Uganda has for the third time in a row emerged as the top performer in this year’s Electricity Regulatory Index Report published by the African Development Bank.

The East African country, along with Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya, the other top performers, have regulators with the authority to exert the necessary oversight on the sector.

However, the overall electricity regulatory frameworks of African countries is poorly developed, and most countries experience major regulatory weaknesses.

The ERI, a flagship report of the African Development Bank, is a composite index which measures the level of development of electricity sector regulatory frameworks in African countries against international standards and best practice.

“The African Development Bank has been at the forefront of efforts to mainstream electricity sector regulation issues in Africa within the broader sector discourse, recognizing the importance of establishing robust legal and regulatory frameworks to support the financial sustainability of the sector and attract private sector investment,” said Dr. Kevin Kariuki, Vice President, Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, at the African Development Bank.

The third edition of the ERI report was launched during the Digital Energy Festival of the Africa Energy Forum, on 5 November 2020.

The event brought together more than 70 stakeholders in the energy sector, regulators, international organizations, and development finance institutions like Africa50 and the World Bank.

Wale Shonibare, Director for Energy Financial Solutions, Policy and Regulations, at the African Development Bank, said COVID-19 related restrictions had increased residential electricity demand and decreased industrial/commercial demand. This had resulted in shortfalls in the projected revenues of utilities.

“To address these challenges, regulators will be required to play an even more critical and central role post-Covid, to ensure that the sector recovers with minimal and controlled impact on consumers and utilities,” Shonibare said.

Koffi Klousseh, Director of Project Development at Africa50, praised the ERI as a great tool for assessing the readiness of the electricity sector for private sector investments.

Main findings of the ERI 2020 report

• 69% of countries surveyed have regulatory mechanisms in place to facilitate electricity access.
• In 21 of the 36 countries surveyed, the utility is not involved in funding rural electrification. The government, NGOs and consumers do this.
• In 90% of the countries surveyed, the Executive holds the power to appoint board members and heads of regulatory institutions who report to them. This removes the core of decision-making independence from regulators, who are subjected to subtle and direct political pressure to skew key regulatory decisions towards the political inclination of the government in power.
• Most countries have legislation to deal with conflict of interest among commissioners and heads of regulatory institutions while in office. However, few have adequate mechanisms to regulate conflict of interest and other ethical issues, affecting the integrity of regulatory decisions.
• Political authorities have significant influence on the finances of regulatory authorities. In many instances, laws establishing regulatory institutions do not clearly indicate sources of funds for the institution.

Other participants also shared views on the sector:

Ziria Tibalwa Waako, CEO of Uganda’s Electricity Regulatory Authority: “Regulation is a catch-up game. If there are gaps, be happy to review your process and methodology.”

Foibe Namene, CEO of Namibia’s Electricity Control Board: “Regulatory independence is a balancing act between multiple stakeholders while maintaining high level of integrity in the regulatory processes and actions.”

Peter Twesigye, Head of Electricity Regulation Programme, Power Futures Lab, at the University of Cape Town: “Regulators should support utilities through tariffs to finance investments in the backbone feeders with outage management systems that will enable them to monitor reliability and the quality of power on these feeders.”

Download the ERI 2020 report here: https://bit.ly/3kknE7w

Kenya Correspondents Association (KCA) with support from from UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) is launching a project on Enhancing Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists through Devolution in Kenya.

The project which will be implemented over the next 12 months, will benefit 200 journalists working in TV, print, radio, newspapers, and online media drawn from eight (8) counties, namely; Bungoma, Kisumu, Kitui, Meru, Mombasa, Nakuru, Nyeri and Trans Nzoia.

The project aims at sensitizing officials from county governments on the importance of promoting freedom of expression as enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya 2010.

It will also include a systematic monitoring and documentation of the trends and actual threats to the safety of journalists and violations of freedom of expression in the counties.

Kenya Correspondents Association, a key media stakeholder in Kenya, with a network of media correspondents based in the counties, has launched the project in response to the increasing cases of threats to the safety of journalists and freedom of expression under the devolved units.

The counties have become important centers of power and economic influence where journalists are increasingly facing danger and impediments in accessing information in the course of their work.

Media coverage of governance, service delivery and corruption has resulted to increased threats to the safety of journalists and to freedom of expression in the counties.

