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Source: Business Daily

No fewer than eight Kenyan-born tech start-ups have closed in the last two years, and a ninth appears distressed despite having raised close to Sh35 billion in total investor funding, dampening hopes of the country achieving its Silicon Savannah dream.

An analysis has established that the eight startups collapsed after absorbing a combined total of Sh11.2 billion (in current exchange rates) while agri-tech firm Twiga Foods, which has taken up Sh23.4 billion in venture capital, is presently sending disturbing signals.

Twiga Foods stated last month that it would lay off a third of its workers as part of an effort to cut operational costs by up to 40%, with CEO Peter Njonjo blaming the market for a funding shortage.

The decision was made despite the fact that the company has raised a total of $160 million (Sh23.4 billion) since its founding in 2013.

Whereas most startups blame their problems on a lack of capital, accessible data and interviews with founders suggest that other variables, such as the sustainability of their business models, may be at work in a trend of firms that is slowing the country’s Silicon Savannah dream.

During a side event at the US-Africa Summit in December last year, President William Ruto tried to highlight Kenya’s aim to become Africa’s ICT powerhouse, asking US tech firms to follow the burgeoning investment potential in our country’s Silicon Savannah.

“Our aspiration to uplift millions of livelihoods through technology and innovation now has new impetus,” he said.

Sendy logistic startup, the most recent company to fail, raised the second largest sum of money among the failed companies, totaling $26.5 million (Sh3.9 billion) by October of last year.

In the same month, the company shut down its retail and supplier platform, Sendy Supply, and laid off 20% of its employees.

Sendy’s difficulties were preceded by those of engineering technology firm Gearbox, which lay off three-quarters of its permanent workforce, gave up half of its operating space, and moved to a low-cost business model due to a lack of funding prospects.

According to Crunchbase records, e-commerce portal Zumi, which dealt in non-food items, announced its closure earlier this year, citing a lack of cash after raising a total of $1 million (Sh146.1 million) since its establishment in 2016.

Selected startups and funds raised

Twiga raised $157.1m (over Sh20 billion).

Source: Crunchbase

SkyGarden, supply-chain enabler Notify Logistics, food-tech startup Kune, Internet supply provider BRCK, and agri-tech start-up WeFarm, which maintained an e-shop carrying agricultural items, were among those wiped out by the tsunami.

Data suggest that all of the organizations studied received significant money before failing, with SkyGarden receiving $6.9 million (Sh1 billion), Notify receiving Sh45 million, Kune receiving $1 million (Sh146.1 million), and BRCK receiving $4.2 million (Sh613.6 million). WeFarm raised the most money, totaling $32 million (Sh4.7 billion).

In a previous interview with the Business Daily, Mr Njonjo sought to dispel suspicions that Twiga Foods was experiencing difficulties, stating that the company expects to be on solid ground within a year of implementing the cost-cutting approach.

source: The star

The Kakamega county government now wants the high court to dismiss a complaint attempting to block the eviction of some tenants on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction.

The county administration requested dismissal of the claim in a notice of preliminary objection filed on Wednesday, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.

The tenants of Otiende and Amalemba estates initially filed the suit, requesting that the court stop their eviction from the county government dwellings.

According to Article 162(2)(b) of the Kenyan Constitution and Section 13 of the Environment and Land Court Act of 2011, the high court lacks jurisdiction to hear and decide the notice of motion and petition dated August 24, 2023.

“Take notice that the respondent will at the hearing hereof raise a preliminary objection for determination in limine and seek to have the petitioner’s entire notice of motion and petition be struck out or dismissed,” the notice of objection filed on Tuesday reads.

“The entire notice of motion application and petition herewith dated August 24, 2023 is fatally defective, incompetent, misconceived, misplaced, and an abuse of this honorable court’s process and ought to be dismissed with costs,” the notice continues.

The county wishes to have the temporary injunction orders issued by Justice P.J. Otieno on August 24, preventing it from evicting tenants from the two estates pending the hearing and determination of a petition filed by tenants set aside or vacated, and costs awarded. Justice D.K. Kemei, sitting in Bungoma High Court on Wednesday, directed the county to file and serve the petitioner with the preliminary objection by September 15.

