- HARARE, March 19 (Xinhua) — Zimbabwe’s endeavor to leverage gastronomy tourism and diversify its tourism product base has garnered global attention and earned the country an opportunity to host the first-ever UN Tourism Africa Gastronomy Conference later this year. Zimbabwe is determined to grow…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 19 – The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has unveiled a new Energy (Electricity Incident and Accident Reporting) Regulations, 2024, that aim to reinforce safety and ease incident reporting in the electricity industry. Speaking during the unveiling ceremony…
- By Phyllis Migwi NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 19 – Over the past few years, AI has completely changed the battleground for both cybercriminals and defenders. While nefarious actors have found increasingly inventive ways to put AI to use, new research shows that AI is also modifying the abilities of security…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 19 – President William Ruto has assented to the Affordable Housing law paving the way for the reinstatement of housing levy deductions. This means the 1.5 per cent tax from both the employer and the employee will take effect at the end of the month. President Ruto over the…
- BRUSSELS, March 18 (Xinhua) — The Council of the European Union (EU) approved the creation of the Ukraine Assistance Fund (UAF) here on Monday and earmarked 5 billion euros (5.4 billion U.S. dollars) for it. The decision was reached at EU’s Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, where ministers…
- WINDHOEK, March 18 (Xinhua) — MTC, Namibia’s largest mobile carrier, and Chinese company Huawei Technologies on Monday conducted the country’s first 5G technology demonstration in Windhoek, the capital city. This demonstration came after the government lifted a moratorium on 5G and the…
- NAIROBI, March 18 (Xinhua) — Kenya launched its strategic plan on Monday, providing a roadmap to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology in electricity generation. Alex Wachira, principal secretary for the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, told journalists in the national capital of Nairobi…
- ACCRA, March 17 (Xinhua) — The meltdown of Internet services across Ghana, caused by the disruption of undersea cables over the past few days, has severely affected the country’s business activities. Business owners said the Internet blackout has affected their routine activities and resulted in a…
- BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) — Global new energy passenger car sales are predicted to exceed 39 million units by 2030, said a report obtained during the China EV100 Forum 2024 concluded Sunday in Beijing. That will mark a penetration rate of almost 50 percent, rising from the nearly 20 percent in…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – NCBA Group has joined forces with Proparco, a French development finance institution, to support green projects as well as empower women economically with a Sh6.7 billion ($50 million) investment. The deal comes after the group rolled out the ‘Change The Story’ platform…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – The Kenya National Commission of Human Rights (KNCHR) has condemned the discriminatory action by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) of dismissing 133 candidates after being subjected to mandatory HIV and pregnancy testing in a recruiting process. The commission said that the…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – Travel booking platform Tripitaca has rebranded to Triply, which it says signals its growth. The company says the move is anchored on a renewed focus on empowering travel businesses with the tools and resources they need to thrive in the digital age. Its CEO, Peter Wachira…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – The fourth edition of the regional American Chamber of Commerce Kenya (AmCham) Business Summit will be held from April 24–25, 2024, in Nairobi. President William Ruto will be the chief guest, leading a government delegation to expand commercial opportunities and markets.…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – The Microsoft Africa Development Centre (ADC) has kicked off the second up-skilling cohort to support university lecturers and empower them with advancements in the tech industry. This year’s edition, with 24 lecturers making up the 2nd cohort, focuses on intensive software…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital has called for urgent investments from stakeholders in the fight against childhood cancer. Speaking during the hospital’s third annual cancer walk over the weekend, the hospital’s CEO, Robert Nyarango, said such initiatives will help in…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – Safaricom has launched a new series of interactive forums called ‘Safire Connect’, which are designed to help customers grow personally and professionally. These events will take place across Kenya, starting in Embu, and will offer attendees the chance to learn from…
- BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) — A Boeing 737-800 plane of United Airlines flying from San Francisco was found to have a missing panel after landing safely at its scheduled destination in southern Oregon, said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Friday. Boeing has encountered many quality and…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – Kenya’s digital insurance provider, mTek, has secured an investment of Sh167.5 million ($1.25 million) from Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV) and Founders Factory Africa (FFA). This funding aims to fuel mTek’s expansion within the Kenyan and East African insurance markets…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – Absa Bank has increased its dividend payout to shareholders for the full year ending December 31, 2023, by 14.8 percent to Sh8.4 billion on the back of improved net profit. This means that every shareholder will get Sh1.55, up from Sh1.35, in a similar period in 2022. The…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – Pathologists Lancet Kenya has rebranded to Cerba Lancet Kenya. The makeover s part of the firm’s aim to improve its service offerings to patients. According to CEO Mwende Musunga, the company’s long-term dedication to delivering superior patient care, which includes…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – The Cabinet Secretary for Treasury, Njuguna Ndung’u, has emphasized the potential for personalized tax refunds through electronic receipts from supermarket purchases, bypassing compensation through companies. This concept relies on the implementation of the electronic tax…
- LONDON, United Kingdom, Mar 18 – Months of farmer-led protests in Europe look to have borne fruit, with the European Union vowing changes to relevant laws and policies. The promise to review the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy pledges an easing of rules for such things as how often farmed land must…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – A total of 37 Fairmont properties have been listed on the Forbes Travel Guide (FTG) 2024 Star Award Winners list. Among the enlisted Fairmont properties in Kenya are Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club and Fairmont Norfolk. Others include The Centre for Wellbeing at Fairmont…
- NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 18 – President William Ruto is expected to sign the Affordable Housing Bill into law this morning, marking a significant step towards the implementation of the housing project and the commencement of the collection of a 1.5 percent housing levy from Kenyans starting this month.…
- TOKYO, March 18 (Xinhua) — Despite opposition and concern from at home and abroad, Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has finished its initial year of discharging nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean, according to the plant’s operator. The plant completed the fourth…
- CAIRO, March 17 (Xinhua) — The European Union (EU) agreed on Sunday to provide a financial package of approximately 7.4 billion euros (8.06 billion U.S. dollars) to bolster the Egyptian economy, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said. Sisi made the remarks during a press conference jointly…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – Safaricom is urging all shareholders to update their contact information and dividend payment details through Image Registrars Ltd. This update includes converting to electronic payment methods, such as bank transfers or mobile M-Pesa, for more efficient transactions. …
- ADEN, Yemen, March 17 (Xinhua) — The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) issued a warning on Sunday after receiving a report of an explosion near a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden. According to the UKMTO alert, the master of the unidentified merchant ship reported an explosion near…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 17 – The government has flagged off 10 vehicles that will speed up the spotting of illegal mining operations across the county. The vehicles were flagged off by Mining Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya, accompanied by Mining Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi. According to the state…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 17 – Radio and TV have remained the two top giants in media consumption, despite the rapidly evolving competition from social media and video streaming. According to recent data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), TV and radio have demonstrated higher media…
- SYDNEY, March 17 (Xinhua) — Taxi drivers who overcharge or refuse fares could be blacklisted in Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) as the state plans to roll out a centralized database tracking bad behaviour, local media reported on Sunday. The Australian state’s Point to Point Transport…
- MOSCOW, March 16 (Xinhua) — Russian election authorities said Saturday that about 160,000 cyberattacks on the country’s remote electronic voting resources were blocked. The attacks were mainly directed toward the voting portal, with 30,000 attacks launched against the monitoring portal for the…
- NAIROBI, March 16 (Xinhua) — Kenya has allocated 250 million shillings (about 1.86 million U.S. dollars) for undertaking the 2024 wildlife census, an official said Friday. Patrick Omondi, chief executive officer and director of the state-owned Wildlife Research and Training Institute, told…
