mashilingi

Diasporan Harassed at Artcaffe in Nairobi

2011-12-13T01:10:00.001-08:00

Diasporan Harassed at Artcaffe in Nairobi

By Admin | Mon, 12/12/2011 12:18PM -0500

On Saturday 10th December 2011 at 2.21pm, I met my Business Partner and Her friend at the Artcaffe in Junction Nakumatt Mall, Nairobi, Kenya. This was my first time to visit this establishment.

My Business Partner and I sat at a separate table from her friend as we were discussing our business.

After an hour, we paid for our drinks and snacks and left Artcaffe. We then went to the basement where I had packed my new Audi A4 to show them some handbags I had brought from London for my Business Partner. As they both looked at them (in my boot), 2 big burly men appeared from nowhere and asked us in very intimidating tones what we were doing. Before I could even answer those 2 KK Security men and a tall older looking Middle East man materialized. At this point I thought that we were either being car jacked or something was very wrong.

The 3 of us were shaken and wondering what was going on, I quickly explained that I was showing my 2 friends my new handbags. The Middle East man asked me to lock the boot and come aside. I did as he asked and my friends were standing on one side of the car and I was standing on the other with the Middle East man. He explained to me that we were suspected of stealing a hand bag and laptop from Artcaffe and they had CCTV footage proving this.

When I looked at him in disbelief, and asked him if we could go and see the CCTV footage he agreed. At this point 5 more KK Security men appeared and we were frog marched all the way to the Artcaffe. When we got there I demanded to see the CCTV footage, the Middle East man again pulled me aside and told me that I was not a suspect and that it was my business partner's friend who was. I told him that if that was the case I still wanted to see the footage and that I could not leave them.

After much confusion of whom had the footage, a short Middle East man accompanied by 2 Middle East women came with a laptop and the older tall Middle East man asked us to go to a handbag shop opposite Artcaffe to see the footage. When we got there, they then refused to show us the footage and told us that we were free to go. The old Middle East Man explained that it was a case of mistaken identity and that the handbag and laptop (which belonged to a tourist) had been stolen on 5th of December 2011.(please note, the 3 of us were not even in Nairobi on this date).

I looked at the elderly Middle East man in disbelief and asked him if he was the owner of Artcaffe, of which he vehemently denied that he was NOT and that he was a shop owner at the Mall and that we was trying to 'assist' us and the Artcaffe solve this issue. At this point a crowd of people and more KK Security had gathered round us.

I then confirmed with him again if we were free to go as we were not the suspects and he categorical said YES!

Disgusted and tired of the whole ordeal I asked my friends we leave and file a complaint later for this harassment.

As we approached the main exit/entrance of the Junction Mall, 5 KK Security men, stopped us and told us we were still suspects and that we should wait for the police to come.

I could not believe this nonsense, a Commander appeared in a KK Security Car with 3 other Security guards and blocked the exit/entrance and surrounded us and told us that we could not leave. I explained to him what had transpired in the last 1hour.

He then told me that the Elderly Middle East man was actually the owner of Artcaffe and that he had told the KK Security that he did NOT want Kikuyus (a major tribe in Kenya) in his premises as they are thieves and that he was 99% sure my business partner and her friend resembled the suspects in the video footage.

At this point it dawned on me that my business partner and her friend were not dressed according to the Artcaffe standard and they did not fit the so called urban chic criteria that can afford a meal at the Artcaffe. And I had been left out as I looked the part and drove an Audi A4!

The most ironic thing is that my Business Partner owns a very big NGO in Kenya that is supported by very many affluent people including 10 businessmen whose businesses are listed on the New York Stock Exchange!

To cut the long horrible ordeal short, we waited for 1.30 Hours for the Police to come, the police saw the footage of which they said that it was so unclear that one could not see the faces of the thief that stole on the 5th of December 2011(Please note it was only 1 thief not 3!)

We went to the nearest Police station (Muthangari Police Station) and wrote statements (although the Police insisted I was not a suspect) but I insisted on doing one as I do NOT Trust Artcaffe. The reason is that if the Owner can Lie to us with a straight face what can he do if given the chance???

My friend I urge you to please boycott this establishment that harasses innocent Kenyans, Racist, Classist and I strongly believe that we do not need foreigners (who we welcome with open hearts) to insight tribal HATRED in a Country that is only getting over the last Post Election Violence as we approach another Election.

Please pass this on.

By Becky Karanja, a London resident.

Taste it Twice - Part 1

2011-08-16T10:56:00.001-07:00

A former business partner, good friend of mine, from the Asian community in Kenya once told me "You know you've eaten in a good Indian restaurant when you taste the hotness in the food twice, once when it goes in - and the second time when it comes out" I have never forgotten the statement and it always bring a laugh when I share it with friends and family. But even the graphic nature of that statement could not prepare me for what I went through during a recent trip to India.

It wasn't my first time to visit India - no - I was in Hyderabad in 2008 for the Internet Governance Forum conference which was hosted there at the International Conference Centre. The IGF attracted what looked like close to 1,000 visitors from all over the world and lasted one week. The food we ate, both at the event as well as at our hotel and at the various evening functions, while spicy, was not balzingly hot. It might be that in preparation a general circular was sent out to all culinary venues to ease back on the hot stuff for 1 week while all these foreigners are in town. Anyway, all in all - I enjoyed very much the food I ate during that visit.

This time, though, I was on a man-solo trip to meet with our two main point of sale device vendors. One was based in Bangalore and the other in Hyderabad. Upon arrival in Mumbai (where I spent the night) I had a series of rushed meetings before proceeding to catch the flight to Bangalore. I got to the airport well on time, joined the loooong queue for the flight to Bangalore, got to the check-in counter and presented my passport - shock! It was not my passport - apparently another Kenyan had checked into the same hotel the same night, a few minutes after I had, the guy was even a Kamba and had a name and looks similar to mine. So when I checked out of the hotel - the reception (which had retained the passport), gave me the wrong one. In a panic I called my business colleague in Mumbai - he sent his driver immediately to the hotel to pick up the right passport and get it to me quickly so that I could board. By the time the driver arrived with the passport (I gave him the wrong one to take back to the hotel), and I got into the queue and made it to the check-in desk, I was too late to board the flight. I asked to be put on stanbdy on the next Mumbai-Bangalore flight (they fly hourly) and the lady obliged. One hour later - I was back on the waitlist because all the booked passengers arrived. Another hour later and I was back on the waitlist again! Yet another hours and this time because I was at the top of the waitlist I was given one of two only available chairs on the flight. Got to Bangalore exhausted - took a cab from the airport to hotel (almost 1 hours drive) and slumped into bed like a sack of potatoes.

