The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented disruption in the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, security and legal environment.

Think Tanks, scholars, opinion leaders, multidisciplinary professionals, policy makers and futures experts met virtually on the 26^th of August 2020 to discuss: “The Future of Africa in the Post COVID-19 World”.

The 10^th IREN East Africa Thought Leaders Forum’s objectives included; to discuss the post COVID-19 world in relation to Africa and to discuss how Africa should navigate the Post COVID-19 era.

In his opening remarks, Mr. James Shikwati - Founder Director of IREN highlighted the effects of COVID-19 on Africa’s cultural norms, agricultural productivity, commerce, industry, individual liberties, technology spheres and what leaders and organizations should do amidst the rampant information overload, disinformation and fake news.

Mr Shikwati further prescribed a shared world approach in combatting the scourge.

“I am honored to be part of the 10th IREN East Africa Thought Leaders Forum to discuss about our roles in shaping our future.” Said Veni Swai; Programme Officer at The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom based in Dar es Salaam.

She added that the Foundation is proud to have worked with IREN Kenya on various projects that seek to promote liberal ideas and ensure that people get platforms to contribute their ideas in order to shape their future.

The thought leaders called upon Africans to seek endogenous solutions, strengthen local institutions and merge them regionally in order to position themselves strategically in the globe. Africans should place less emphasis on its painful past and focus energy on NOW and the FUTURE

Other recommendations included, among others; Africa should strengthen Institutions, be proactive and stop surrendering leadership to multilateral institutions, create currency regions to make Africa’s currencies competitive in the world, introduce investment policies that will ensure Africa benefits, strengthen regional economic communities, adopt the rule of self-preservation, invest in research and development, challenge our academia, policy makers and technocrats to use their knowledge to solve our challenges and invest in technology, education, entrepreneurship and Innovation to spur economic growth in the continent.

The IREN Eastern Africa Thought Leaders Forum nurtures futuristic thinkers and offers them an opportunity to re-evaluate, grow and think beyond the usual. Since 2011, The Inter Region Economic Network (IREN) has hosted a select group of thinkers to identify strategies that will enable East Africans to organically evolve their own socio-political and economic systems.

About Inter Region Economic Network (IREN)

The Inter Region Economic Network Ltd (IREN) is a leading independent African think tank that promotes ideas and strategies geared towards causing prosperity in Africa through free enterprise and sound public policy. IREN has managed business competitions and enterprise screening platforms for the last 18 years.  It has 3 Key Focus Areas:

Think Tank: with platforms that analyze and give suggestions on public policy innovation to promote prosperity and wealth creation in Africa.

Enterprise Development: with platforms that grow investible and investor ready enterprises in Africa.

 Consultancy whose aim is to grow productivity and markets in Africa.

The fight against drug and alcohol abuse in the Coast region has received a boost after Kenya Ports Authority donated one million shillings to the Miritini Rehabilitation Centre to be utilized in treatment and support programs.

This follows a partnership between the KPA and National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) which is mandated to fight alcohol and drug abuse in the country.

During the handover, NACADA Board Chair, Prof. Mabel Imbuga, revealed that the organization is keen on ensuring that the Miritini project positively contributes to the fight against alcohol and drug abuse, a major challenge afflicting the youth in the Coast region.

“From the surveys carried out by the Authority the challenge of alcohol and drug abuse is growing and unless we all join hands to reverse this trend it will undermine our economic development and impact negatively on our security". said Imbuga

Adding "Our concern is the upsurge in drug abuse in our schools, instituions of learning and the workplace where productivity is undermined by addiction related absenteeism and reduced hours of productive work."

Acting KPA Managing Director Eng. Rashid Salim reiterated the need for treatment and after-care for persons with drug use disorders, noting that the vice has equally affected a section of the KPA family and with it their health and productivity.

This prompted the organization to partner with NACADA to be able to mainstream ADSA policies at its workplace.

NACADA facilitated the development of a workplace policy in 2008 and continues to collaborate in staff training on workplace-based prevention interventions. 

Eng. Rashid Salim emphasized his organization’s continued contribution to finding solutions to the social problem through this partnership.

“As an industry leader in the country and the Coast region, it is paramount we join hands to seek solutions to the myriad of challenges afflicting our community”, We are always at the forefront to offer counsel and input for the benefit of our community.

Miritini rehabilitation center was established following a Presidential Directive in 2015 that saw the transformation of the previous Miritini National Youth Service (NYS) Camp into a Drug Rehabilitation Centre to provide care and support to affected youths.