He directed parties to present their separate submissions orally on September 20, after which the ruling date on the court’s jurisdiction to hear the case will be announced.

Judge Kemei also extended interim orders issued to Onono on August 24 by P.J. Otieno, preventing the county from evicting the renters until the preliminary objection is heard and adjudicated.

After a failed attempt by county enforcement authorities to evict tenants from the Otiende housing scheme on August 22, Onono went to court through M/S Amasakha & Company Advocates and secured conservatory orders.

He sued the county as an individual renter and on behalf of the occupants of the Otiende and Amalemba housing developments.

According to Onono, the county’s vacation notices given to renters on May 2, 2023, demanding them to hand over the residences by July 31 or face being evicted are illegal and violate their fundamental rights and freedoms.

He contends that the decision to require the tenants to vacate the houses by July 31 was unjust because the respondent failed to provide them with alternative housing, despite the fact that they had requested it.

According to the renters, the county government refused to provide them with lease and tenant purchase agreements in accordance with the original housing policy.

“Members of the Otiende Estate Site and Service Scheme and Amalemba Rentals Site and Service Scheme applied for and were allocated these houses from the dwellings constructed by former local authority through financing by the National Housing Corporation (NHC). The allocation was done on the understanding that it was to be followed by a lease agreement with an option to purchase,” said Onono.

Source: Business daily

Principal secretaries (PSs) and other accounting officers in government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) are racing against limited time to meet a deadline set by President William Ruto for them to respond to all questions highlighted by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.

According to a circular issued by the President’s Executive Office, accounting officers have until October 2, 2023, to resolve all outstanding audit queries emanating from the Auditor-General’s reports for fiscal years 2021/2022 and 2022/2023.

“All pending audit queries or issues arising from the OAG [Office of the Auditor-General] reports of the financial year 2021/22 and 2022/23 must be closed off by Monday, October 2, 2023, with a notification to this office by Monday, October 9, 2023,” said the memo signed by the Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service, Felix Koskei.

An audit query suggests that an auditor has concerns or questions about the genuineness, validity, or accuracy of transactions performed by an audited entity.

“Where an audit query is not capable of being closed off for any reason, the same must be fully explained in writing by Monday, October 9, 2023.No MDA shall attract a new audit query in the entire financial year 2023/24,” the Executive Office of the President said.

The President’s instruction comes after his office conducted a survey of MDA transaction books, which found that less than 30% of audit queries for fiscal years 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 had been adequately handled.

“Audit queries and issues from the basis, or lay the foundation, for vices that undermine government objectives to be a responsive, responsible, efficient, and effective custodian and manager of public resources,” the circular stated.

The President’s directive is a significant boost for the Auditor-General, who has repeatedly protested MDA inaction on queries on unexplained expenditures or transactions totaling billions of shillings every year. For example, in the fiscal year 2021/2022, the Auditor-General’s office flagged transactions in various State agencies, including Sh8.6 billion in unremitted contributions to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).

source: Business today

Businesses can now improve petty cash management by embracing digital payment solutions, which can help them improve operational efficiency and protect against potential misuse and theft. This comes after Tende Pay, a payment platform tailored for business operations, announced that it is deploying its platform to empower enterprises of all sizes, from small businesses to large corporations, to efficiently oversee and maintain the balance of their petty cash on a regular basis.

“Businesses including SMEs remain the backbone of our economy. Now more than ever, it has become more important for SMEs to assess how to best digitize their businesses which is why we have designed the Tende Pay platform to assist organizations to manage their working capital and improve productivity by digitizing these payments and have visibility over them,” said Tende Pay SME commercial lead Wangui Njoroge.

Petty cash management can be an important aspect of any business, especially for those who need to make small and frequent payments that are too small to justify writing a cheque. Petty cash management has long been a difficult task for businesses of all sizes because the traditional, manual methods of handling petty cash are not only time-consuming, but also prone to errors and mismanagement.

Tende Pay enables decision-makers to remotely govern their business by offering a 360-degree picture of their business activities, as well as control petty cash payments by providing several permission levels.

