Search Results for: smartphone penetration
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News
Smartphone Penetration Fuels Online Trading Boom in Africa
Increased smartphone penetration in Africa emerged as a powerful force, driving significant growth in online trading. Over the past decade,…
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BUSINESS
Significant smartphone penetration and supportive government regulations driving global consumer telematics market growth.
The significant penetration of smartphones, lowered connectivity costs, high-speed internet technologies and supportive government regulations is driving the growth of…
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News
Nothing Brings its Full Smartphone and Audio Range to Kenya
Nothing, the London-founded consumer electronics brand, has launched its full product range in Kenya, marking the company’s first formal entry…
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News
Nigeria’s USSD Truce Closes One Chapter and Opens Another for Millions Without Smartphones
Nigeria’s USSD dispute is over, at least on paper. After 5 years of wrangling, commercial banks have cleared nearly ₦300bn…
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News
Small Instalments, Bigger Consequences In Kenya’s Smartphone Economy
In many parts of Nairobi, a smartphone sits at the centre of the workday. Orders arrive through it. Payments move…
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News
Kenya’s 149% mobile penetration and the competitive frontier behind it
Kenya’s mobile penetration has reached a striking 149 per cent, with SIM registrations climbing past 78 million by the end…
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News
How Skyrocketing Smartphone Prices in Kenya Are Fueling a Device Financing Revolution
Smartphones have become a necessity in Kenya, but owning one has rarely been harder. Prices have climbed so steeply in…
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News
MTN’s MoMo App Is Now Offering Smartphones on Credit Without Background Checks
MTN’s mobile money platform, MoMo, is offering prepaid users in South Africa a new way to get a smartphone —…
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News
Safaricom Launches Campaign to Drive 4G Smartphone Adoption
Safaricom has unveiled a new nationwide campaign dubbed “Maisha Poa Ni Digital”, aimed at accelerating digital inclusion by enabling more…
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News
How Watu Simu is bridging the digital divide one smartphone at a time
Smartphone financing is steadily gaining momentum in Kenya and across Africa. Over the years, various device financing models have emerged,…
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News
High cost of 5G smartphones hindering 5G adoption, says Airtel Kenya MD
Kenya has joined several other African countries that continue to roll out 5G. As of now, two of the country’s…
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News
Bboxx and MTN partner to boost smartphone access in Rwanda
A significant barrier to the delivery of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Rwanda is low smartphone penetration. Despite…
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News
Kenyans reduce spending on smartphones as inflation rises, report
A report by the International Data Corporation (IDC) has revealed that smartphone shipments to Kenya reduced by 13.5% year on…
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News
Kenyan Smartphone Reseller Badili Has Raised $2.1 Million in Pre-Seed Funding
Badili Africa, a company that allows customers to trade in their old phones for new ones at friendly prices has…
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News
Enabling an environment for internet penetration in Kenya
Kenya hosts a population of about 53M people out of which 27M have access to the internet. This represents about…
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Gadgets
Realme expands into high-end smartphone market with the GT 2 Series
Realme yesterday unveiled its first premium GT 2 Series at Mobile World Conference (MWC) 2022. The series features two phones,…
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News
Select TECNO and itel Smartphones added to Safaricom’s Lipa Mdogo Mdogo smartphone financing plan
At the launch of its Mwelekeo Ni Internet campaign in November, Kenya’s leading telco Safaricom said it will be adding…
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News
Affordable smartphones drive digital inclusion in Africa
With mobile connectivity now integral to the modern economy, a key part of any national development programme must be digital…
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News
Safaricom’s Ksh 20 bob per day 4G smartphone Financing Plan Launched
Yesterday, it was known that Safaricom plans to launch its Ksh 20 a day 4G smartphone financing plan dubbed Lipa…
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Gadgets
Rwanda’s Mara Group Has Launched First “Made in Africa” Smartphones
Mara Phones, a subsidiary of Mara Group, recently announced its first Made in Africa phones. At an event held on…
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News
Africa’s Smartphone Market Sees First Growth Since 2015, IDC Report
Africa's smartphone market grew 2.3% in 2018 to total 88.2 million units, according to the latest figures announced by IDC.