- LOS ANGELES — SpaceX launched its massive Starship rocket for the third time on Thursday, but the company lost communication with the vehicle before it made it to its planned splashdown location in the Indian Ocean. The rocket lifted off at 8:25 am Central Time from SpaceX’s Starbase test site in…
- NAIROBI, March 15 (Xinhua) — Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) passenger traffic increased 17.9 percent in 2023 to hit a new high of 2.73 million, the national statistics bureau said Friday. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) said traffic rose from 2.39 million passengers in 2022 as…
- MANILA, March 16 (Xinhua) — A government probe is underway into a private resort suspected to be illegally built within the famed Chocolate Hills, a protected national geological monument in the central Philippines. The Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort in Bohol province, which had been operating…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 16 – Kenyan MPs are investigating the recent recruitment of tax revenue workers after it emerged that some applicants were rejected after doing HIV and pregnancy tests. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) said it had disqualified 133 job applicants after they did the tests last…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, The Africa Food Prize for 2024 is now accepting nominations, highlighting achievements and innovations in the African food systems sector. This prestigious award celebrates individuals and organizations driving positive change and sustainability in food production and distribution…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 16 – The Women in Film Awards in Nairobi recently honored actors and creators from shows on MultiChoice-owned channels, Maisha Magic and Showmax. Victoria Goro of MultiChoice Talent Factory was recognized as the most influential woman in film, while Grace Irungu and Mary…
- GABORONE, March 15 (Xinhua) — Botswana is preparing for its first citrus harvest from the Selebi Phikwe Citrus Project, located about 402 km east of Gaborone, the country’s capital, on March 21, with plans to export 70 percent of the produce. During the press conference held in Gaborone Thursday,…
- ELDORET, Kenya, Mar 16 – Eldoret International Airport has resumed cargo flights following a one-year break. The airport welcomed the first cargo flight, Astral Aviation, which arrived on Thursday from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and was received by Nandi County Governor Stephen Sang, Kenya…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 15 – Television and radio are still the biggest recipients of advertising spending, despite growing competition from digital channels such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, among others. According to the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA), firms spent a total of Sh17…
- LONDON, United Kingdom, Mar 15 – The five major North Sea oil and gas producing countries are failing to align their drilling policies with agreed targets, posing a significant threat to global efforts to combat the climate crisis, according to a report. Neither the United Kingdom, Germany, the…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 15 – The High Court has issued a restraining order stopping a businesswoman and her agents from encroaching on a property located in Karen and measuring 66 acres. Environment and land Court division judge Ogutu Mboya issued an injunction barring Dorcas Kiptoo from interfering…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 15 – Hospitals affiliated to the Kenya Healthcare Federation are set to adopt cash-only terms for National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) patients from next Thursday. According to the organisation’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Theuri, providers will furnish their clients…
- SINGAPORE, March 15 (Xinhua) — Singapore Airlines transported 1.99 million passengers in February, up 29.7 percent year-on-year, according to the operating statistics revealed Friday. The low-cost airline Scoot within the same group recorded over 1.06 million passengers in February, a year-on-year…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 15 – Kenya Airways (KQ) has added two flights to its weekly schedule to New York in the United States of America (USA) in anticipation of pent-up demand. The two flights will be distributed between Thursday and Saturday, with one in the morning and another in the afternoon.…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 15 – 21 Kenyan students have been awarded under the 2023/24 Huawei ICT Competition, out of nearly 6,000 participants. 18 of the national winners will represent Kenya at the global finals in China, surpassing other countries in the region. The students also got cash prizes and…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 15 – Facebook and WhatsApp are the most used social media platforms among Kenyans, as they offer cheaper alternatives to communication than traditional voice and messaging services. The latest Communications Authority of Kenya’s (CA’s) Audience Measurement and Industry Trends…
- NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 15 – The USAID Kuza is set to host three county-based investment conferences in the Northern Kenya Region that aim to boost capital mobilization for investment in the region. In a statement, USAID said that the first event, the Turkana and West Pokot County Investment Conference…