Facebook, Creatives Garage support Kenya creative industry with new platform

Facebook, Creatives Garage support Kenya creative industry with new platform

creatives garage Facebook Kenya creative industry

Facebook is partnering with Creatives Garage to launch a platform where Kenyan creatives can amplify their work and inspire others. This is part of efforts from Facebook to highlight the successes of people.

The partnership will also see creatives in Kenya receive training on audience engagement and monetizing of content on Facebook.

The partnership launches with the #RealpeopleRealstories campaign that will run till December 16th 2020.

Through the #RealpeopleRealstories campaign, Facebook will showcase stories of ordinary people using creativity and innovation to inspire their communities. The campaign will also highlight how Facebook and Instagram help people stay connected and pursue goals that build communities.

At Facebook, we support and invest in various communities across the continent notes Janet Kembo, Facebook Communications Manager for Eastern Africa. One of our key roles is investing and supporting African youth with diverse creative talent, she continues.

#RealpeopleRealstories aims to encourage people to share their experiences and motivate others to find solutions to everyday challenges. We are delighted to work with Creatives Garage to amplify the untold stories of ordinary people who are inspiring their communities through their work.”  

Janet Kembo

Now more than ever, creatives need innovative ways to share content that could provide sustainable income streams. Notes Liz Kilili, Creatives Garage Founder and Managing Director, talking about the partnership and initiative.

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Amazon announces launch Of New CloudFront Edge Location in Kenya

Amazon announces launch Of New CloudFront Edge Location in Kenya

Amazon Edge Location Kenya cloudfront cdn

Amazon is announcing a new Amazon Web Service (AWS) infrastructure to be located in Kenya. The new Edge Location in Kenya will be part of the Amazon CloudFront Content Delivery Network (CDN).

The Amazon Web Services Team made the announcement introducing new infrastructure in Eastern Europe and Kenya.

Amazon’s CloudFront service accelerates content delivery to users worldwide, with low latency and high transfer speeds.

The Kenya Edge Location will reduce wait time for end-users in the region when they visit a website, watch an online video, play a game or buy a product online, or download an app.

For businesses and developers that will mean less time to deploy services and solutions bringing satisfaction to clients.

We’re excited to announce the AWS infrastructure launch of new Amazon CloudFront Edge Location in Kenya.

Amazon recently launched its AWS Africa region in Cape Town, South Africa. It also hosted a virtual summit so developers and technology enthusiasts can take advantage of its Africa cloud region.

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New Safaricom app brings security, better UI, more user control

New Safaricom app brings security, better UI, more user control

Safaricom app mysafaricom

Safaricom PLC today unveiled a new mobile application (app) tailored at customers lifestyle. The new app comes with a new user interface, enhanced security and puts the user in control. It also promises an excellent experience.

Safaricom Head of Digital Products and Services, Fawzia Ali Kimathi, led the virtual launch event. Showcasing new and exciting features of the new mySafaricom app. She noted that this was a journey that began in October 2018 in response to customer feedback about the existing app.

Prior to the official release, about fifty thousand customers have tested the app. It has been in beta testing since February 2020, Fawzia shares.

We are very excited about this journey. It’s taken us a couple of months to get here. We welcome your feedback, both good and bad. We have adopted the agile methodology … so we will be releasing something fresh and new every two to three weeks”.

Fawzia Ali Kimathi

Speaking on some of the innovations the app brings she shares that customers who prefer to use the voucher card, can scan the 16 digits and it will automatically pick the digits and top up.

The new app will allow customers to choose five services in the favourite icon.

Postpaid customers can now see their usage during the month. They can see their credit limit, balance, make payments and increase or reduce limits.

Prepaid Safaricom customers will be able to see their airtime, data, Bonga and SMS balances. Topping up on any of the services happens right on that page from the new app.

A feature to know your data usage is currently available on the Safaricom mobile web app and will be coming soon to the mobile app.


Click to download the new app from the Google Play Store or iOS store and get free 500MB data.

Watch the full Safaricom app virtual launch event

Find out first-hand what other features the app brings with insights from Joel Kaba, Stephen Mutungi and Derek.

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Kenyan graduates, interns to receive Microsoft training and certification

Kenyan graduates, interns to receive Microsoft training and certification

Kenyan graduates interns Microsoft certified

Microsoft Kenya announces that over two thousand three hundred Kenyan graduates and interns will receive Microsoft training and certification by the end of this month.

The initiative by the company is aimed at closing the skills gap. As well as prepare the students for the world of work after college.

The program which started in December 2019 has seen 800 Kenyan graduates and interns trained so far. It is expected to see 1500 more students trained on Soft skills and Microsoft technologies by September 2020.

Students participating in the initiative have been selected from Moringa, Modcom, CodeLn, Andela, Cloud Factory and the Kenya Ministry of ICT.

