Election debates should be about issues rather than personalities BY ALEX OWITI In a few weeks, Kenyans will be making the most important decision of electing the leaders they want through a ballot system. This will be the first election that will see youths born when the late Mwai Kibaki got into power in 2002, vote for the first time. They were born when Kibaki took over power from one of Africa’s longest dynasty, President Daniel Moi. And for the next decade, Kibaki’s regime was praised for salvaging the economy from collapsing and returning its prosperity. Even after his demise,…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
We produce our fruit better than many other global market players, grower says By Chris Flowers The avocado fruit has over the last decade and more swept the world’s imagination and attention to an extent that it qualifies as an iconic superfood – most countries have embraced avocado consumption, leading to a significant increase in new plantings. However, therein lies environmental challenges as some of these new areas expand into ecosystems where competition for resources occurs, or they are being considered as inappropriate for such a crop. At the moment, the conversation is about climate action and sustainability, but what…
In today’s market where consumers have hundreds of lenders to choose from, the ability to build products for customers’ unique needs becomes increasingly important. And it is about pressing the right buttons. Annstella Mumbi, Tala’s senior country growth manager talks to Victor Adar on the current digital lending market and why there is need to expand financial inclusion. Tala has upgraded its loan features to avail a flexible credit option dubbed “Jichagulie Due Date” giving customers the power to set their own loan due date; what’s the strategic importance of that move? It is aimed at ensuring we put the…
Business leaders are engaged in a delicate balancing act as radical workforce changes, new customer demands, external pressures and the impact of the pandemic collide to create a multitude of new challenges and opportunities. Cameron Beveridge, regional director for Southern Africa at SAP, believes corporate leaders are having to balance traditional business objectives such as revenue and profit with the demands of the modern economy that include building a healthy company culture, playing a positive role in society and being a good corporate citizen. “The lines are being redrawn around what employees, customers and broader society expect of a modern…
Jumia Kenya, e-commerce firm, has appointed a new chief executive officer Juan Seco as Betty Mwangi’s exits after serving the position for less than a year, having held the role from November 2021. Mr Seco has been an insider since 2015 whereby he first held the role of chief financial officer, before forming part of the founding team of JumiaPay as the chief operating officer in 2017. He was responsible for all financial aspects and reporting of Jumia’s ventures in the country, including Jumia, Jumia Travel (Jovago), Jumia Food (Hellofood), Jumia House (Lamudi), Jumia Services and Jumia Deals. He was…
Diamond Trust Bank Kenya Limited (DTB) has unveiled three new brick-and-mortar branches within Nairobi metropolitan area as part of its growth strategy. The new branches are located at Imara Daima (Imaara Mall), Kamakis (Viashla Business Centre) and Kahawa Sukari (Ruhan Plaza) bringing to 64 the number of the lender’s physical branch networks in Kenya. DTB Kenya chairperson Linus Gitahi said the move is part of the bank’s plan to deepen its market presence in fast-growing regions. “As a tier-one bank, we are keen on increasing our market presence as this underpins our growth strategy. The investments we are making are…
To meet the growing demand for men seeking services of male related medical issues, the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Nairobi has opened an Andrology Centre at its Peponi clinic. The clinic will focus on male reproduction, hormone and organ concerns including erectile dysfunction, male fertility, prostrate disease, premature ejaculation, penile and testicular cancers. It will also offer diagnostic tests such as semen analysis to check the volume, number, ability, size of sperms among other tests. “There is need for increased awareness for men to seek help for their reproductive health issues the same way women are quick to visit…
United States International University-Africa (USIU-A) has appointed American-born Prof. Margee Ensign as the new substantive vice chancellor. The university’s council chairman Kris Ole-Senanu said Prof. Ensign, whose term will start from September 1, 2022, will be taking over from the USIU-A interim vice chancellor Prof. Freida Brown. “The University Council is confident that Prof. Ensign’s experience leading two very different organizations as vice chancellor will enable her to address the challenges and opportunities for USIU-Africa,” Mr Ole-Senanu said. “She brings an undoubted commitment, passion and vision around deepening international and intercultural education in Africa: it has been at the heart…
One of the reasons that Safaricom’s MPESA has seen a rise over the years has been greatly due to having a large number of mobile money agents and merchants throughout the country as compared to the other telcos. However, this will soon stop being the case as Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom are now set to share mobile money agents and merchants in the next phase of mobile interoperability, a move that experts say, will foster healthy competition. This will allow agents to maintain a single float when serving customers, regardless of their network. Agent interoperability will be a big advantage…
Family Bank has signed a Sh350 million (€2.9 million) two-year partnership with a foundation that specializes in financing water and sanitation projects, Aqua for All, to facilitate increased lending to medium and small-scale water enterprises supplying low-income communities with safe drinking water either through piping systems or water kiosks throughout Kenya. The stakeholders are targeting Community-Based Water Service Providers (CBWSP) in order to provide improved access to clean, safe water to over 280,000 people. CBWSPs are organized as community-based organizations, self-help groups, cooperatives, societies, trusts, sole proprietors, associations, faith-based social projects and NGO social projects. Speaking during the signing ceremony, Family Bank CEO Rebecca…
