Author: Francis Muli

A Ksh22 million milk processing factory has been constructed at  Kajiado County, giving the much-needed shot in the arm for the semi-arid regional economy. The Masimba Milk Cooling Plant located in Emali area near the border with Makueni county is set to stimulate dairy farming in the area with a number of residents from both counties supplying milk. The milk plant was constructed by the County Government of Kajiado and funded by the New Zealand government through ChildFund Kenya, directly benefitting 2,500 people including farmers, children, lactating and pregnant women. It has also provided employment opportunities for over 5,000 people.…

Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen) has announced a 9% profit increase in its half-year unaudited financial results for the period ended December 31, 2020. The profit before tax grew from Ksh6.2 billion to Ksh6.8 billion. Revenue from geothermal operations continued to show a growth trajectory, recording an increase of 14% supported by additional generation capacity from Olkaria V and revenue diversification from an on-going geothermal drilling project in Ethiopia. “Net revenue increased by 9% from Ksh18.9 billion in December 2019 to Ksh20.5 billion for the period under review, primarily because of Olkaria V and revenue diversification from the Ethiopia…

Kenya Power has posted a profit before tax of Ksh332 million in its half-year results from a loss before tax of Ksh7 billion for the year ended June 2020. The full-year performance was largely impacted by Covid-19 on the operating environment and a one-off increase in impairment for inventories amounting to Ksh3.65 billion following a business decision to take a more prudent approach in accounting estimation for slow-moving and obsolete stock. Electricity sales remained largely unchanged at 8,171 GWh for the period under review compared to 8,174 GWh the previous year while total revenue grew marginally from Ksh133.1 billion to…

Zoom is rolling out automatic closed captioning for all free accounts in an effort to make the service more accessible. The company announced that users who require the service can manually request access to the Live Transcription feature via a Google Form linked to the notice. Zoom has been offering AI-powered live transcription for all its paid accounts. Meeting hosts have had to manually add their own captions or use a third-party service. But now, the company will make the service free for all Zoom users. On its support page, the Video-conferencing app says that the live transcription feature is…

President Uhuru Kenyatta is chairing the first Cabinet meeting of the year at State House, Nairobi. This comes a week after the President met Cabinet Secretaries, CASs and PSs to discuss the government’s priorities for the year including the Big 4 agenda and Vision 2030 flagship projects. During the meeting held on February 18, Deputy President William Ruto was conspicuously missing, with his director of communications Emmanuel Talam saying that Ruto was not invited. However, the second-in-command attended today’s meeting, the first in a long time since differences emerged between him and the President. “As far as I know, the…

The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) celebrated 100 days in office by launching a new website and logo, establishing themselves in government. Kenya’s first Data Commissioner, Immaculate Kassait, was sworn in on October 20, 2020. The new Office of the Data Protection Commissioner logo features a padlock outlined with different shades of blue, quickly bringing security to mind. The website (https://www.odpc.go.ke/) is interactive, allowing users to perform various data-related functions. There are quick links to report a data breach or a concern, file a concern, or make general inquiries. You can also check your data rights on the…

Kenyan actor and film director Pascal Tokodi has set tongues wagging after bumping into President Uhuru Kenyatta walking along State House Road, and only asking him to watch Maisha Magic’s Selina show. In a video posted online, Tokodi, who the lead character in Selina alongside Celestine Gichuhi, seemingly is so surprised to see the President walking alone, and is lost for words. “How are you sir?” Oh my goodness!” he says. Before he drives off, Tokodi has one major request to the President; “Ona Selina! Ona Selina!”. In response, President Kenyatta says, “Asante. Nimeona”. Here’s the video: https://youtu.be/dxcZx7W_UkE Some Kenyans…

