The Sahara Group Foundation has announced twenty (20) social innovators from across Africa to be part of its 2023 Sahara Impact Fund Fellowship programme. The Foundation is partnering with LEAP Africa, a youth-focused leadership development nonprofit organization, and Impact Amplifier, a South African-based advisory firm, to deliver the program. The program aims to empower visionary African changemakers with the knowledge and resources required to expand their social enterprises and help address the environmental and social challenges affecting our society. With a focus on increasing access to energy and promoting sustainable environments, the Sahara Impact Fund program attracted over three hundred…
Author: Muindi
Muindi
Experience working on communication and marketing departments and in the broadcast industry. Interested in sustainable development and international relations issues.
The Co-operative Bank of Kenya has received a 7-year funding facility amounting to Sh13.8 billion from a consortium of financial institutions led by DEG. The funding is for on-lending mainly to Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Kenya. The loan is a Tier II Facility that has been fully disbursed. https://twitter.com/Coopbankenya/status/1679804043202375683?s=20 DEG acted as Lender, Mandated Lead Arranger and Facility Agent, while the Consortium included The Africa Agriculture & Trade Investment Fund (AATIF), Micro Small Medium Enterprises Bonds (MSMEB) and European Development Finance Institutions such as Finnfund, Norfund and the co-financing facility European Financing Partners (EFP). Co-operative Bank Group…
Kenyans living in the diaspora sent home USD 345.9 million in June, a 6.1% increase from USD 326.1 million in June 2022. The cumulative inflows for the 12 months to June remained steady at USD 4,017 million, an increase of 0.1% from the previous year. The US remains the largest source of remittances to Kenya, accounting for 54% in June 2023. Month North America Europe Rest of World Total Remittances (USD ‘000) JAN 212,010.98 59,838.87 77,541.98 349,391.83 FEB 189,034.56 56,820.89 63,317.25 309,172.70 MARCH 212,079.84 66,569.69 78,330.94 356,980.47 APRIL 187,888.79 53,533.53 78,894.28 320,316.60 MAY 195,185.70 62,490.54 94,429.56 352,105.80 JUNE 195,529.61 67,010.50…
Standard Chartered Bank has entered into agreements with Access Bank Plc for the sale of its shareholding in its subsidiaries in Africa. These include Angola, Cameroon, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, and its Consumer, Private & Business Banking business in Tanzania. https://twitter.com/myaccessbank/status/1679899672100450312?s=20 The announcement was made at Standard Chartered’s Headquarters in London, with senior representatives from both banks present. The agreement was signed by Sunil Kaushal, Regional CEO for Africa & Middle East at Standard Chartered, and Roosevelt Ogbonna, Group Managing Director at Access Bank Plc. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed over the…
The Swahili language has been added to Bard, Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) chat service. Bard is an experimental service from Google that functions like ChatGPT. Bard sources its information from the web. “The launch of Bard in Swahili is a major milestone as it allows Bard to reach even more people in Africa, where approximately 150 million people speak Swahili. This makes Bard more accessible to everyone in the region, and we believe that it has the potential to be a powerful tool for creativity and learning. We are excited to see how people in the region use Bard to…
The Safaricom Foundation has allocated Ksh 170 million to fund community investment programs in health, education, and economic empowerment, benefiting over 1.6 million Kenyans. The funds will be distributed through the Foundation’s sustainable philanthropy programs: Ndoto Zetu, Pamoja, and Usamaria. Ndoto Zetu, now in its fifth phase, supports individual Kenyans in realizing their community dreams and aspirations. https://twitter.com/SafaricomFDN/status/1678691753186979840?s=20 Ksh 100 million has been allocated to this initiative, with submissions open from July 12th to August 11th, 2023. Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said the transformation seen through Ndoto Zetu affirms Kenyans’ passion for positively impacting their communities. “Each dream we help…