Kenya has accepted to host the headquarters of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which is expected to enable traders on the continent to settle deals in their respective national currencies. According to President William Ruto, during the African Continental Free Trade Area Conference at Strathmore University on November 7th 2023, Kenya as a leader in the technology space in Africa was asked to host the headquarters of PAPSS, which he gladly accepted. “We have been asked to host the headquarters of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System in Kenya. Because we are leaders in the technology space and…
Author: Antony mutunga
Financial strain and work pressure are causing unprecedented burnout and stress, and altering mental health and workplace dynamics, in what experts call the ‘Great exhaustion’ phenomenon. Since the Covid pandemic hit, there has been unprecedented focus on health and well-being. However, most Kenyans are reporting overall well-being scores that are well below the global average according to the eighth annual Cigna 360° Global Well-Being Report. Kenya scored 60.6 on the 360°Well-being index, below the worldwide average of 62.9 points. This can be attributed to the fact that Kenya recorded one of the lowest scores in the financial index at 44.3…
Most African tech start-ups have failed to rise to pre-Covid growth levels, with funding greatly reducing and being forced to erase the expansion they experienced then. In fact, in some situations these start-ups have collapsed and closed down such as BRCK, Kune foods, We Farm and Notify Logistics. With funding depreciating, many start-ups are at risk of following suite. However, there is a sigh of relief as Norrsken22, a pan-African venture capital firm, has managed to raise funds, surpassing its target, aimed at supporting African start-ups. The pan-African firm, which was formed in 2022 and is present in countries such as…
The stage is set for the 2023 African Economic Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia between November 16 and 18. The conference was first held in 2006, organised by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), to discuss emerging economic challenges and opportunities that affect Africa. This year’s conference will focus on the development of Africa’s industries. Themed, Imperatives for Sustainable Industrial Development in Africa, African leaders, among other delegates, will focus on the opportunities and challenges that Africa faces to boost green and sustainable industrialisation. Geopolitical tensions and the pandemic, brought to light the inadequacies of African industries and the continent’s…
Recent natural catastrophes, including the COVID pandemic to the banking crisis to geopolitical tensions have all led to significant uncertainty economic around the world, negatively affecting economies as investors shift to a position of holding off on investments. The biggest beneficiary of this uncertainty has been gold, whose price has soared, with investors seeing it as a safe investment bet. Since the Israel-Hamas conflict culminated into a war on October 7th, the price of gold has risen 8% to stand at a high of Sh297,948.50 ($1,985) per ounce. Through time, gold has become a favorite for investors during crises. When…
Africa has been on a long journey to reduce its reliance on overseas institutions and countries. When fully implemented, AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a flagship project of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 to ensure inclusive trading, is expected to reduce reliance on imports and spur intra-African trade. This, according to Standard Chartered’s Future of Trade: Africa Report, intra-Africa trade is set to grow by 3.9% per annum and reach Sh20.99 trillion ($140 billion) by 2035. The increase is set to be as a result of double-digit growth in not only intra-regional trade in East and West Africa but also…
The government will introduce a fee on government and private-sector services offered at Huduma Centres in a move aimed making the centres self-sustaining, Public Secretary Moses Kuria has announced. “We are going to introduce a fee for service, be it government and private sector services to support our e-commerce because Huduma Centres can be the backbone of our national e-commerce initiatives,” he said. Since 2013 when the first Huduma centre was launched by former President Uhuru Kenyatta at the General Post Office in Nairobi, the centres, which stand at 52 currently, have been dependent on funding from the government. This…
Insecurity has increased in Africa as several countries face coups and civil unrest. West Africa has been most affected as countries such as Burkina Faso, Guinea, Benin, Togo, and Mali have continued to face instability since 2021. The rising cases have brought about memories of the region’s instability in the 1990s and early 2000s. With no end in sight, these cases of rising instability have negatively affected education in the area and the continent’s economic growth. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), over the…
Without a doubt, digitalization is a key plant in Africa’s progress. It has seen a number of organizations in the continent grow and expand to international levels. Furthermore, apart from assisting in growing revenue, digital integration has changed the lives of many. For example, according to Senegalese businesswoman Adja Sembene Fall, who recently won the African Development Bank’s AgriPitch competition women-owned business category, digitizing in marketing was key to the success of her tea company, evening with a meagre starting capital. It is for this reason and to shape the future of Africa’s digital infrastructure landscape that industry leaders and…
For the last decade, African start-ups have become quite popular, attracting billions in investment. However, most start-ups have failed due to financial and technological barriers hindering growth. This has been the case across all sectors, from the financial industry to health. As a result, AstraZeneca and Futurize, an eco-crowd funding platform that focuses on tackling humanity’s biggest challenges, have partnered up to launch a new incubator program that aims to help African start-ups in the health sector establish themselves. The incubator program, FuturizeU, is dedicated to nurturing early-stage university startups in Africa’s healthcare sector. Its core mission is to equip…