It will employ approximately 100 reviewers by the end of the year, who will support a number of languages, including Somali, Oromo, Swahili and Hausa
Virtual healthcare provided to 250,000 refugees almost 500km away from Gertrude’s Children Hospital in Nairobi
Liquid Telecom Kenya, part of the leading pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom, has connected Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital in Nairobi to Dadaab refugee complex. The community of approximately 250,000 refugees across four camps almost 500km away from the hospital will now have access to dedicated healthcare including consultations, diagnostics and treatment over the internet.
Providing medical services to the quarter of a million refugees at Dadaab’s four camps has been inhibited by the absence of specialists in the remote semi-arid area.
By using a 15Mbps connection at the hospital’s Nairobi headquarters and a 2Mbps link at Dadaab sub-county hospital, Liquid Telecom Kenya is enabling the largest paediatric centre in East and Central Africa to deliver advanced treatment directly to Dadaab.
“Liquid Telecom’s high-speed network is now facilitating cost-effective delivery of specialised healthcare services to one of the world’s largest refugee camp which has traditionally been inhibited by the absence of specialists in the remote semi-arid area,” said Liquid Telecom East Africa Chief Executive Officer Adil El-Youssefi. “We are especially excited as this not only brings essential healthcare to the most disadvantaged communities, it supports the government’s commitment to providing universal healthcare – one of Kenya’s Big 4 policy agenda items.”
The link to Dadaab has enabled the hospital to successfully treat more than 56 patients so far. “When we get a call from Dadaab requesting time and input from our specialists, the ICT department notifies the relevant doctor and then schedules a virtual consultation using video conferencing equipment across Liquid Telecom’s network,” said Peter Kanda, Head of Information Services, Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital.
The hospital is also offering telemedicine services in Mombasa, Sekenani (Narok County) and Kibera in Nairobi and will soon deploy the services to the Mara.
The hospital has partnered with Interdist Alliances of the CIS Group to put in place specialised medical equipment that diagnoses patients then transmits the results over the internet, while Cisco has provided the audio-visual equipment for consultations.
Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital’s innovation in telemedicine won the hospital the CIO 2017 award. “The hospital was also invited to attend and address the Health Innovation Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. This is a great achievement for us and a clear demonstration that Kenya can provide a solution to common global challenges such as in health,” said Kanda.
Manufacturers and Commercial banks are looking to effect a KSh 4,000 (USD39) pay rise for employees through tax-free lunch schemes in a quest to boost the productivity of workers and shore up their bottom lines.
By Brian Yatich
The advertising industry is globally changing. Advertisers are looking for different new ways to reach on the target. TV, Radio and Print advertisement money globally are diverted to digital mediums and social media networks like YouTube. The Kenyan market is no different. An increasing number of brands are investing in digital markets. Over the past several years, from almost obscurity, digital media has gained significant traction offering an ideal channel to reach multi-device, multi-channel consumers.
According to a data-driven intelligence firm, eMarketer, Facebook and Google control much of this spend. Facebook’s ad revenue is projected to reach 42.39 billion U.S. dollars by 2019, up from 3.15 billion U.S. dollars in 2013. Google’s global online advertising expenditure is projected to surpass 335 billion US dollars in 2020.
Overall, Google controls 40.7 per cent digital ad market, followed by Facebook with 19.7 per cent. The report further indicates that Mobile will be the main driver of digital’s growth accounting for over 70 per cent of digital of total media outlays.
“Advertising has reinvented itself over and over. This is why it is absolutely essential to brands to know how to adapt to the trend at the same time. Brands are now looking for the real return on their investments,” says Munene Githira, Orac Branding CEO.
Githira says that industry is mature now, noting that most brands and businesses are taking advertising seriously by setting budgets and seeking the right consulting ad agencies to run their campaigns.
Digital advertising and marketing assists marketers and advertisers to target consumers with laser-focused precision. Brands are no longer limited to just demographics but can target the exact audience likely to purchase based on thousands of lifestyle, personality, behaviours, and purchase intent segmentation variables.
