Kenya has recorded more than 205 million spam short messages (SMS) messages, as per Airtel Africa’s Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered detection service, Spam Alert. Tanzania and Zambia come second and third place with 47 million and 33 million messages, respectively. “This free service is yet another demonstration of our commitment to consistently innovate to deliver an unmatched experience and safer network to our customers,” Airtel Africa CEO, Sunil Taldar, said. The service, which is available to all subscribers at no cost, identifies and prefixes the SMS with “SPAM Alert” and provides real-time updates, with the immediate impact being the elimination of…
Author: Victor Adar
Victor Adar
Victor Adar is a seasoned journalist with a Diploma in Mass Communication (Print) from the Technical University of Mombasa. He has previously worked with Reuters, Go Places travel magazine, and Aden Associates International. Since joining NBM in 2012, he has become a key member of the editorial team, covering enterprise, corporate affairs, HR, and technology.
UNESCO, in partnership with the Aga Khan University (AKU) Graduate School of Media and Communications (GSMC), has concluded a two-day training programme for editors, media managers, regulators, and representatives from journalists’ associations across Kenya to strengthen the capacity of local newsroom leaders to combat misinformation and disinformation. The programme, titled “Promoting Gender-transformative Media and Information Literacy Competencies in Kenyan Newsrooms,” was delivered under the UNESCO-backed “Social Media 4 Peace” initiative. Participants gained practical skills in fact-checking and verification, as well as integrating gender-transformative media and information literacy (MIL) policies into newsroom practices in Kenyan media. The training emphasized how editorial…
The Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) has launched the Centre for Sustainable Finance and Enterprise Development (CSFED) in partnership with WWF-Kenya, GIZ, and IUCN to encourage banks to develop solutions that support sustainable growth for society and the environment. The centre aims to promote sustainable finance practices within the banking sector and support MSME transformation through capacity building and improved access to finance. KBA chief executive Raimond Molenje emphasized that the centre will play a key role in greening the financial system and supporting enterprise development in Kenya. He stated, “We are committed to supporting the industry in advancing the sustainable…
With a record high of 42 million people facing acute food insecurity this year across Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda, according to the latest Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Regional Focus of the 2025 Global Report, it is time to shift focus to tackling food crises once and for all. The number of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity in the six African countries has tripled – from 13.9 million in 2016 during the first edition of the Global Report on Food Crises to 41.7 million in 2025. Sudan and South Sudan are the largest…
It is a new era of health reforms as Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) officially becomes a Level C5 parastatal, a status previously reserved for public universities. During a visit to the facility, Principal Secretary (PS) for Medical Services Dr. Ouma Oluga said the shift from county to national status must be felt immediately, urging the management to embrace its new mandate. Dr Oluga explained that the elevation is meant to attract and retain skilled health workers while positioning the hospital for financial sustainability, noting that national referral hospitals will no longer receive tax-based funding within five…
African development financial institutions and major banks including KCB, Equity, Ecobank, AfreximBank, Africa50, and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat will mobilise up to $100 billion to accelerate the continent’s green industrialisation. On Monday, September 8, President William Ruto witnessed the formal signing of the agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the Africa Climate Summit, marking a decisive shift from pledges to action. “In only a few months, we have moved from conversation to collaboration. United with our financial institutions, our energy systems, and our trade corridors, we can anchor inclusive and globally competitive green value chains,” Ruto…
Airtel Africa, through its data centre arm Nxtra, has broken ground for the construction of a data centre valued at Sh19.37 billion (150 million USD) at Tatu City special economic zone. The project is aimed at meeting the latest infrastructure requirements for cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) services. Scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2027, the data centre will have a power capacity of 44 megawatts and will host a new generation of servers capable of maintaining 99.999 percent uptime, with multiple redundant fibre paths to ensure connectivity. This development comes as rival telecom operator Safaricom pledges increased…
Last year, Kenya’s banking sector remained well-capitalized and strongly positioned to support economic growth even as some lenders continued to face the pressure to raise their minimum core capital to Sh3 billion up from Sh1 billion as per Central Bank of Kenya’s fresh rules. Latest data from the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) dubbed the State of the Banking Industry Report 2025 shows the lucrative banking sector maintained capital adequacy ratios well above regulatory requirements in 2024. The banking sector’s resilience and capacity to finance “inclusive development” was triggered by a sustained growth in total operating income in 2024, recording Sh990.46…
Kenya Airways has slipped into loss-making territory, posting a Sh12.15 billion loss in the first half of the year, a sharp reversal from the Sh513 million profit it recorded during the same period in 2024. The airline’s managing director and chief executive, Allan Kivaluka, has attributed the outcome to a sharp decline in capacity (passenger numbers dipped by 14 percent), the temporary grounding of three long-haul aircraft, and a shortage of spare parts. “In 2025, some of our wide-body fleet were grounded. We have nine Dreamliners—what we refer to as wide-body aircraft—designed for long-haul routes such as London and New…
Kenya’s entire economy has weathered many storms including quiet loans landscape, weak inflows of diaspora remittances as well as foreign borrowing that has in the past continued to put pressure on the demand for dollar. It is good news that as of mid this year, Kenya’s forex reserves stood at about $11.2 billion, powering the country’s exchange reserves. Nonetheless, a credit ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s (S&P), has upgraded Kenya’s long-term sovereign credit rating to B (from “B-”), speaking to a stable outlook. “The upgrade reflects our view that Kenya’s near-term external liquidity risks have receded,” S&P said in a…