Author: Kaluka wanjala

LG Electronics and Safaricom have partnered to make it easier for Kenyans to buy home electronics and appliances at a discounted price of up to 7% off. The discounted products will be available across all LG-Opalnet branded shops across the country. Commenting on this partnership, LG Electronics East Africa Managing Director Sa Nyoung Kim said, “We are very proud to be partnering with leading telcos in the country. Joining hands with Safaricom will bring value to our customers and is in line with our continuous efforts to develop new innovations and provide products that help them live better. This partnership…

I have been using the OPPO Reno 8 for the last couple of weeks as my main phone. This is the latest mid range smartphone from OPPO that you can get in Kenya for Ksh 59,999. This is the price of the 5G variant that I am reviewing today.If you are interested in the OPPO Reno 8 4G, you can get it for Ksh 43,000. At 60k the Reno 8 5G is not cheap and when reviewing it, I wanted to know if it offers value for money. I was particularly interested in the following: MediaTek Dimensity 1300 processor -…

WhatsApp has today officially launched Communities, enabling people to bring together separate groups under one umbrella with a structure that works for them.  Communities like neighborhoods, parents at a school, and workplaces can now connect multiple groups together under one umbrella to organize group conversations on WhatsApp. To get started, tap on the new communities tab at the top of your chats on Android and at the bottom on iOS. From there you can start a new Community from scratch or add existing groups. Once you’re in a community, you can easily switch between available groups to get the information…

Wireless earbuds have been gaining popularity in Kenya recently and you can get them in different shapes and sizes. Ever since I started using wireless earbuds, I have never gone back to wired earphones. They just work so well for me and I do not see myself ever going back.  Recently I got a chance to use the Airdopes W121 earbuds by a Kenya company called iWorlds. These are True wireless earbuds that you can get from Jumia for Ksh 1,999. You can get yours by clicking here. This is a very competitive price considering what the earbuds have to…

As the new month begins, individuals and businesses running ads on Meta (formerly Facebook) platforms in Kenya should expect tough times ahead. The social media giant has informed those running ads on its platform that it will be implementing the 16% Value Added Tax (VAT).  With this, you should expect to pay 16% more on top of what you will be paying to run ads on the platform. If you typically spend Ksh 10,000 per month on ads, you may end up paying about ksh 11,600 starting from this month. As expected, META will not be pocketing the extra amount…

Hisa, the Kenyan mobile investment platform, is one of the five startups that have made it to the final stage of the MEST Africa challenge. The pan-African pitch competition opened applications in July this year for pre-seed and seed-stage technology start-ups in Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, and South Africa  The ultimate prize for the winner will be $50,000. Hisa app lets interested individuals invest in the Kenya and US Stock markets from the comfort of their homes. In addition to allowing users to invest in U.S. stocks and ETFs, Hisa App enables users to get real-time market updates, follow market…

The National Transport and Safety Authority has published a list of the e-Taxi apps licensed to operate in Kenya. This is in accordance with the new regulations issued back in July by the agency and the Ministry of Transport.  The new regulations were to govern the operation of transportation network companies in Kenya including the taxi hailing apps such as Uber and Bolt.  One of the requirement was for these platforms to lower the commission they charge drivers per trip to 18%. This is the maximum percentage they can take but its implementation has been very slow and Uber just…

Over the last several months, there has been some tension between the taxi hailing apps and partner drivers in Kenya. The combination of rising fuel prices, overall rise in cost of living and the high commission some of them charge, the environment has not been fair for the drivers.  Just last week, Uber announced that it will lower the commission it charges drivers from 25% to 18% with immediate effect. This is what the law dictates and is what the company should have done over 3 months ago.  Uber’s decision may be a coincidence or they may have known that…

For the longest time, Twitter’s verified checkmark has been used by businesses and individuals to show that they are who they claim to be. The process of acquiring this checkmark has been hideous but some people who qualify tend to get rejected. Getting the verification badge has been free and this has made the verification process a gamble for anyone trying to get the blue checkmark. There are questionable Twitter accounts with the verification badge which makes the entire thing even more confusing. With Twitter now under Elon Musk, he may change things a bit going forward. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1586848033550934016 Twitter currently…

Back in July, the Kenyan Government published new rules for the digital taxi platforms that was to see the services lower the commission they require from drivers to 18%. This was not implemented immediately and that has led to some issues between the platforms and the partner drivers.  Last week, there was a strike by the drivers asking for the implementation of this among other demands. Some of the other demands included doing away with the offers often awarded to riders as a way to get them to take more rides and having a minimum base fare of ksh 300.…