The project will contribute to the collective efforts at improving the environment for the safety of journalists and expanded space for freedom of expression by citizens and stakeholders in the counties.

UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) is the only multilateral forum in the UN system designed to mobilize the international community to discuss and promote media development in developing countries.

The Programme not only provides support for media projects but also seeks an accord to secure a healthy environment for the growth of free and pluralistic media in developing countries.

Rising Nigerian recording artist, Alpha P, today releases “Wolves and Mustangs”, a 4-track EP, treating the Alpha pack (his fans) to full tracks of popular freestyles posted on his Instagram page earlier in the year and during the lockdown period.

Serving as the follow up to his debut EP “King of the Wolves” which dropped late last year, “Wolves and Mustangs” is an absolute blast from start to finish.

It captures Alpha as he works his magic with a collection of mellow trap vibes, ride out music and chilled playlist jams which reflects every side of his sound. With just a handful of singles and feature from Psycho YP, the EP see’s Alpha speaking on his truths, love, girls, mustangs and God.

“Wolves & Mustangs is a very special project to me. I’m glad that it’s out right now, and the whole world gets to see and listen to my vision.” he says.

Ex WCB star boy Harmonize aka ‘Konde Boy’ has released another hit song -Ushamba – which will in no doubt trigger floodgates of reactions from the rival Wasafi camp. 

In the new song, Konde Boy appears to dis  his former boss Diamond Platnumz in a direct but clever fashion.

Ushamba which is currently scaling its way to the top of YouTube trends with over 950,000 views so far, has already triggered mixed reactions on social media with some fans reading a direct jibe at the WCB president.

In the track, the Wasafi rebel uses his usual artistic and poetic style, to cleverly build a character that is in close resemblance to Diamond, while at the same time unleashing a venomous criticism of the character, in a blow by blow account.

For instance in between the second verse the song goes, “...halina meno ilo simba zeee likila demu lazima litangaze huo tunaita eeeh huo ni ushamba…” a line which in no question relates with Diamond's way of life.

The song is aided by provocative creativity in the video directed by Hanscana where in the 1 minute 17 sec of the video, a character resembling Diamond emerges taking a selfie with young woman by the pool side.

But in his on view Harmonize says: “This Song Based on People Who Likes To Brag Too much In Everything They Do Or They Get...!! Harmonize Came Up Went hard on This Song To All People Who Brags Too much That Its Not A Funny to Brag In Things Are Not Even Sensitive.!!”

Lyrics

Kondeboy

Weeeeeeeee

Chorus

Huo ni ushambaa huo ni wee huo ni ushambaa huo ni wee

Huo ni ushambaa huo ni eeeeh huo ni ushambaa 

Verse

pesa ya kulipa gesti unayo eeeh nyumbani familia inapiga miyayo eeeh

mmh yanafurahisha ufanyayo  eeeh huo ni ushamba

inaboa kudadadeki dereva wa uber hataki kuova teki eti kisa pesa haiongezeki eeeh huo ni ushamba yupo kitandani kajilegeza eeh mi nimeshapaka vya kuteleza eeh eti bebi leo simba wanacheza eeeh huo ni ushamba husband material kutwa unalike picha za makalio vya wenzako usijipe matamanio eeh huo ni ushamba Ashura wa mbagala huna pakula pakulala komenti ndefu picha za kajala huo tunaita eeeh huo ni ushamba

Chorus

Huo ni ushambaa huoni huo ni ushambaa huo ni

Huo ni ushambaa huo ni eeeeh huo ni ushambaa

Verse

mmmh malejendi si wamerudisha vita wanahofia eti jeshi anawapita bila sababu wananikunjia ndita

eeh huo ni ushamba limechoka acha nilikalagaze  halina meno ilo simba zeee likila demu lazima litangaze huo tunaita eeeh huo ni ushamba hivi dunia ndo ipo kikomo eeh maana hadi waganga wanapiga promo hadi insta eeh wana page za kujipigia domo eeeh huo ni ushamba amepanga chumba huko vingunguti yupo mbezi kwa demu pesa hatafuti mmh vipi akikupiga kibuti eeeh huo ni ushamba aaah konda wa daladala umenipitisha bahati mbaya nililala unataka nilipe tena ni busara eeeh huo ni ushamba