The Next morning found me up nice and early - ready to face this new city and busy day that lay ahead. But first, breakfast - since I arrived in the wee hours and got to the hotel too tired to order room service, I had overslept a bit and missed the 9.30am deadline for breakfast. No problem, I just headed out onto the street found a nearby coffee shop - asked for a chicken sandwich and black coffee and sat down to wait. Coffee and chick-sandwich arrived together - both looked delicious - I took a huge bite out of the sandwich, and..... aaaaaarrrrrgggghhhh..... it was loaded with tear-gas-like chilli. Needless to say my first reaction was to take a sip of the closest drink - hot coffee! Ouch! Well, that was breakfast....

Once I had regained my vision and general sense of direction I picked up my laptop from the hotel and headed off for my first meeting of the day. I jumped into a tuk-tuk better known as "auto" (3 wheeler moto-taxi), showed the driver my map and address - and off we went! 2 dreary hours later, soaked with sweat and dust I walked up the stairs of our prestigious partners office building and into the main entrance. The security guard at the main entrance took a visibly tighter grip of his firearm as I approached but when I asked for the boss in English, he relaxed, smiled - mumbled something to me and triggered the fingerprint biometric switch which made the door swoosh open and I entered the cool, air-conditioned interior. After 1 hour of an introductory session my hosts invited me to join them for lunch upstairs on the balcony canteen. As we walked up the stairs, the politely asked if I minded indian food - I proudly told them that indian food was my favourite whenever I went out for dinners back home in Kenya. At the buffet style counter - we were served portions of the various dishes on offer by a bunch of cute, chubby ladies. We sat down at what was clearly the table reserved for the executives and began to eat. With my first bite I am sure my face must have turned purple or some other strange color from the hot and spicy food because without a word, my host dashed to the water dispenser - dashed out a plastic cup full of water and hurriedly gave it to me. With my eyes watering I tried to excuse myself and gulped back as much of the water as I could. Not wanting to lose face, I gathered my manly courage, set my jaw firmly and proceed to finish the meal, spoon after flaming spoon.

After lunch we had a very productive afternoon - meeting other members of the team they had assigned to work with me, going over the salient points of our project and brainstorming on a workplan for the next 8 days that I would be in Bangalore. At the end of the day, they summoned an 'auto' for me - and I jiggled and joggled the next two hours back to my hotel. After a quick shower I decided to take a short walk around the neighborhood of my hotel. Less than 3 minutes down the road I came across a massive (to my Kenyan eyes) Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) spot. I immediately rushed in, and with my mouth watering ordered a takeaway meal and salad to go. Rushing back to my room it was all I could do not to start eating on the way up in the lift, no, I wanted to do this right. Got into my room, laid the meal out on my little bedside table - washed my hands thoroughly at the tap in the bathroom and then descended upon the feast with avengeance..... Ouch! Oooow! Sssss! That chicken was so spicy hot that for a moment I thought I was eating pili pili straight from the farm! Goodness gracious! There went whatever hope I had of a blissful KFC eatfest. I picked at the fries and the salad - put it all back together, snuggled into bed and flipped channels for about 30 minutes before drifting off into a somewhat troubled sleep.

Very early in the morning I got up to attend to my bodily needs in the toilet. I was still a bit groggy and sleepy as I sat on the ivory throne so I let loose with my usual gusto.... I barely managed to contain the scream that hurtled forth from the depth of my belly. I felt as if my intestines were being dragged out of my rear end.... with a blowtorch burning ever so brightly at that posterior to make everything nice and colorful. Agony of agonies! Torture of tortures! The next 5 minutes found me reduced to a shivering, shaking wreck of a person. After cleaning up I stumbled into the shower, turned the cold water tap onto full pressure and present the resultant, soothing jet of water to the offended area. Then it came back to me, what my asian friend had told me, so - this is what he meant by tasting it twice!

Lost my HINDIOT

2011-08-16T05:48:00.001-07:00

woiyeee, boohoohoohoo, nisaindie yameni.....

*wipes tears, blows nose and snuffles loudly*

I lost my beloved, cherished Huawei IDEOS smart(est) phone....

It was a cold, dark night in Gaborone - and it also happened to be my birthday. My work colleagues took me out for dinner and even before it was over, begged their leave and left me all alone in this vibrant, classy and quite well visited restaurant. Sitting on a stool next to our table was a vocalist - belting out golden oldies, and every two or three songs wishing me a happy birthday on the mic and dedicating a song to me (maybe it was the 100 Pula tip I gave him for singing "Malaika" so well).

So here I am, all alone - finishing my meal and wondering how the rest of my birthday evening was going to be. Then I get a pat on my back and a guy I had been introduced to the previous week says hi and asks if he can join the table. I welcome him and he sits down, waves a hand in the air and "poof!" 3 dazzling ladies appear - one is his sister, the other his girlfriend and the third a cousin. After about another hour, the vocalist's crooning get's a bit tiring and my newfound friends suggests we find a place with a little more 'life'. Of course I am game. After a short drive we arrive at 'G-West' - Gaborone's equivalent of F1. We join the already crowded top level, find a corner at the bar, lean back and try to allow the pulsating 'house' music to sink in. By around mid-night I'm kinda ready for bed, but my friends... no way! By now they know it's my birthday and want to make sure that it is well celebrated. So we depart - driving about 30 klicks outside of Gaborone CBD to the only 24 hour joint - "Magic King" - which is absolutely packed to the brim - we try to fight our way to the bar to get a drink, give up mid dance floor, and turn back to try get out of the entrance we came in.

That is when the "tsotsis" (mbulale mbastards) make their move - in a very well orchestrated motion, I (unknowingly) am surrounded by about 5 guys who seem to be dancing around me - their hands are raised, at least that's what it looks like, and their heads are bobbing to the loud, glaring beats of the 'house' music. As I try to shuffle towards the entrance, I realise something strange, these fellows seems to be dancing - moving in the same direction and at the same pace as me - we're like some kind of interconnected cluster of bodies moving synchronously towards the entrance. I push one guy who is resting on my chest away - and he immediately 'reconnects' - I do the same to another on my flank and get a similar response. It then dawns on me that I am or have been played - I swirl round, duck, lunge forward, and escape the clutches of this five tentacled octopeople that is trying to swallow me - and I'm out of the door and into the cold, fresh air outside. I find my friends out there and we all agree to call it a night and that they will drop me off at my hotel.

