Despite Kenya having more than 380 Digital Credit Providers (DCPs), access to credit has remained a challenge for many small businesses in the country, with players blaming the bad precedence on predatory practices. However, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) is beginning to streamline the industry. The regulator has licensed 12 more digital credit providers, a move that has seen the number of licenced digital lenders rise from 10 to 22, following the licensing of the first 10 in September last year. This means 359 DCPs that applied for licenses last year (since March 2022) are still inactive – CBK…
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.
The depreciation trend of the Kenyan shilling against the dollar is worrying. Since the start of this year, the shilling has been weakening thanks to growing demand of the US currency initiated by importers and oil companies. Today, the dollar demand is higher than the supply with the Kenyan shilling hitting a historic low of Sh124, an indication that the demand will continue placing the Kenyan shilling under pressure as key export earners experience reduced dollar inflows. People who import petroleum products, motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals, machinery, medicine, wheat, and clothing should be worried about the weakening shilling – importers will…
Fast moving consumer goods company, Unilever has been crowned the top employer in Kenya by the Top Employers Institute for the seventh time. Unilever led the food and beverages manufacturing sector list of the top 100 employers followed by Nestle Kenya Limited. Other firms on the list include Safaricom, Absa Bank, DHL Express Kenya, and TransUnion. Unilever Kenya’s managing director, Luck Ochieng’ said the firm aims at creating a favourable environment of mutual trust and respect for their employees to enable them to exploit their best potential. “Our goal is to create a brighter future for all,” Mr. Ochieng said.…
A look at the good side of a weaker currency. Since mid-last year, the Kenyan shilling has continued to drop against the dollar due to global uncertainties created by the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. As of October 20, the exchange rate of the shilling was about Sh121.60. In June 2021, the exchange rate dropped to Sh108. This has raised the price of imports, thus setting the stage for the price of all ranges of imported goods to increase, from electronics to furniture, motorbikes to vehicles, and second-hand clothes. As demand for the dollar continues to rise, analysts see a…
By Antony Mutunga For a long time, Africa took a back seat when it came to technology as the continent would follow and never lead in the sector. By leapfrogging the use of plastic money and going straight for mobile money, which is widely accepted in most countries, Africa will benefit going forward. African tech companies are currently pushing their way into the world economic forum technology pioneers’ list, an assembly of leading high growth firms from around the world that are pioneering new technologies and innovations. Like 2021, the 2022 list did not disappoint – African tech start-ups were…
BY ANTONY MUTUNGA Amref Health Africa and AstraZeneca, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH), launch a fleet of Mobile Vaccination Clinics (MVCs) in an effort to protect last-mile communities from the pandemic. As of June 17, 2022, 31.4% of the adult population in Kenya were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while Africa’s average vaccination rate is 17.7% lagging behind other world regions. Each of the 10 mobile clinics are set to help vaccinate 70 to 100 people per day reaching up to 1,000 people (on a daily basis) once they are fully operational. The initiative will also help to…
BY ANTONY MUTUNGA Nokia and African Telecommunications Union (ATU) have entered into an agreement in a bid to transform the continent’s digital journey. Rajiv Aggarwal, head of Central, East and West Africa market unit at Nokia, said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will ensure that all are able to benefit from technology and no country will be left behind due to lack of infrastructure, or training. “We will leverage our global technology expertise and insights on policy matters to positively impact the universal socio-economic development in the continent,” said Aggarwal. By leveraging the power of telecommunications, the two companies will…
Cyber security should be at the center of every business conversation to emphasize the need to establish an appropriate cyber security framework that matches the business environment – Report Antony Mutunga Shifting to digital ways of working has for a long time been a challenging task. But it wasn’t until the pandemic that the bulk of businesses started following that path. Cyber-attackers and hackers are evolving and gearing up to target these growing numbers of online users. According to the “evolving cyber security threat in Africa” report by Liquid Intelligent Technologies, over 90% of tech decision-makers across Kenya, South…
Electric cars can be embraced to reduce carbon footprint, which experts say is currently high By Antony Mutunga Why is it that electric cars have been around since the 1800s but it was until recently that their popularity begun to be visible? How come the vehicles are important now? What is the joy all about? There have been reports that the life-cycle emissions of purely electric cars are up to 69% lower than those of modern combustion engines. The merits of electric cars are believed to be more compared to those of petrol, or diesel automobiles. In particular, a new…
The social media-based customer support will not only drive a holistic shopping experience but also revolutionize e-commerce Ajua, formerly mSurvey, has partnered with tech giant, Facebook to automate commercial interactions and customer support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using WhatsApp. The “Janja solution” will enable automated customer support, borderless banking, and payments across apps and social media platforms. Its main objective is to rewrite the rules of customer care by making the process quick, easy, and painless. According to Teddy Ogallo, VP of product, merchant services for Ajua, this will help users increase their market reach, receive secure payments…