Author: Korir Issa

Twiga Foods, a Kenyan tech-enabled food distribution platform is investing $10 Million into a new subsidiary that is focused on modern and commercial farming. Through Twiga Fresh, it looks to scale efficient production of domestic horticultural staples like onions, tomatoes and watermelons making it one of the largest single horticultural farms in Africa, focused purely on the domestic market. Twiga Fresh will be funded through debt in partnership with Development Financial Institutions, focused on primary agriculture and food security. “The commodity-driven volatility in the world today is causing an unprecedented level of food inflation across the world. In Africa, we…

TopUp Mama, a Kenyan startup which provides African restaurants with access to supplies, financial services and business management tools, has closed a US$1.7 million seed funding. This seed round was led by Ventures Platform, JAM Fund, Next Billion Ventures, Future Africa, Jedar Capital, HoaQ Fund, First Check Africa and DFS Lab. The funds will be used by TopUp Mama to accelerate growth, build out the technology, and scale its sales management tools for restaurants. “I grew up in the restaurant business in Zambia, and I know first-hand the power small businesses have in transforming lives. This is why we’re passionate about increasing restaurant…

The Nairobi Expressway is now officially open, which means you can enjoy smooth rides along the 27.1-kilometre road between the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Westlands. The road starts from Mlolongo, passes through the JKIA, along Mombasa Road through Nairobi’s CBD to the James Gichuru junction along Waiyaki Way. The Expressway plays a crucial role in decongesting the city and boosting Kenya’s economy by saving millions of shillings lost in traffic every year. However, being a toll road, one needs to pay to use it, and for this, you can either pay electronically or through cash. You will need…

Safaricom plans to launch M-Pesa GlobalPay powered by Visa Virtual Cards for international online payments. The telco’s chief executive Peter Ndegwa said it is targeting to issue the cards in the year. “With support from our regional regulators and partners, we are working together to deliver innovative products in a new year such as Visa Virtual Card by M-PESA GlobalPay to support international online payments,” says CEO Peter Ndegwa.  M-PESA GlobalPay cards would enable its customers to transact at all merchants accepting payments through cards. M-PESA, which marked its 15th anniversary in 2022, hit the 30 million active customer mark…

Home prices in Nairobi Metropolitan Area (NMA) and land costs in satellite towns around the capital have risen to new highs on the back of renewed demand from buyers according to HassConsult data. Land price indices for the first quarter of 2022, prices in the towns rose by 2.17 per cent while Nairobi prices remained static at 0.11 per cent. Subsequently, the price of an average house within the city rose 6.8 per cent in the year to March compared to a drop of 1.8 per cent in the same period a year earlier. This is the fastest increase since…

Power Learn Project, a Pan African impact organization is currently implementing its flagship program One Million Developers for Africa”  Scholarship Program. The #1MillionDevs4Africa aims to train 1 million young people and empower them with tech employability skills. It is estimated that 70 per cent of Africa’s population between the ages of 18 and 35 and 60 per cent of this group are under-employed or unemployed. The Power Learn Project program will help address this issue by providing accessible world-class tech education to young Africans across six pilot countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Zambia and later to West and…