If you are business developer and you want to start something in East Africa,I can say that you are in good position to see your brand  exciting  the industries since the region is the best place for business progress due to the fact that it gives room for both production and market at instant.Wheather you are in Kenya,Rwanda,Uganda,Burundi or Tanzania,the environment are supportive to productions an market since the governmental regulations favor business development.

Many industries are good to get into but it is only depend on   how your solution is uninique and can adapt with changes and time.Among the growing industries are telecommunication,Travel,Electronics,Biotechnology and so many others that are used in the first world can be introduced into East Africa.

I would like to introduce you on the best industries that can hold the best future in East Africa.These are:

Internet and software apps;
The have been an increase in the needs of softwares for both public and private organizations which aim to solve different problems that interact with almost the whole mass of users in East Africa and can be well profitable if the business focus is consistent.

Agriculture  and Biotechnology;
The demands for foods have been increase both within and the global at large,this means that we can take part in any corner of the industry and come with successiful business if and ony if we have awesome business strategy.

Related post:


The above industries are among profitable one in East Africa .As the part of interest if you are intending to solve any globe problem you can start from here.

NAIROBI, Kenya, July 30, 2013/African Press Organization (APO) 

 Equity Bank and Airtel Kenya have today entered into a partnership that will offer comprehensive mobile commerce solutions to their customers in Kenya, through Airtel Money. 

The service, available to all Equity Bank customers with Airtel lines, will enable customers from both Airtel and Equity Bank to access Airtel mobile banking platforms, perform agency cash transactions at Equity Bank branches and also enable Airtel services customers to withdraw money at any Equity Bank countrywide.

Airtel Money will also enable customers to pay their utility bills, receive bank transaction alerts, check account balance and receive mini statements, among other services.

Speaking at the launch, Equity Bank Group CEO Dr. James Mwangi said: “We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Airtel, which will further strengthen our commitment to extending financial inclusion across East Africa by enabling the unbanked and under-banked to enjoy the benefits of mobile payments, while also giving us the opportunity to better serve Airtel customers.”

“We shall continue to strengthen our business model through innovation, enhanced use of technology, automation for a better customer experience and collaborations with industry stakeholders such as Airtel,” said Dr. Mwangi.

“This partnership with Equity Bank marks yet another milestone in deepening the accessibility of Airtel Money to our customers throughout Kenya. The 203 Equity branches and 600 Equity Bank ATMs, will complement our 10,000 Airtel Money agents spread across Kenya  thus making it easier and more convenient for customers to have guaranteed access to Airtel Money deposit and withdrawal of cash,” said Mr. Jayant Khosla CEO Airtel Africa- Anglophone.

While emphasizing that Airtel believed in the delivery of innovative and relevant mobile commerce solutions that make life easier for its customers, Mr. Khosla also added that they will continue to educate their customers on the benefits of using Airtel Money mobile commerce solutions including the product’s convenience and ease of use.

“Equity Bank and Airtel Money have a shared commitment in ensuring financial inclusion from many in Kenya and beyond. I’m certain that this relationship will in the days to come empower more people in the larger East Africa region where Equity Bank is operating,” said Mr. Khosla.

Airtel Money is fast becoming the preferred way of sending and receiving money across the Kenya and the region with customers widely using to pay utility bills such as electricity, water and pay-television subscriptions. The process is fully automated and reflects in real time providing customers with a faster and more secure mode of carrying out their transactions.

Airtel ventured into the local mobile commerce business two years ago and now has  a vast dealer network of more than 10,000 agents which include banks, bank agents, supermarket chains and Posta outlets.

The partnership with Equity Bank will also help drive mobile money adoption in sub-Saharan Africa where Airtel Money has expanded to 16 operating countries  and demand for provision of convenient financial transaction processing services for governments, corporations and institutions across is rising.

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of Bharti Airtel Limited.
 

iHub Research and Research Solutions Africa conducted a 6-month study in 2012 to increase the understanding of usage of mobile services, products, and applications at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) and to understand their potential for economic and social empowerment. With the cost of mobile devices decreasing and such devices increasingly being considered as basic commodities, even amongst the BoP, iHub Research was commissioned by infoDev to conduct a follow-up study with a small sample of Kenyans living on less than $2.5 USD/day to better understand how they use their mobile phones for work-related activities and to earn a living. 

