BY EMEKA-MAYAKA GEKARA The story of sugar production in Kenya is a mixture of agony, lost opportunities, shattered families, mismanagement and primitive accumulation of wealth by a cabal through exploitation of farmers. In fact, there is both a business and moral question in management of the sugar industry. While farmers suffer losses due to the high cost of production and delayed payments the factory managers make a killing through theft. This is largely to blame for the near collapse of the sugar industry, especially in Western Kenya where it is the source of livelihood for thousands of families. Lack of…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights recently delivered its first advisory opinion. The decision concerned the legal issues surrounding surrogacy where the Court indicated that countries are not obliged to register a “commissioning mother” in a surrogacy arrangement as birth mother in their civil registry. Nonetheless, the Court also advised that it is in the best interests of the child to establish some legal relationship between the child and the “commissioning mother.” ADF International, a faith-based legal advocacy organization that protects fundamental freedoms and promotes the inherent dignity of all people, was granted permission to file…
BY DR SITNA MWANZI Colorectal cancer is among the top ten cancers in Kenya. This type of cancer can either start at the colon or the rectum otherwise called the large intestine. According to recent Globocan data, there were 1,354 estimated new cases and 937 deaths from colorectal cancer in 2018 in Kenya. There are probably more cases and deaths from colorectal cancer that were not reported or diagnosed. Healthy cells in the lining of the colon or rectum can change and grow out of control, forming a mass called a tumor which can be cancerous/malignant or benign. A cancerous/malignant…
BY DR SULTANI HADLEY MATENDECHERO On my first field visit as head of the Kenyan Ministry of Health’s Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) unit, my team and I travelled through Pongwe-Kidimu, a picturesque coastal region of Kenya, holding focus group discussions with health workers and members of the community to understand the challenges they were facing with NTDs. It was there, a young woman, not much older than 20 years and full of life and potential, stood to speak. Silent and timid throughout the discussion, we hadn’t noticed she was concealing a badly swollen leg typical of elephantiasis until she tearfully…
The pilot of Kenya’s Country Queen, a high-end authentically Kenyan and yet globally accessible TV series, has already created intense buzz and excitement within the industry. Beyond its high production value, this Kenyan-German co-production has broken down barriers and created new norms based on its unique focus on the rural communities of Kenya, as well as its collaborative and Kenyan focused production process. With its cinematic production style and quality, the pilot has been widely acclaimed and will soon continue with production of the full series. Country Queen was first created in 2017 by a writers’ room comprising 10 Kenyan creatives with…
BY AMBROSE KIRAGU King Belshazzar was the son of king Nebuchadnezzar, probably the most powerful king who ever lived. He ruled most of the known world of his day from his headquarters in Babylon. Belshazzar decided, upon ascending the throne to show off his might by making such a lavish feast that would prove to all that he had made it king. Accordingly, he invited a thousand of his princes, nobles, wives and concubines. It was a great day. No doubt, he reasoned, all would judge him very wealthy and powerful and his fame would spread into all corners of…
Mercer, a global consulting leader in advancing health, wealth and career, and Alexander Forbes, one of Africa’s leading financial services organisations, have come together to design Arrive, a pan-Africa benefits solution across health, wealth and career that aligns to local regulations and is based on global best practices. The collaboration is the first of its kind between the two companies and the most comprehensive benefit service offering across Africa. The “Arrive” programme is a response to challenges faced by large local companies and multinationals in developing appropriate benefits that work across all countries in which they operate. “Because each country has…
BY MICHELLE BISSET The rapid shift towards cloud computing and software as-a-service purchasing models is freeing technology buyers from vendor lock-in, upfront payments, long implementation cycles and heavy software customisation. That means software vendors and their partners need to focus on continuous customer success if they are to grow and retain their customer base over the long run. In practical terms, this means we are seeing customers expect vendors and implementation partners to help them deliver against their business outcomes. Efficiency and scalability are no longer enough – as the recent IDC European Enterprise Services Survey shows, the number one…
There’s a common misperception that digital transformation means adopting new technology and jumping on buzzword bandwagons like AI, blockchain, and machine learning. But this is exactly why so many businesses get it wrong. “Digital transformation does not mean a change in technology, or something you apply to the front-end of your existing products and services. It’s about business transformation – changing the way you do business to serve your future customer. Most importantly, it must be linked to a specific business objective,” says Tony Christodoulou, CIO, EMEA, at American Tower Corporation and lecturer at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBBS)…
BY BRUCE EINHORN, KYUNGHEE PARK & MASATSUGU HORIE A new, long-delayed 88-passenger jet from Japan may finally be the right plane at the right time. More cities in Asia and Europe are seeking to link up with each other and the global air travel network. The Mitsubishi Regional Jet, the first airliner built in Japan since the 1960s, began certification flights last month in Moses Lake, Washington, to satisfy that demand. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.’s new airliner is testing the skies just as rivals are moving to sell off their manufacturing operations for jets with up to 160 seats. Boeing Co.…