The center is now operational with one hundred and fifty clients currently receiving a wide range of services including Counselling and Medically Assisted Therapy commonly known as Methadone.

This drug is administered daily, and on site, to wean off persons from the use of Heroin.

Patients receive other general services including counselling, medication, HIV AIDS Testing and Counseling and Hepatitis B Testing.

NACADA’s dream is to put up a model center of excellence for the management of substance use disorders and the training of addiction prevention professionals in the country.

To this end the Authority has finalized a master plan for the center.

“Coast region is one of the most affected regions in the country as evidenced by the many young men in dens and streets. It is on this background that the Miritini rehabilitation center was established following a Presidential directive that saw the transformation of the previous Miritini National Youth Service (NYS) Camp into a drug rehabilitation center to provide care and support to affected youths,” added the NACADA Chair.

According to  Coast Regional Commander John Elungata  the COVID-19 period had presented an avenue for drug dealers to operate under the guise of ‘essential services providers’ to ply their trade.

“We have information that some drug dealers have been taking advantage of the essential service provisions to ferry drugs within this region under the cover of darkness. They have been masquerading their activities as food delivery and deliberately ensure that they transport the drugs at night. We are not going to leave any stone unturned in our effort to rid this region from the shackles of alcohol and drug abuse.” said Elungata.

According to NACADA the Authority is aiming at commissioning the in-patient wing at the facility by end of December to cater for the growing needs of persons with substance abuse disorders in the Coast Region.

NACADA has partnered with county governments to establish 10 rehabilitation centers in efforts to make rehabilitation accessible and affordable to all Kenyans who need these services.  In addition, the Authority has accredited over 100 rehabilitation facilities across various regions in the country.

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across Africa has seen a surge in digital payments and e-commerce transactions as financial institutions scramble to offer businesses and consumers contactless ways of spending, borrowing and lending, and making payments.

Cashless solutions like mobile lending and digital payments were already growing rapidly on the continent even before the pandemic struck.

Now, we could see a scenario where the effects of COVID-19 on our society will create permanent changes in the way we use digital payments, cards and cash, creating both opportunities and challenges for financial institutions, said Billy Owino, CEO at TransUnion Kenya.

“Even in 2020, millions of people across sub-Saharan Africa still pay their bills and send money each month in cash – physically going to a retailer or a bank to make payment or to receive grant payments. Now, their safety concerns mean they don’t want to make physical payments anymore, which means banks and FinTechs will have to rapidly roll out safer, contact-free payment methods,” said Owino.

As markets prepare for life beyond the pandemic, digital transformation is becoming a key strategic initiative for financial institutions across both digital and traditional channels.

Financial services providers will need to focus on offering payment and lending solutions including onboarding customers digitally in a seamless, easy and secure manner.

They are increasingly being supported by economic policy changes from regulators and national banks to further the national digitisation agendas.

The Central Bank of Kenya has put in place a range of measures, including zero charges on money transfers for amounts Ksh.1,000 and below for individual transfers using mobile money wallets. Bank transfer costs to mobile wallets have also been waivered by the regulator.

As growing numbers of consumers and businesses transact online, one of the biggest obstacles to the mass uptake of digital solutions will be security, says Owino.

TransUnion’s quarterly analysis of global online fraud trends found that the percentage of suspected fraudulent digital transactions against businesses worldwide had decreased by 9% from the beginning of the pandemic to when businesses began reopening.

By contrast, TransUnion’s Consumer Financial Hardship surveys found consumers targeted by digital COVID-19 schemes had increased 10% in this time. So, while fraudsters might be targeting businesses less, they are going after the businesses’ customers more.

This will mean banks and businesses will need to deploy robust identity verification and fraud detection tools to manage their risks and avoid losses at a time when demand for credit is growing. 

At the same time, they must ensure a smooth customer experience that does not alienate the customer before they have even onboarded.

“Now that even more transactions have shifted online, fraudsters are trying to take advantage and companies must adapt. Lenders and businesses need to know exactly who they are dealing with, and how to protect their genuine customers from fraudulent activities." said Owino.

Adding "The businesses that come out on top will be those leveraging fraud prevention tools that provide great detection rates, and providing the ability to open accounts online in an easy, personalised way,”

Rather than asking customers to manually enter their personal information, for example, ID documents can be validated online, and the information used to pre-fill an application. Once ID is established, the next step is effective ID authentication to detect and prevent fraud.

Digital transactions carry an increased risk of fraud that businesses need to address through a multi-layered fraud strategy including assessing risk of digital signals like device, email, phone and behaviour.