More Details on their Site

Tech360 Correspondent 

Jean-Philippe Courtois, president of Microsoft International, recently came to Kenya to visit President Uhuru Kenyatta and the iHub community.

The President of Microsoft International, Jean-Philippe Courtois, shall be at the iHub on Tuesday the 4th of June from 4.15pm to 5.45pm to speak to developers, students and bloggers on Microsoft’s plans to grow the developer ecosystem and its various partnerships.

Jean-Philippe has been in Microsoft for 27 years after joining the French subsidiary in 1984 and going on to lead the business, before moving to an EMEA role and now a global role. He is among the 25-50 longest serving employees in the company and that has given him a unique perspective on how the company and the technology industry has evolved, and what are the key trends that will impact business and society in the future.

He leads global sales, marketing and services for Microsoft International, a territory that spans 100+ subsidiaries operating in 240+ countries outside the United States and Canada. As president of Microsoft International, Courtois drives strategic planning, global operations and key growth initiatives in developed and emerging markets.

Jean-Philippe Courtois is also a director of PlaNet Finance and Microsoft’s representative at the Institut Montaigne. He has served as co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Digital Divide Initiative Task Force.

-Hapakenya.com

KARIBU Solar Power is an innovative solar social enterprise that makes high quality solar power affordable. We produce a modular solar lamp (solar panel + rechargeable battery + light) and employ an innovative social business model that allows the average Base of the Pyramid (BoP) consumer to enjoy the benefits of solar lighting and mobile phone charging. By paying in small increments which replicate the required cash flow for kerosene, we make solar affordable.

See the website: http://www.karibusolar.com

The above statements are the pitch of the Karibu company at the Venture Capital for Africa,whilst showcasing their products;is one of the product that  you must use for lighting as well as charging mobile phones,and other home equips.

Solar energy is an important part of life and has been since the beginning of time. Increasingly, man is learning how to harness this important resource and use it to replace traditional energy sources.

Solar Energy Is Important in Nature

Solar energy is an important part of almost every life process, if not, all life processes. Plants and animals, alike, use solar energy to produce important nutrients in their cells. Plants use the energy to produce the green chlorophyll that they need to survive, while humans use the sun rays to produce vitamin D in their bodies. However, when man learned to actually convert solar energy into usable energy, it became even more important.

Jordan Kalyembe

By the end of the last decade, and  Begin  of the new one we owe,the ICT companies have been largely increasing in number in other parts of the globe and specifically in Africa.Even though as the number increasing,the problems are not going to stop as we always facing daily challanges especially in innovation of the new technology which is the mother of development.

It is said that most employers underutilize the creativity of their employee hence fail to capture their fertile ideas into their companies.The major reason for these can be;lack of time,absence of effective processes to manage all the ideas and the fear to demotivate the employees when ideas rejected.

Encouraging ideas is the core management task,as the curreant existing business demand great attention;stimulating the ideas is the core task in leadership,this also fascinate and endorse the organizational creativity unwillingly.

With fast changing market challanges,demand customers and smart competitors,we need new ways to innovate and raise the new challanges.Being more creative is our only way to become resilient in time of Change and   Crissie will secure our sustainable success,therefore stimulating and harvesting creativity shall be our strategic priority.

-Jordan Kalyembe

The usability of smart phones which is still extending both locally and internationally; iphones and andreoid being theleading,most of local and international developers are now considering local usability of the smartphone applications,especially on social interaction such as facebook,twiter,what’s app and other social services supportive applications that arevery user friendly and outstanding.

The communication companies such as Vodacom,milicom ,Raselo ,ABI and other small enterpreneurcompanies such as coder lab have created best apps that we must use.


   The best 10 apps in Tanzania and awesome Kenyan’apps are the coming articles introducing this series of The Smartphone era in East Africa

 Content will be packaged and distributed via satellite delivery and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) as well as traditional terrestrial formats

 LAGOS, Nigeria, February 28, 2013/ -- The Bloomberg Media Group, a division Bloomberg L.P. (http://www.bloomberg.com), today announced a multi-year rolling partnership agreement with Nigeria-based content provider, Optima Media Group, strengthening Bloomberg’s position as a leading supplier of global business and financial news television across the African continent. This partnership will create a new entity – Bloomberg Television Africa. 