Microsoft will begin rolling out text predictions for Word by March 2021. The new update will help users type faster, saving time. According to Microsoft “Text predictions help users write more efficiently by predicting text quickly and accurately. The feature reduces spelling and grammar errors and learns overtime to give the best recommendations based on your writing style.” The feature will rely on machine learning to predict a word or phrase the user is likely to type next in their Microsft Word (MS Word) document. Gmail and Google Docs already have a similar feature. The predictions will appear in gray…

Over 3,000 investors facing the loss of Ksh18.6 billion have given the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) 30 days to re-arrest directors of the Goldenscape Greenhouses. The investors, who have been waiting for a refund of their money since the company went under, say that the DCI and the DPP have been reluctant in fast-tracking the case since 2019. Goldenscape CEO and proprietor Peter Wangai was arrested in March 2020, on allegations of obtaining money by false pretences, conspiracy to defraud, false representation, issuing bad cheques among other charges. Read: Goldenscape Greenhouses CEO Peter Wangai Arrested Over Alleged Fraudulent Dealings According…

Kikao64 has opened a new co-working space in Eldoret town with the aim of supporting and growing tech innovations and professionals in the North Rift and Western Kenya regions. The co-working space, dubbed the “inspirational hub” was set up at a cost of about Sh100 million. Kikao64 Executive Director Elisabeth Clem, says the hub is a response to Eldoret’s growing community of entrepreneurs, startups, nonprofits, freelancers, and creatives looking for flexible modern office spaces in their hometowns. ” It will provide space for those traveling through Eldoret and also allow students and young people to engage in networking. This is…

Annual advertising spend in Kenya dropped by 21 percent to Ksh122.3 billion compared toKsh154.1 billion in 2019, the Reelanalytics and Marketing Society of Kenya (MSK) has said. The most affected companies were media houses, that were forced to downsize with several staffers being retrenched to cut on operating costs. “Almost all sectors of the economy were adversely affected by Covid-19. The top most affected sectors were; communication, media and finance,” said Reelanalytics senior researcher Enock Mokaya. Despite the dip in advertising spend, media, which depends much on advertising revenue, spent 12 percent of the total advertising spend to publicise self.…

Google has launched the second Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge in Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey. The initiative targets projects that increase reader engagement and explore new business models for the media. The Google News Initiative (GNI) is working with industry players with aim of helping journalism thrive in the digital age. “The selected projects will be funded up to $150 000, and up to 70 percent of the total project cost,”  GNI Head of Innovation,Ludovic Blecher, said. Read: How To Use Google Meet “Funding is not available for editorial projects but should instead be focused on reader engagement…

A section of prospective beneficiaries of the “Mbele na Biz” initiative by World Bank and the Government of Kenya are now seeking investigation into the conduct of the managers, even as allegations of malpractices creep in. The Ksh1.5 billion was launched three years ago by World Bank through the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA) and managed by KPMG and an independent panel of judges. KPMG and the judges were to review business plan ideas submitted by applicants. In the first phase, a total of 750 successful applicants were to be notified by end of the business plan competition and…

Google has finally added Apple’s app store’s privacy labels to Gmail, a few weeks after they were added to YouTube. The label lists a number of details the app might collect, excluding your name, phone number, or physical address. However, as an email client, Gmail will most likely have this information. Apple’s app privacy labels emphasize that the details listed are what the app might access as opposed to will access. This means that the apps may not use certain information such as location, when it is not necessary. Read: iOS 14 Update Alerts You When Other Apps Are Spying…

Schneider Electric has launched locally-manufactured Prisma iPM electrical switchboards in Kenya. To ensure the success of this initiative, Schneider Electric says it is investing in the training of its local personnel and partners to ensure that the product delivered to the market meets international IEC standards 61439-1&2. Prisma iPM is an electrical switchboard that is used to manage the electrical distribution system in large and commercial scale buildings. “Schneider Electric will from today manufacture the enclosures at its local manufacturing facility in Kenya. Schneider Electric’s partners will assemble the final product to the highest technical and electrical safety quality standards.…