Chorus

Huo ni ushambaa huo ni huo ni ushambaa huo ni

Huo ni ushambaa huo ni eeeeh huo ni ushambaa

Verse

kaja na vumbi uso umefubaa anadai kapaka poda eeh kaniomba nauli ya uber

eeeh huo ni ushamba yule namuona kapanda boda vitu vingine haviji na ubongo eeh punguzeni sifa wana sio mchongo eeh demu humjui unampakia mkongoo eeeh huoni ushambaa yeye ndo kalewa kuliko wote anaimba nakucheza ngoma zote wakati wakulipa bili sina chochote eeh huo ni ushambaa

meno yote nje anachekelea ahsante bebi nimepokea hasa mbona haujatuma na yakutoleaa eeeh huo ni ushambaa kumepambazuka alfajiri tupo club wana anasema subiri yani kisa yeye ndo mwenye usafiri aah eeeh huoni ushambaa

tunaishi kwa nyumba ya kupanga mwenzetu unatuletea muganga unataka wote tuonekane wangaa huo tunaita eeeh huo ni ushambaa

Chorus

Huo ni ushambaa huo ni huo ni ushambaa huo ni

Huo ni ushambaa huo ni eeeeh huo ni ushambaa.

hehehehee hasa kama kama tumekutana mchana unasema haujala

heheheee asubuhi si ungeniomba mswaki wewee hehehe hahaha hahahahah

Huo ni ushambaa huo ni huo ni ushambaa huoni

Huo ni ushambaa huo ni huo ni ushambaa

they call me kondeboy no 1 jeshiiiiiii.

In a recent interview with Wasafi fm, Diamond said he likes it when there is beef in the industry arguing  it helps in keeping the industry alive and artists on track.

The beef between Harmonize and Diamond Platnumz played out to the public Diamond said he likes when there is beef in the industry as it helps in keeping artistes on track. The two have however been dowplaying the beef whenever they appear before the media.

The world's fastest-growing smartphone brand, realme, has once again made good on its promise to offer the Kenyan smartphone market a comprehensive, superior, innovative experience with the launch of two brand new smartphones; the realme C12 and realme 7i.

The launch of both realme C12 and realme 7i adds to a portfolio of four other realme smartphones and three AIoT products in Kenya including realme C3, realme C11, realme C15, realme 6, realme Band, Air Neo, and Buds Q.

In the spirit of dare to leap, realme has always asserted its commitment to providing an array of pioneering products.

This is a journey that was kicked off in a bid to bring local consumers the best of trendsetting technologies and features.

realme 7i brings to the Kenyan consumer advanced features that range from security, storage, camera, and battery.

It is equipped with a 64 MP quad-camera that is powerful enough to document all moments of the user by bringing out clear and best details of any object in focus.

The battery is 5000mAh with an 18W fast charge feature. This is a massive battery that charges faster and lasts longer as compared to other players in the market.

By charging faster, it ensures that the user has more time with the phone as compared to letting it charge for hours.

With realme 7i,  customers get great ways to save their power, giving them more time on their phones.

realme 7i was tested in super power-saving mode and the results were really impressive.

You can use only five percent battery to use WhatsApp for nearly 1.1 hours. And if you want to find somewhere to charge the phone, 41h standby time is so easy for you to find a charger.

realme 7i’s official sale will go live on the 11th of November. For every purchase of the realme 7i smartphone customers will receive Buds Q worth 3,999Ksh. Offer valid from 11^th-30^th November.

realme C12, on the other hand, comes with a 6000mAh mega battery that supports reverse charging.

The battery is so powerful that it can stay for 57 days on standby before running out of charge.

For gamers, it comes with an Helio G35 Octa-core 64 bits processor that lets the user enjoy gaming without the phone slowing down or restarting.

For security purposes, realme C12 comes with a screen-to-body ratio instant fingerprint sensor that allows only the phone user to have access to the phone once authenticated.

Equipped with a 6.5-inch 20:9 screen, realme C12 brings a larger field of view, provides an excellent game, audio, and video experience.

This allows you to enjoy a wider field of view brought by the large screen and less visual disturbance while giving you an experience of the near-full screen.

realme 7i will be retailing at Kshs 24,999 while the realme C12 will be going for Kshs 14,999 with the official sale day set for 17th November.