“With Tende Pay, the finance director of a company with several branches across the country, for instance, is able to control how petty cash is dispensed. Tende Pay has empowered them to approve in real-time the expenditure of cash petty exceeding a certain amount, say Sh100,000, from a centralized place,” she added.

She adds: “If you run a small business as your side hustle in Mombasa and you are working in Nairobi, for instance, you can still be able to manage payments for supplies and the running of day-to-day business through Tende Pay.”

Tende Pay allows one-time payments, recurring payments, and subscription services to be made using M-Pesa, a bank, and paybills. The service also allows for bulk payments for temporary personnel or airtime.

“The platform also generates expenditure reports to help businesses to better plan their finances,” says Ms Njoroge.

Source: Business daily

MS. Maureen NJeri, Nairobi county executive for hustlers and business prospects, saw the CBD back lanes where around 6,500 hawkers will be relocated in the coming months.

County Executive Njeri says;” we intend to relocate the hawkers and create order in the CBD as per our targets.”

The Nairobi City County Government has begun the process of transferring informal vendors from the Central Business District to the back lanes.

Governor Sakaja wants small-time traders to thrive under his guidance, but he also wants the city to be orderly. This is why the governor permitted the establishment of enterprises owned by both men and women in the back lanes.
It also to ensure that they trade with dignity. Sheds and lighting will be installed in the prototype lanes to improve the working environment of the traders.
Sotik, Turkana, Dubois, Postas, and Kirinyaga are among the other CBD regions designated for this exercise.

source: Business Daily

SAMA has announced ambitions to hire and train 2,000 young men and women to work on computer vision projects for Fortune 500 organizations.

The 2,000 new SAMA employees will be trained in computer vision and data labeling services, a field in great demand among AI developers and Machine Learning (ML) experts worldwide. They will work on a variety of initiatives, including labeling photos and videos for machine learning algorithms as part of upstream AI data development.

The initiative is part of SAMA’s objective to promote possibilities for the underprivileged in Kenya and Uganda through the digital economy. To date, SAMA has assisted over 65,000 people in rising out of poverty and establishing long-term professions in the tech industry.

During the training commissioning, SAMA, Vice President, Global Service Delivery Annepeace Alwala, stated that the digital economy has emerged as a transformative force globally, and that Kenya is well-positioned to contribute to the creation of a more inclusive AI ecosystem in which everyone can make a meaningful impact.

SAMA’s mission, she says, is to harness the potential of marginalized communities and provide them with the tools and skills they need to thrive in the rapidly changing digital landscape. By focusing on underserved youth and women in Nairobi, SAMA hopes to bridge the digital divide and pave the way for long-term economic growth.

“Through this initiative, we are not only creating employment opportunities for Kenyan youths but also ensuring that Kenya plays a significant role in shaping the future of AI development. Together, we’re fostering innovation, creating opportunities, and building a brighter future where Kenyan talent fuels the global AI revolution,” Ms Alwala said.

The first 600 Nairobi participants have already been hired and are receiving training. The remaining 1,500 people will be hired in the coming weeks. The new cohort will join SAMA’s vibrant team of over 3,000 employees in Nairobi to work on computer vision AI projects for some of the world’s largest corporations.

SAMA plans to provide more job to Kenyan youth through its global relationships, and expects the number of individuals to hire to quadruple in the next months, thanks to a favorable business environment. This is consistent with the government’s goal of creating digital jobs.

“The government is keen to turn Kenya into a digital economy by creating a conducive operating environment for the private sector. We congratulate Sama for their commitment to nurturing Kenyan youths on the AI Value chain. By employing 2,000 Kenyan youths, they are paving the way for a brighter future where talent meets technology, creating opportunities for our nation’s brightest minds,” State Department of ICT and the Digital Economy Principal Secretary Eng. John Kipchumba Tanui said.

As in The Economic Development in Africa Report 2023: The Potential of Africa to Capture Technology-intensive Global Supply Chains, because technology-intensive companies tend to pay better wages and can have a favorable job-multiplier impact, the prospect for increased employment in those areas will have unquestionable benefits for the workforce and will support long-term growth in Africa. Making it easier for enterprises in those areas to develop or build new supplier ties in African countries will assist improve African salaries.