Launching in the second half of this year, Optima Media Group will produce three to four hours of business programming per day which will be available to African viewers across the continent via Bloomberg’s English-language EMEA feed. Optima Media Group will engage its existing content and distribution channels to supplement Bloomberg's English-language international news and analysis across Africa.  

"The agreement with Optima Media Group will dramatically accelerate Bloomberg Television’s presence and reach in Africa,” says Andy Lack, CEO Bloomberg Media Group.  “It is the latest component of our wider strategy to partner with leading providers in markets that have a compelling economic growth story. This has already seen us strike similar partnerships in India, Turkey, Mongolia and the Middle East. In doing so, we are able to provide viewers with the sharpest global business and financial insight as well as highly-localised and market specific content.”

"Bloomberg Television Africa will provide a dynamic and relevant context for the coverage of financial news across the continent. The programming will highlight the business in everyone - from everyone in business,” said Rotimi Pedro, Group CEO at Optima Media Group Ltd. “We look forward to working closely with Bloomberg Television to bring together top CEOs, policymakers and thought leaders to explore what fuels African growth.”

Localised and international Bloomberg Television content will be packaged and distributed via satellite delivery and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) as well as traditional terrestrial formats.  The partnership deal applies to all of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Content will be produced in Lagos, Johannesburg, London and Nairobi with dedicated presenters, reporters and producers based in each market.

An executive producer from Bloomberg will be appointed to work alongside Optima Media Group to assist in the production of the channel’s economic and business coverage drawing on Bloomberg’s extensive financial and economic data from the Bloomberg Professional service and reporting from Bloomberg's 2,400 journalists in 146 news bureaux across 72 countries.

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of Bloomberg L.P.

Local firms are setting up operations in neighbouring  East African countries and beyond, in the hope of tapping into the fast growing ICT industry in the region.

Nairobi, Kenya

According to a new report, Kenyan firms are dominant in the region, with 17 per cent those that were surveyed saying they either have operations or implementing projects in the neighbouring countries. Larger and mature firms have been able to spread their tentacles further a field, with some setting up operations as far as West and Southern African countries, and a select few selling their products or undertaking projects in other continents — including Asia and Latin America.

The darling

The Julisha survey released last week notes that Uganda seems to be the darling of Kenyan firms, with 24 per cent of the local ICT firms that responded to the study saying they had operations in Uganda, despite being relatively smaller compared to other markets in the region.

“While Uganda is a smaller market than Ethiopia and Tanzania, more local players have invested there (23.9 per cent) compared to 14.1 per cent and 19.7 per cent in Ethiopia and Tanzania respectively. This is mainly due to the more relaxed investment environment in Uganda,” said the survey by Kenya ICT Board.

Main focus

“Southern Sudan has recently become a main focus area for local players, despite the high risks of operating in that country and its high dependence on oil for foreign exchange. Nonetheless, some companies are willing to take risks, especially to pursue opportunities in government and with International NGOs.”

Among the other countries where about 17 per cent of local players either have a presence or are undertaking major projects include India, the United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, Ghana and Nigeria. Other countries where Kenyan firms have a presence are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

 By Macharia Kamau ,standardmedia.co.ke

Paul Kukubo

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 19 – After serving two terms as Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya ICT Board, Paul Kukubo will be leaving his post come July 2013,marking the end of his second three-year contract.
Since taking office in August 2007 as founding CEO, Kukubo has effectively managed the board’s functions by promoting and facilitating the development of information and communication technology products and services as well as extending counsel to the government on matters pertaining to the development, coordination and promotion of information and communications technology industries in the country.

In the six years, Kukubo’s efforts to grow the local ICT market as well as promote Kenya as an ICT investment destination saw Kenya successfully promoted both locally and internationally as an ideal ICT investment destination and he continues to be a great asset to the board and the country.
Kukubo is expected to assume office in July as the Chief Executive Officer of the East Africa Exchange (EAX) in Rwanda.

EAX Rwanda is the first part of a regional exchange intended to increase transparency in the region’s commodity markets.
Through private-sector-led investment and under the terms of an agreement signed with the Government of Rwanda, the East Africa Exchange aims to increase regional market efficiency and liquidity as well as giving the region’s population of 130 million, especially smallholder farmers, better access to markets.