As we enter the car I decided to check my email/facebook/twitter - you know, the usual addictive impulse that hits us socio(net)paths every 10-20minutes. I reach into my jacket breast pocket and shock! Phone gone! ....... Billions of blue, blistering, barnacles! I've been robbed! thefted! stolen! plundered! - I quickly check the rest of my pockets and find that everything else is intact - even my Nokia E5 (bought same week as my beloved HINDIOT). But alas, my swiss army knife of mobile phones, my multi-purpose, multi-faceted, multi-factor interaction interface is gone! the only bean in the githeri of my technical arsenal is lost! I am bereft..............

..............Friends and family are meeting in my Google Plus hangout every evening from 5pm GMT for the next 5 days. Well wishers and those bringing condolences are welcome.

Google & Huawei bring Kenyas first low-priced smartphone

2010-09-06T06:10:00.001-07:00

Models display the Huawei U8220 Android smart phone during its launch at a Nairobi hotel. Photo/FREDRICK ONYANGO

By Kui Kinyanjui

Posted Monday, September 6 2010 at 00:00

The quest for control of Kenya's rapidly growing mobile Internet market has intensified with the launch by Chinese technology firm Huawei of a competitively priced smartphone that runs on Google's Android operating system.

Retailing at just Sh8,000, the Huawei IDEOS is the cheapest smartphone in the Kenyan market and is expected to deepen the penetration of Internet among the estimated 20 million Kenyan consumers of mobile phone services.

Internet access has become the new battleground for Kenya's four telecoms operators following the recent plummeting in voice call tariffs and the resulting decline in its importance as a revenue driver.
Kenya has six million Internet users a large portion (four million) of who accesses it through their mobile phones that is considered to be more affordable by most consumers because it cuts down the cost of acquisition to a tiny fraction of the closest competitors.

The smartphones, however, remains dominated by highly-priced models that sell at an average of Sh30,000 placing it above the reach of the majority of consumers.

"The IDEOS is an affordable option, designed to lower barriers to entry and facilitate easy mobile Internet access," said Kevin Tao, the CEO of Huawei Device. "Ownership of the smartphone is one of the key means of getting people into the 'golden age of mobile broadband'," he said.

The IDEOS is a touch-screen phone that comes with bluetooth connectivity, GPS, a 3.2-megapixel camera, up to 16GB of storage and can be transformed into a 3G Wi-Fi hotspot connecting up to eight devices.

Many Kenyans are more familiar with Huawei modems, which they use to connect to the Internet through PCs or lap tops. The IDEOS is the latest in a string of devices the Chinese firm has rolled out aiming to capture a share of the growing consumer internet market.

Smartphones are expected to account for 37 per cent of the global mobile phone market by 2014, with the Middle East and Africa as the main drivers of the growth. Mobile Internet access is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 39 per cent in the next four years. In Kenya, mobile Internet use grew by over 180 per cent in past 12 months, according to consumer research firm Synovate.

The IDEOS' entry into Kenya comes only two months after Huawei teamed up with Safaricom in high profile launch of yet another smartphone U220 that also runs on Google's Android. This time around, there is industry speculation that the new phone will be marketed by internet firm Google, which is today launching its big marketing push aimed at boosting its presence in Kenya. Google's Android operating system allows users to ride on its Open Source development platform, offers users more than 70,000 applications and a cheap alternative to Google's Nexus originally developed to compete with Apple's iPhone.

Google is expected to unveil the key components of its mobile Internet strategy at the opening of the G-Kenya conference, where the global Internet giant will engage with local software developers, entrepreneurs, and computer science students. Google is also expected to showcase a range of products aimed at driving innovation in local technology and business circles. "In alignment with our core mission to organise the entire world's information and make it universally accessible and useful, we would like to provide training on localised tools that can spur economic development for the people of Kenya," Google said in a statement.

G-Kenya is expected to bring together over 1,200 software engineers, product managers, entrepreneurs, students and web developers to discuss the future of applications development, and be trained on Google's products and online business skills. The forum will feature high profile Google speakers including one of the internet giant's vice presidents Nelson Mattos, a team of product developers, engineers, the head of marketing for Africa, search specialists, and business marketing gurus.
Mr Mattos is Google's VP in charge of product and engineering.

Google entered the Kenyan market in 2007, but has mostly played an observer role even as the country deepened its foray into new technologies such as mobile Internet. The path of internet access growth in Kenya has been largely determined by the lack of fixed PC internet connections that has forced the consumers to rely on their mobile phones. Industry researcher RNCOS says the number of mobile subscribers in Kenya will grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 15 per cent between 2010 and 2013 to reach 32 million by the end of 2013, representing a penetration rate of 72 per cent. Kenya is said to be on the verge of becoming one of the fastest growing broadband markets in the continent, RNCOS says, with research pointing to the number of Internet users and broadband subscribers growing at a rate of nearly 130 per cent in the next two years.

Voice dialling

Available in black, yellow, blue, and purple, the IDEOS supports functions such as voice dialling, voice navigation, and the ability to run applications off the SD card. Mr Tao said the name "IDEOS" embodies creativity and inspiration: the "ID" represents the industrial design-centric hardware platform, the "OS" represents the operating system as the core software platform, and the "E" symbolises the evolution to mobile Internet.

Africa’s broadcast and film leaders to gather in Nairobi next week

2010-07-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

Over 60 African and international broadcast and film leaders will make presentations on a wide range of media industry topics over the two-day Broadcast & Film Africa Conference in Nairobi over 28-29 July. They will be sharing knowledge and experience with industry managers and professionals from throughout the continent.

The speaker line-up is an impressive gathering of industry thought-leaders and represents a unique educational and networking opportunity for Africa’s rapidly expanding media sector.

The conference programme has been designed by Russell Southwood, a leading analyst of the African media sector and publisher of African Broadcast, Film & Convergence e-letter. He will make a keynote presentation in the conference on the changes in the industry across the continent over the last two years and the changes affecting its future growth.