The training curriculum will include topics such as computer vision, machine learning, and data annotation. Participants will also receive soft skills training in areas such as communication, teamwork, and problem solving.

SAMA is a pioneer in the impact sourcing model, with a proven track record of providing high-quality services to clients while creating long-term employment opportunities for talented but underserved communities in Kenya, Uganda, and India. The company’s dedication to social responsibility and sustainability has earned it global recognition from industry leaders and organizations.

Locally, SAMA has been in Kenya for 15 years and continues to offer quality formal jobs for Kenyans by providing value chain AI solutions for self-driving cars, virtual reality gaming consoles, fashion segmentation, and crop disease protection.

Source: Business Daily

According to Maxwell Okello, CEO of AmCham Kenya, the third AmCham business summit provided an opportunity for corporate executives to exchange market intelligence and discover areas of opportunity.

According to organizers, more than 700 attendees and 300 companies attended the third edition of the American Chamber of Commerce conference in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Delegations from the US government and corporate sector met with peers from Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya.

Kenya’s President William Ruto declared on Thursday that his country was open for business, stressing a contract his administration had made with the US biotech firm Moderna.

” It is with pleasure that I announced the finalized deal between Moderna and the government of Kenya to build a $500 million dolla MRNA vaccine facility in Nairobi,” he said.

According to Maxwell Okello, CEO of AmCham, the two-day AmCham business summit, which concluded Thursday, provided an opportunity for business leaders to exchange market knowledge and discover areas of opportunity, particularly for commercial involvement.

AmCham “does two things: ..One: it’s a perfect demonstration of some of the commitments we had from the US…. Two: We are very keen in seeing how we can actually advance commercial engagement,” Okello said. ” We thought this would be a good platform to create partnerships, bring local companies that could be counterparts to those American companies that are interested in coming into Kenya.”

Scott Eisner, president of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Africa Business Center, sent a delegation of more than 30 CEOs. He told VOA that they aimed to establish concrete private-sector possibilities and cooperative partnerships.

” We have plenty of tech companies with us, but we also have pharmaceuticals, medical devices, technology, satellite companies that are doing mapping of the world, infrastructure developers around Caterpillar, the GEs of the world,” he said. “So we really have arranged for a very strong delegation representing the complexities of the American business community.”

Nzonzi Katana works as a process engineer with Kenyan startup semiconductor Technologies Limited, which has a presence at the show. Microprocessors, memory chips, and sensors are all manufactured by the company.

” We have been able to meet many representatives from many African American companies,” Katana said. “I believe there’s one person who might be a potential supplier of our raw material.”

Source: Business Daily

Kenya has been given permission to begin exporting avocado fruits to India in September, with the first cargo scheduled to arrive in the Asian country.

With the opening of the Indian market, Kenyan farmers will be able to increase their Avocado planting, greatly contributing to increased incomes, agricultural job generation, and indirect benefits through downstream prospects.

The European Union, particularly the northern regions, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Germany are the primary destinations for avocado exports. Avocado has surpassed grapes as Europe’s second most valuable imported fruit from nations with lower incomes.

After informing the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Indian government granted Kenya Avocado market access. “We are pleased that export destinations continue to expand, allowing our farmers to grow more Avocados,” said Prof Theophilus Muthui, managing director of Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS).

Avocado growers in Kenya must compound the fruits with mythyle bromide to control and remove pests such as fruit fly, or use cold treatment as an alternative. The first shipment will be shipped out in a deplomatic bag, and exporters will then hunt for partners and begin exporting with the assistance of (KEPHIS).

The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce Kakamega Chapter held a cocktail meeting with the Asian Business Community of Kakamega at Hotel Grand Turaco.

The meeting doubled up with sensitization on the upcoming business environment following the passage of finance bill both at the national level and at the county level.

During the meeting, the Asian Business Community led by their chairperson Mr. Pravin famously known as Mitra seconded a representative to the board of directors of KNCCI Kakamega Chapter to represent the interest of the Asian Business Community.

Mr. Nilesh will now sit on the chamber board and support the business Community with adverse expertise on accounting and financial management.

The chamber is determined to ensure there is an enabling business environment across the entire county for the growth of the economy.