Powered by NASDAQ OMX, the exchange will initially focus on establishing an auction facility and spot trading for agriculture and non-agriculture commodities, but will also develop futures trading across East Africa.

Its investors are Berggruen Holdings (a part of the Nicolas Berggruen Charitable Trust and advised by the Berggruen Institute on Governance), Heirs Holdings, 50 Ventures and Rwandan led Ngali Holdings.
Kukubo was chosen for his transformative leadership of the information technology space in Kenya and strong entrepreneurial experience in start-ups and he joins an experienced team of Africa advisors that include Roderick Gravelet-Blondin, former Managing Director for the South African Futures Exchange and Stella Kilonzo, former Chief Executive Officer of the Capital Markets Authority in Kenya.

EAX will complement the East Africa Community’s (EAC) goal of regional economic integration as set out by the Common Market Protocol, increasing liquidity, sustainability of regional financial and commodity markets and supporting the EAC’s competitiveness globally.

EAX will also uplift national and regional economies by reducing market barriers to trading, providing a transparent regional economy through a secure mechanism that facilitates financing to farmers and traders.
Berggruen Holdings, Heirs Holdings and 50 Ventures have also partnered to form Africa Exchange Holdings, Ltd (AFEX), which seeks to develop a network of commodity exchanges in Africa to transform trade dynamics and ensure higher incomes for the rural poor.

Kukubo was also a principal founder of 3Mice Interactive Media Ltd, and co-founder of Init Communications Ltd.

He holds a Global Executive MBA, a joint program between Columbia University and United States International University-Africa, and a Bachelors of Art in Economics and Sociology.

CapitalFM 

In the last decade, Kenya has moved from a very backward position technology-wise to one to look out for. From dead slow internet speeds to plenty of bandwidth, low mobile network coverage to robust countrywide coverage and now eyeing Long Term Evolution technology like the rest of the world.
Most of these developments have been mostly pushed by the consumer demands and need to keep up with the global business environment.

In 2006, the government had a plan whose focus was on building infrastructure to connect Kenyans to the internet. Thus, one fibre optic cable was welcome. That was then, now there are four fibre optic cables live in the country, a fifth one is expected to land very soon and two more later.

With sufficient broadband now in place, Kenya is ready for take off to be the ICT hub of Africa.
The ministry of Information and Communication has developed a five-year master plan that will determine the priorities and key initiatives to be undertaken to achieve this.

The master plan to be implemented up to 2017 will be anchored on three main pillars: enhancing public services, use of ICT in businesses and industries and developing local innovators and content.
The blueprint will be developed in line with the national development plan, Vision 2030.On the public front, it aims to have 100 per cent of the population connected to the internet and able to access at least 80 per cent of the public services online.

"So far we have all the 47 counties connected on the national fibre backbone. Once the county governments take over we will take a whole-of-government approach constitution to IT alignment," said Information PS Bitange Ndemo while launching the master plan.

Other priority areas that have been identified are provision of health services by growth of tele-medicine and health apps, connected education trough a National Schools Education Network (SENet) and connected agriculture

The plan aims to develop a pool of innovators to create 500 ICT companies and 50,000 jobs. This will make the ICT industry to contribute an estimated 25 per cent of Gross Domestic Product by 2017.

The Star Kenya

Nairobi, Kenya

Kenya on Tuesday announced the launch of the country's National Cybersecurity Strategy and Master Plan(NCSMP). The NCSMP will be part of the National ICT Masterplan that will be launched on Thursday this week.

The launch was held at the Sarova Stanley and attended by Bitange Ndemo - Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication, Paul Kukubo - Kenya ICT Board CEO and consultants from Booz Allen Hamilton who helped develop the master plan. The master plan is meant to come up with a guide of how the government and private sector will approach cyber security issues, which is currently approached in a reactive manner.

The PS said that passwords were dead as a means of security and it's time the country moved to a better security system to mitigate existing threats. Threats in the country have been on the rise as the country's ICT infrastructure develops, starting from the arrival of undersea fiber optic cables in mid-2009. The arrival of Government Shared Services in coming months and Kenya Infrastructure Project will lead to more exposure and threats.

