Author: Francis Muli

Facebook Messenger will now let you add an extra layer of security upon launching on your iPad or iPhone. The app itself can now lock upon or shortly after closing the page or when you lock your phone. You will be required to use an authentication ID such as Face ID or fingerprint to open it back up.That means that even if you unlock your phone and lend it to someone, they will not be able to access or read your messages. The feature, dubbed “App lock” by Facebook, is part of a number of changes that the company has…

African entrepreneurs have decried humiliation, discrimination, stereotyping and racism while pitching and seeking funds at the hands of some of the world’s most renowned investors. In the last five years, investors in North America accounted for 42 percent of African venture deals. Only 20 percent of funds came from Africa based investors, forcing potential African entrepreneurs to turn to the West for funding. This is according to the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. The Guardian analyzed public data to reveal that out of the 10 African based start ups that received the highest amount of funding, eight were…

Business Networking Website, LinkedIn, is downsizing its workforce by about 6 percent, affecting 960 employees worldwide. The company has been hit by firms recruiting fewer staff due to the Corona Virus pandemic. The Microsoft Owned company cited a weak job market and reduction in advertising revenue as the reason for the lay-offs. The announcement comes as various sectors in the formal and informal sector cut jobs following the economic crisis brought about by the Corona Virus pandemic. LinkedIn Chief Executive, Ryan Roslansky said the company was “not immune to the effects of the pandemic.” “Our Talent Solutions business continues to…

A huge fire raged the Tsavo National Park on Wednesday night consuming hundreds of acres, less than a month after another fire razed 180 acres of forest. In a statement, the Kenya Wildlife Service said that three sets of fire were reported, with one having been contained. “Three sets of fire have been reported In Tsavo Conservation Area; the first one in the Taita ranches adjacent to Tsavo East National Park. This was put off before encroaching into the park. Efforts are ongoing to put off the second one in the southern part of Tsavo West National park . The…

The Yumbis Rural Border Patrol Unit (RBPU) in Garissa County on Wednesday evening came under heavy gunfire by suspected militants, authorities have confirmed. Northeastern Regional Commander Rono Bunei said that the police were responding to the attack, and promised to share more details later. Nation reports that the militants gained entry into the camp after hauling several explosives. “A loud explosion was heard at about 6pm. BPU YUMBIS under heavy Al-Shabaab attack,” a police report says. The report says air support from the Modika military camp has been activated. More follows:- Email your news TIPS to Editor@kahawatungu.com or WhatsApp +254707482874. You can…

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru spent eight hours at the Ethics and Anti-Corruuption Commission (EACC) offices on Wednesday being grilled over Ksh10.63 million imprest that was allegedly misappropriated. The allegations were first floated by Kirinyaga MCAs, who accused her of awarding herself the money as travel allowances for foreign trips she never made. The governor was also accused of steering corruption in the county through tenders, though she said she was only grilled on matters imprests. “I was called here on the issue of imprests. I am happy the truth is finally going to come out. You can make all manner…

Airtel Africa and WorldRemit have partnered to broaden instant money transfer services across Africa. Customers can now send money to Mobile Money accounts from Rwanda via WorldRemit. Airtel money is already operational in other African countries including  DRC, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Niger. Airtel Money enables mobile money users to transfer funds locally and internationally, pay for utilities, pay merchants, purchase airtime. save money in their mobile wallets and access a range of mobile financial products. The partnership will see WorldRemit enable customers to receive money into Airtel Money wallets. To transact, use the free mobile app; choose Mobile…

Ride-hailing app Bolt has introduced a new low-cost category called Bolt-Go, which will be at least 20 per cent cheaper than regular Bolt rides, making them the cheapest ride-hailing services in South Africa. The introduction of Bolt-Go is in a bid to make it easier for more car owner and drivers to join the South African ride-hailing industry and more hatchback car owners to access the platform and earn income. “Smaller hatchback cars are less expensive to purchase, have lower maintenance costs, and are more fuel-efficient to operate than Bolt’s regular larger sedan cars,” said Gareth Taylor, country manager for…

MumVillage, a Kenyan based maternal care and e-commerce website, has partnered with Nigeria’s BabyBliss to form Bliss Group. The new Business entity aims to become the Pan-African e-commerce platform for maternal and child care products. Isis Nyongo-Madison launched MumsVillage in 2015 as an online community to support pregnant women and parents in Kenya on their motherhood and parenting journeys. Through media content distributed in its digital channels, MumsVillage provides quality information on parenting, pregnancy, healthcare and family-oriented events and services. MumsVillage later participated in the Unilever DFID Transform, Alibaba eFounders Fellowship and Gray Matters Capital Calibrators digital accelerators program and…

The 16-inch MacBook Pro will be the first hardware to use a low carbon aluminium as Apple endeavours to become 100 per cent carbon neutral across the entire company. The company is already working with Aluminium suppliers on carbon-free processing and the 16-inch MacBook Pro demonstrates Apple’s commitment as they forge a be more environmentally friendly laptop. “Apple today unveiled its plan to become carbon neutral across its entire business, manufacturing supply chain, and product life cycle by 2030. The company is already carbon neutral today for its global corporate operations, and this new commitment means that by 2030, every…

Uber has launched a bus hailing service in Egypt, with the aim of connecting cities using the Uber app. Egypt is the first country globally to roll out the service as Uber makes strides to adapt its technology to a wide range of products for the local market. “We are honoured to witness another global product launch from Egypt, especially following the last few tense months across the country and the world. Egypt is an innovation hub and a fantastic environment for testing new products,” says Ahmed Khalil, General Manager of Uber Egypt. “By leveraging Uber’s technology, the new intercity…

Instagram is testing a feature to allow you raise money for personal causes. The feature is launching today in the UK, US and Ireland as an initial test on Android. This will also be followed by a test for iPhone users. This will not be a first for the company as Facebook users already have a personal fundraising feature. To create a personal fundraiser on Instagram, click to edit your profile, tap “add fundraiser” and then select “raise money”. You will see many fundraising categories to choose from, and then add details, select a photo to use and enter payment…

Radisson Hotel Group has spread its wings to six more African countries, reaching a total of 32 countries in Africa with a total of over 100 hotels. The new hotels will be in Mali, Nigeria, South Africa (2), Ethiopia and Ghana. “The addition of the six hotels, following the announcement of Radisson Hotel Saint Denis earlier this year, places us firmly on track to reach over 150 hotels in operation and under development across the continent within the next five years,” said Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Radisson Hotel Group. In Mali, Radisson Collection Hotel Bamako…

Google Meet has started rolling out the feature on its Gmail App for Android users. Google earlier announced that it would be integrating the feature for iOS and Android users. The tech giant began the rollout for iOS last week followed by android. With the integration, Gmail app users can now launch and join meetings from the Meet tab in the app. Upon the release early this year, the Meet tab was integrated into the web version of Gmail where it has been active for a couple of months now. Google shared the latest news on its G Suite updates…

Kenya’s Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed is poised to clinch the World Trade Organization’s Secretary-General position if she beats the other seven candidates. The Kenyan Nominee is already emerging as an early front-runner for the hotly contested seat. Her attributes include her former role as a WTO ambassador, being an ex-trade minister and previously chairing WTO ministerial conference in the past. Amina is fluent in WTO’s procedures and legal texts and even helped negotiate WTO’s most recent package of multilateral agreements. On top of all that, she happens to hail from Kenya, which is the third-largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa,…