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News
Africa’s Mobile Market Remains Flat as Smartphone Shipments go down
Africa’s overall mobile phone market remained flat in Q1 2018 although smartphone shipments declined for the second successive quarter, according…
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Reviews
Review: Hands On with the SNOKOR Rocket Z5000 Smartphone.
Snokor Rocket Z5000 is the latest Smartphone to enter the Kenyan market, coming at a time when the number of…
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News
Former Apple CEO Smartphone Brand Obi to launch in Kenya by March
Obi Mobiles, the new smartphone brand co-founded by veteran marketer and former Apple CEO John Sculley, is set to be…
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News
African Banks Lean Into Digital Transformation as Margins Tighten
Africa’s banking sector is heading into the second half of 2026 in a state industry analysts describe as cautiously optimistic:…
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News
Kenya Added Nearly 200,000 Fixed Internet Connections in One Quarter
A growing share of Kenya’s internet traffic is being carried through fixed connections. The latest Communications Authority sector statistics show…
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News
Bharti Airtel Wins Shareholder Backing to Increase Airtel Africa Stake
Bharti Airtel has secured overwhelming shareholder backing for a transaction that will significantly increase its ownership of Airtel Africa, a…
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News
Vodacom Expands Earnings Base Through Fintech and Regional Operations
Vodacom reported stronger full-year earnings after growth from digital financial services and operations across multiple African markets lifted overall performance.…
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News
Airtel Africa Sees Profit Surge While Mobile Money Listing Plans Return to Focus
Airtel Africa ended its latest financial year with revenue rising 29.5% to $6.42 billion, as higher data consumption, expanding mobile…
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News
Sitoyo Lopokoiyit Steps Into Absa at a Decisive Moment for Retail Banking
When Sitoyo Lopokoiyit takes charge of Absa’s private and personal banking unit on April 1, 2026, he will be stepping…
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BUSINESS
Airtel Africa Profit More Than Doubles to $586M as Mobile Money IPO Looms
Airtel Africa has reported a significant surge in profitability for the period ended December 31, 2025, with profit after tax…
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COLUMNS
Serigne Dioum | Digital-First: Unlocking the next generation of African fintech
More than 15 years ago, mobile financial services emerged as a transformative force across Africa. From the earliest days of…
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News
DStv, GOtv record significant rebound as Kenya’s pay-TV market grows 13.7% in Q1
Kenya’s pay-TV market has registered a strong recovery in the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, driven by a…
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News
How Ethiopia’s Duopoly Turns Everyday Connectivity Into Something Closer to a Power Struggle
The latest round of rural towers from Ethio Telecom looked at first like a standard infrastructure update. One hundred fifty-two…
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News
How Kenya’s Internet Advertising Growth Became the Fastest in the World and What Comes Next
When PwC’s Africa Entertainment and Media Outlook landed this year, one figure stood out: Kenya’s internet advertising market is on…
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News
As Banking Goes Fully Digital, Kenya’s Lenders Return to the Ground to Rebuild Connection and Trust
The story begins with a phone. What started as a tool for calls and social chatter became the main gateway…
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BUSINESS
Airtel Money Nears 50M Users in Africa
Airtel Africa plc has announced exceptional results for the half-year ending September 30, 2025, revealing strong growth across its business,…
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COLUMNS
Edgar Kitur | How Food Delivery is Powering Inclusion and Enterprise in Kenya This World Food Day
Food connects us, through culture, community, and increasingly through economic opportunity. World Food Day 2025 is calling for global collaboration…
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News
PayPal’s Middle East and Africa Investment: Can Digital Payments Outrun Regulation and Market Fragmentation?