This will be followed by an opening session on “Africa’s new free-to-air and pay-TV challengers”, with leading lights in the broadcasting industry making presentations, including Euan Fanell, CEO of Wananchi in Kenya; Lara Kantor, Group Executive of eTV in South Africa; Mactar Silla, Chairman of the Association of Private Producers and Televisions of Africa; George Twumasi, CEO of African Broadcast Networks; and Joe Frans, CEO and President of Next Generation Broadcasting in Sweden. According to Russell Southwood, “Alongside the Pay TV challengers, there are a new set of Free-To-Air broadcasters springing up, particularly in those countries that have liberalised. These new competitors are seeking to steal the more established companies audiences and are putting further pressure on Africa’s beleaguered public broadcasters. This session will address these key issues.”

Other conference sessions include:

·         Getting local content through advance sales, commissions, sponsorship and co-productions: The economic rules of the production game.

·         Delivering broadcast output in new ways

·         The Digital Transition – How can Africa make this work for broadcasters and audiences?

·         Broadcast regulation – Holding the industry back or spurring it on?

·         FM radio stations – How to compete in a crowded market place

·         Programming – Getting the most out of themed channels

·         In the danger zone – What should broadcasters say or not say?

·         After Nollywood, what next? – Getting African film seen across the continent

·         Multi-platform strategies – Creating something that is more than words

The event includes an exhibition to provide a showcase for latest technologies, services and systems that will enable film-makers and broadcasters to achieve world-class standards in the digital age.

For full details of the conference, email info@aitecafrica.com or log on to www.aitecafrica.com

Safaricom launches Android based smartphone in partnership with Huawei

2010-07-21T06:26:00.000-07:00

Today in Nairobi Safaricom announced the launch of a mid-range Android based smartphone in partnership with Huawei.

The first Android smartphone for Safaricom to introduce, the event was presided over by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication, Dr. Bitange Ndemo. He lauded Safaricom and Huawei for bringing the device into the Kenyan market and especially for the price point, which stands at slightly above Kshs. 27,000/= (approximately US$ 340).

This move heralds what industry pundits claim will be a revolution in mobile internet use by Kenyan mobile subscribers. The Android platform provides access to over 60,000 applications via the Android Apps marketplace as well as native support for various social networks including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and others.

AFC-Financed Main One Cable System Now Operational Changes face of West African telecommunications

2010-07-21T06:15:00.000-07:00

20 July 2010

press release

The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), lead investor in the Main One Cable Company, joins Main One to mark the global operational launch, today, of the groundbreaking Main One submarine fibre optic cable system project.

This landmark project, which is now operational, seriously enhances West Africa's connectivity to Europe and other parts of the world. Telecommunications in the region receives a tremendous boost with roughly 7,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable between Portugal, Ghana and Nigeria. Along its path, the cable has branching units to Morocco, the Canary Islands, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire. A second phase of the project will extend it to South Africa.

The Main One Cable satisfies what has until now been a huge dearth in fast and efficient connectivity, delivering 1.92 tera bytes per second (Tbps) of high capacity bandwidth. This is equivalent to ten times the available capacity of the fibre optic cable that has served West Africa until now. It has about twenty times the satellite capacity currently available across Sub-Saharan Africa.

"As a pan-African financing institution, AFC is delighted to be a proud partner in the Main One submarine cable system project," says Andrew Alli, AFC President and Chief Executive Officer. "This is an African conceived, financed and driven project, which opens and integrates Africa's ICT markets and addresses the commercial imperative necessary to drive economic growth."

"Funke Opeke, CEO of Main One Cable Company Limited, notes "AFC brought a combination of technical, institutional, regional and financial skills into the project, which will provide much needed telecommunications capacity in West Africa. The participation of AFC enhanced the ability of the project to complete the necessary financing for its implementation and timely delivery."

Source : Africa Finance Corporation

Louis Oosthuizen wins British Open: Another great moment for Africa!

2010-07-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

Sunday 18th July was another great day for Africa - as Louis Oosthuizen won the British Open with a massive seven stroke lead. Carding a one under par 71 in the final round of the Open on Sunday, Oosthuizen finished the tournament with a fabulous 16 under par score, brought about by twenty birdies, one eagle and only 6 bogeys in the four rounds through Thursday to Sunday.

Add on to this the fact that his win came on Nelson Mandela's 92nd birthday - it was a nostalgic moment as he dedicated his win to "Madiba" during his winner's speech.

Louis Oosthuizen played in Kenya at the Muthaiga golf club during the Africa Junior Golf challenge where he was named player of the tournament, this after winning the Karen Golf Challenge at the Karen Golf Club in 1999.

On a more personal note - I meet his brother at the Roodepoort Country Club in 2003, where I bought my first Ping Driver, a club I still own. Getting left-handed clubs is generally not very easy in Kenya, but I was able to get a sweet deal on this club from Louis' brother who was working at the ProShop at Roodepoort CC. Louis' brother was very excited to find out that I was from Kenya and spoke very proudly of his brother's achievements in the golf arena.

Well done Louis, you have made African's all over the world very proud!

East Africa: EASSy Fibre-Optic Cable Set for Launch This Month

2010-07-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

By Al-amani Mutarubukwa
12 July 2010

The East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) will be switched on at the end of this month, officials said yesterday. The fibre-optic cable, which serves as a conduit for Internet and data traffic, arrived in the country in April this year but was yet to start operations
"We are now continuing with recruiting potential clients, mainly wholesalers and government institutions, before going live at the end of July," said Mr Norman Moyo, the Zantel chief commercial officer.

Various eastern and southern African telecommunication companies have a stake in EASSy. In Tanzania, TTCL and Zantel are shareholders in the fibre-optic cable. When it goes live, the cable system is expected to provide a capacity transport option to other network operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

The development is expected to provide more alternative Internet gateways to users in the country and avoid dependency on a single gateway, which becomes a problem when it breaks down. Last week the country went without Internet connections for two days because Seacom cable, currently the main gateway, developed technical problems off the Kenyan coast. Since then there have been persistent interruptions.

Latest reports indicate that the company's technical team had identified the exact location of the fault and the repair process had begun. However, while the repair process is expected to continue for several days, the actual completion date remains unknown due to several factors. These include the transit time of the ship, weather conditions and time spent on locating the cable.

The company's website said the faulty section of the cable was at one of the deepest points along its route, some 4.7 kilometres beneath the sea surface. "This may require robotics to be deployed to locate and retrieve the cable for repairs to be undertaken on board the specialised repair ship before replacing the cable back on the ocean floor," the company said in a posting on its website on Friday.