Recent security issues include the defacement of 103 government websites and a number of attacks that have hit the banking sector. Fiona Asunga - CEO at the Telecommunications Service Providers Association of Kenya(TESPOK) says that through a private sector Cybersecurity Incident Response Team (CIRT) has been helping a number of banks mitigate attacks on their networks.

Kukubo says the NSCMP will provide a governance mechanism, both for government and private sector, a Chief Security Officer (CSO), coming up with a national cyber security assets inventory and establishing approved cyber security vendors. The use of ICT in many industries means that national infrastructure such as water companies, power infrastructure, banking and payments are exposed to ICT threats.

Ndemo says the governing board will be multi-stakeholder, much in the same way as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). He also said that a data protection bill was in the draft.

Tyrus Kamau, one of the consultants behind the masterplan says that its implementation will see better cyber security in the country, which will in turn lead to confidence in electronic transactions, resulting to economic growth. The move will also ensure confidence as the government rolls out various eGovernment services.

The Master Plan will be published in two weeks and then open to input from stakeholders. At the launch, it also emerged that there was a shortage of ICT experts in the country. This include DNS security experts that saw the Kenya Network Information Centre hire a South African firm to implement DNSSEC, IBM which couldn't find data scientists locally for their recently open Research Lab. The government trained data centre experts which it immediately lost to the private sector.

TESPOK and the government also differed on the implementation of individual IP addresses on all connected devices rather. Currently, telecommunications providers use network address translation which maps few external addresses to a number of devices using a different set of internal network addresses. Outside the network, all these devices are then seen as one device. The government says there's no policy on firms disclosing security breaches and data exposure in such breaches.

CIO East Africa (Nairobi)

 

Mobile Web East Africa 2013, the third East African edition of the most progressive and interactive mobile focused events in Sub-Saharan Africa, returns to the Southern Sun Mayfair Nairobi, Kenya on February 19^th to 21^st.

The event will feature the very best local and international speakers from organisations including Safaricom, iHub Research, iROKO Partners, Buni TV, East African Breweries, FrontlineSMS, BlackBerry and Airtel. Together, they’re going to be the stimulus behind the discussions and interactions that will advance the sector.

Full details on the packed agenda, fantastic speaker faculty, unrivalled past attendee feedback, unique interactive roundtable format and stunning venue can be found at www.mobileeastafrica.com.

A limited number of half price tickets are available for start-ups & developers and Mobile Monday Dar es Salaam members can claim a 15% discount on event attendance. Capacity at the venue is limited to 140 so early registration is strongly recommended. Please contact the Mobile Monday Dar es salaam team for discount codes.

Mobile Monday Dar

It’s amazing how some cool Kenyan minds have decided to use the ShadowElection platform to give the pre-overview of their general election. The cool ease of access platform allows Kenyans to vote for their preferred leader of their choice.

The platform gives the real time preview of the results in terms of percentage corresponding to the respective leader. The link for the platform is http://kenya.shadowelection.com. The platform gives you

You then have the opportunity to invite up to 50 Facebook friends on to the page. The platform has not grown much and by the time of writing this article, Peter Kenneth is leading in votes. The virtual votes might not turn in to real votes but the platform is a great try.

Tech360 Correspondent

Intel Lexington launchIntel and Kenya’s largest mobile operator, Safaricom, announced yesterday the introduction of a low cost Android smartphone in Kenya. Called Yolo, the entry level phone will cost 10,999 Kenyan Shillings (about US $127). Like recent offerings by competitors in emerging markets, the phone is dual SIM.

The phone is part of the Intel inside Smartphones that the processor company announced earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the US. The platform, Intel says, assures Yolo buyers of “fast Web browsing, impressive multimedia capabilities and a great Android applications experience.”

The physical and inside specs:  3.5-inch touchscreen, 1.2GHz processor, HSPA+ modem support, Android 4.0.

The phone is not entering an Africa starved of low cost Android smartphones. It will compete with offerings from Samsung (Galaxy Pocket), Huawei (Ideos Ascend), LG (Optimus Me), ZTE, and a horde of Asian imitations priced lower  - typically below $100. So it may all boil down to Yolo’s better performance for any winning traction in the market. But then some early reviews of the new Intel Atom processor that the device is based concluded the experience is, in The Verge’s words, “lethargic”, so…

It’s pleasing still to see more low cost and (promised) high performance devices introduced in emerging markets. The increased choice will give competitors a run for their money, and we will surely result in improved quality even for the imitations.

