After several hours of bouncing up the Congo River in a motorboat, as my travel companions and I pulled into the muddy bank of a dilapidated military checkpoint—some crumbling colonial-era buildings, a lone solar panel, rows of bamboo huts—our small skiff was dwarfed by the only other motorized vessel we’d see that day. Belching black smoke into the humid air, the barge looked like it had been cobbled together out of spare pieces of wood and scrap metal. On the top deck, a cluster of women pounded manioc in buckets next to a smoking stove. Below deck, a girl trailed…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
BY PETER WANYONYI Ukraine does not normally make much news in information and communications technology. But in December 2015, that changed rather dramatically. Two days before Christmas, engineers at one of Ukraine’s largest power stations suddenly realised that they had lost control of their computer systems to an unknown attacker. The engineers watched with horror as a remote agent took control of their main computer systems, including the monitors, and then proceeded to shut off power to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian homes. As this progressed, another attack was underway at a different Ukrainian power station – this one used…
Digital Shadows, the industry leader in digital risk management, has launched its Digital Risk Management Technology Ecosystem. Formed from almost a dozen technology companies, with more expected to join in the coming months, they all share a vision for how security analytics and security information and event management (SIEM), product orchestration and automation, risk & compliance, intelligence and network enforcement must work together to best protect customers from today’s digital risks. All initial ecosystem members will bring their individual, industry-proven strengths to enhance Digital Shadows’ intelligence and digital risk management capabilities which extend across the widest range of data sources…
BY victor adar If you are a business oriented individual you already know that the moment a start up expands to Nigeria, Mexico, South Africa and even to United Kingdom, things are already on a roll. Forget the politics and the politicians, Kenya joins a growing list of countries outside of the United States where much sought after brands are now officially being distributed. And just like the moon which goes through phases, Lintons Beauty World and Jesavi, which are both owned by Kenyan women who have a passion for the beauty industry, are currently the talk of town, becoming…
BY victor adar Kenya’s property market took a thorough beating after the announcement of a fresh election as per latest reports by HassConsult, which prepares the Hass Property Index. The firm’s price indices for the third quarter of 2017 show that buying activity jumped by up to 400% in the three weeks following the announcement of election results in mid-August as the assumption then was that the electioneering period was over; this was cut short after Supreme Court announcement. The aftermath of the September 1st Supreme Court ruling that overturned the re-election of President Uhuru has led to a slowdown…
The growth momentum of the global economy has continued to pick up according to CMA’s Capital Markets Soundness Report. The report shows that major world economies including the US, Canada, Eurozone and Japan registered accelerated growth. On BRICS: India remained vibrant, with China displaying resilience, while Brazil and Russia are emerging from recession. But as the global economy is anticipated to generally register improved performance, what are the implications for Kenya? What are the ways to manage Kenya’s rising debts? Aside from the promising international markets, something that left many individuals scratching the back of their heads is the question…
BY DAVID ONJILI In this rat race of life, it is easy to confuse activity for productivity. You may have heard the story of the moth that admired a plant growing at the centre of the flower vase it lived in, every time this moth went round the clay pot, it assumed that it got closer to the flower only for it to one day die of hunger after it was not able to feed on the plant. Many people yearning to be wealthy are doing the wrong things like purchasing liabilities to fill up their houses and lifestyle and…
BY ANTONY MUTUNGA The world was hit in 2007/2008 by one of the worst crisis ever; the Great Recession, which ended up affecting almost every country around the globe. The negative effects of the crisis saw individual economies decline further and further, in terms of growth, as the financial sector of the world economy had been highly affected. Different economies tried several policies but nothing seemed to turn the situation around, creating the need for new policies that would help revitalize economies and minimize the damage caused by the crisis. As a result, some of the developed countries took a…
BY BARNABAS ONYONKA I am willing to put my money on the fact that you haven’t contemplated just how tactless the penalty of using banned plastic bags is. Yes, am speaking about the Sh4 million fine and/or 4years in jail. By the time I was writing this, no one was yet to be prosecuted and fined/ jailed for using the banned plastic bags. But that’s just for now. Sooner or later someone will be in for it. Before that happens, here is my case against the penalty. The scale of the fine At Sh4 million, the fine is at best ridiculous.…
He is a populist and now the Nairobi County Governor, Kenya’s Capital City and also East Africa’s economic hub despite stiff competition from Addis Ababa. His roadside declarations, though popular are now coming back to bite, nothing drives this home like his dalliance with hawkers in the Central Business District (CBD). In a communication from City Hall, Nairobi hawkers are henceforth allowed to occupy restricted streets of the CBD not beyond Tom Mboya Street as from 1400Hrs, they should not operate along the main roads or on both sides of any given street but in typical Kenyan fashion, this order…