Early last week the country suffered its second major Internet connection breakdown in three months after a submarine fibre-optic cable experienced a serious technical problem off the coast of Mombasa, in Kenya.

Efforts to fix the problem culminated in the company contacting various stakeholders and providing them with alternative routes, which saw many internet users resuming their operations on Wednesday.
However, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been complaining that the recommended alternative connection routes turned out to be both expensive and slow. Banks, cybercafés, telecom companies and other offices were particularly hit hard by the fault on the cable which connects Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique to Europe and Asia.

A survey carried out by The Citizen (a Tanzanian newspaper) yesterday revealed that Internet Service Providers and bandwidth-hungry users had fallen back on satellite connections. "Such breakdowns are common practice in the industry, but we can still get network access using satellite connection as many operators have already done," the Tanzania Telecommunication Regulatory Authority chief, Mr John Nkhoma, told The Citizen over the phone.

However, industry players have been expressing concern that in an era where internet is becoming a pivotal factor of production, the country would continue suffering from repeated connection breakdowns due to its reliance on one cable.

The minister for Communication, Science and Technology, Prof Peter Msolla, told this paper on Thursday that the government had started engaging other gateways such as Uhuru One and Teams, both from Kenya. Apart from complementing one another, he said, multiple gateways would serve as a back-up in case one of them collapsed.

Submarine fibre-optic cables have opened a new era of the ICT industry in the country and the region at large, as they relay a reliable high-speed bandwidth. The East African Submarine System (EASSy) is being implemented along the east coast of Africa with nine landing stations in Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Comoros, Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa.

Source : The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

SEACOM cable repairs to take till July 22

2010-07-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

Jul 12, 2010 10:45 AM | By I-Net Bridge

SEACOM says that repairs for its faulty undersea cable line between Mumbai and Mombasa will only be finalised by July 22, having originally gone down on July 5.

The cable connects South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique to Europe and Asia.
Initial reports indicated that the overall repair process could take 6-8 days.

"Current investigations indicate that a repeater has failed on segment 9 of the SEACOM cable, which is offshore to the north of Mombasa. This unexpected failure affects traffic towards both India and Europe. Traffic within Africa is not affected," SEACOM said.

It said it had continued to work closely with its partners to deploy the best plan possible for the repair operations.
"As communicated earlier, the exogenous factors such as location, water depth, weather and spare parts needed make this cable outage very difficult to repair and a highly specialised vessel and technical crew is being used to carry out this work.
"Based on this, the current timeline indicates that the repairs may now only be finalised by July 22, 2010," SEACOM said.

The group said it would also continue to source and activate additional capacity to meet customer requirements for the duration of the repairs.
Internet service provider, MWEB said on Friday that it had restored all of its international bandwidth and was running at full capacity.
MWEB, which relies on SEACOM's cable for its services, said it had worked very closely with its bandwidth provider to ensure the stability of its network while identifying alternative options to secure additional redundancy.
MWEB said Telkom's SAT3 cable had ensured some redundancy, which was used primarily to re-route email traffic.
Derek Hershaw, MWEB ISP CEO said: "While SEACOM continues with the repairs of the cable fault, we have in the interim secured full capacity split over two separate routes. SEACOM's restoration process is expected to be completed later next week.

Source : http://www.timeslive.co.za/scitech/article545755.ece/SEACOM-cable-repairs-to-take-till-July-22

African Voices in the Global Media Space: the 14th Highway Africa Media Conference

2010-06-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

The 14th Highway Africa Conference takes place between 4th and 7th July 2010 at Rhodes University, Eastern Cape, South Africa. During this event Highway Africa will recognise media practitioners in various key categories. This event is touted as the largest gathering of journalists in Africa.

The event, which has become one of the hallmarks of new media achievement in Africa highlights the power of the media among communities especially as a way of promoting open and free expression that boosts growth and development.

This event will also see the 10th Edition of the Africa New Media Awards. The 3 categories for awards will be:

Individual/Student – awarded to individual persons who design or appropriate new affordable applications of communication technologies to overcome the limitations of existing infrastructure and/or capital resources.
Not-for-Profit – awarded to users of appropriate media technology to advance and assist communities and persons limited by infrastructure and/or technological access.
Corporate – awarded to corporate groups for creative and appropriate adaptation of technologies within the continent to complete effectively in the wider environment.

Entries will have a broad criteria which include:

The judges will consider the use of new media technologies to:

Advance press freedom on the continent;
Encourage social empowerment amongst marginalised communities;
Highlight innovative and creative applications of global technology for the benefit of the continent’s overall media development.

More details on the Highway Africa website http://www.highwayafrica.com

Upcoming event to address issues of intra-African connectivity

2010-06-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

The Internet Society in conjunction with various partners will be holding an event in Nairobi which seeks to bring together African Internet Exchange Point operators, ISPs, policy makers, regulators and professionals to deliberate on strategies to improve connectivity between and within African countries.

According to the conference website:
"The Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum: Unlocking Africa’s Regional Interconnection will address the key Interconnection opportunities and challenges in the Africa and provide participants with global and regional insights on maximising regional opportunities. As a multi-stakeholder forum, the event will seek to foster a robust discussion on cross-border interconnection approaches and challenges by encouraging participate by a range key players such as; infrastructure providers, Service Providers, IXPs and regulators. Registration is free."

The event takes place in Nairobi, Kenya from the 11th to the 12th of August and will be hosted by the Telecommunications Service Providers of Kenya (TESPOK) at the Panafric Hotel.

$2 Million Laptop Grant for Kenyan University Students

2010-06-19T00:47:00.000-07:00

Kenya's ICT Board, the main implementation agency under the Ministry of Information & Communication has lined up US$ 2 Million which will go towards granting about 15,500 university students the opportunity to own their own personal laptop.

This initiative, which is supported under the World Bank's KTCIP programme will go a long way towards increasing the awareness, application and opportunities for ICT in the education sector.

Students will be required to apply for the grant via the ICT Board web-based portal and will be served on a first-come first-serve basis with further verification and authentication being performed by the laptop vendor and the university to which the student belongs.

Kudos to the ICT Board for yet another ground-breaking initiative!