Techzim.com

The migration deadline had initially been extended to December 31 last year from September

Information and Communications Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo has warned that Kenya risks missing the internationally agreed deadline to migrate from analogue TV to digital signal by 2015, if the process continues to be delayed.

This is after the High Court early this month suspended the switch-off until after the March 4 elections, following a petition by the Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) which argued Kenyans were not yet ready for it. 

The migration deadline had initially been extended to December 31 last year from September.

Ndemo called on the lobby group to cooperate with the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) and ensure the migration kicks off before July this year.

“It is very sad that we have had this setback because it takes an average of five years to migrate. Those countries that have done so started like eight years ago that is why we need to push and migrate. There is nobody that will say because Kenya delayed, give them some more time. No, the cut-off will still come by 2015,” Ndemo told Capital FM Business on Tuesday. 

He said the negotiations between CCK and Cofek on the matter are expected to start early next month after the court urged the parties to agree on the deadline among other contentious issues.

“We only have three years. That is not sufficient time to migrate. So we will have to explain more clearly to all the stakeholders and tell them that we have to move. The government has done its bit and we will still see what we can do to get more incentives,” he added.

Ndemo insists that the country needs to hasten the process for resulting hitches to be corrected before the global deadline. 

Some of the demands that Cofek plans to present before CCK during the negotiations is to have the switch-off deadline pushed to October 31 this year to give Kenyans ample time to prepare for the switch-off. Cofek also wants the cost of the set-top boxes lowered to less than Sh1,000 from the current Sh5,000. 

The High Court gave the parties until February 20 to reach a consensus. If negotiations will have not commenced by then, Cofek will advise the High Court to proceed and make its own determination on the matter.

 

Capitalfm.com

According to the latest statistics report published by the Communications Commission of Kenya for the July to September 2012 quarter, the country’s  mobile penetration rate grew to 77.2% (from 75% in the previous quarter) on a mobile subscriber base of 30.4 million active SIM cards.

Here are other subscriber and usage stats revealed in the report, which you can download here:

 

 

1. Prepaid subscriber consist 99% of all mobile subscribers. A pattern quite normal on the continent
2. Minutes of Use (MoU) per subscriber per month increased to 76.7 from 71.2 recorded in the previous period, representing a growth of 7.7%
3. SMS messages sent in the period increased by 10.1 percent to reach 1 billion.
4. Fixed line subscriptions declined by 5.8% with a total number of 248,300, down from 262,711 subscriptions in the previous quarter.
5. Mobile data/internet subscriptions comprise 99.2%  of all total Internet/data subscriptions.
6. The number of estimated internet users rose by  10% to stand at  13.53  million users.
7. Broadband subscriptions grew by 38.4% from 726,802 subscriptions recorded during the previous period to 1,006,071 subscriptions.
8. International internet used bandwidth for the period was 278,329 Mbps up from 264,584 Mbps recorded in the previous period. The total available bandwidth in the country was 576,186 Mbps
9. Under postal and courier sector, the number of letters sent locally increased by 5.9% to reach 17.7 million letters, up from 16.7 million letters posted the previous quarter. Compared to the same period of the previous year, there was a decline of 14.3%.

