Millions of Kenyans will be excluded from Huduma Namba if the new (National Integrated Identity Management System) NIIMS rules under the Registration of Persons Act and new Data Protection (Civil Registration) Regulations are implemented. In January 2020, the High Court stopped the implementation of NIIMS and any processing or use of the data until a comprehensive regulatory framework is put in place to address concerns of data privacy and exclusion – including how people without identity documents and with poor biometrics can enroll in NIIMS. Despite these orders, the government of Kenya proceeded to process data collected under NIIMS –…
Author: Khusoko
Khusoko
Khusoko provides market insights into Africa's business investment as well as global trends that impact East African businesses.
Kenya’s 27-year-old Peres Jepchirchir broke her own world record in the women’s half marathon in 1:05:16 at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland. She beat her previous best by 18 seconds, set in Prague on September 5. “It’s unbelievable,” said Jepchirchir. “My goal was to win this race. I did not expect that I would beat the world record, but I realized that it could happen when we passed 20km. It was a little bit windy, but the course was good for me.” Germany’s Melat Yisak Kejeta took silver in 1:05:18, breaking the European women-only record. Ethiopia’s…
Bank of Uganda (BOU) says foreign-based banks do not need its license to lend funds originating abroad. “Bank of Uganda does not regulate extension of loans/credit or the financing of commercial transactions that are funded using funds obtained from foreign banks that do not take deposits from the public in Uganda,” Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile said in a statement Wednesday. This was in response to a court ruling that had declared a loan by Diamond Trust Bank Kenya Ltd. to Kampala-based companies using its Ugandan subsidiary as the agent was unlawful. As a result, DTB and its subsidiary were ordered to…
Nairobi Business Ventures (NBV), a Kenya-based company shoe, and leather accessories retail chain operating under the brand name KShoe shares have been suspended from trading at the bourse. In a statement, the Nairobi Securities Exchange said the suspension is to “allow completion of the company’s restructuring’. The loss-making leather accessories retail chain has been in talks with strategic investors and creditors looking to invest in the company. “The talks are in advanced stages having met most conditions precedent for the purposes of the signed term sheet between the parties,” said NSE. “All shareholders, investors and the general public are asked…
Data centres are being overhauled, revamped and modernised to support digital transformation and the power-hungry cloud deployments they contain. Artificial intelligence is a key part of this overhaul as energy conservation – to address both cost and environmental concerns – becomes a top consideration for data centres. AI solutions are being deployed in the push to get data centres to become more energy efficient as well as safer and more reliable. The growth in data traffic volumes shows no sign of letting up, nor does the global demand for high-performance computing. This comes with an increase in high-density servers, the…
President Uhuru Kenyatta has nominated former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) director Immaculate Kassait as Kenya’s first Data Commissioner. Her nomination is in accordance with the provisions of section 6(4) of the Data Protection Act, 2019, as read together with section 5 (1) of the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act, 2011. Kassait served as Director of Voter Education Partnership and Communication at IEBC since 2019. Previously she was the Director Voter Registration and Electoral Operation for 9 years. She has worked at the Institute for Education in Democracy (IED) a leading NGO in the areas of elections in Kenya…