Author: Kaluka wanjala

Summary d.light and Chapel Hill Denham, the largest alternatives asset manager in Nigeria, have successfully closed a securitized financing facility worth $7.4 million. This aims to expand access to affordable clean energy solutions for low-income households in Nigeria. The financing, facilitated by Chapel Hill Denham’s Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund, will empower d.light to scale up its low-cost Pay-Go offering, providing solar-powered products to low-income households. African Frontier Capital, the master servicer and backup servicer in the transaction, played a crucial role in structuring the financing. What They Said Nick Imudia, CEO of d.light, said this about the funding, “This landmark…

Summary Moringa School has announced a new partnership with M-PESA Africa and Safaricom to provide digital API (Application Programming Interface) training and certification across Africa. This initiative is targeting those who want to learn and develop solutions integrated to digital solutions like M-PESA. The service (M-PESA) currently has over 60 million customers and 5 million businesses across the continent and this makes it one of the leading fintech and digital payment providers in Africa. Read: Safaricom Granted Licence to Roll Out M-Pesa in Ethiopia As the market matures, there is still a shortage of developers across the continent. This means…

KLM is working on using AI to minimize food waste by accurately estimating meal quantities for each flight, considering the 3-5% of passengers who either don’t show up or arrive late. TRAYS, KLM’s new AI model, is tailored for catering, forecasting passenger numbers based on historical data. The Meals On Board System (MOBS) then uses these predictions to provide separate forecasts for the Business, Premium Comfort, and Economy classes. The prediction using the AI model starts 17 days before departure and continues until 20 minutes before the flight departs. This means that the most accurate possible number of passengers is…

In today’s rapidly evolving digital world, cyber security remains a paramount concern for businesses globally, with Kenya being no exception. As the country advances technologically, the imperative for companies of all sizes to recognize and address cyber security challenges has never been more critical. Our exclusive conversation with Erick Njoroge, a Security Engineer at Check Point, offers a deep dive into Kenya’s cyber security landscape, highlighting the urgent need for businesses to bolster their cyber security frameworks in this digital age. Overview of Check Point Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is a leader in AI-powered, cloud-delivered cyber security, safeguarding…

Kushite ICP set to host the Inter-University Hackathon, a month-long event showcasing the skills of over 700 talented students from 12 top universities across the region. The hackathon, focused on harnessing the transformative power of the Internet Computer (ICP) platform, is set to end on March 15, 2024. Since its kickoff in January, the Inter-University Hackathon has had participants pushing the boundaries of decentralized computing. The students are not just engaged in a competition; they are tackling real-world challenges with innovation and technical skill. The projects currently in development spans various domains, demonstrating the versatility and potential applications of decentralized…

The African Union Commission has entered into a strategic partnership with AfricaNenda in a collaboration that aims to bridge the gap in financial inclusion. This collaboration seeks to unlock access to the formal financial system for over 400 million adults in Africa, who are currently excluded from the formal economy. The core objective of this partnership is to support the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa (2020-2030), emphasizing policy harmonization and the implementation of the strategy’s roadmap. The focus is on developing Inclusive Instant Payments Systems, a move that is set to revolutionize access to digital financial services for millions of…

Summary Registration is now open for the 2024 Edition of Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF24), a bilingual global event set to bring together hundreds of delegates in Accra, Ghana, from April 23rd to April 25th, 2023. For the selection process, they send out a Call for Session Proposals. This time round, the Call for Session proposals was sent our on 15th November, 2023 and closed on 14th January, 2024. Once the call has been closed, a selection commiittee vets the session proposals based on the required criteria after which communication is sent to both successful and unsuccessful applicants. The signature event…

Summary The Catalyst Fund has announced an investment of $1.8 million in 9 climate tech startups in Africa. This investment not only reaffirms the fund’s commitment to climate adaptation. It also expands its portfolio to 19 companies operating in 8 different markets including Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. The second round of investments by The Catalyst Fund is tailored to address critical climate-related challenges from agriculture, healthcare, energy access, and waste management. The selected startups showcase a spectrum of solutions, including a solar cold chain system for small-scale aquaculture in Kenya, affordable telemedicine health services…

Samsung has officially launched the Galaxy S24 series in Kenya. The official retail prices for the S24 series start at Ksh 175,000 for the base model 8/256GB model and goes for as high as ksh 277,000 for the Galaxy S24 Ultra at 12/512GB variant. The series has been on pre-order the last 3 weeks. Galaxy AI The Galaxy S24 series is not just another smartphone; it represents the future of AI-powered devices. Anthony Hutia, Head of Mobile Experience at Samsung Electronics East Africa, stated, “The Galaxy S24 series demonstrates our initial step toward a new era of AI phones that…

Summary Kenyan-based electric mobility company, Roam, has secured a total of $24 million in funding. this consists of $14 million in a Series A funding round and $10 million in debt commitment. The Series A funding was led by Equator Africa and featuring contributions from At One Ventures, TES Ventures, and others. The additional $10 million debt commitment came from the U.S. Government’s International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). Before this, the last major Seed round by Roam was in November 2021 when the company raised $5 Million through an investment round led by At One Ventures. Roam designs, develops and…