Author: Kaluka wanjala

Investing in Innovation Africa (i3) is calling for innovators to join its 3rd cohort. Funded by the Gates Foundation, MSD, Cencora, Endless Foundation, HELP  Logistics–a subsidiary of the Kühne Foundation, Sanofi’s Global Health Unit and Chemonics, i3 will offer select startups 3 critical resources to prepare themselves for expansion: flexible grants, introductions to potential customers and tailored counsel to close partnership deals.  i3 is selecting a total of 15 leading startups for this cohort: Early-stage startups will receive a $50K grant and growth-stage startups will receive a $225K grant to unlock major partnerships that can expand patient access across the continent.…

SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm, and Yabx Technologies have signed a set of shareholder and technology collaboration agreements to formalise their joint investment in Furaha. SC Ventures has invested $ 7 million, while Yabx BV has contributed through technology transfer, resulting in a combined investment of $10 million in Furaha. Incubated by SC Ventures, and co-founded by Yustus Aribariho and Ian Fernandes, Furaha is a purpose-driven lending platform aiming to make finance accessible across sub-Saharan Africa, with its first offering being in the education financing space. Furaha is headquartered in UAE’s Dubai International Financial Centre…

KCB Bank has partnered with Mastercard to launch Kenya’s first multi-currency prepaid card that supports 11 hard currencies. This card is designed to simplify international transactions for customers by enabling seamless spending across various destinations.  The card supports an extensive range of currencies including the Kenyan Shilling, US Dollar, British Pound Sterling, Euro, Swiss Franc, Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Indian Rupee, Japanese Yen, South African Rand, and Chinese Yuan. This card is tailored to meet the diverse needs of students, athletes, online shoppers, businesses, and corporates. It offers a cost-effective method for managing international transactions by reducing high transaction fees…

PAIX Data Centres has announced the construction of a new state-of-the-art data centre in Dakar, Senegal. This development marks an important strategic milestone for PAIX Data Centres as it continues to expand its network in West Africa to meet the growing demand for high-quality digital infrastructure. PAIX Data Centres is already operational in Accra, Ghana, Nairobi, Kenya and Djibouti. Benefits for the region and customers Four submarine cables are already connected to Dakar (ACE, MainOne, SAT3, SHARE) and more cables are currently being installed (2Africa), making the data centre a key access point for customers looking to serve the region’s…

Foreign exchange (Forex) trading is gaining momentum in Kenya as more traders seek to capitalize on the global currency markets. However, the success of any trader largely depends on the choice of a reliable FX broker. With a plethora of brokerage firms available, selecting the right partner can be a daunting task. Traders must consider various factors, including regulation, trading conditions, fees, and available tools like trailing stop orders to optimize their trading experience. Choosing a trustworthy FX broker ensures a secure and efficient trading environment, minimizing risks associated with fraud, poor execution, and unfair pricing. Additionally, an effective broker…

Telkom Kenya, Rakuten Symphony and Airspan have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will see the organizations collaborate to undertake knowledge transfer and testing of Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) technology on the African continent. The collaboration will comprise knowledge transfer, development and testing with 4G and 5G technologies within Kenya. Telkom Kenya is keen to benefit from knowledge transfer, development and testing of open and flexible network architecture with a view to enhance the use of automation and AI-powered technologies to be at the forefront of the development of homegrown technologies through collaborations…

Standard Chartered Bank 2025 Global Market Outlook highlights key global and regional economic trends. Despite a projected slowdown in global growth to 3.1% from 3.2% in 2024, Africa and Kenya are expected to remain key drivers of resilience and innovation, supported by strategic investments, sectoral diversification, and proactive fiscal policies. Africa’s growing economic significance, with several countries leading the way in 2025. Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ethiopia are forecasted to achieve some of the continent’s strongest growth rates, driven by industrial expansion, infrastructure development, and hydrocarbon production. Investment momentum across Africa continues to strengthen, with infrastructure projects and industrial initiatives…

Binance Futures has announced new features and enhancements to BFUSD, the first reward-bearing margin asset issued by a crypto exchange. These include USDC support allowing users to purchase and redeem BFUSD with USDC, and a new Pre-Buy and Pre-Redeem reservation system giving users more convenience and flexibility in their trading. Since its launch in November 2024, there are now 760 million BFUSD in circulation and a current Reserve Fund of 7.2 million USDT, demonstrating growing adoption and user trust in Binance. Binance also recently increased the BFUSD Maximum Holding Limits by 50% for users to meet growing demand. In CCData’s latest…

Sevi, a fintech company regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya, is revolutionizing stock financing for wholesalers and retailers through its “stock now, pay later” platform. Sevi addresses the challenge of insufficient working capital by providing users with access to credit while ensuring suppliers are paid upfront. With Sevi, suppliers like Coca-Cola, Anytime and Philmed receive direct payments for their products, and retailers can order stock on credit, enabling them to grow their businesses. The app utilizes AI and machine learning to enhance its credit evaluation process, offering a seamless, reliable solution for credit transactions between suppliers, retailers and credit funds.…

Yesterday, Samsung officially unveiled its latest flagship series, the Galaxy S25. The series consists of four main devices but only 3 were showcased at the launch event yesterday, the Galaxy S25 Edge was teased but nothing much was said about it. With the Galaxy S25 series, we are not getting that many upgrades with the hardware as most of the updates are on the software. Samsung says this series will set a new standard as a true AI companion with our most natural and context-aware mobile experiences ever created. All Galaxy S25 models are powered by the customised Snapdragon 8…