Author: David Indeje

Kenyan and other African medics have issued a call through the African Harm Reduction Alliance (AHRA) to the World Health Organisation (WHO) to modernise its approach to tobacco policy. This is ahead of the ninth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP9). In a joint letter dated 18 October, the alliance says tobacco harm reduction can contribute to the attainment of  Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by cutting premature deaths from four key non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by one-third by 2030 compared to 2015.  “Most of the world’s nations are far behind the progress necessary to meet the goal. The only…

Guinness has launched “Black shines brightest”, the biggest pan-African campaign in over a decade in Kenya. Inspired by the bold and unique black beer of Guinness stout and brings together passionate and creative individuals to celebrate the spirit of Guinness and its home across African markets. The Guinness Bright House Experience is a model bar and a fundamental part of the Guinness Black Shines Brightest campaign and it serves as a cultural space and a hub for people to connect and energize each other with creativity, inspiration and, of course, a cold bottle of Guinness. It was launched in August.…

Activity in Kenya’s private sector accelerated to a five-month high in October as output growth strengthened and new business continued to grow despite an increase in input costs, a monthly survey said Thursday.  The index rose to 51.4 in October from 50.4 in September according to the monthly Stanbic Bank Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). Readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions on the previous month, while readings below 50.0 show a deterioration. During the period, the overall rate of input cost inflation quickened for the second month running, on higher purchase prices, though staff fees also continued to…

Data from the Nairobi County Children Services shows that they receive an average of 200 cases of child violence daily.

Telkom Kenya on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Ericsson mainly to speed up the expansion of its 4G mobile broadband network in Kenya.  The MoU also covers NEC XON, a systems integrator to supplement Telkom’s 4G sites. The plan is to add 2,000 4G/LTE sites onto the operator’s network by 2023 at an estimated cost of  USD 100 million. “Two of our commitments are to better position our infrastructure asset base and services to drive digital transformation within our various Customer segments thus providing them with more value, as well as bridge the digital divide through the expansion…

Africa’s first climate adaptation credit facility for agriculture, ADAPTA, has launched in Kenya with $1.5 million (KSh165 million) funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for Phase I. ADAPTA will develop and test an innovative loan underwriting platform that incorporates agricultural technologies and climate-smart agriculture. Working closely with the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and its flagship climate project for Africa (AICCRA), ADAPTA’s Phase I will focus on developing and testing a Climate-Smart Module (CSM) and an agriculture risk management framework to address adaptation finance barriers proactively.  The CSM will leverage satellite-derived and other data sets on vegetation,…