After ID management and fraud risk and prevention steps are taken, the final steps in a seamless onboarding experience include assessing the consumer’s ability to pay, based on actual or estimated income and credit history.

Owino charged “COVID-19 has put immense pressure on African financial institutions to transform digitally, and to do this, they will need access to the most comprehensive set of offline and online data assets. Providing a truly seamless onboarding process requires up-to-date data sourced from credible data sources like credit agencies, government agencies, telcos and utility providers.”

Continuous sharing of data in the market as a strategy to mitigate against fraud and risk management, will be of great importance going forward.

Tanzanian music couple Aika and Nahreel (Navy Kenzo) are set to release their second album, tomorrow (Friday. The album is titled 'Story of the African Mob'.

Their first album Above in a Minute (AIM).

In an exclusive interview with Ommy Dallah, the duo revealed more about their upcoming album and more.

1..You are among the few celebrity couples who have managed to be together for a very long time, what's the secret?

It's the Respect we have for each other, good communication and love wins too. With those fundamentals we have been able to weather the challenges and lean on each other to get where we are today.

2..Let's talk about your album, why the name 'Story of the African Mob'?

We are definitely a mob, a positive one though, As an African Family, we are here to tell the African story of our people. So we believe everyone has a story to tell. We also refer to our African people as the African Mob. 

We use this album to tell our story, the story of our African People.

3..To someone who has not yet sampled the album, how many songs are in it and why should one listen to the album?

There are 12 songs on the album. We do believe all the tracks are great, however, Only One ft King Promise, Beema & Jealously ft The Great Eddy are definitely ones to watch out for. You really, really don’t wanna miss out on those ones. Like they say save the best for last. You wanna stream that album once it goes live on the 4th.

4..Some of the songs in the album were initially intended for an EP project, why did you decide to just do a full album?

Corona happened!!! Much as corona has been a pain to many livelihoods across the globe, it gave enough time to concentrate in the studio. All of a sudden we had enough time to make more music and refine projects that were in progress.

So that meant we could accomplish more tracks and thus make it a full album.

5..Who are some of the artists that you have collaborated with in the album?

So we have had a number of collaborations on the album, namely Tiggs Da Author, King Promise, MzVee, Mugeez the Great Eddy and Genius.

6..Should we expect a colllabo between Navy Kenzo and a Kenyan artist soon?

We have always considered Kenya our second home,  we certainly hope to make a collaboration with one if not a number of Kenyan artists. We certainly do believe the Navy Mob in Kenya is looking forward to this happening sooner than later.

7..Some artists prefer releasing singles and not albums due to fear of how it will be received by fans and other factors. What would be your advice to such artists?

We certainly concur with you that as artists it does take hard work to produce an album. However, as artists we always have to remember  the fans love what we give them,they also hate waiting on the next release for too long. So with an album you as an artist give your fans a number of tracks they will be able to listen to and get attached to you as an artist as they play the tracks over and over.

8..This is a very challenging time for artists due to Coronavirus, as Navy Kenzo how are you coping with the current situation and making sure you still entertain your fans?

Well well, corona has brought a lot of reliability checks. We as artists have been greatly affected especially when it comes to music shows. 

However, by creating and releasing more content for streaming and continuing to learn how to make money out of music outside the traditional ways we have been accustomed to, we have managed to weather the storm for now at least.

Former Tourism and Wildlife Minister, the late Karisa Maitha's daughter Juney Karisa is set to wed her long time lover Patrick Mwavula, an information officer at the executive office of the Governor, Mombasa County.

Juney is also a journalist based in Mombasa, working for Kenya Broadcasting Coperation (KBC).

The two lovebirds who have known each other for close to 4 years are expected to exchange their vows at the Methodist church opposite Tononoka hall on 12th September after a traditional wedding slated for Friday,11th.

Reception will be at Bahari Gates Restaurant Mtwapa.

The wedding will be an invite only with few guests expected to attend due to the new COVID- 19 rules.

Among those expected to attend the wedding are Governors Hassan Joho (Mombasa), Amason Kingi (Kilifi), Chief administrative secretary ministry of Lands Gideon Mung'aro who is also a family member among other top national and county goverment officials.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged the global community to start viewing and engaging young people as an asset with current value and not as a future promise.

The President said if properly nurtured and provided with the right opportunities, the youth have unlimited potential to become change makers.

He said his decision to appoint young people into top Government positions is a deliberate intervention meant to provide the youth with an opportunity to be mentored and be prepared for more senior positions.