Zambia Reduces International Gateway Fees

2010-06-17T03:15:00.000-07:00

A very interesting development as reported by Zambia's Lusaka Times. This is a further testimony to the commitment many African countries have towards reducing the cost of communications services as one way of stimulating investment, economic growth and development. The full article follows:

The Zambian government has finally reduced its international gateway license fee from US$12 million to $350,000 in a bid to attract international investment in the country’s telecom sector and reduce the high cost of communications.

The new gateway license fee puts Zambia at the same level as other countries in the region including Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, which are experiencing massive investment in the telecom sector. International gateway fees are $214, 000 in Kenya and $50,000 in Uganda.

Private mobile operators in Zambia and other telecom sector stakeholders — including Zain, the World Bank, and the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). — had been expressing concern at the high cost of doing business in Zambia.

The decision to lower gateway fees comes in the wake of the government sale of Zamtel, which controlled the gateway and charged private operators high fees for its satellite system. Zamtel has been sold to Libya’s LAP Green Networks in a bid by the Zambian government to level the playing ground in international call services.

“The move by the Zambian government would enhance the performance of the telecom sector because high tariffs put pressure on customers’ pockets,” said Walter Tapfumanei, communications officer for Africa Agency for ICT Development.

Despite the reduction in international connection fees, the high user tariffs are not expected to decrease anytime soon, since the Zambian government has not come up with a law to govern the use of the gateways. Service providers are still using the old tariffs for international calls as they wait for the enactment of the new law that the Zambian government has drafted to guide service providers on the use of the gateways. The new law is yet to be presented to Parliament for approval, which might take months.

Hands on with the iPad in Nairobi

2010-06-15T06:51:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I got a chance to lay my paws on an iPad for the very first time! The device belonged to a friend of mine who works with a US-based company with offices in Nairobi. A workmate of his bought it in the USA and brought it in for him yesterday morning. I witnessed the ceremonial 'box-opening' and our gasps of awe and amazement were a clear testimony to the sleek beauty that this device possesses.

After turning it round over and over, my pal put it on charger and we took off our separate ways for what proved to be a pretty busy schedule of meetings. We met up later that evening and he had already sync'd up with his Macbook Pro as well as connected to his various online services including social media, email, calendars etc. It was quite fortunate that we met at Java Cafe in Sarit centre, where they have free wifi. The performance of this device on the 'net is nothing short of amazing, typing into text fields and documents with the onscreen keyboard is actually quite easy and a far-cry from the fiddling that one does with the tiny onscreen keyboard that the iPhone possesses.

This particular model was the current top-end device with 64GB storage, 3G+Wifi. The most amazing thing? Earlier in the day my pal had contacted Safaricom and yes, they do have the special microsim that the iPad 3G needs for service. Yippee!

BarCamp & WhereCamp Underway in Nairobi

2010-06-12T14:28:00.000-07:00

This event kicked of today at the IHub in Nairobi.

BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering of people interested in technology born from their desire to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees. With practically a full house, the attendants were able to live out this vision today and will continue throughout Sunday.

The event had a who's who list of local and international sponsors including Google, K24, Mocality, SevenSeas Technologies, SpatialDev and Development.Seed among others.

Kudos to the team behind the planning, organisation and execution of BarCamp - it is making a huge difference in the way the Kenyan technical community interact.

NuMobile Announces Wireless Broadband Network Rollout in East Africa Next Month

2010-04-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

(Market Wire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) 03/26/10 -- NuMobile, Inc. is scheduled to begin work on a project constructing a wireless broadband network in Nairobi, Kenya next month. Through the joint project with Greenfield Program Partners NewMarket Technology, Inc., China Crescent Enterprises, Inc. and Nova Energy, Inc., NuMobile will take part in the implementation of the wireless broadband network, intended to provide a wireless metering capability to local utility companies. The survey and design phase of the project have already been completed, and in April, the project is scheduled to move on to the construction phase in the first region. After successful completion of the testing phase, the wireless broadband project is expected to expand throughout Nairobi, followed by expansion to additional cities and countries throughout East Africa. The project team plans to report on the project's progress via intermittent Internet delivered multimedia presentations while on the ground in Nairobi.

NuMobile was recently featured in a Webcast providing a preview of the Company's upcoming 2009 financial report. NuMobile introduced a new business plan in the first quarter of last year and subsequently executed two acquisitions to build a portfolio of smartphone and mobile computing software solutions. The 2009 financial report will be the first consolidated and audited annual financial statement since the Company introduced a new business plan. The Greenfield Partnership Program on-demand Webcast discusses the business plan validation anticipated to be reflected in the upcoming 2009 audited annual financial report as well as NuMobile's business plan growth and maturity. The Webcast is available at http://www.newmarkettechnology.com/wcgf_20100335.htm.

NuMobile Information and Email Newsletter To learn more about NuMobile and to sign up for company email alerts, please visit the corporate website at www.numobileinc.com.

About NuMobile, Inc. (www.numobileinc.com) NuMobile is building a portfolio of security and software solutions for the global mobile computing and smartphone market. Through a roll-up strategy, NuMobile plans to acquire and develop mobile computing solutions for a variety of applications, including mobile banking, for the global marketplace. The demand for mobile security and software applications is being driven in large part by the growing number of mobile phone sales into emerging economies that currently do not have substantial access to the Internet via desktop computing. Already in North America, the Company has also forged a partnership in the Chinese market and is developing a plan for the emerging economies of Latin America and East Africa. NuMobile is a SEC fully-reporting public company listed on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board.

"SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT" UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995 This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The statements in this release are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results, events and performance could vary materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause NuMobile's actual results in future periods to differ materially from results expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, product demand and market competition. You should independently investigate and fully understand all risks before making investment decisions.

Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine Contact: NuMobile, Inc.

Investor Relations 214-556-5927

Accenture eyes Kenya as outsourcing location

2010-03-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

Accenture has given a boost to Kenya's business process outsourcing (BPO) market by piloting a project that is likely to lead to a long-term base for the global giant. For the last two years, Accenture has engaged the Kenyan government and explored ways to improve market and technical conditions that would lead to the first Accenture outsourcing center in East Africa. "It means a lot to Kenya for Accenture to set up its base here; it is a leading outsourcing company and is likely to pull other outsourcing companies," said Paul Kukubo, CEO, Kenya ICT Board.

Social Media abuzz with Kenya's Hottest Trend - Makmende

2010-03-22T05:03:00.000-07:00

Ha-He is the second video from Just a Band's second album, 82. It was released this past Monday via JAB's YouTube page.

