After a long period of time waiting, Kenyans will now be allowed to fly drones in the country’s airspace after the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) finally approved and published regulations that allow the use of unmanned aerial vehicles. Now besides the government, private citizens and companies will be allowed to import, own and fly drones for recreation, commercial and private use as long as they operate within the tough regulations put by civil aviation authorities. The regulations put up by the KCAA for those that are interested in drones are as follows; One must first receive approval from the…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
Estonian ride sharing company, Taxify has introduced a new motorbike hailing service dubbed Taxify Boda which will work within their already existing smartphone app that has been used to hail taxis. The entry into the industry has been due to the growing demand for safer, reliable and organized motorbike services especially in the capital city. In attendance during the launch was Chisom Anoke, Taxify Kenya Operations Manager, who said, “The rising use of motorcycle riders for public passenger transport is a reality that we have to live with particularly in Nairobi where traffic jams and clogged roads tend to delay…
Kenyans will now be able to access loans at lower interest rates after the Central Bank of Kenya Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) reduced the Central bank rate (CBR) from 10% to 9.5% for the first time since September 2016. This was the lowest level the CBR has come down to since May 2015. According to the MPC, the decision to reduce the CBR to 9.5% is accredited to several factors. With the inflation expectations still being well anchored within the government target range and there being an increased optimism for growth prospects in the economy, the economic output was still…
Cross border e-commerce continues to provide significant growth opportunities for retailers and manufacturers with an international online product offering. According to a 2017 DHL report, cross-border retail volumes are predicted to increase at an annual average rate of 25% between 2015 and 2020 (from %300 billion to %900 billion) – twice the pace of domestic e-commerce growth. Steve Burd, vice president of sales for DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, says this highlights a boundless opportunity for African businesses looking to take a piece of the cross border e-commerce pie. Burd says that as the market leader in express logistics, DHL Express…
A number of African countries, 44 in total, have signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework agreement, which commits countries to removing tariffs on 90% of goods and lifting all barriers to trade within the continent. Eventually the free movement of people and even a common currency could become part of the agreement. In the meantime, to deal with the currency problem, banks have proposed an inter-African trade payment platform, which would make it possible for people to trade inter regionally in their local currencies. While Africa’s most developed countries are at an advantage due to their manufacturing capabilities,…
Over the last few years, Kenya’s rising public debt has been a point of discussion in most macroeconomic outlook discussions, with organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), global credit rating agencies (Moody’s Credit Rating Agency, S&P Global Ratings, and Fitch Ratings) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), among others, raising concerns. Most recently, on February 14, Moody’s downgraded the government’s issuer rating to “B2” from “B1” previously, based on the observation that as the country’s financing needs continue to grow and the government turns to external commercial loans to fund the deficit, more pressure is…
BY DR BENJAMIN NJIHIA A ‘stomach ache’ is one of the common reasons a parent may bring their child for evaluation by a doctor. It may be due to constipation or bloating, but sometimes it may be associated with more serious conditions. If a child’s pain begins in the belly-button area and spreads to the lower right abdominal area, it may be the result of appendicitis, an inflammation of the appendix with subsequent infection. The appendix is a finger-like extension from the caecum, the first portion of the large intestine. Appendicitis is the most common reason for emergency surgery in children.…
BY IMBOKO TALL Louis Otieno’s story has touched many. It’s not new but it is still worthy a rant. Some of my Facebook friends were babies when Louis was Louis. Those of us, who take serious interest in current affairs and the media, know just how good a journalist this guy was. I loved watching Njoroge Mungai read the news. He remains my best, ever, Kenyan newsreader. But when it came to analysis of current affairs and serious interviews, Louis Otieno was the go-to guy. He had mastered his trade. He was very comfortable in front of the camera and he…
BY PETER WANYONYI The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is charged with assessing and collecting all monies due to the government of Kenya. Some say it is also supposed to account for such monies, but that is a debate for a different forum, Kenya being Kenya. To facilitate collection of those revenues, the KRA has a whole host of accounts in every bank in the land. The account numbers are listed online on the KRA website. There’s an account for Customs Duty, another for Stamp Duty, and so on. In total, the KRA lists 93 bank accounts, each account being for…
BY DAN MATTHEWS The consumerisation trend has massively raised the bar for what we expect of our business applications. Together with emerging technologies such as AR, VR, voice activation and new ways to personalise enormous flows of data, this redefines enterprise software user experience (UX). The clear link between user engagement and profitability is beyond doubt. This has been apparent on the consumer side for years. Moreover, just look at Walmart’s massive 2016 redesign of its UX and ecommerce platform, which resulted in 214% growth in digital visitors, and Bank of America, which increased its online banking registration by 45% after a UX redesign of the…