A flash sale for the realme C12 is however slated for 16th November on Kilimall where the phone will retail at a special price of Kshs 12,999. 

By Emma Mugo, Customer Success Manager at Infobip Kenya 

Retailers across the African continent are increasingly leveraging technology to drive sales and better engage with customers, with Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya accounting for more than half of all online shoppers in Africa in 2017.

According to Statista’s digital market outlook, revenue in Kenya’s eCommerce market was projected to reach US$1.093 billion this year, with user penetration estimated to reach 29% and expected to hit 49.1% by 2024.

These predictions were made with no foresight of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the adoption of online shopping. Despite this rapid growth of the overall eCommerce market in the country, there remains a need for better brand and consumer communication, as well as improved communication platforms.

While the growth of Kenya’s eCommerce industry was – to a large extent – facilitated by the advent of payment gateways such M-Pesa, which simplified the process of transacting and purchasing goods online, the customer experience (CX) has not been ideal.

Essentially, this is an area that has not yet been optimised for efficiency and effectiveness, and communication between customers and businesses remains fragmented. Consumers can reach out to most brands via channels such as voice, email and SMS, yet this communication is not unified across these disparate platforms.

Move towards an omnichannel approach

Hence, the advancement of the country’s eCommerce industry is also seeing a steady move towards a unified omnichannel approach in retail, which includes both online and physical outlets. The ultimate goal is that CX should be the same across both online and physical ecosystems, and across the various customer touchpoints in both environments.

The omnichannel retail approach has brought about growth in multichannel communication, allowing businesses to interact with consumers across different platforms such as chat apps, SMS, email and voice.

Although this has improved communication between brands and consumers, it also created a unique problem, as companies would interact with customers without an interaction history, leading to a duplication of responses and resulting in inefficiency and poor CX.

It has become apparent that having a unified view of previous customer interaction across all channels is crucial to ensuring customer satisfaction, and this is leading to a steady uptake in Contact Centres as a Service (CcaaS) solutions.

CCaaS not only provides communication across customers’ preferred channels but also allows companies to collect data and unify it across the various communication platforms and integrate it into their internal systems. This provides companies’ sales, marketing and communication departments with a single view of a consumer journey.

Driving sales through better insights

A CCaaS platform, underpinned by an omnichannel approach, does not only allow brands to serve their customers better through a customised CX but can also be beneficial to an organisation’s salesforce. Better insights into customer behaviour and data collection can be leveraged effectively to bolster sales by facilitating appropriate and relevant communication with individual consumers.

Also, a CCaaS solution can automate various communication processes such as event-triggered campaigning and location-based push messaging. In recent times, there has been a rise in automated responses from businesses via chatbots, as well as communication flows facilitated by events across various customer touchpoints.

Automation of customer communication can ensure quick response times to queries and short resolution times, as well as status updates on demand. Additionally, the consumer can be engaged based on the events in different touchpoints, such as online cart abandonment or milestones such as birthdays or anniversaries through marketing engagement technology also underpinned by CPaaS.

 Enhanced CX fuels e-commerce growth with CCaaS playing a central role to achieving customer satisfaction and building brand loyalty. An omnichannel approach, driven by CCaaS, allows businesses to collect data, enabling them to categorise their consumers for targeted marketing and provide services and products based knowing the customer.

King Kaka has teamed up with the legendary Kidum Kibido in a new collabo dubbed “Hallo”.

The song which narrates a beautiful urban love story is bound to be a hit.

‘Hallo’ is a mid-tempo love song where Kidum plays to his signature vocal strengths delivering a catchy heart-warming tune.

The singer is complemented by rapper King Kaka who delivers poetic bars reminiscent of his Swahili Shakespeare alter-ego.

This track is produced by Bern Mziki at Kaka Empire Studios while the video is directed by Jijo drumbeats.

The visuals feature a special appearance by actor media personality Martin Githinji, who plays the role of a gentleman professing his love for a lady.

Watch “Hallo “on YouTube now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy62rxwDAn4&list=RDuy62rxwDAn4&index=1

Kisauni Mp Ali Mbogo has said he has what it takes to succeed Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.

Addressing different Women groups in Mwembe Legeza on Saturday, Mbogo said he will revamp the health and education systems in the county once elected in 2022.

