Author: Brand Spot

This afternoon, Kenyan President, William Ruto, called for the restructuring of the current CRB profile listing mechanism. The President said the current system tends to lock out some borrowers, limiting access to credit for a big portion of the population.  With that, the President said that the over 4 million Kenyans blacklisted by CRBs will be ejected from the negative listing. This will be a relief for those listed on these systems for defaulting on their loans.  The President wants CRB to be transformed from just a blacklisting body to a credit scoring body. This is a much better platform…

Microsoft is expanding its partnership with the African Development Bank to support Africa’s youth entrepreneurs under the bank’s Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Banks (YEIB) Initiative.   Through its African Transformation Office (ATO), Microsoft will work with the bank to develop youth entrepreneurship ecosystems, creating jobs and dramatically scaling impact in Africa through digital inclusion. Africa’s young population is expected to double in size by 2050, reaching 830 million. Though 10 to 12 million youth join the continent’s workforce every year, just over three million jobs are created, meaning large numbers of people remain unemployed.  Youth entrepreneurship will go a long way to…

Binance has announced the creation of its new Global Advisory Board (GAB), comprised of distinguished experts in public policy, government, finance, economics, and corporate governance. The Global Advisory Board, chaired by former US Senator and Ambassador to China, Max Baucus, recently convened in Paris, France. The board’s purpose is to advise Binance on some of the most complex regulatory, political, and social issues the entire crypto industry faces as it grows and evolves at a fast pace. “For the past five years, Binance has been at the forefront of pioneering the exciting new world of crypto, blockchain, and Web3,” said…

Gaming as we know it has changed. Each day comes with new trends, putting developers on their toes trying to catch up with the fast-changing tech world. The current gamer is not the usual one that we know. He/she is unique and wants to be treated as such. The current gamer is not one who just sits before a boring screen that strains their eyes and then purports to be enjoying just to fit. The current gamer wants not just quality but convenience that resonates with what he believes in and what he sees in real life. He wants when…

Standard Chartered in collaboration with iLabAfrica-Strathmore University has launched mentorship program targeting women in any field with junior level experience (2-3 years) seeking an entry into careers in Cybersecurity. This follows in-depth research and industry consultations that highlighted a wide skills and gender gap in the cybersecurity space. The program, targets 100 women participants residing in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and will be administered virtually with a structured and self-paced learning model with mentorship circles and fireside chats as key parts of the program. Mentors will be assigned to the participating women to guide them through the program. Speaking during…

Samsung has announced its new environmental strategy, a comprehensive effort to join global efforts to tackle climate change. It includes commitments to achieve enterprise-wide net zero carbon emissions and plans to use more renewable energy, as well as to invest in and research new technologies to develop energy-efficient products, increase water reuse and develop carbon capture technology. At the heart of the new commitment is achieving net zero carbon emissions (Scope 1 & Scope 2) for all operations in the Device eXperience (DX) Division by 2030, and across all global operations, including the Device Solutions (DS) Division, by 2050. The…

By General Manager, Enterprise Business at HMD Global-Andrej Sonkin As the hybrid working world expands beyond the office boundaries and embraces digital it has increased the number of entry points for cybercriminals to expose data. To combat these threats, enterprises of all sizes need the right foundations in place. Failure to do so can leave your business exposed not only to security breaches, but to financial and reputational damage. Data protection and privacy laws and regulations are, rightly, becoming increasingly tough. 800 fines for breaching GDPR have been dished out since May 2018, and GDPR fines in Q3 of 2021 alone approached the € 1 billion. That’s before we mention the ransoms paid. Darkside, the notorious hacking entity, reportedly…

Insuretech firm, Turaco, has today announced that it has closed a series A equity round that has seen it raise $ 10 million (over 1 billion shillings). This round was led by AfricInvest, via the Cathay Africinvest Innovation Fund, and existing investor, Novastar Ventures. The round also included participation from Enza Capital, Global Partnerships, Zephyr Acorn, Operator Stack, Asi Ventures Limited, and Push Ventures. Commenting on the raise, Turaco CEO and co-founder Ted Pantone said, “We are proud to help drive insurance adoption, especially among low-income earners. 90% of our customers have never had insurance before, but the surprising thing…

A few weeks back, Kenya Power announced that its customers can only buy KPLC tokens or pay their bills through M-Pesa. The company said that third party apps (including banking apps) will no longer be used to buy tokens or to pay your Kenya Power bill. Customers will only be able to use the 888880 paybill number from now on. This is for those buying Kenya Power tokens, prepaid customers will only use the 888888 paybill number.  This is not ideal for most people as this paybill number is known to be slow at times compared to some of the…

M-Kopa, has released its 2021 impact report that shows its social and environmental impact. The report presents findings on M-KOPA’s smartphone, solar and cash loan customers across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana. While much of the impact has been realised in East Africa, M-KOPA recorded rapid growth following its expansion into West Africa over 2020/21. Key highlights of M-KOPA’s social and environmental impact at the end of 2021 include: $600 million of credit unlocked for customers; 4.5 million lives improved with life-changing products; Over 1 million solar home systems sold, avoiding 2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions; Over 1 million…