"And this is why in Kenya, I have deliberately appointed young people to the senior rank of “Chief Administrative Secretary”, second only to Cabinet Secretary position. 

"The aim is to provide them with the opportunity to be properly mentored and prepared for even more senior positions," the President said.

The Head of State spoke Tuesday evening at State House, Nairobi during a virtual high level meeting of the United Nations Generation Unlimited.

President Kenyatta spoke on the role of the youth as change makers at the conference that was addressed by several world leaders among them President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President of the World Bank David Malpass and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.

The President told the meeting, also attended by ICT, Innovation and Youth Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru, that social institutions, the environment especially the education system and lack of self drive were among the major setbacks impeding the youth from reaching their potential as change makers.

He said the African education system was structured to support agrarian production systems and not the innovations needed in the 21st century.

To address the environmental barriers inhibiting Kenyan youth from succeeding the digital space, the President said his administration was rolling out a Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) and a Digi School initiative.

"Through the Digi School programme, we have provided over one million tablets to children in primary schools," he said.

On the subject of self-motivation among the youth, the Head of State advised young people to cultivate the right mindset.

"We take the position that the youth must, on their part, have the right mindset; they must appreciate the essence of self-discipline, hard work and integrity.  They must believe in creating wealth and not desiring to be rich using short cut methods," the President advised.

President Kenyatta who is also the UN global champion for young people encouraged the youth to shed their fears and engage in positive activities within their communities.

"Do what you are afraid of, so long as it is positive. If your social institutions and environment limit you, engage them positively," he said

UN Secretary General Antonio Guteress called on countries to utilise digital connectivity to create opportunities for the youth.

The UN boss decried the widening global digital divide during the current Covid-19 pandemic terming it, "a crisis within a crisis".

Mr Guteress challenged young people to step up and lead the struggle for equality in access to global resources including internet connectivity.

On his part, Rwandan President Paul Kagame who is the Co-Chair of the Generation Unlimited Leaders called for the coming together of all stakeholders to generate new ideas for investing in the youth.

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on the G7 and G20 group of countries to commit USD 10 billion for the expansion of digital technologies while Mr David Malpass said the World Bank was working with stakeholders to address the varied digital needs of individual countries.

On August 25, 2020, the world’s fastest growing smartphone brand realme launched two more brands into the Kenyan market, bringing the total number of its trademark into the Kenyan space to three.

The giant phone maker which recently celebrated its second anniversary in the industry, launched realme C11 and realme 6 in addition to realme C3 that had been launched earlier. The two new phones are already taking over the market by storm in line the brand’s Dare to Leap strategy given their features and affordability.

The brand seeks to create products with leapfrog performance and trendsetting design, in order to build a smart life for young people with Internet of things and is looking to launching more exciting products in the market.

In light of this for those looking for an entry-level phone, no need for looking any further for the entry level King realme C11 is here to sort them out.

With its slogan Bigger Battery, and Endless Fun, the smartphone delivers just that and goes for only 9,999 shillings. Its official sale day went live on Jumia as well as offline last week on 28^th August and received great reception just like the C3 which is registering great sales too. Customers can get it from trusted dealers nationwide.

For those who love playing games and do not have to worry about the phone slowing down, hanging or restarting because the phone comes with a 5000mAh Massive Battery and a Helio G35 Gaming Processor giving your phone an optimum performance as you use it.

It can further provide more than a month of standby time which is an industry first.

The phone also comes in colors of grey and mint green.

Equipped with a 6.5-inch mini drop full screen realme C11 brings a larger field of view, provides excellent movie, audio and video experience, allowing you to enjoy wider field of view brought by large screen and less visual disturbance, while giving you an experience of near-full screen. It also has a 13MP AI dual camera, and comes with a 3 Card Slot.

On the other hand, this 2^nd September will mark the official sale day for the flagship realme 6.

The high-performance classy smartphone is a dream phone for anyone who wants to upgrade their lifestyle and is into latest trends and style as it comes equipped with 64MP Pro Camera and Pro Display.

It is currently considered as the most powerful 64MP quad camera. Those who love taking selfies are also covered for the phone comes with a 16MP in display selfie camera and is costs below 30,000 shillings.

The phone comes with 30W flash charge and is available in two colors; white and blue.

realme 6 also features a 6.5-inch 90Hz Ultra Smooth Display with 90Hz refresh rate and 120Hz sampling rate. Capable of producing 90 frames per second, the 90Hz display has a 50% higher refresh rate when compared to a conventional 60Hz display, resulting in a seamless and smooth visual experience with every swipe of the screen.

