BY ANTONY MUTUNGA Africans with access to mobile technology will be forced to be aware of the evolving tactics hackers now use to target users as cyber-criminals have increased their attention to the continent. In a report, cybersecurity and anti-virus provider Kaspersky, has revealed that the number of mobile threats for Android devices in the Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa (META) region increased by 5% in second quarter (Q2) 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Besides mobile banking threats, the company says, the most prevalent mobile security threat that was detected in Africa is adware, a type of…
Author: Antony Mutunga
Antony Mutunga
Antony Mutunga holds a Bechalor’s degree in Commerce, Finance from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. He previously worked for Altic Investment & Consultancy before he joined NBM team in 2015. His interest in writing ranges from business, economics and technology. He is also our lead researcher in matters business.
BY ANTONY MUTUNGA As the Israel-Hamas crisis intensifies, millions of citizens, especially ordinary individuals, are now active on social media platforms – they are directly affected and thus, in need of aid from the rest of the world, with many calling for donations through different channels. However, it is disheartening that most of the “soft requests” are created by hackers and cyber-criminals taking advantage of the war to enrich themselves at the expense of the true victims of the crisis. The use of deepfake technology, which entails manipulation of facial appearance through deep generative methods, has become popular and quite…
The company now operates 21 Carrefour stores countrywide, 17 of which are located in Nairobi, while Kisumu and Mombasa host two stores each. Majid Al Futtaim-owned retailer, Carrefour has opened its second store in the heart of Nairobi CBD, following the Comet House store, which opened its doors to the public in 2022 as part of its growth strategy in the country. Located at St Ellis Plaza on Wabera Street, opposite City Hall and spanning 500 square metres, the new store offers a wide range of product categories including fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh and dry foods, and home essentials,…
Posta Kenya needs support from the Universal Service Fund (USF) to subsidize operations of 300 offices which do not make any business sense Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) is in the process of transforming its outlets into comprehensive communications solutions hubs, offering a spectrum of services, including e-Payment, e-Governance, and E-commerce, among other innovations. Speaking during the commemoration of the 148th World Post Day in Nairobi, John Tonui, the Postmaster General and CEO of PCK said postal services are a key contributor to the growth of e-commerce, with Business to Customer (B2C) e-commerce being most effective where there is high…
Medical journal, Lancet Series, calls for standardisation of data, technology, and quality pre-natal information as national preventive measures to curb the high rate of early infant deaths and stillbirths that currently stand at 20% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Created through an international collaboration of a group of scientists, it estimates that 566,000 stillbirths and 5.2 million preterm or underweight births could be prevented each year by implementing eight accessible and cost-effective pregnancy interventions in low-and-middle-income countries, with the estimated cost of implementing these measures stands at $1.1 billion by the year 2030. “As a government and especially with the devolution of…
Listed electrical cables and conductor manufacturer, East African Cables, has lauded growing support for local manufacturers from Kenya Power as part of a strategy to enhance reliable electrical power distribution. According to the cable manufacturer’s chief executive, Paul Muigai, Kenya Power has steadily increased its efforts to avail procurement opportunities for local manufacturers as part of the Government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BeTA). Speaking when he confirmed the dispatch of the first batch of Sh 232 million electrical cables and conductor’s consignment to Kenya Power, Muigai said sustained placing of orders with local manufacturers will have a positive ripple effect…
On September 13, 2022, President William Ruto took the oath of office as Kenya’s fifth president, with a raft of ‘good promises’, but one year on, he has scored a C plain rating, with his deputy Rigathi Gachagua managing a performance rating of 47% in a recent poll released by Infotrak. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki took the best minister spot with a score of 59%, followed by Education’s Ezekiel Machogu at 55%, as Transport’s Kipchumba Murkomen, Agriculture Mithika Lintui and Health’s Susan Nakhumicha all recording an average performance of 53%. The poll, which comes amid soaring price of goods…
By Antony Mutunga T wo decades ago, most Kenyans were locked out of the credit market. As service providers, primarily digital lenders, entered the unexploited space, a high appetite for credit followed as financial inclusion grew. It resulted in high-interest rates and low access to credit, thereby attracting the attention of investors and stakeholders, with the Kenyan parliament passing a bill that imposed a cap on interest rates in September 2016. True, but the cap did not last, as authorities came to terms with the fact that it reduced the chances of private sector players accessing credit, leading to an…
By Antony Mutunga For years, Kenya has retained her position as the leading country in East Africa. The economy has been attracting investors and international organizations to her shores, making her the favourite destination in Eastern Africa. No wonder, the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) is the UN’s headquarters in Africa and one of four main UN secretariat duty stations. This shows how important Kenya’s position is to rest of world not only in the East Africa region, but Africa as a whole. With about 80% of East African regional trade passing through Kenya’s Mombasa Port, the country’s dominance…
BY SILAS APOLLO County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee is worried about Sh71 million debt choking the Muranga County-owned water companies, warning they risk crippling their operations. In particular, the committee singled out Murang’a Water and Sanitation Company (Muwasco) whose debt has grown exponentially in the last three years – from Sh60 million in December 2020, the company’s debt had jumped to Sh71 million as of January 2023, surging by an additional Sh5 million to stand at Sh76 million by July 2023. When Governor Irungu Kangata appeared before the committee last week, he was given seven days to submit…