Spotify opened the official Greasy Tunes Café Kitchen in Nairobi in partnership with The BAG, marking the start of a 12-day pop-up that brings together food, music and the creative communities shaping the city’s culture. The Nairobi edition marks the third iteration of Greasy Tunes, following its launch in Johannesburg in 2023 and its move to Lagos in 2025. Now, it is Nairobi’s turn, with a programme rooted in the city’s street food culture, music scenes and community-led creative energy. The opening night set the tone for Greasy Tunes: a space built around how young Nairobians already gather around food,…
Author: Yvonne
According to Spotify’s June 2026 listening data, listeners aged 18 to 24 accounted for 53.7% of all streams in Nairobi, the highest proportion among the three African cities analysed. In comparison, the same age group represented 44.4% of streams in Lagos and 29.9% in Johannesburg. The data shows that Nairobi’s Gen Z listeners are driving growth across multiple genres, including local sounds such as gengetone and gospel, as well as international genres such as amapiano and dancehall. Among Kenya’s 18–24-year-old listeners, dancehall recorded the highest year-on-year growth at 95%, making it the fastest-growing genre in Spotify’s dataset. Other genres that…
Africa’s blockchain industry is moving from experimentation to real economic relevance, according to the latest edition of the CV VC African Blockchain Report published by CV VC in collaboration with Absa Group. The report shows that blockchain accounted for 5.3% of all venture funding in Africa in 2025. Despite a broader slowdown in venture capital deployment across Africa, blockchain continues to punch above its weight. African blockchain startups raised a total of $90.1 million in 2025 across 28 deals. While this represents a 26.6% year-on-year decline in funding, the continent’s share of global blockchain deal activity reached a record 2.8%.…
As African trading platforms expand across multiple markets, payment infrastructure has become the limiting factor in their growth. Across the continent, many financial services businesses still struggle to collect funds locally, convert currencies across markets, and settle globally through a single, connected system. The result is fragmented payment operations that are often costly, slow, and difficult to scale. This challenge was a central theme at Trading Festival Africa (formerly Finance Magnates Africa Summit 2026) in Cape Town, where industry leaders gathered to discuss the future of trading and financial infrastructure in Africa. Industry players recognise the importance of seamless money…
Westcon-Comstor has announced its latest annual Great Place To Work survey results, with employees praising the company’s trusted, values-led leadership and focus on inclusion as it achieved certification in South Africa and 24 other countries. Great Place To Work® is the global authority on workplace culture and employee experience. Certification is based on confidential feedback from employees about their experience of working at an organisation. This is the second time that Westcon-Comstor has undergone worldwide assessment against Great Place To Work® certification criteria. Globally, 80% of employees said Westcon-Comstor is a great place to work and the company achieved a…
Young people in Bungoma County are increasingly accessing life-changing digital opportunities through the Government’s Jitume Digital Enablement Programme, an initiative that is accelerating digital job creation, enhancing digital skills, and bridging the digital divide at the grassroots level. The programme, spearheaded by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy implemented by the Technopolis Development Authority (formerly Konza Technopolis Development Authority), continues to expand access to digital infrastructure and online work opportunities for youth across Kenya through the establishment of Jitume Digital Hubs. Bungoma County currently hosts eight Jitume Digital Hubs located in Kabuchai, Webuye West, Kimilili, Chemoge, Tongaren,…
Tharisa Minerals, an integrated resource group critical to the energy transition and decarbonisation of economies, has successfully transformed its South African open-pit mining operation into a highly connected, data-driven environment. This is the result of the deployment of an advanced wireless network solution – the first of its type in Africa – in partnership with leading hybrid ICT systems integrator and digital transformation partner, Datacentrix. Tharisa Minerals’ core asset is the Tharisa Mine, an open-pit platinum group metals (PGM) and chrome mining operation in the North West province of South Africa, situated in South Africa’s western limb of the Bushveld Complex, which is home to more than…
PayPal has announced the expansion of its dollar-backed stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), to 70 markets worldwide. With this rollout, PYUSD will be integrated directly into PayPal accounts across newly supported markets. These include regions in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. “Consumers and businesses around the world are looking for faster, more seamless ways to transact globally, and the current system still charges too much, takes too long,” said May Zabaneh, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Crypto at PayPal. She added that expanding PYUSD access gives users “faster access to their funds” and a more…
A new report by Cambridge University Press & Assessment has found that 7 in 10 Kenyans believe artificial intelligence (AI) is the biggest challenge education systems must prepare the next generation for. The findings come from a national survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of Cambridge. The survey polled 1,084 adults in Kenya on the role of technology and human skills in the future of education. The report is titled Humans at the Heart of Education. 70% of respondents identified emerging technologies that include AI and automation as one of the top challenges the education sector must address. The report…
HealthX has announced the launch of HealthX Boda, a first of its kind mobile solution designed to give the country’s commercial motorbike riders (boda boda riders) affordable, round the clock access to healthcare and essential accident protection. From as little as KES 15 (USD 0.12) per day, HealthX Boda offers riders: If you have a startup you want featured on TechArena, let us know through this contact form here. Boda boda riders are the backbone of Kenya’s transport and delivery economy, contributing billions to GDP and supporting millions of households. Yet, despite their essential role, they remain one of the most underserved groups…