Few regions carry as much digital promise as the Middle East and Africa. Young populations, rising smartphone penetration, and widespread…
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News
Tunisia’s Digital Transformation: 138 Projects Using AI and Open Data to Rebuild Public Administration
For years, Tunisia has spoken of modernising its bureaucracy, but progress has often been halting. Ministries ran on outdated systems,…
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News
Airtel Africa Foundation Sets A 2030 Target To Transform 10 Million Lives Through Digital Inclusion, Education, And Sustainability
When Airtel Africa Foundation announced its ambition to transform 10 million lives by 2030, it sounded like the sort of…
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News
Airtel Africa’s AI-Powered Spam Alert Flags Over 205 Million Messages
Airtel Africa has revealed that its AI-powered Spam Alert service has detected and flagged more than 205 million spam messages…
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BUSINESS
Airtel Africa’s Q1 2026 Revenue Hit $1.415 Billion
Airtel Africa PLC reported a 22.4% increase in revenue to $1.415 billion for the quarter ending June 30, 2025, with…
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News
Bridging the Last Mile: How Epson is Empowering Kenya’s Rural Communities Through App-Enabled Printing
Despite Kenya’s impressive smartphone penetration now exceeding 100% many rural communities still grapple with unreliable broadband and limited access to…
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News
Safaricom FY25 Results: M-PESA and Mobile Data Lead the Charge in Kenya and Beyond
Safaricom PLC declared resilient Safaricom FY25 results, showcasing stellar growth despite macroeconomic issues in East Africa. Revenue was up by…
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News
SIM Swap Fraud in Kenya: What Telecom Providers and Regulators Are Doing to Fight It
As mobile phone usage grows, as witnessed by the number of active mobile subscriptions in Kenya, now posited at over…
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News
How Jumia is Driving Africa’s E-commerce Growth, One Market at a Time
Jumia, the African e-commerce platform, has transformed how people shop on the continent and created job opportunities for many at…
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News
Samsung Expands Kiswahili and Amharic Language Support – What You Need to Know
Samsung Electronics has taken a tremendously big step towards inclusivity and accessibility by introducing language support on its devices for…
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News
Can Netflix Dominate Africa? The Rise of Local Originals & Streaming Trends
Netflix’s dedication to telling African stories has become entrenched, with a diverse range of original local and transnational content resonating…
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News
How Digital Payments Are Promoting a Cashless Economy in Africa
Digital payments are playing a very important role in changing Africa’s economy by promoting financial inclusion and minimizing dependency on…
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News
Online Trading Platform Market Size to Hit USD 17.42 billion by 2033, Report
The global online trading platform market size was worth USD 10.86 billion in 2024 and is estimated to reach an…
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News
The future of Kenya’s media landscape – A digital revolution
PwC has come up with a new report and it has revealed that there is a dramatic shift in Kenya’s…
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News
Safaricom Ethiopia hits 6.1 million monthly active users
Kenya’s leading Safaricom on Thursday announced impressive growth in its customer base in Ethiopia, reporting a 47.3% increase in monthly…
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News
[INTERVIEW] Lami’s Jihan Abass on Digital Revolution for Insurance Agents
The insurtech sector in Africa is rapidly evolving, driven by technological advancements and a pressing need for accessible insurance solutions. …
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News
Unpacking The State of Fintech in Africa
The fintech sector in Africa has recorded rapid growth over the recent years to emerge as one of the most…
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COLUMNS
[Elsa Lunani] Soccer Streaming Has Eased Pressure on TV Remote Control During Football Season
The season of soccer thrills is drawing to a close, with K’Ogalo, as Gor Mahia FC is fondly called by…
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News
Feature phones are essential to disconnect during this festive season
Despite Kenya having a very high smartphone penetration, feature phones are still dominating the market. In fact, according to statistics…
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News
Airtel Africa’s Group CEO calls on telcos to leverage emerging tech to drive Africa’s digital and financial inclusion
Airtel Africa’s Group CEO, Segun Ogunsanya has challenged the telecommunications industry in Africa to leverage emerging technologies to enable all…
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News
[Interview] Wasoko’s Neeti Kaushik on e-commerce and how the company is formalizing trade in Africa
Wasoko is one of Africa’s leading and most dynamic e-commerce platforms helping to make same-day deliveries of fast-moving consumer goods…
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News
[Interview] JuicyScore’s Mikhail Marchenko on why fintechs should invest in risk management solution
JuicyScore, a global leader in anti-fraud and risk management solutions entered the Kenyan market recently. The firm offers anti-fraud and…
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News
Mikhail Marchenko: Major fintech trends that will affect online businesses in 2023
Digitalization and technological achievements, which have been observed in the African region for the past decade, have sped up the…
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Startups
Nigerian fintech startup Grey expands to Kenya to enable freelancers send and receive money from abroad
Over the last few years, there have been conversations around PayPal being unfriendly to its users, mainly freelancers in Africa.…
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Interviews
[Interview] Dan Kwach, Managing Director, Africa Data Centres: Africa is on the brink of a data centre boom
Dan Kwach is currently the Managing Director – East Africa Region at Africa Data Centres. His role is to lead,…
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Featured
Is Tech Key to Further Esports Revenue Growth?