Martin Ndlovu, Head of Skills Development at Microsoft 4Afrika, notes that ensuring workplace readiness for our young graduates is important in Africa.

What’s even more important in Africa, given the youth bulge and widening skills gap, is ensuring workplace readiness for our young graduates who are finding that their degree doesn’t quite fit the requirements of 4IR and the digital economy.”

Maurice Oduor, a participant in the programme shares, “the initiative has prepared me to venture into the world of cloud. From here, I plan to invest in my career towards cloud computing and maybe be an evangelist in the future.”

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This is why an eager world can’t do business with African markets

This is why an eager world can’t do business with African markets

The world is eager to do business with Africa but finds it difficult to access African markets because of poor infrastructure. Tonny Tugee, MD at SEACOM East Africa, discusses some of the factors impacting the development of infrastructure in Africa.

African Markets

Without a doubt, Africa is one of the world’s fastest-growing economic hubs. Crucial to this rate of development is the ability to meet the demand for key infrastructure. At the end of last year, a World Bank economic update reported that Kenya has seen its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector grow at an average of 10.8% annually since 2016, becoming a significant source of economic development and job creation with spillover effects in almost every sector of the economy.

While this is hugely encouraging news for Kenyans, it also raises questions about the factors which might impact the ongoing positive trajectory of infrastructure development, both in Kenya and the rest of the continent.

Fixed-line networks

In 2019, Kenya invested US$59 million in the Djibouti Africa Regional Express (DARE) submarine fibre-optic cable system, which reached the shores of Mombasa during March this year. The others include SEACOM, East African Marine System (TEAMS), Eastern African Submarine Cable System (EASsy) and Lion2 systems. According to Njoroge Nani Mungai, Chairman of Kenya’s Communications Authority, the investment demonstrates the government’s desire to improve Kenya’s position as a regional IT hub. It is also aimed at guaranteeing both companies and individuals’ access to a faster, more secure, and more reliable Internet connection. Revenues generated by the digital economy should reach US$23,000 billion by 2025, thanks to investments 6.7 times higher than those in other sectors.

In addition, terrestrial fibre networks have continued to expand, offering more connectivity options and better network redundancy – great news for land-locked countries. However, according to MainOne’s CEO, Funke Opeke, these remain underutilized due to high prices and a failure to establish an enabling environment.

Mobile network coverage

Telecommunications has continued to register positive growth, with increased uptake and usage of mobile phone services. High-bandwidth Internet infrastructure has become more widely available, while the rollout of 4G infrastructure by the MNOs has already led to substantial growth in subscriptions to data and Internet services. With the expansion of fibre-optic infrastructure across the country, more homes will be connected to better-quality, higher-speed broadband services, which will be extended to the rural areas.

Consequently, the increase in mobile network coverage has led to a decline in fixed-line networks related to voice calls. Alternative solutions need to be considered to ensure a stable Internet connection throughout Kenya to bridge the rural and urban digital development divide.

Poor infrastructure

The world is eager to do business with Africa but finds it difficult to access African markets because of poor infrastructure. Greater economic activity, enhanced efficiency and increased competitiveness are hampered by inadequate transport, communication, water, and power infrastructure. The World Bank economic update, mentioned earlier, highlighted challenges relating to the inadequate power supply, transport networks and communication systems as crucial to ensuring ongoing connectivity, and continental economic development. It found that the poor state of infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa reduced national economic growth by two percentage points every year and cut business productivity by as much as 40%.

It is estimated that about US$93 billion is needed annually over the next decade to overhaul sub-Saharan African infrastructure. About two-thirds or $60 billion of that is needed for entirely new infrastructure and $30 billion for the maintenance of existing infrastructure. Only about $25 billion annually is being spent on capital expenditure, leaving a substantial shortfall that must be financed.

Economic potential

The economic climate of Kenya will determine access to the tools needed to build the relevant infrastructure. According to André Pottas, Deloitte’s Corporate Finance Advisory Leader for sub-Saharan Africa, this translates into exciting opportunities for global investors who need to look past the traditional Western view of Africa as a homogeneous block and undertake the detailed research required to understand the nuances and unique opportunities of each region and each individual country.

The key to unlocking Kenya

With governments across the continent committing billions of dollars to infrastructure, Africa is at the start of a 20 to 30-year infrastructure development boom. Fortunately, we have access to a global network of exports, which we need to be utilizing optimally to ensure a stable infrastructure, both digital and physical.

However, in preparation for the boom, the only way for Africa’s infrastructure backlogs to be cleared and to unlock connectivity and communications in Kenya is through globally competitive, growth-oriented, mobile, and digital technology businesses. It is imperative to establish partnerships with trusted private sector players who already cater to the local and international communications market with reliable connectivity solutions.

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