Munene Githira, Orac Branding CEO
Githira 26, believes that on average, brands in the country spend between 5-7 per cent of their advertising budget in digital advertising. For some brands, the percentage is as high as 30 per cent.
“They are aware on the types of audience they wish to advertise to, which can encompass segments across demographics such as age, gender, social standing, to geographic. Africa presents a good playing field for digital marketing, owing to the big growth of fintech, some of the opportunities is the fact that more international brands and organizations are setting base in Kenya,” he says.
Digital marketing, comes with other aspects such as performance tracking as per the and the campaign goals throughout the entire campaign process.
With Technology having disrupted almost all the sectors of the economy, Githira notes that the future of advertising is fully programmatic and brands are now more than ever concerned about reach, customer engagement and the brand’s full visibility.
“The Artificial Intelligence revolution will play an increasingly significant role in the way that advertising is conducted. We will see even more accuracy in predicting which internet users are more likely to purchase a product, across display. Mobile, places heavy reliance on data, and the access to information on user location, usage, app history, browsing data and more. This will lead to better usage in ad targeting capitalizing on all available information. This way, it will be able to fix and inhibit issues such as ad fraud, transparency and authentication,” he says.
“The foreseeable future,” he indicates, “will likely see the unification of programmatic ad campaigns across a variety of formats. TV, Radio, Out-of-Home, are already being used in programmatic, and VR, connected home appliances etc., are soon to follow. Voice assistants (think Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant) are becoming better every year, and holds marketplaces where advertisers should be present.”
To stay ahead of the game, Orac Branding has built its business in accountable marketing – that tracks all marketing and advertising efforts to the point of sale by helping and making sure brands connect with its customer’s journey.
“When we got in the market, there was a big challenge between brand owners and Ad agencies because what the agencies promised is not what played out for the brand owners. We decided to disrupt that by developing a curriculum for Digital Branding Training for our clients,” he says.
“Training for clients is free and takes 90 minutes. This training has become one of the most exciting part of our job. Just to see the look on our clients faces when they get to learn so much about digital branding,” he says.
Orac Branding has a team of 12 and has successfully run ad campaigns for organisations such as Women in Business Kenya, PROSAK, SMEFest, Open Business Africa, Salvon Africa, and Expodium Africa & Raha Solutions among others.”
The digital advertising space does fall short of challenges. Githira points Ad fraud, which is fraudulently representing fake online advertisement impressions, clicks, and conversion rates or data events in order to generate revenue as one of the challenges.
Another challenge is what Gathira calls the “The Client Brief vs The Client Budget.” This happens where a client wants to run a big-successful ad campaign with a very limited budget. Moreover, digital advertising involves a huge spectrum of constantly evolving platforms.
5The digital financial services provider Branch Kenya announced their largest commercial paper issuance to date, raising Ksh500 million. It also plans to set up shop in India in 2019
By Brian Yatich
The postal industry is arguably among the industries that have been largely tested by the advent of the internet and mobile technology. Today, digital disruption has affected nearly every aspect of the postal industry.
This has resulted in the development of new products and services that have improved customer experience. Emails and online e-commerce, for instance, have threatened the profitability and growth of the industry almost rendering it obsolete. Customers nowadays are less eager to send money orders and inland parcels.
According to statistics from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK), postal and courier sub-sector revenues dropped to 4.5 billion Kenya Shillings from 4.6 billion Kenya shillings reported in the financial year 2016/17. Similarly, according to the same report the number of letters posted locally in quarter four recorded a decline by 10.7 per cent to 14.2 million from 16.0 million letters registered in the previous quarter.
The report attributes the decline to competition from Posta’s more technologically adept rivals and Internet affiliated devices.
For an industry that has for long relied on traditional practices, the digital demands have forced the postal industry out of its comfort zone and hence cannot afford to remain complacent. The main question has been whether industry players consider taking the disruption as an opportunity to reposition or fall victim to it.