Makmende Amerudi, The 1970's themed video, directed by Jim Chuchuand Mbithi Masya, features a mean, ass-kicking character known as Makmende (played by Kevin "K1"Maina) who has been all the rage on Twitterthis week.

A lot of people have been wondering who the hell Makmende is. Well, that depends on your age and where you grew up. Makmende was a term used way back in the early to mid 1990s to refer to someone who thinks he's a superhero. For example, if a boy who's watched one too many kung-fu movies on TV decides to unleash his newly acquired combat skills, he would be asked"Unajidai Makmende, eh?" (Who do you think you are, Makmende?) Trust me, there was a Makmende in every hood!

What Just a Band have done, quite creatively, is to give life to this long forgotten character in a way that makes him a unique Kenyan superhero, akin to Shaft, Jack Bauer and Chuck Norris. Makmende has so far taken on a life of his own, with a fan page on Facebook, a Twitter account and even awebsite! Makmende is this week's biggesttrending topic on Twitter in Kenya.

I wouldn't be surprised if Jim Chuchu and Mbithi Masya receive offers to create a TV series based on Makmende.Badass of the year! I have to say that Just a Band are setting the standards as far as local music videos are concerned. It's about time some creativity was injected into the music industry coz I'm sure you agree with me that we are all tired of seeing the same old music video concept, which is to hire a few pimped out cars to floss with, get a bunch of pretty girls, pack them into a club and have a few miscellaneous people masquerading as artistes jumping all over the place screaming "Mikono Juu!" with other two bob lyrics. The video itself is hilarious, you have to watch it to appreciate the humour in it. With names such as "Finger of Nebula" (a parody of Hellarunga's Finger of god and Crab Nebula) and starring characters named Wrong Number, Abscondita, First Bodi, Taste of Daynjah, The Askyua Matha Militants(this one literally killed me!!) and Britannia Zimeisha. So kudos to JAB and as The Baks would say,"Endelea stairo hio hio!"
Enjoy the video!
Written by and Credits to http://mwanamishale.wordpress.com

Kenya ranked 5th worldwide and No. 1 in Africa in Wind Power Generation Projects

2010-03-21T23:04:00.000-07:00

In a bid to combat the country's growing demand for power whilst still standing firm in the battle against global warming, Kenya has announced that it is to create the largest wind-farm on the continent. 365 giant wind turbines are to be constructed around Lake Turkana in northern Kenya at a cost of over GBP £533m. When completed in 2012, farm will be capable of producing 300MW making the wind-farm of the largest producers of national grid-fed wind energy anywhere in the world.

The scheme, currently titled the Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) project is being funded by a Dutch consortium and it has already leased 66,000 hectares of land for the farm's construction. Situated next to the world's largest desert lake, the farm will be fed by winds that blow consistently all year round by hot winds being channeled between the Kenyan and Ethiopian highlands. A second wind-farm has been proposed, to be constructed near the tourist town of Naivasha.

Kenya is already a leader of renewable energy with three quarters of the country's energy coming from hydro-power and a further 11percent coming from geothermal sources. Until now, only Morocco and Egypt had implemented wind energy projects on any significant scale, but now demand is booming as governments on the continent realise the benefits of both solar and wind projects to meet the ever growing energy demand. A week ago, Germany unveiled plans to develop a 400 billion euro solar park in the Sahara desert.

And here comes the EASSY undersea fiber..

2010-03-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

The imminent arrival of Kenya's third international fibre optic this weekend is set to renew debate on the pricing of communication. The East African Submarine System (EASSy) will dock in Mombasa this weekend, two weeks earlier than initially scheduled. Although capacity offered on EASSy will only be available for commercial use in June after it undergoes a mandatory testing period, the cable's physical arrival promises to set off major realignments in the Internet sector over the next three months.

Industry analysts view the entry of EASSy as the catalyst that the local data market needs to effect significantly lower pricing for communications. "Having three or more players in the market inevitably leads to lower prices as competitive market forces come into play," said Joe Sloan, International Finance Corporation (IFC). A recent study on Internet trends in Kenya by TNS Research reveals that while 77 per cent of Kenyans want to get online more frequently, many are often put off by the high cost and low speeds currently offered by the market. EASSy hopes to jolt pricing in the market with its unique costing model, which does not require its customers —typically Internet service providers —to sign long-term contracts in order to access connectivity, unlike other operators. While prices on both Seacom and TEAMS are pegged to long-term, 20 year contracts, EASSy's pricing model will feature short-term leases that offer the smaller Internet service provider cheaper options than those currently in the market.

"This will allow for more flexibility for our customers. The key differentiation between our offering and the others is that we allow our customers to buy capacity in the amounts they can afford, which opens up our service to smaller players," said Chris Wood, CEO of the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC).

Seacom signs broadband link deal with Ethiopia's ETC

2010-03-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

Submarine fibre optic cable system operator Seacom has been awarded an agreement to supply Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) with international broadband fibre connectivity through a backhaul link through Djibouti.

Ethiopia's government was rolling out a $1,5-billion national initiative to improve the country's telecommunications infrastructure. Among other projects relating to landline and mobile telecommunications services, the national fibre optic network was set to be expanded significantly to allow the implementation of its ambitious ICT vision.

"Seacom is ideally suited to provide international connectivity that will complement ETC's extensive national initiative to link the country's businesses and end-users with fibre broadband connectivity. The availability of high-quality broadband at lower prices will accelerate economic development and educational initiatives that will enhance lives and will also establish Ethiopia as an important commercial center for Africa and as a regional transit point for other service providers," said ETC CEO Amare Amsalu.

"Seacom is honoured to have been selected by ETC to provide this important international broadband connectivity element to Ethiopia. As we have seen in other countries that gained access to Seacom, it is only a matter of time before the direct socio-economic benefits created by cheap and readily available bandwidth begin to manifest in Ethiopia and the region," said Seacom CEO Brian Herlihy.

Seacom is a 17 000-km submarine fibre optic cable enabling eastern and southern African countries to connect to the rest of the world through India and Europe, and the first such cable to connect the east African coast.

This deal marks a growing number of African landlocked countries to be connected to the Seacom network since its launch in July 2009 with tangible benefits resulting from the cable's arrival already showing across the region. Kenya has seen bandwidth supply grow by 700% while Mozambique and Tanzania experienced increases of 850% and 1 000% respectively.

