BY TERRY MWANGI It is finally March. The month we celebrate women’s contribution to social, economic, cultural and political achievements. Rule number one about celebrating this internationally recognized day is that you do not dress for men, dress for other women! It actually makes getting dressed easier when you are dressing for style, not to impress. Your confidence shines through because you will be more comfortable with what you are wearing. Besides the normal colorful dresses, skirts, and trousers, we have compiled a list of trends that will make you look elegant and more feminine; Anything that nips at the…
Author: Editor
BY TOM ODHIAMBO One can argue that the cooperative movement was formed immediately Eve and Adam met and started to live together in the Garden of Eden, if you are of the Christian persuasion. But if you believe in natural evolution, then you would say that the moment two members of the same species – and this isn’t just about human beings – encountered each other, they could only have continued to live together or within the same environment, if they cooperated. Those two organisms had to avoid harming each other. They probably figured out that if they stayed near…
BY LANJI OUKO White swans, diamond chandeliers, fresh flowers hanging from the luxurious centrepieces and an acoustic classic band entertaining the guests; one of the most exciting days for any lady is her wedding. From the tender age of 12 years old, believe it or not, girls plan for that special day. You only get to do it once. Like a funeral, there will be no rehearsal. Give it your best! Once the love of our lives pop the question, we pretend to start planning the wedding, but the plans have been on deck for close to a decade. Every…
Consumers planning to make a change to their mobile plan have sited higher data speeds as the main factor. This is according to the annual series of Connected Consumer surveys by specialist adviser, Analysys Mason that analyse mobile customer behaviour in Sub-Saharan Africa, looking at purchasing criteria when changing mobile plans; the impact of data pricing and network coverage on customer satisfaction; and the adoption of OTT services such as WhatsApp. Insights from the surveys as shared by Stephen Sale, research director at Analysys Mason show that 30% of respondents intend to make a change to their mobile plan in…
BY PETER WANYONYI All across Nairobi and other large Kenyan – and other African – cities, ugliness abounds. It’s not the cities that are ugly, though: it’s the ubiquitous trenching. The African internet economy is booming: our broadband adoption growth rates are totally unrivalled around the world. There is massive repressed demand for broadband, and new capacities are snapped up as soon as the optical fibre cable is laid. This has led to significant problems for telecom companies looking to lay new fibre cables around African cities: existing utility services, such as sewerage and water lines, must be identified and…
Ransomware, a form of extortion malware is often disguised as harmless emails, links or pop-ups, thereby easily hoodwinking gullible users to grant access into their system and eventual takeover for ransom. But should you pay? Ransomware maintained its attractiveness amongst cybercriminals in 2016. Of note is the steady growth on multiple platforms including mobile which essentially means that even this year, every mobile device user is still vulnerable. According to research by Internet Security firm ESET, various types of ransomware have been targeting android mobile device users. Most frequently the police themed ransomware which tried to scare victims into paying up after…
BY VICTOR ADAR You know times are tough when you lose a document. Loss of important documents like national identification cards, passports, automatic teller machines cards and student cards can throw you into real disarray. And many times you only have to blame yourself and even wish that your mobile number or that of your mum appeared somewhere on your missing documents. Without some documents, you are edged out of doing certain things such as making mobile money transactions from banks and agencies. But now there is a reason to smile about thanks to one Ken Kamanja, an out of…
By Kosta Kioleoglou For several months now, people have been speculating as to what is going to happen during the year 2017. Despite the different opinions, everybody agrees that this year is full of challenges. The period of speculating has finished and now we are living the reality. Since the beginning of the year the news about the economy and the market are not very positive. The country’s expected growth is now forecasted to slowdown. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kenya’s Growth Outlook is expected to be around 5.3%, down from 6.1%, which was initially forecasted. IMF has…
The 2016 marked a challenging year for African equity markets in the wake of lower economic growth and political upheaval around the globe, largely as a result of the US elections cycle and the Brexit vote. African equity capital markets (ECM) broke a streak of three successive years of growth, recording a decline in overall ECM activity of 28% from 2015 in the number of transactions and 33% from 2015 in terms of capital raised. PwC issued its 2016 Africa Capital Markets Watch publication last month, which analyses equity and debt capital markets transactions that took place between 2012 and…
We have to remember we’re in a global economy. The purpose of fiscal stimulus is not simply to sustain activity in our national economies, but to help the global economy as well, and that’s why it’s so critical that measures in those packages avoid anything that smacks of protectionism – Stephen Harper BY ANTONY MUTUNGA One of President Donald Trump’s major agenda that persuaded the American people to vote him into office was the promise to bring jobs back to America. He accredited the problems the people were facing especially the high rise of unemployment in the country to globalization.…