Huawei, Sunline launch contactless ‘Digital Loan One Box Solution’
Technology companies Sunline and Huawei have jointly released the Digital Loan One Box Solution — a global contactless solution for financial services. This solution will be rolled out across countries and regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa, where financial inclusiveness is urgently necessary. According...
Cambridge Analytica neither misused data nor colluded with Russia, watchdog finds
Infamous now-defunct data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica did not directly misuse data to shift votes in the Brexit referendum, nor did it work with Russia to meddle in the vote, a three-year UK investigation has found. The organisation, which has in the past 10 years been blamed for electoral mess in...
Coronavirus accelerates need for mobile, self-service banking
The coronavirus has accelerated the need for mobile and self-service banking, with traditional branches seeing a fall in customer traffic, meaning their customer acquisition has also significantly declined. Though it may be tempting to conclude that this will lead to bank branches becoming obsolete, that is not the case. Instead,...
From the Maria Theresa Thaler, to the rupee, to the Kenya shilling
Early use of currency in Kenya commenced with the Arab influence who were among the first to use currency as we know it. In Muscat, they used a silver coin called the Maria Theresa Thaler (MT$), first minted in Austria in 1741 and, not surprisingly, they continued using it when...
Blast from the past: The evolution of the Kenyan currency
Two years after the unveiling new currency in December by the Central Bank of Kenya’s, the country seems to have put behind it the appearance of the money that characteristically bore portraits of heads of government and state.The present currency coins and notes unveiled on December 10, 2018 bear wildlife...
$170,000 banana, potato factory puts money in pockets of Kakamega youths
With Ksh17 million ($170,000) World Bank and national government funding, youths in a remote village in western Kenya are going about their lives with a spring in their legs. Reason? They are now reaping the benefits of a value addition factory in Khwisero subcounty in Kakamega County that is now...
A Nigerian’s public outcry against graft is proportional to distance to dabble in it
On June 13, 1988, Pini Jason Onyegbaduo (1948 – 2013), a popular Nigerian columnist, propounded a “Hypothesis of Corruption.” The hypothesis was intellectually articulated in the now-defunct THISWEEK newsmagazine. But unknown to Pini Jason, he had developed what would become known as the “Jason’s Law of Corruption.” The “Law” would...
Market oriented horticultural smallholder farmers hit it big
Potato farming, among other horticultural crops, is the mainstay for farmers at Mwendi Kurima Cooperative Society in Engineer Town, Nyandarua County. Initially started as a self-help group by 13 farmers, Mwendi Kurima Group, whose membership currently stands at 350, it has weathered many storms over the years to become one...
Fishermen want Kenya, Uganda to resolve marine resources dispute
Fishermen in western Kenya county of Migori have petitioned Kenya and Uganda to agree on how to settle a protracted marine resources dispute over fishing boundaries. Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake in the world is a source of livelihood for more than 10 million people in Kenya, Tanzania,...
How geothermal energy powers farming in the heart of Rift Valley
Erratic weather and a burgeoning population that requires food employment is an ever-ticking time bomb. Nakuru, once synonymous with commercial agriculture and industrialisation in Kenya has over the years slipped down the rung, now needs rejigging to breathe new life into the once cleanest town in East Africa. Endowed with...
