Kenya dethrones South Africa in new technology race.

Adapted from TechCentral.co.za: South Africa appears to be losing its status as the preferred investment destination on the continent for international technology companies. That honour, increasingly, is going to Kenya, which may be on the cusp of a technology-fuelled era of economic growth.

When apartheid ended in 1994, there was a flood of investment into South Africa by international technology companies. Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Motorola, Xerox, Hewlett-Packard: they all poured millions into establishing local offices to serve not only South Africa but often markets across Southern Africa and even sub-Saharan Africa. The view was that South Africa was the gateway to the continent.

Twenty years later, and perceptions are shifting.
In South Africa, economic growth has flat-lined. In the technology space, a weak policy making and regulatory environment where fast and smart decision making just doesn’t happen, coupled with a

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Cracks emerge in Mau Mau settlment deal.

The British government announced compensation for Kenyans abused during a rebellion against colonial rule in the years leading up to independence

Foreign Secretary William Hague told the House of Commons more than 5,000 Kenyans will be compensated in a package worth nearly 31 million dollars, which translates to just about half a million

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Kenyan prostitutes embrace technology, and reap a windfall.

Hundreds of Kenyan call girls have subscribed to various sex chat sites, which feature live webcam models streaming direct from their homes and studios to various parts of the world, an investigation by Sunday nation shows. Modern technology has changed the face of Kenyan prostitution with the practice moving from poorly-lit back streets to some of the most exclusive estates in major cities.

In the coastal tourist haven of Mombasa, many twilight girls who used to linger around night clubs and guest houses are moving to secluded up market areas where they procure clients over the Internet.

Instead of physically booking rooms with their clients in lodges, the girls now use modern video transmission methods such as Skype to reach clients the world over, for a good fee.

The sophistication of prostitution became evident last week when police raided a five-bedroom luxury house in the posh Nyali area of Mombasa and recovered 15 laptops, all connected to wireless Internet (WiFi). The house also had high-speed broadband.

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4 of the most successful Mobile apps in Kenya.

An increasing number of young Kenyans are developing software, apps and cellphone-based programmes to help small-scale farmers increase their agricultural skills and yields. At the most recent PivotEast, East Africa’s premier mobile start-ups competition and conference, held in June 2012, three out of five finalists were young entrepreneurs who had created agrarian apps.
In whole, Kenya is proving to be a hot ground for mobile innovations, here are some of the five most well known.

1. M-Farm.
M-Farm is one of many services that have been developed in the last five years on the back of Kenya’s lead in information and communications technology (ICT), particularly mobile phones. With more than 6 400 farmers in its database, farmers couldn’t have asked for anything better. Three young software developers in their early to mid-twenties started the company in 2011 to provide market prices to

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The 10 Least Stressful Jobs of 2013.

Every job comes with stress, but some are just easier on the mind and body.
Career site CareerCast.com compiled a list of the least stressful jobs of 2013, comparing 11 factors like travel, public visibility, competitiveness, growth potential, deadlines and physical demands. The lower the score, the more relaxing the job.

Which jobs are the most laid-back?

1. University professor/ Lecturer
It’s true they have to create course work, give lectures, put in office hours, and grade hundreds of papers, but long summer vacations and seasonal breaks help wash away job-related stress. However, those looking to break into the field face serious competition, and teachers without the comfort of tenure may feel a bit more on edge.

2. Seamstress/tailor
Tailoring is mostly a low-stress job in a quiet work environment, but that’s probably not so true for those sewing costumes for big-budget productions with strict deadlines. However, CareerCast

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5 Things That Could Hurt Your Career- But You Didn’t Know.

Some of the ways you could damage your career are obvious - poor work performance, shouting at your boss and stealing from the company are all pretty well-known career-harmers. But there are less obvious things you might be doing that can also damage your career without you realizing it, and they're worth paying attention to.
Here are five ways you might harm your work progression that might not be so obvious.

1. Staying at one job for too long. You might think that loyalty to an employer would be valued, and it is, but there's also a point where staying too long at one company can raise questions for future prospective employers about how you'll adapt to new environments.
(You can combat this, however, by demonstrating adaptability: Showing a progression in responsibilities and job titles, and finding other ways to show that you're flexible, open to change and don't have an insular viewpoint.)

2. Being too good at something you don't like. In general, the better you are at something, the more

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Samsung Galaxy smartphones overtake Apple IPhone in market share.

