Author: Francis Muli

The African Telecommunications Union (ATU) has extended the deadline for submission of entries to the ATU Africa Innovation Challenge 2021, to August 31, 2021. Following a consultative meeting with Challenge partners, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Huawei Technologies Limited and Intel Corporation, the move was arrived at to expand room for more participants to take part in the Challenge whose focus is on promoting innovation in the continent especially among the youth. The winner will receive USD10,000 (Ksh1.1 million) and the winning practice will be crowned the 2021 ATU Best Ecosystem Practice in Africa Enabling Youth ICT Innovation. Organizations that…

Google will no longer play ads based on the age, gender or interests of children. The company announced a host of new measures in its quest to protect kids under 18 who use the services. The tech giant has also said that users under 18 will have the option of getting their images removed from Google’s image results. And although they will not be removed entirely from Google, users will have more control on how they are shared. Google says the changes come amid a host of new regulations in selected countries, necessitating the introduction of measures that will make…

Prepare to pay more for 31 goods as from October 1, 2021, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has announced. The goods, among them beer, fuel, bottled water and juice, will increase by at least 4.97 percent even as the taxman moves to effect the annual inflation tax in line with average annual inflation. For instance, for every litre of beer, Kenyans will pay Ksh5.77 more and Ksh13.20 more for a litre of spirits. The cost of fuel is also set to shoot by Ksh1.09 for litre of petrol, pushing excise duty to Ksh23.04, while diesel and kerosene will increase by…

In the last 24 hours, 1,183 people have tested positive for Covid-19 from a sample size of 8,144 its brings the total number of positive cases to 213, 756 and cumulative number of tests to 2,205,159. The positivity rate now stands at 14.5 percent. On a positive note, 1,318 people have recovered from the illness. 1212 have been discharged from home based care while 106 have been discharged from various health facilities across the country. Read: Covid-19 Variant from India Confirmed in Uganda On a sad note, 32 people have succumbed to Covid-19, one having occurred in the last 24…

Twitter has released its analysis on the racist tweets that flooded the platform last month during the Euro 2020 finals. Three players, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were on the receiving end of racist tweets after missing penalties against Italy. Twitter says that its automation tools took over to remove racially abusive tweets, and that only 2 percent of the tweets were viewed widely. “On the night of the Euros Final, our automated tools kicked in immediately, and ensured we identified and removed 1622 abusive Tweets in the 24 hours that followed. Only 2% of the Tweets we…

Kenya requires at least 2 GHz additional spectrum to meet the standards of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) data speeds. The Global System for Mobile Communications Association, GSMA, has asked Kenya’s Mobile Industry Regulator to increase spectrum provision by at least two gigahertz (GHz). The global lobby for telecoms says this will maximize the potential of 5G in the country. According to a publication by GSMA, Kenya’s telecom is short of at least 2GHz of mid-range spectrum required to meet the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) data speeds. “This spectrum will ensure mobile operators can deliver the ITU targets of 100…

Prime residential rents declined at a slower rate of 6.02 percent over the past 12 months to June, compared to a 7.62 percent decline in a comparable period in 2020. This is according to Knight Frank’s first half 2021 Kenya Market Update report. This change was mainly attributed to the reopening of the economy, roll out of vaccinations and landlords adjusting rental terms to accept lower rental prices. The continued oversupply of residential developments in certain locations such as Kilimani coupled with the current economic state still makes this sector a buyers’ and tenants’ market. Prime residential sale prices in…

Instagram has announced that it is testing ads on its shops tab. The Facebook-owned app confirmed to TechCrunch that the test will involve putting single image or a carousel of the ads in the tabs. The ads will also allow users to click, and shop. Instagram and Facebook rely on ads for their revenue and as such, will place them on as many platform features as possible. After launching Reels in August 2020, the company added ads to the Tiktok clone earlier this year. Read: Instagram Introduces Shop Button on IGTV The shops tab already features a number of kenyan…

The ruling Jubilee Party is unable to account fully for Ksh171 million paid to suppliers, the auditor-general Nancy Gathungu has revealed. In her report for the year ending June 2021, Gathungu says that the party led by President Uhuru Kenyatta was unable to provide supporting documents for Ksh156 million paid to suppliers. “The statement of financial position reflects a trade and other payables from exchange transactions balance of Ksh171,770,224 out of which trade payables amounting to Ksh156,518,973 have been outstanding for several years,” said Ms Gathungu. “In addition, supporting documents for the payables including invoices, delivery notes, demand notes, and…

Safaricom and Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) have today announced a partnership to enable Kenyans invest in stocks using their accrued bonga points. The service is available to all Safaricom customers, who can redeem their points through licensed Trading Participants, with ten already activated. These include NCBA Capital, Faida Investment Bank, AIB-AXYS, ABC Capital, Old Mutual Securities, Kingdom Securities, Suntra Investments, Francis Drummond & Company, Dyer & Blair Investments and Sterling Capital LTD. More Trading Participants will join in due course. “As we focus on the next phase of our journey to go beyond, our aim is to continue transforming the lives of…

Kenyans have been asked to remain vigilant after it was revealed that fraudsters are now duping people that they can offer compensation for adverse effects due to the Covid-19 vaccination. The fraudsters are reportedly corresponding to users alerting them of a ‘ Covid-19 Lottery Compensation Prize’ from the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. “WHO seeks to warn the public at large that the ‘Covid-19 Lottery Compensation Prize’ is a scam being falsely perpetrated in the name of WHO,” the UN agency said. The people behind the scheme ask users…

Kenya will be going to the polls one year from now  and the conversation has already shifted with all relevant parties planning around the event. Just as the media announced the dates for a presidential debate, the Independent and Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced plans to procure multiple servers for the transmission of results to the tallying centre. IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati said the commission is planning to partner with the media to transmit results. “We will have multiple servers if possible one for the media, one for the political parties, one for the candidates and one for the…

Kenya will have to part with Ksh38 billion before taking over the operations of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in May 2022. The Ksh38 billion entails unpaid bills owed to Africa Star Railway Operation Company Ltd (Afristar), the company hired to handle the operations of the railway. AfriStar is a subsidiary company of China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). “The negotiations between KRC and Afristar commenced in the year 2019 and an agreement has been reached that KRC (Kenya Railways Corporation) takes over obviously with some conditions including clearing of any outstanding payments,” KRC chairman Omudho Awitta as quoted by…

The Ministry of ICT has invited bids from contractors to facilitate the relocation of the fibre optic cable along Kenol- Marua road. The relocation will pave way for the construction of a Sh33 billion dual carriageway. Tender documents from the state show that interested bidders are invited for the design, supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of the fibre optic cable along the 84km road “The government requires that all the utilities along the Kenol-Marua Road be relocated by September 30, to facilitate completion of the road. State Department of ICT and Innovation will undertake relocation of the fibre infrastructure to…

You might be ingesting poison by eating your favourite fried chicken from popular global food restaurants, a new study has revealed. According to the study by The Pecking Order 2021, the overuse of antibiotics in chicken rearing has made the meat sold in the joints not safe. An audit by the World Animal Protection found out that there are over 700,000 deaths annually caused or related to consuming antibiotics through animal products. “Intensive farming methods also often rely on routine antibiotic use as a quick fix solution to keep stressed and sick animals alive,” reads the report in part. Read: Kenyans Cautioned…