With a 6.5-inch big display and a superb screen-to-body ratio, the realme 6 brings you a supreme visual experience. All those who will purchase the realme 6 will get a free realme band that retails at 2,999 shillings.

As it takes root in Kenya, realme has gained 45 million global smartphone users across 61 markets.

Its uptake in the global market has been a success and according to the statistics of global smartphone shipments in Q1 2020 from Counterpoint, realme ranks top 7 in the world, positioning it among the mainstream smartphone brands globally.

In 2019, realme’s global smartphone shipments reached 25 million with a year-over-year rate growth rate of 808%, which ranks the 1^st among the smartphone brands, making realme the fastest-growing smartphone brand in the world.

Operations at the Mtongwe ferry crossing channel have officially resumed.

According to Kenya ferry services(KFS), they will now be offering the ferry  service daily from Monday to Saturday from morning and closing at 8am due to the curfew imposed by the national government to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The move was welcomed by residents who also challenged the management of Kenya ferry services to ensure that operations at the channel will not be halted again in the future.

" We have been suffering for a long time because of the lack of ferry services and this move is highly welcomed" said Micheal Ogambo, Chairman Mtongwe ferry users association.

According to Ogambo, Mtongwe has experience an increasing cases of insecurity after KFS halted it's operations at the channel.

Ogambo charged " This channel is like the backbone of our economy in Mtongwe so when Kenya ferry services halted operations we suffered alot. Some landlords even started complaining that tenants are moving out of their houses and going to other places".

KFS halted operations at the channel September last year (2019) to repair the jetty at the channel.

In an earlier interview KFS Managing Director Bakari Gowa was quoted saying "“The last time those pontoons were repaired was in 2013. We wanted to replace them with ramps, but because of some financial challenges and concerns for safety of our users, we have opted for the repairs,” 

The pontoon at the Island side was once washed away by the Indian Ocean waves sparking safety concerns among users.

Citizen TV news anchor Victoria Rubadiri has won the 2020 BBC World News Komla Dumor Award

She becomes the second Kenyan to win the trophy after her colleague Waihiga Mwaura, who won the award in 2018.

She is also the sixth winner of the award, following in the footsteps of Solomon Serwanjja, Waihiga Mwaura, Amina Yuguda, Didi Akinyelure and Nancy Kacungira

The award was created in 2015 to honour Komla Dumor, a presenter for BBC World News, who died suddenly aged 41 in 2014.

"Komla to me is an epitome of excellence and an encouragement to many journalists including young journalists. His ability to give the facts comprehensively, and yet still be attuned to his audience, was something I admired and a skill I seek to emulate" said Rubadiri.

Adding " I hope my work will be an inspiration to many young and upcoming journalists."

A statement from BBC notes she impressed judges with her eloquence and passion for telling African stories on both traditional media platforms and social media.

"We're delighted to have Victoria on board to bring her insights and passion to the BBC," said Jamie Angus, Director of BBC World Service Group.

"Komla had the incredible ability to give stories from the continent global resonance, and also deliver it with familiarity and understanding. We're looking forward to seeing Victoria embody that by bringing her perspectives to life," he added.

Rubadiri will begin her three-month placement at the BBC by attending a training course with the BBC Academy before joining BBC News teams across TV, radio and online  which will provide her with the opportunity to gain skills and experience across BBC News platforms.

Embattled Malindi Mp Aisha Jumwa has been freed on Sh 2 million cash bail with an alternative of Sh5 million bond. 

This is after she appeared before Mombasa chief magistrate Edna Nyaloti  to face charges of misappropriating sh 19 Million from the Malindi constituency developement fund kitty.

Nyaloti also reviewed bond terms of six accused persons charged on Friday.

The six  are Wachu Omar Abdalla (Malindi CDF Account Manager), Kennedy Otieno Onyango Bernard Riba Kai, Sophia Saidi Charo and Margaret Faith Kalume who are members of the Malindi Tender Evaluation Committee as well as Robert Katana Wanje a Director of Multserve Contractors Limited.

They were charged with 13 offenses including forgery, fraud in procurement and money laundering. their bond from Sh5 million to Sh2 million as well as the cash bail from Sh2 million to Sh500,000.

The matter will be mentioned on September 31.

Jumwa surrendered herself to the port police in Mombasa on Sunday   following a directive from Mombasa the court after the Prosecution told the court that they could not trace her.