Author: Korir Issa

As smartphone brands intensify the competition amongst each other to expand their retail footprint in Kenya,  TECNO Mobile opened its flagship store in Nairobi at Sarit Centre on Monday. https://twitter.com/TECNOMobile254/status/1493154889748422660?s=20&t=0yFyW0cOdsSoHvCEek6SPA “Since its inception, TECNO had ‘Africa-First’ as one of its core brand objectives. Through the performance of the TECNO brand and its products, we have proven that it is possible to build a global brand by projecting the unique needs of African consumers. TECNO has risen to be one of the most admired brands in Africa,” said Shiva Zhong, TECNO’s Country Brand Manager. “Today, we are excited to introduce our…

Safaricom and East Africa Safari Classic have strengthened their partnership with the announcement of Ksh 6 million to sponsor the tenth edition of the rally through the M-PESA platform. The nine-day rally kicks off on February 10th and runs until the 18th is expected to feature a record number of Kenyan and International drivers from more than 15 countries around the world covering up to 5,000 kilometres across the country.  “Safaricom has been a key supporter of the East African Classic Safari Rally for the last two editions. Our involvement in this event underlines our commitment to nurture talent in…

IBM says LG Electronics is joining its Quantum Network to explore applications of quantum computing to support big data, artificial intelligence, connected cars, digital transformation, IoT, and robotics applications. The three-year deal will give LG Electronics access to IBM’s quantum computing systems, experts, and their “Qiskit” open-source quantum information software development kit. “Based on our open innovation strategy, we plan to use IBM Quantum to develop our competency in quantum computing,” said Byoung-Hoon Kim, CTO and executive vice president of LG Electronics. “We aim to provide customers with value that they have not experienced so far by leveraging quantum computing…

Huawei, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer, is gearing up to launch the Huawei Nova 9, Huawei GT 3 Smart Watch and Huawei MatePad T Series Kids Edition in Kenya Q1 2022, according to Huawei Mobile Kenya Country Head. Jim Zhijue says both the devices are a result of an increase in demand for different products in the tech space. “The tech space took a rapid change 2 years ago when most people started working from home, there has been an increase in demand for products such as tablets that are easy to carry everywhere you go, not forgetting an increase in…

MTN Uganda, the country’s biggest telco, and a subsidiary of the MTN Group in partnership with Kenya’s  NCBA Group PLC to introduce an overdraft facility via MTN Mobile Money. Dubbed MoMoAdvance, will allow customers pre-authorisation of transactions for payment to be made later.  The facility has been launched following a pilot program conducted in 2020. Users will be charged an access fee of 2.75 per cent of the amount borrowed and a daily interest of 0.5 per cent on the outstanding balance for a maximum of 45 days. “MTN MoMoAdvance is a product that we have been working on for…

Microsoft has announced that it will begin charging Value Added Tax (VAT), Digital Services Tax, for its Skype users in Kenya from Feb 1, 2022. Skype is a video calling app. However, it has failed to keep up with other messaging rivals to date. “Due to recent changes to Kenyan tax requirements, from 1st February 2022, Skype is required to include a 16 per cent Value Added Tax on purchases of Skype paid products for Kenyan customers,” it said to its users. According to Microsoft, after Feb 1,  it will cost USD 3.47 to subscribe on the platform from the…