The eSports industry has experienced dramatic growth recently compared to its initial days. When it started, many sports fans regarded…
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CLOUD
African Banks Turn to IBM Hybrid Cloud and AI Solutions to Accelerate Digital Innovation
IBM today announced that major financial institutions across Africa have selected its hybrid cloud and AI capabilities to unlock digital innovation.…
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News
Entertainment, media, and advertising revenues in Kenya to hit Sh900 billion by 2025, PwC
Entertainment, media, and advertising companies in Kenya are set to reap from rising spending even as traditional components of the…
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News
[Column] Leo Chen: Bridging the digital gap- why we should never give up on universal broadband connectivity
Over the past year or so, digital transformation accelerated at an unprecedented rate in societies around the world. Whether we…
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COLUMNS
[Column] Faizal Bhana: Shariah-compliant Structuring and its Relevance to Impact Investing
Sustainable finance, specifically impact investing, has gained considerable momentum over the past few years and shows no sign of slowing…
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Blockchain
Nigeria bans banks from dealing with cryptocurrencies
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shocked the local cryptocurrencies community on Friday when it issued a regulatory warning to…
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Blockchain
India Mulls Ban on Bitcoin and Other Private Cryptocurrencies
India plans to ban what it calls private cryptocurrencies, including the populous Bitcoin, and thousands of other altcoins, in favour…
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Blockchain
Why Africa is yet to Adopt Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Widely
Africa is considered one of, if not the most promising region for the adoption of cryptocurrencies. The unique opportunity available…
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Gadgets
Vivo partners with Jumia for vivo Y30 launch in Kenya
Vivo recently announced plans to launch yet another device under its Y series, the vivo Y30 in Kenya. The device…
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BUSINESS
Safaricom And Vodacom Fully Acquire The M-PESA Brand From Vodafone
Safaricom and Vodacom have announced that they have now completed the full acquisition of the M-PESA brand from Vodafone through…
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Gadgets
Vivo Y19 Is Now Available In Kenya For Ksh.26,999
We have previously told you about vivo’s plans to bring the vivo Y19 smartphone in the Kenyan market. Vivo started…
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News
CredoLab, Singapore-based credit scoring startup is expanding to Sub-Saharan Africa
Singapore-based fintech startup CredoLab is expanding its operations to Sub-Saharan Africa. The firm is expanding into the region’s fintech market…
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BUSINESS
MTN Nigeria revenue up 13.4%, subscriber base increase to over 60m in Q1
MTN Nigeria service revenue increasing by 13.4 per cent year on year (YoY), the telco’s subscriber base also increased by…
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Startups
Delivery app Glovo secures $169M funding
International delivery app Glovo has secured a $169M Series D funding round. The round was led by technology entrepreneur VC…
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News
The 2019 trends impacting mobile on the African continent
According to the GMSA Mobile Economy 2018 report for sub-Saharan Africa, mobile subscribers rose by 44% in 2017 and this…
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COLUMNS
IT Leadership: These five technologies are transforming the travel experience
The whole notion of what today’s hyperconnected travellers want, and what they value, has changed. While cost, choice and convenience…
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BUSINESS
CBA Loop Upgraded to offer loans of upto Kes.3 Million
Kenya’s largest privately owned bank Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) has upgraded its CBA Loop app to offer highest mobile…
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BUSINESS
TransUnion Africa launches a mobile credit platform for the Rwandan market
TransUnion Africa, an Infomation Solutions provider for assessing and managing risk has launched a mobile credit reporting platform for the…
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News
Mid-range OPPO A71 launches in Kenya for Ksh. 19,999/=.