"Just recently a report was released showing how governors and counties have performed and it is very shameful that Mombasa was ranked among the worst performing. We need to change this." said Mbogo.

Adding " We need leaders who will deliver not just dancing to songs. I was ranked as the best performing Mp in Mombasa in another poll and this clearly shows that  I'm the right person for this job."

Mbogo accused the current administration under governor Hassan Joho of making hard for businesses to survive in the county.

"Many businesses have now shifted to Kilifi and Kwale because things are hard in Mombasa, you cannot do business here. Why should you tell a small scale business to pay kshs 7000 for a permit, this is unacceptable" he said.

"We need to create a conducive environment for our people to do business. With such costs for things like permits we are also creating a room for corruption that's why we see county askaris going round harassing small scale business owners and collecting bribes " he added.

The Mp called on his constituents to support his bid to succeed Joho.

He argued "You have all seen what i have done especially with the education sector, I want to now do it for the whole county. Kisauni is the largest sub county with most voters so your support will make me win the seat and serve well the people of Mombasa"

He further refuted claims that he referred to Kisauni youths as lazy as recently quoted in one of the local newspapers terming the story as just a propaganda and politically motivated.

Among those who have so far come out to express interest in succeeding Joho are Mvita Mp Abdulswamad Nassir and businessman Suleiman Shahbal.

The three-week #16BarsforPeace hip hop campaign targeting Kenyan youth on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter has announced its top three winners and released a peace anthem, Mbekse, on YouTube.

The campaign was co-created and led by Kennedy Ombima aka King Kaka, a popular Kenyan rapper, entrepreneur, and philanthropist in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Within the first day of launch, the campaign had about 1.3 million impressions on social media.

At the end of the campaign nearly 350 video submissions from Kenyans of all ages, ethnicities, genders, and religions, elevated positive and inspiring conversations and interpretations of peace.

The campaign winner, Ramsizo from Dandora, Nairobi County challenged young people to seek peace as a way to maintain their independence to make money and speak freely on issues affecting them.

Ramsizo is featured in a music video, Mbekse, along with Femi One, Jadi, and the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter.

"The youth of Kenya have delivered a strong message of peace and unity with King Kaka and his team in their unique exciting style. We need to listen well and do our part to stand for peace. I am grateful that I had the chance to add my voice to theirs. Together we have the power to make the world a better place -- one bar at a time," said Ambassador McCarter.

The winners received cash prizes and merchandise, but the best prize was contributing to a national conversation on peacebuilding in Kenya. King Kaka will offer mentorship.  

Nduati Murigi and Reetah, second and third place winners respectively impressed the judges with their delivery and content. Nduati reiterated the importance of speaking up against gender-based violence and maintaining peace at home while Reetah urged political leaders to be at the forefront of peacebuilding initiatives.

“This was a very humbling experience, getting to hear the voices of Kenyan youth expressing what peace means to them through hip-hop. I enjoy mentoring young hip hop artists and this was another opportunity for me to engage them at a more personal level on a subject close to my heart,” King Kaka said.

Adding “I was also honoured to teach the very cool Ambassador Kyle McCarter how to spit some hip hop bars. He delivered a dope verse for our anthem, you will all be blown away!”.

Through their lyrics, #16BarsForPeace participants emphasized the centrality of peace to development, recognizing it as essential to attaining quality education and earning a living.

Elections and ethnicity also featured prominently as issues essential to peace and progress.

Watch “Mbekse”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz5NIfHTdKo

Gin Ideal unveils her new hit single ‘See Yah’ produced by Taurus Musik from her debut Album, “GIN & TONIC”- a  street charm that hides in plain sight, anchors the album’s core theme of expectations (those as a woman; of love; of others; and ultimately of yourself)

Gin Ideal has cemented herself as one of the freshest, exciting, and consistent Kenyan musicians.

Thrilling, Unapologetic, Grooving, and a feel-good AfroBeat sound with rich vocals from Naiboi is what ‘See Yah’ can be described as.

“Gin Ideal and I wanted to give fans a beautiful love song that you could still dance and vibe to, with rhymes and beats that get you grooving.’’ Naiboi

Preceding singles from Gin Ideal: Rede Remix featuring Wyre and ‘System’ featuring Dufla Diligon all produced by Taurus Musik.