Author: NLM Correspondent

BY malusi world From the time of the first industrial revolution that introduced the steam engine to the current revolution that very much revolves around technology in almost every sector, the world is constantly evolving. Thanks to the fourth industrial revolution, the business ecosystem around the globe has changed – for the better might I add – due to the integration of new technologies and the rising interconnection of systems. However, despite Industry 4.0 bringing about opportunities to optimise costs, innovation, diversification and agility, it also brings with it new risks such as cyber-attacks. This is quite the problem, as…

By Victor Adar One of the commonest forms of financial service scams is SIM swap fraud, which over 90% of Kenyan banking leaders identify as an issue for their organisations. When a customer lets their operator know that their SIM card is damaged, lost or stolen, the SIM is deactivated and a new one is issued. Since-last year, incidences of SIM card fraud have risen, perhaps testament to the fact that this recently prevalent crime has gained in the country. In response, although not specifically targeted at this particular crime, government enacted the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act (2018), a…

BY Antony Mutunga In the recently read budget, government well and truly angered Kenyans when it suggested some measures to entrench the feeling that it works against the common man, and to the benefit of the wealthy elites. The tax sector is one of the areas that witnessed many amendments, and left many Kenyans, particularly those in the low earning brackets, feeling that the government was pushing them too hard in finding the money to fund the Big Four Agenda. This is even after the taxpayers have witnessed billions of their money being squandered as a result of corruption, an…

BY Albert Mwazighe For a long time now, our country has experienced the same old cycle of people who, after going to school, start the tedious journey of looking for a job in their field of study. I hold the view that there is no problem with gaining an education; the elephant in the room is the lack of job opportunities for skilled youth! As an about-to-graduate youth, I reflect on the bad year-in-out reality with a heaviness of heart. How can the government, through its Council for Higher Education (CHE), continue to allow the teaching of obsolete courses which…

By TNLM Writer Often, operational investment decisions are the result, at least in part, of the ability to fill needed skill sets from accessible talent pools. As more countries enter the global competition for talent, innovative policies for resolving this tension have emerged, including preferential visa regimes and quota procedures. One region that has tended to lag is Africa. While the free movement of labour is a principle enshrined in certain sub-regional agreements, often it is either not ratified or effectively implemented, while in other parts of Africa obstacles to mobility, even of talented Africans, are prohibitive, time consuming or…

Uganda doubles down on hot social media tax After a brief review period, Ugandan regulators have decided to double down on both the decision to charge citizens a daily levy for access to social media, and the controversial reasoning behind it. Since July 1, Ugandans have been paying 200 Uganda shillings ($0.05) a day to use social media. Whoever didn’t pay was blocked from accessing sites and apps; to get round the blockade, many people have been using virtual private networks rather than pay the social media tax. As a result of a recent meeting between Museveni and MPs, the tax is…

By David Onjili In 2013, the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) launched The Growth Enterprise Market Segment (GEMS), to provide more long-term finance options to Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs). This was in recognition to a survey by FSD Kenya and the World Bank which noted that only 23.4% of SMEs had access to credit from banks, a situation made worse with the introduction of the interest capping rates in September 2016. Through GEMS, SMEs that had been in operation for more than one year without necessarily being profitable could still be listed in the bourse. By September 2013, GEMS had…

“Laws”, wrote the French novelist Honoré de Balzac, “are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught.” In the law’s bestiary, there are few greater insects than the state. There is a school of thought that holds that the state is not only the greatest insect but also the most poisonous one. The state of the doctrine has been described as “profoundly unclear”, while Professor Nelson calls the doctrine “fuzzy at best”. Seidman describes the doctrine as living a “secret life”. The doctrine does not come to the public on its own; like a…

By Bernard Boy The drums of war could, subtly, be nigh in the Rift Valley, well ahead of the 2022 succession polls. This, at least, according to authoritative sentiments of respected political leaders well versed with the region’s ethno-political dynamics and history, in the wake of the fresh intricacies of the Mau Complex evictions that have since, once again, assumed a political dimension. Sample this. The scene is Sagoo, Narok South, on June 24, 2018, where Deputy President William Ruto orders the eviction of those living beyond the tea buffer zone created in 2015 by the Jubilee administration. This affects…

By Emeka-Mayaka Gekara It is a rare spectacle. It is the kind of thing you would not imagine in the House of Commons, US senate or even the Kenyan Parliament. The fighters, as they call themselves, attend the South African Parliament adorned in red hats, overalls, berets, domestic workers’ uniforms and head wrappings, otherwise known as doeks. This is in stark contrast with their competitors who dress in crisp suits or flowing dresses. The choice of dressing by the members of the Economic Freedom Fighters is calculated to reflect the much-criticised idealism that they embrace. They have packaged themselves as…