MUA Ltd (MUA), a Mauritian insurer that owns subsidiaries in East Africa, has announced plans to add its investment by up to $30 million (Sh3.05 billion) in Kenya’s insurance sector. The announcement was made in the context of a visit by Kenyan business leaders accompanying President Uhuru Kenyatta at MUA’s Head Office in Port Louis, Mauritius. According to Bertrand Casteres, Group CEO of MUA, this will mark another key milestone in the group’s commitment in this fast-growing region and is a sign of MUA’s confidence in the Kenyan economy and the greater East African region. This marks the company’s single…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
Standard Chartered and @iBizAfrica, Strathmore University announced in April the top five winners of Standard Chartered Women in Technology Incubator 2019. The event saw five women-led teams shortlisted from over 170 applicants win Sh1 million in seed funding for their businesses. The five teams were selected from a pull of the top ten teams previously shortlisted and were being incubated at @iBizAfrica-Strathmore University for six months where they were offered coaching, mentoring and business management skills to grow their businesses to the next level. The five winning companies for 2019 are: Lugha Ishara (LI), a community-based organisation with a mission of…
The Chairman of the Commission for University Education, Prof. Chacha Nyaigotti-Chacha has advised education stakeholders to ensure that the ongoing curriculum review process is learner-centered. Noting that the review of the current educational structure is inevitable, Prof. Chacha told stakeholders attending the National Education Conference hosted by the Aga Khan University to ensure that they do not exert their influence to the process, at the expense of the pupils and students who need the education as a base for their careers and vocations. “Any reform that is not informed on the basis of the good opportunities that will be availed…
The Board of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), in line with the targets set out in the Capital Market Master Plan (2014 – 2023), has established a Financial Markets Law Review Panel of 16 leading domestic and international financial market lawyers and practitioners. The Panel will play a key advisory role to the Board in exercising its mandate to ensure that capital markets law remains responsive to market realities and appropriately facilitative to evolving market expectations from both a domestic and international perspective. In selecting appointees, the Authority’s board considered diversity, technical and professional background, track record, leadership record and capacity…
Kenya recorded the worst economic growth in 2017 with a GDP growth of 4.9% as compared to 5.9% in 2016. However, entering 2018 ushered in new fortunes as the economy started to rebound. As a result, according to the 2019 Economic Survey report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the economy expanded by 6.3% last year. The increased growth, the survey reveals, is mainly a result of accelerated manufacturing activities and increased agricultural production. The manufacturing sector grew by 4.2% as compared to 2017 where it grew by 0.5%. The change was a result of increases in the…
BY ANTONY MUTUNGA Since the late 1970s when the digital age started off, a lot of electronic devices have been created all over the world. To date these technological innovations continue to make the world better, from the use of computers and mobile phones as way of communication to the use of drones as a way of delivering medical supplies to remote areas. Indeed advancement in technology has allowed the global economy to reach greater heights than ever imagined. However, despite the rapid changes in technology that allows us to make our lives better, the changes have also seen millions…
BY BARNABAS ONYONKA In many ways, the world is increasingly embracing the idea of going green. More and more countries are embracing the circular economy concept whose core aim is to prolong the life of materials and goods used by re-using and recycling the discarded ones in order to cut back on pollution and waste. Countries are inclined, now more than ever, to signing multilateral and international environmental agreements. The world has generally been cosying up with both the commitment as well as the idea of going green. Because of that, since 1968 the world has been observing Earth Day…
BY EMEKA-MAYAKA GEKARA We have institutionalized lying. Academics are saying we are living in the post-truth era. And politicians are engaged in post-truth politics. The generally agreed definition of post-truth is “the public burial of objective facts by an avalanche of media appeals to emotion and personal belief.” It is basically willful lying and use of what the pro- Donald Trump TV talking heads call “alternative facts.” Prof John Keane of the University of Sydney who has written extensively about it, says post-truth also includes forms of public discourse commonly called bullshit. “It comprises communication that displaces and nullifies…
BY CYNTHIA WAIRIMU Usually, when we think about our bedside manners, it is not always we think, “I need to have my pillow and mattress cleaned,” especially if you do not have children that will wet your bed. However, it is a thought that should cross your mind now. Seeing as it were that we spend a huge amount of time in our beds throughout our life span, it is important to note the following: We shed dead skin all over our pillows on a daily basis, and since we lie on them, they become the perfect breeding place for…
BY TOM ODHIAMBO There is no escaping the cyberspace for humanity today. This is a truism. Too many people are already imprisoned by the Net. They may know or they may not. But the fact is that the cyberspace has almost become human beings’ second nature. But with what consequences? If we set aside all the good that being online has brought humanity, do we understand where it is leading us? Do parents know what their children are doing in the cyberspace? Do even adults who spend most of their time browsing on the net or chatting with ‘friends’ or…