Samsung Galaxy is overtaking the Apple IPhone in the Smartphones market, a new market research shows. This is attributed to increasing advertising spend by Samsung, and a lower price for Samsung products as compared to Apple products. Equally, Apple has not had any major IPhone product development in over a year, signaling that the company may be comfortable with the current

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4 of Kenya’s most memorable IPOs.

There are many Initial Public Offers that have been conducted in Kenya. Here are four of the most memorable.

1. KenGen IPO.

The KenGen IPO was the most publicized. It made Kenyans aware that there were other investment avenues apart from buying plots, and owning real estate. The IPO was massively oversubscribed, generating over 25 billion shillings. However, what the IPO really showed is that Kenyans had a lot of money, only that they didn’t know where to invest their money.

2. Eveready IPO.

Eveready IPO was regarded as a fluke. Many people did not have appetite for the shares, partly because of the lack of faith in the company’s long term prospects, as more Kenyans become

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Small Investors lose out on Safaricom Shares.

This weekend marks five years since Safaricom floated its shares at the Nairobi Securities exchange. A total of 10 billion shares were floated. It’s been mixed fortunes so far. For the government and institutional investors, the fortunes from the floating have been mind boggling, but for the small retail investors, the fortunes have dimmed, and that perhaps explains why small investors have largely shied

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10 Highest-Paying Blue-Collar Jobs

We tend to associate hefty paychecks with briefcases, neckties and lab coats – but it turns out there’s plenty of money to be earned by those who sport hard hats and coveralls.
This may be surprising, but plenty of talented and skilled blue-collar workers earn six figures doing electrical work, repair jobs, and other labor-intensive trades.

What defines a blue-collar job? The American Heritage Dictionary says, “Of or relating to wage earners,

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Opinion: Why Africa's 'Rising' Narrative is a fad.

Africa Union Flag:  Source:nepad.org

We are constantly reminded these days that Africa is rising, harboring six of the world's ten fastest growing economies. In March, the Economist declared that "Africa is the world's fastest growing continent just now," and the "hottest frontier" for investments. Time magazine's cover of Africa Rising said "it is the world's next economic powerhouse," and added that challenges lie ahead. The Wall Street Journal calls it "a new gold rush."

No question that some good stuff is happening in Africa, but the story does not end there. There is the other side. Africa is growing but its growth seems to be leaving people behind. The celebration, therefore, seems premature; it is like we are patching the roof of the house before laying the foundation down. That is very

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Fred Matiang’i: Government will not cut Safaricom to size.

Fred Matiang'i

The ICT cabinet secretary, Fred Matiang’i, has said that the government will not cut Safaricom to size. In an interview with Business Daily, he was asked what the government was doing to ensure that ‘not just one player is making profits in the industry’ a jibe which was aimed at Safaricom.

He replied that the government would only act as a facilitator, leveling the playing field and solving any industry disputes that may arise, and would not seek to cut some players to size. With about 65 percent market share, Safaricom made over 20 billion shillings in profits before tax in the last financial year. Its competitors, Airtel, Orange, and Yu, despite eating into Safaricom’s market share, have either posted minimal profits, or losses.

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Airtel introduces premium service for high net worth clients.

Airtel has introduced a new service for its high end clients; as it seeks to ring fence them. The new service will allow its exclusive 44,000 clients to access call center services at will, get free SIM replacement, a roaming solution when traveling internationally, and a dedicated customer service round the clock. Initially, Airtel had segmented its customers according to prepaid and postpaid, which the CEO says was ‘misleading’ as to the actual spending patterns of the customers.

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Equity Bank appoints new CFO.

Equity Bank has appointed John Staley as the new Chief Finance Officer, after the departure of Samuel oduor, who had held the post previously. Mr. Oduor had differed with the Bank’s CEO Mr. James Mwangi, over the bank’s strategy as it aims to consolidate its position as the market leader. Started in Murang’a in 1984 as a building society, the bank has grown to be one of the most profitable banks in

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Court annuls Kirima’s wills.

The high court has annulled two wills ‘allegedly’ written by Gerishon Kirima. Ann Kirima, a daughter to the late Kirima, had sought to have instructions to have a will written by Kirima in London in 2010 carried out. Teresia Wairimu, a widow, had also sought to be allowed to have instructions to a will written in 2006, and amended in 2008, carried out. Judge Isaac Lenaole argued that the wills were

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