Faced with these challenges, Posta Kenya’s Postmaster General, Mr. Dan Kagwe has worked to find potential growth opportunities for the Corporation, a task he says has been one of the toughest. “Postal Administrations worldwide are embracing technology and Kenya cannot be left behind,” says Kagwe.
PCK, grounded on the principle of providing affordable and reliable postal solutions has engaged in various business models tailored for the digital era. The aim has been to shake off its old-fashioned tag and embracing current technological advancements. This is as it seeks to rope in the new generation of customers and while at it double its revenues.
“The future of the Postal Industry in e-Commerce, Financial Inclusion and in providing Logistical Solutions for last mile delivery cannot be understated. The global Postal network of over 600 outlets worldwide is a huge infrastructure which has the power to spur on e-Commerce, Financial & Social Inclusion,” Says Kagwe.
PCK works under the Universal Service Obligation (USO) with an engraved vision of becoming the leading global provider of Innovative Postal and related services with its vast network of distribution and collection centres of 625 post offices spread across the country. The population served per Post Office is over 70,000.
“Our overall goal is to improve penetration levels by expanding the postal network to meet the Universal Service Obligation which requires that 6,000 persons be served by one post office,” Kagwe says.
Kagwe notes that the Corporation has the capacity to provide excellent Distribution and Logistical services to both the Government and Private sector. Currently, Posta Kenya has over 500,000 boxes installed countrywide, which he indicates has capacity utilization at 90 percent.
With the widely pondered question on the relevance of Post Office in this era of electronic mail, Kagwe asserts that the Post Office is still very relevant, pointing out that the Mail Service contributes to 70 percent of PCK’s annual turnover.
Corporate correspondences that include legal documents from the Judiciary, admission letters, bank statements, certificate of incorporation, and vital documents such as log books, title deeds, driving licenses and academic certificates, are among the key revenue earners and require physical delivery by the Post Office.
When he took over the helm in July 2016, Mr. Kagwe has to rebuild confidence in PCK as a brand. He is further looking to transform the Institution into a prosperous, competitive Corporation.
After incurring a loss during its financial Year 2016/17 of about KSh 1 billion, the Corporation ploughed back. Revenue in the year 2017/2018 improved. PCK recorded an annual turnover of KSh 4.1 billion reducing the loss by a figure of less than KSh 80 million against its yearly operating expenditure.
September this year, PCK effected an exemption from value-added tax (VAT) that effectively made it cheaper to rent postal boxes. This saw the number of people renting the boxes grow albeit marginally. PCK has managed to revamp and utilize the 630 branches in Kenya that had been severely underused in a bid to attract business from various service providers especially banks.
The corporation also ventured into Clearing and Forwarding business. The new foray into the business, Kagwe says has enabled PCK to sustain its workforce and further boost its revenues riding on its countrywide infrastructure.
“With our customers spread across the country, we have identified the need for a seamless importation process by providing Clearing and Forwarding services and full logistic solutions to customers, importing items through Posta Cargo services,” he says.
To push for financial inclusion to the unbanked in the remotest of the region, PCK also rolled out Agency Banking. This is through a partnership with several lenders looking to bank on PCK’s national and extensive reach to grow business without the need to put up brick and mortar branches.
“Posta rolled out Agency Banking with five banks on board including Kenya Commercial Bank, Co-op Bank, Diamond Trust Bank, Barclays, National Bank of Kenya, the integration of Family Bank and Equity Bank among others, are at the final phase and look forward to operationalization before the end of the year,” he says.
The corporation also signed a deal with the country’s election body, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to offer Clearing, Forwarding and Distribution services of the election materials, for the 2017 General and repeat elections, to all the 290 Constituencies.