A couple of weeks ago we told you that OPPO was planning to launch yet another smartphone in the Kenyan…
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COLUMNS
Guest Post: Kenya’s paradigm shift in technology
By James Ngige (@Jaykulll), Nairobi Technology has become part and parcel of culture, well, every culture, but Kenya however, is…
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INSURANCE
SureBüddy brings sponsored cover to Uganda with new insurance Mobile App
SureBüddy Android application that has today launched sponsored insurance and insurance-related products to Uganda. SureBüddy renders advertisements, the consumer…
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COLUMNS
Guest Post: How Mobile Technology has changed how companies do business.
By Brenda Kimuyu, Guest Contributor Mobile technology has become very popular around the world in recent years. According to Statista, a…
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News
Opera releases State of Mobile Web Report 2016, reaches 100 million users in Africa
Ghanaians, Kenyans, Seychellois and Mauritians are the highest data users with an average usage of over 160MB/month. This is according…
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BUSINESS
5 Ways Technology Trends Have Shaped the Travel Sector
Different sectors have experienced the reign of technological innovations in different ways, but perhaps it’s the travel sector that has…
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News
Mobile technology puts African business owners in the driving seat
With smartphone penetration ramping up across Africa, the continent’s businesses have an opportunity to use mobile technology to become more…
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News
e-Commerce: MOBOfree Records Outstanding Performances in Africa
MOBOfree.com the leading African social marketplace, today announced that it had experienced an increase of more than 44% in the…
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BUSINESS
e-Commerce: MOBOfree Records Outstanding Performances in Africa
MOBOfree.com, the leading African social marketplace has announced an increase of more than 44% in the number of registered users…
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News
Microsoft revamps MSN with mobile on mind
In line with its global mobile-first, cloud-first strategy, software giant Microsoft has revamped its MSN website and services to offer…
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Interviews
ESET’s Allan Juma On The Rising Wave of Cryptocurrency Scams and Cyber Frauds
Cryptocurrency has been pitched as Africa’s path to financial inclusion, but for a growing number of users, it’s become the…
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News
Starlink’s Mobile Ambitions Could Find Their Biggest Test in Africa
SpaceX’s reported plans to sell Starlink mobile service directly to consumers in the United States may look like another chapter…
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News
Kenya’s Mobile Growth Continues as SMS Slips Further
Kenya’s mobile subscriptions climbed to 84.1 million during the third quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, according to new figures…
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News
Sorted Raises $4.4M Seed Round to Bring Stablecoin Wallets to Feature Phones Across Africa
Stablecoin wallet startup Sorted has closed a $4.4 million seed round to accelerate its expansion across Sub-Saharan Africa and South…
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News
M-Pesa Captures 60% of Trades as Retail Participation Jumps
At some point, a payments tool stops being just a payments tool. It becomes the place where money sits, moves,…
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COLUMNS
Allan Juma | Why Threat Intelligence is a Compliance Imperative for Kenya’s Financial Sector
Kenya’s financial sector operates in one of the most dynamic digital economies in Africa. This economy, according to GSMA, will…
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News
Britam’s BetaLab Builds an AI Lane for Minor Accident Claims
Motor insurance in Kenya has long moved at a rhythm drivers know too well. A crash happens. Photographs are taken.…
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News
The Future of Kenyan Radio May Depend on Who Controls the Multiplex
Nairobi’s airwaves are crowded in a way most listeners never see. The FM dial, fixed between 87.5 and 108.0 MHz,…
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News
Kenya’s Faster Mobile Internet Raises Expectations Across the Market
Mobile internet speeds in Kenya rose sharply in 2025, with average performance increasing from 21 Mbps in 2024 to 45…
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News
Millions Are Listening on Mdundo but the Money Is Not Following at the Same Pace
Mdundo’s latest results expose a structural problem inside African music streaming. Access has expanded faster than monetisation. The company reported…
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