Seacom said that plentiful and readily available bandwidth will result in lower telecommunications costs and new opportunities across many sectors of the Ethiopian economy including ICT industries but also educational, clinical and scientific applications which rely on the real-time sharing of data around the world at high speed. Seacom's capacity also enables new technologies such as high definition TV, peer to peer networks, IPTV, and surging Internet demand at prices significantly lower than currently possible.

From Engineering News

"Malili Technopolis Concept Paper" is hot on Twitter this hour

2010-03-19T00:13:00.000-07:00

Wow! This is amazing, a Kenyan project getting top hits on SlideShare

"Malili Technopolis Concept Paper" is being tweeted more than any other document on SlideShare right now. So we've put it on the homepage of SlideShare.net (in the "Hot on Twitter" section).

Well done, you!

- SlideShare Team

Kenya Plans for a new city - A Technopolis

2010-01-25T10:34:00.001-08:00

It was an excited and anticipatory crowd of ICT stakeholders that gathered at the UNES conference room above the Arziki Restaurant at the Nairobi University last Thursday. The reason for the gathering was for a talk by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information & Communication - Dr. Bitange Ndemo - presenting the concept paper for a new city in Kenya - "Malili Technopolis"

The room was packed to capacity with approximately 60 of Kenya's top ICT minds from industry, academia, the financial and public sectors. Dr. Ndemo, in his usual succint, matter-of-fact and friendly tone went through the presentation very easily and sparked a set of responses and a Q&A session that went on for well over 1 hour.

The bottom line is that most of everyone walked away from the meeting with a very positive buzz. This is definitely not another "white elephnat" project being promoted by Government. It definitely looks like a winner. If things go as planned Kenya should have her next city - a technopolis - in Malili (60kms from Nairobi along Mombasa Road) within the next 5 years.

Concept paper presentation is available for download at http://bit.ly/7S82Mb

I&M Bank pioneers Online Merchant Services in Kenya enabling e-commerce

2010-01-22T09:04:00.001-08:00

Kenya Wednesday made a big leap into the world of electronic commerce with the conclusion of a deal for an online payment portal that allows consumers to buy goods from the internet in local currency using credit and debit cards.

I&M Bank unveiled plans to establish the electronic payment platform in partnership with the global financial services provider Visa card, removing one of the major obstacles to the growth of e-commerce in the country.

The e-payment portal is the first in East Africa and is expected to relieve recipients of online payments of the trouble of engaging offshore electronic gateways to receive money. Besides raising the cost of online transactions, use of offshore gateways to settle payments made locally also means the businesses cannot immediately receive the cash and often incur heavy losses in the event of exchange rate fluctuations.

It also forces local consumers to make special arrangements to pay for goods online – a process that has proved more time consuming than walking to a shop for a simple cash transaction. Millions of Kenyan consumers have instead turned to the use of mobile money in the consumer goods market, opening a robust revenue stream for companies such as Safaricom and Zain.

Jump-starting electronic commerce has been a niggling issue for financial and internet service providers, a challenge that has inspired innovation and the introduction of new products.

Analysts said last year's enactment of the Kenya Communications Act, which allowed e-commerce, has become the main driver of growth in the sub-sector.

Local financial institutions have been reluctant to establish electronic payment gateways curbing the growth of e-commerce in the country and giving Kenya the distintion of having one of the lowest levels of electronic transactions in the world.

Low uptake of e-commerce in the country is also thought to be a stumbling block to growth in key sectors such as tourism, where the internet is the main platform for transactions.

I&M launched the electronic payment gateway after it acquired an e-commerce licence from Visa International, making it the first bank in Eastern Africa to offer the service.

Apart from removing the many bottlenecks that have prevented Kenyan consumers from buying goods through the internet, availability of a local electronic payment gateway should help e-commerce merchants such as airlines, tour and travel companies, and utility service providers expand their sales globally at significantly reduced transaction costs.

Mr Arun Mathur, the chief executive of I&M Bank, said the gateway opens yet another business opportunity for web site developers to earn additional revenue by helping potential online traders establish online platforms that can use I&M's system to receive payments.

"Many of these traders have been looking for ways of using technologies to expand their businesses but have been constrained by the scarcity and high cost of online payment gateways," he said.

I&M did not, however, give details on its charges but promised they would be much lower than those levied by offshore service providers.

Users of the system will have to open a payment and settlement account with I&M Bank or opt for transfer services.

Initially, the service is expected to become an attractive proposition for the four million credit and debit card holders tying its growth to increased use of plastic money in Kenya.

Kenyan merchants have lost billions of shillings worth of business deals in the global market because of their inability to accept online payments.
Electronic commerce is expected to get a further boost beginning later this year when the government is expected to launch a five-year plan that aims to place the public sector on an online transactions mode.

The plan is expected to begin with the establishment of an electronic market for public procurement that will see government departments and state firms buy goods and services online.

In the private sector, e-commerce is particularly expected to benefit industries that depend on foreign supplies such as cars and tourism.

"The fact that most used car dealers are based abroad offers providers of e-payment solutions a huge opportunity for growth," said Dr Bitange Ndemo, the Information permanent secretary. Kenya is a major importer of Japanese used cars, taking in 30,000 units in the first nine months of 2009 according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

In tourism, the application of the technology has enabled the players to offer new and flexible services that are cost- competitive and convenient to consumers such as on-line booking of airline tickets, hotels and transfer services.

Mr Gerson Musimi, the managing director of Tamarind Group, said that although the company has been using the internet to market its services, it could not offer complete e-commerce solutions because of lack of a local electronic payment system.

Online sales have been one of the few sectors that recorded growth last year as the world sunk into a recession. Travel is the number one selling commodity online that generates more than $110 billion annually in sales said e-tourism Africa chief executive Damian Cook.

The launch of two undersea fibre optic cables in Kenya last year has boosted e-commerce through increased broadband capacity and greater online access at reduced costs.

A recent study by Forrester, eMarketer, and IDC, global e-commerce is set to continue growing steadily in the next five years. The value of e-commerce sales is expected to reach $711 billion by the end of this year, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 19 per cent.

In Africa, e-commerce has been growing in the past five years though shackled by poor infrastructure and low internet literacy.

Some of the companies that are now offering e-commerce are Mamamikes. Kalahari, Vuma an online Kenyan based business selling music by local Kenyan artists and a number of hospitality providers.