Betting on e-Commerce
With the growth of e-Commerce disrupting the development in the Posts’ parcel volumes, PCK has invested in ICT platforms it feels will help it remain competitive. The Postmaster General notes that for the Corporation to prosper, it needs to digitize its services and put more focus on e-Commerce and Logistics. Mr. Kagwe points out that the Postal networks are extensive, with Post Offices located in every County and most importantly in remote areas, “With this in mind, we are piloting digital parcel lockers dubbed Swipbox for a “click and collect” solution for e-commerce, where customer’s items are deposited directly to their digital box of choice to await collection,”
This, he says, gives certainty to the customer and rules out the risk of a failed first-time delivery. “More interesting is the concept of setting up hubs at strategic and convenient locations for temporary storage of consignments before collection by the customer,” he notes. Other platforms PCK works with include Mpost, Posta Mobile Wallet, Tunza Nyumba na Posta, EMS2GO and E-njiwa.
The Postal Service has further begun leveraging its vast network and is eyeing partnerships with Amazon Web Services and Alibaba to help local traders and retailers import into the country through their platform and benefit from the last mile delivery logistical services.
Furthermore, Kagwe notes, the key role of the Post in the e-Commerce chain is last mile delivery to the customer, and in the face of growing competition in the delivery sector, he says PCK is also providing a payment platform as other ways to profit from e-Commerce.
“Our key competency is delivery, the combination of e-Commerce and Logistics will enable Kenyans to shop online and then the Corporation will handle the logistics, delivering the purchased items to peoples’ doorsteps,” he adds. The Corporation also partnered with Kenya Literature Bureau with the Ministry of Education which saw Posta distributing books to schools nationally in January and February this year.
Government’s Big 4 Agenda
Under the Big 4, the Government wants to achieve Universal Health Coverage, improve manufacturing, affordable and decent housing, and food security. The Postmaster General believes the Corporation could play a very crucial role in helping the Government achieve these goals. Already PCK purchased 22 vehicles locally assembled at General Motors and DT Dobie to enhance sales and service delivery. “This is in line with Government policy of supporting local manufacturers to create employment,” says Kagwe.
Also, he notes, the Corporation plays a key role towards the provision of affordable Universal Health Care through distribution and logistical solutions to pharmaceutical companies countrywide on a need basis. “Through our EMS Courier service Pharmaceutical drugs are distributed throughout the vast network countrywide. The Corporation has already migrated the entire workforce of 3,000 employees to NHIF super cover that was effected on 1st July 2017,” he says.
In regards to Food and Nutritional Security, Kagwe asserts that in order to boost food security, the PCK has distributed Agricultural inputs to farmers countrywide, through its nationwide network.
“We also facilitate third-party payments to farmers particularly in Western Kenya and Rift Valley Regions.” For Affordable and Decent Housing the corporation through the Postapesa product has provided payment solutions to real estate firms, contractors and other beneficiaries.
Moving forward
Kagwe’s unwavering quest has seen Posta partnering with a number of organizations, Corporations and e-Commerce businesses to establish mechanisms for seamless delivery in the country.
Tasked with his 2016/19 fiscal review projections, Kagwe is optimistic that Posta’s fortunes will double pointing out that as e-Commerce continues to explode, the same technology that took a huge bite out of first-class mail volume by letting people email for free might actually provide the way forward for Posta.
Kagwe has worked extensively in the private sector including the Financial, Courier, and Logistics industry in Kenya and the wider East African region for over thirty years, specifically holding senior-level capacities at FedEx, Henkel Kenya, and Diners Club International.
He believes his tenure is projected to steer several Postal Innovations which are already bridging the gap between the young and the old through consumption of Postal products and services. In his capacity as Postmaster General, Kagwe has been responsible for a number of significant actions that grew revenue, reduced costs, and improved cash flow.
As he sails his second year in office, He is determined to put his stamp on one of the toughest jobs in the country.
AI is arguably the hottest properties in the technology industry today. However, few people know what it is all about.
Over the last few years, there have been efforts to reproduce the next Silicon Valley in Africa. A number of attempts have stalled. But could Rwanda finally succeed?
The government of Tanzania will now hold 49 per cent of the mobile operator. This follows a long-held row over ownership of the Tanzanian mobile operator.
