The enactment of the Copyright Bill 2017 which proposes radical changes to the Copyright Act will see the country’s musicians, producers, actors, performers, film makers and creatives enjoy better revenues and accountability in as far as the collection of their royalties is concerned. The amendment Bill proposes that the Kenya Revenue Authority be tasked with the responsibility of collecting and remitting royalties for artistes as opposed to individualCollective Management Organizations (CMOs). “This can be viewed as an effort to bolster accountability and verifiability in the collection and remittance of royalties. Considering the national scope of collection of such royalties, it…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
Since the last months of 2016 the country has experienced long dry spells that have threatened health and local food security across different regions, affecting more than three million Kenyans. The disaster has since been declared a national emergency. The food situation in the country has hit dangerous levels especially in arid and semi arid land (ASAL) areas, which have been the most affected. So far according to the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), about 3.4 million people concentrated in 10 ASAL counties are affected and face starvation. As a result, the KRCS has appealed for funds worth Sh1billion to…
BY LUKE MULUNDA There is a new wave that is slowly but surely sweeping across Africa – and it’s not even the latest cryptocurrency mania. It’s something you possibly, innocently, do every day – or someone you know does. When more than half of the one billion Africans with access to Internet go online, more than half of them are likely to be checking out something to buy – and most end up closing the purchase online. With their fingers tapping phones, phablets and computers, Africans, considered the poorest people on earth, are fueling a new revolution in shopping that…
BY PETER WANYONYI Year 2017 was an astonishingly successful year for e-commerce worldwide. Retail (Business-to-consumer, B2C) e-commerce sales were worth over $2.3 trillion, making up over 10% of total retail sales worldwide. Business-to-business (B2B) global e-commerce sales topped $20 trillion in 2017. Forecasts are that this will continue to rise: as companies worldwide look to make as much profit as they can, they will continue to shift many of their customers online, cutting out expensive middlemen and moving towards ever-tighter supply chains. As usual, though, there’s a “but” in this rosy picture: e-commerce is growing worldwide, including in Africa, but…
JUMIA With a mission statement and ethos for connecting African consumers and entrepreneurs to do better business together, Jumia is blazing the trail of e-commerce sites in Africa. The company is creating a platform where small, medium and large African companies link with their potential market, thus creating a new-age ecosystem that bypasses the middleman. Launched in 2012 in Nigeria, the site has solidified a footprint in over 23 African countries, with a network of over half a million sellers since its inception. Jumia has managed to create a stellar reputation for being a hub for products and services spanning…
By Martin Muli A few years ago, one would easily dismiss the assertion that e-commerce would one day kill off “brick” and “mortar” retail as lazy thinking. The developments within the retail sector especially during the festive season have, however, brought forth the heft and impact of online shopping in the country. Long queues, which used to be a main feature at supermarkets are no longer there. A fraction of those who would have queued can now order and pay for goods to be delivered in the comfort of their homes or offices – just with a click. And the goods…
BY BENARD AYIEKO Asian Tigers are the highly developed economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. The story of the four, which began in the early 1960s, still remains a talking point in development economics. Often referred to as the “folklore” of development economics, the rise of the Asian Tigers had an infectious effect on the other Eastern Europe countries. It led to the emergence of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand – a phenomenon that greatly justifies the overwhelming attention that these economies have received in the recent years. It is this “miraculous” rise that has made them model…
Overeating is something many of us have battled with at one point or the other. However, there are some important ways to effectively deal with it and stop yourself from eating too much. Use the Hunger Scale You need to learn how to figure out the physical cues that signal true hunger and a real need for nourishment. A great way to do this is through the use of the hunger scale. This will help you figure out your need when it comes to food. There are six major components of the hunger scale and they include: Starving (an uncomfortable,…
BY KENYATTA OTIENO Prof. Bitange Ndemo wrote an article in a local daily in 2014 about Africa’s Poverty Contradictions and Dead Capital. Towards the end of 2017, the article went viral in online forums in Kenya. Several people came out this year to write rejoinders on social media and mainstream media forums some even saying the article was written this year. The problem is most of them missed the gist of Ndemo’s thesis. They only saw the rural house nail and picked a hammer without seeing the cultural wall coated with financial paint context the nail had been driven into.…
By C. M. Rubin “I believe that words, communication, literature and the arts, can promote peace, tolerance and harmony, and bring about a change.” — Ada Aharoni The biggest challenge for humanity in the years ahead just might be coming to grips with the idea that we are all in this together – we are living in a world that’s more interconnected than ever and more competitive than ever. Our most important work, if we are to progress as a healthy, productive world community, is about finding the common ground in social, political and economics related situations. Yes, the world is flat but…