Biztechafrica.com

Konza City

Nairobi — The much awaited historic Konza Technology City, which is equated to the famous Silicon Valley in the United States of America, is now a reality after the official launch by President Mwai Kibaki on Wednesday.
This now opens gates for the developers and investors to start construction at the new city dubbed Silicon Savannah, which is expected to brand the country as a global destination of choice for technology innovations.
The Kenya Silicon Valley, on the border of Makueni and Machakos counties, where the city will be constructed on a 5,000 acres piece of land, is located 60 kilometres from Nairobi. Once completed, the Sh850 billion project being driven by the Ministry of Information and Communications is expected to attract sufficient investments to create over 20,000 direct jobs by the end of the year.
The components of the city include a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) park, science park, mega malls, convention centre, data schools, world class hotels, international schools, world class hospitals, championship golf course, financial district, high speed mass transport system, residential housing among other high class developments.
"I have directed that mushrooming of unplanned developments must stop and controlled developed should only be allowed in Konza City. Also in areas adjacent the city and along Mombasa road. Konza city cannot stand alone but should start and go with excellence and standards," said President Kibaki during the ground breaking ceremony.
The government will facilitate the construction of both onsite and offsite infrastructure including roads, water and sewerage systems, energy and high-speed rail in order to make the city more attractive, productive and habitable.
The private sector on the other hand is expected to raise funds for developing the actual city. Konza city is to be built in four phases over a span of 20 years with phase one to be completed by 2017 at a cost of Sh209 billion.
"Convention Centre Park will be the first, so that people can be able to even have meetings when they come here. This may be on a about 200 acre piece of land," said Todd Sigaty, Event Director at Shop Architects, a New York based firm which has done the Konza City design.
The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communications Bitange Ndemo assured the residents of full benefits of the city amid fears that the new classic development would largely benefit foreigners and sideline locals.
"We have created enabling environment to invest in the project and we have also developed legal institution framework," Ndemo said. Residents who spoke to Capital FM Business were optimistic that Konza City will bring positive change in their lives.
"I live in Machakos and I am happy that Konza City will create over 200,000 jobs as our president has said. That is great. We are waiting to see how this big land will look like. We thought it was a joke, but now we believe it's a reality," said Jimmy Nzioka, who had attended the historic event. The city will be managed by Konza City Development Authority.
Capitalfm.com

The e-book gives out detailed information about the scope of the IT industry in Africa. The analysis is done by the major African IT sector technology players the likes of Mbwana Alliy and others.

The book is called “Technology in Africa -2013 Digest”, the book covers different tech communities in Africa and the opportunities and challenges that lies upon them, the emerging tech competitions in Africa and the rapid change in technology and the why the Africa’s tech communities respond to the changes.

The book talks about the tech communities, the management of funding and startups, the e-governance and the contribution of the internet to the governing systems and the way mobile advertising and marketing can be the next solution to the African business owners who operates in the continent.

For More details about the book clickhere 

Tech360 Magazine Correspondent 

Airtel is the first and only operator in Kenya to comply fully with the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) directive on SIM card registration by making it mandatory that all its new SIM cards are registered before being used on the network as from January 02, 2013.
The CCK had directed compliance on SIM registration by December 31, 2012, inspired by the need to stem the rising incidences of mobile phone perpetrated crimes, including kidnaps, extortion, hate speech, money laundering and drug trafficking. This registration requirement directive also applied to those taking up mobile phone services for the first time as well as those buying additional SIM cards.
Airtel had taken the directive seriously, conducting public awareness campaigns all over the country to rally its subscribers to register their lines ahead of the December 31, 2012 deadline on subscriber registration. In a statement the Airtel Kenya managing director Shivan Bhargava said "We are implementing the directive from CCK to suspend unregistered lines and we will continue to do so until all existing unregistered lines are cleared. We have also made it convenient for our customers to register their lines by simply dialing *800# for the self-registration process. The self-registration menu provides our customers with a simple menu where they fill in all the details required by the CCK including their names, telephone and national ID numbers from the convenience of their handsets."
Mr. Bhargava urged all Airtel subscribers to take advantage of this process andregister their lines immediately to avoid suspension and to enable them to continue enjoying Airtel's affordable quality communication. New subscribers on Airtel are being registered on the spot by the retailers through a short code that provides a menu for registration. The retailer dials *700 # and fills in the details of the customer followed by an immediate confirmation message upon successful completion of the registration process. All new SIMcards offered for sale by the company are only activated upon the successful completion of the subscriber registration process, ensuring that Airtel is fully compliant with the CCK guidelines for the new SIM registration and customer acquisition.
So far Airtel have suspended outgoing call services for 324,033 subscribers out of the targeted 822,526 subscribers on the network. unregistered SIM cards owners were however handed a 90 days reprieve by the regulator toregister their lines failure to which they will be permanently de-activated. According to Communication Commission of Kenya, there are a total of 30.8 million active SIM cards in the country of which 80.4 per cent or24.7 million are registered.

CIO East Africa Kenya