Dimension Data East Africa, trading as Dimension Data Solutions Limited will launch its digital business solutions in East Africa in 2019.
Using big data and analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies the firm will start deploying niche solutions targeting its core client segments of financial services, public sector, telecommunications, and manufacturing in the region, with Kenya as the hub.
“Digital services are a leading driver for the Kenyan economy today with the market value expected to reach USD 3,5 billion in 2019. This is projected to grow to USD 5 billion in 2022”, said Ndung’u Kahindo, General Manager, Solutions at Dimension Data Solutions.
Working with key technology partners such as Cisco, SAP, Oracle and Microsoft, Kahindo explained that Dimension Data was keen to work with various stakeholders to replicate in East Africa the successes of its digital solutions services in other countries.
“As the official technology partner for Tour de France, our cloud-based solution gives billions of cycling fans, media, and commentators access to accurate and secure rider data, including live speed, location of individual riders, and composition of groups. In South Africa, we have learnt valuable lessons on connected conservation, where in just two years, we helped reduce rhino poaching by 96% in the Kruger National park”, he said.
Noting that East Africa was undergoing tremendous economic growth on the back of an innovative culture, and highly skilled workforce, Kahindo said 2019 was the most opportune time for the Information Technology (IT) Systems Integrator & Managed Services Provider to introduce the services within its niche, Large corporate, multinational and Medium size enterprises space.
In November, Dimension Data East Africa was feted Africa Partner of the Year at the Cisco Partner Summit 2018, held in Las Vegas, United States. The company was honoured for demonstrating excellence in innovation, business growth, customer satisfaction and competitiveness based on Cisco technology.
“We are delighted by the confidence the Kenyan and larger African market continues to show in our business transformation services. Even so we realize that businesses continue to face huge technology challenges, such as cybersecurity which remains the biggest threat in the Financial services, manufacturing and public sectors in the region”, said Kahindo.
Insider threats due to poor network visibility and monitoring, malware downloads from malicious websites resulting from poor web traffic monitoring and email phishing were identified as the key cybersecurity challenges faced by businesses in 2018.
Local industry experts estimate that financial losses due to breaches are expected to reach Kes 21 billion in 2018 up from Kes 17.5 billion in 2016. Kenya has remained largely reactive to cyber risks, a situation further aggravated by a severe shortage of security experts not only locally, but also globally.
But with most companies not obliged to report financial losses, and related infiltrations these figures could be much higher, noting that mobile fraud, sim swap, SMS phishing and Internet of Things (IOT) breaches are rarely tracked or recorded. Dimension Data estimates that a ransomware attack occurs every forty seconds somewhere around the world.
Recent efforts by the Central Bank of Kenya that introduced cybersecurity standards and guidelines in 2018 have however driven urgency and proactivity in addressing cybersecurity challenges in the local financial services sector.
According to a cybersecurity report by business consultancy and research firm Frost & Sullivan, up to 62% of companies in Kenya have suffered at least one form of cyber breach before. The report notes that cybersecurity market in Kenya is worth about Kes. 43,6 billion, and expected to reach 52.5 billion in 2020, offering a huge opportunity for innovative solutions in the sector.
” From converged networks a few years back, we now have a vast ecosystem of hybrid infrastructures running on cloud, on-premise and mobile systems. This is only going to increase the pressure on data security as organisations seek to increase revenue and reduce operating costs”, explained Kahindo.
In addition, the combined lack of a unified response by the security industry to threats, and diversification of illicit subscription services, automated software toolkits, and the ever growing online criminal support forums have also reduced barriers to entry for cyber criminals.
“We need to make cybersecurity more intelligence-driven, so as to counter fast-moving and automated attacks while managing the ever-changing threat landscape. Intelligence is key to timely and predictive responses”, said Kahindo, adding that vulnerable sectors such as healthcare and professional services in Kenya need to emulate the financial sector.
The Dimension Data cybersecurity rends report 2019 notes that by 2020, more than 60% of organizations are expected to invest in multiple data security tools, such as data loss prevention and encryption.