to own, build, or maintain physical network…

Summary IFC today announced the names of 100 women-led startup owners selected to participate in the She Wins Africa program, an IFC-led initiative that aims to accelerate access to capital for women-led startups across sub-Saharan Africa. The selected women will participate in comprehensive interventions that will strengthen their companies’ investment readiness, include advice and mentorship, and provide access to potential investors, industry leaders, and peers through matchmaking and pitching opportunities across Africa. The initiative is a part of IFC’s broader commitment to promote gender equality and empower women entrepreneurs in emerging markets. The 100 participants announced today were drawn from…

Summary Equitel has today announced the launch of its 5G services in partnership with their host mobile network operator-Airtel. This makes Equitel the first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) to offer 5G services in Africa.  The introduction of Equitel 5G brings the total number of 5G providers to 3 in Kenya. Safaricom was the first to roll out 5G in the country back in October 2022 followed by Airtel in July 2023. Since Equitel is an MVNO and does not own the network infrastructure, it relies on its host operator, Airtel in this case. This means that the roll out…

Summary SEACOM has faced a significant service outage on its subsea cable system. The disruption, which occurred on the 24th of February 2024, affects the segment running from Mombasa, Kenya, to Zafarana, Egypt. Initial assessments suggest that the disruption is situated in the Red Sea. This is impacting not only SEACOM’s cable but also affecting other cables in the region. The location of the cable break, within the vicinity of the Red Sea, is not a surprise due to its geopolitical sensitivity and ongoing tensions in the area. This poses challenges for the maintenance and repair operations. There have been…