Author: Muindi

East African Cables Plc has announced the planned sale of a 51% stake in its Tanzanian subsidiary, EAC (Tanzania) Limited, to Msufini (T) Limited. East African Cables said the strategic move would benefit its shareholders and the investing public who have entered into a share purchase agreement with Msufini (T) Limited on March 6, 2024, for the sale of 16.2 million ordinary shares with a par value of 10 Tanzania Shillings (USD 70,000), constituting 51 per cent of the issued share capital of EAC (Tanzania) Limited to Msufini. The company has four manufacturing facilities: two in Nairobi, Kenya, one in…

Britam General Insurance has partnered with AiCare Telematics to launch Motomatics, a new mileage-based car insurance program.  The scheme is available to drivers who travel less than 10,000 kilometres annually and maintain safe driving habits. The program caters to drivers who value flexibility, cost-efficiency, and technological convenience.  Motomatics aligns with Britam’s commitment to providing innovative solutions that meet customer needs and lifestyles. “Motomatic offers customers flexibility and cost efficiency, enabling them to access services that align with their lifestyles, especially within the motor insurance space that has seen minimal innovation,” said Tom Gitogo, Britam Group managing director and CEO. “The…

Tullow Oil, operating in Kenya’s South Lokichar Basin, remains committed to Kenya, but its budget cut reflects a wait-and-see approach to its development plan.  The 33.3% cut, from $15 million to $10 million for the fiscal year 2024, comes as the company awaits government approval of its updated Field Development Plan (FDP). The British oil and gas exploration company submitted the updated FDP in March 2023, aiming to develop oil resources and achieve production targets. Due to approval delays, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) extended the review period for the FDP until June 2024. “The development has been…

There remains a glaring gap in the coverage of women across newspapers, TV, and digital platforms in East Africa, according to a report by the Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications. The report, ‘The State of Women in the Media: Coverage and Framing of Women in East African Media’, reveals that the framing of women in newspaper articles is progressive, with 50% of the articles framing women in a very positive and progressive light. The research delved into the intricate dynamics of media framing, coverage, and the representation of women in newsrooms.  The findings were from six newspapers,…

Kenya’s inflation rate eased to 6.3% in February 2024, down from 6.9% in January, according to data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). On a month-on-month basis, inflation was at 0.1%, compared with 0.4% in January. “The rise in annual inflation was mainly due to an increase in prices of commodities under the Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions.” The drop in inflation marks a welcome respite for consumers grappling with rising prices for essential goods and services in recent months. The decline in inflation is attributed primarily to a slowdown in food price increases.  …

OPPO, a Chinese firm and one of the world’s biggest smartphone makers unveiled prototype AR glasses with voice assistant at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. OPPO said the AR glasses are equipped with a voice assistant powered by its large language model (LLM) called AndesGPT. LLMs are AI models trained on massive data and underpin many chatbots. “The Air Glass 3 prototype from Oppo aims to explore the possibilities of AI technology based on cross-device collaboration between XR devices and smartphones,” OPPO said. OPPO said in a press release that the voice assistant is only available in China.  The…