Super star Kenyan artist based in the US King Kanja has released “Because of You” - new single and video. The soulful Afrobeat smash was produced by Houston-based Kenyan producer Giggz who recorded Tems’ verse for “Essence” collaboration with Wizkid.

Kanja says, “The new single is inspired by the feeling of being in love and wanting to do whatever it takes to show your partner how meaningfully they impact your life journey. “

Its video shot in Miami and at the Belaire HQ in NYC was directed by Kanja’s long-term collaborator Yahu Edits, a Kenyan music director who is based in the US. Kanja says, “The visuals are lush and I am just having a good time with my lady.”

“Because Of You” on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RCaqg-h6Jo

In King Kanja’s own words, “I recorded this song in Houston, Texas with Giggz who I actually met in Los Angeles at Christian Longomba’s funeral. One day, I decided to pass by Giggz studio just to meet him and catch his vibe while on my way to a club appearance."

Adding "The song was created on a whim delaying the club appearance to work on this song and the lyrics just flowed through me. I wrote everything except the second verse that my cousin, Big J in London wrote. I'm the only vocalist on the song.”

“Because of you” is one of the lead singles off King Kanja’s upcoming fifth studio project titled ‘KanJah’ currently in its final stages of production. He credits Bobby V, his close music associate for enlightening him on the power of having other songwriters involved in your creative process. He has teamed up with his cousin Big J to co-write all his upcoming new hits. Their chemistry and creativity is unmatched.

Kanja says, “As teamwork, working with like-minded people makes the dream work.” 

Kanja sums it up: “ There are many records on the KanJAH album, whose title shows the God in me and also as a creative. My producer / engineer, Gilly aka Real Mckoy gave my name a twist while we worked together on the VIBRATIONS Reggae album. It stuck on me and I knew then it would be the name of my next album.”

King Kanja is multi-talented and one of Kenya’s most popular artists living in the US. Earlier this year he met with Mr. Brett Berish–the president and CEO of Sovereign Brands. He is constantly making major moves and performing around the globe, with most recently shutting down a sold out show in Lusaka, Zambia alongside Bobby V and Rotimi.

His discography has consistently grown over the past years, having released two successful EPs: VIBES (2017), MUCHOKI (2019), albums: VIBE LORD (2020) and VIBRATIONS (2020). 

By Imraan Kharwa, Data protection officer at Infobip

For years the privacy sword of Damocles hung precariously over South African businesses, threatening severe consequences and penalties for non-compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”).

Now, nearly a year since it activated in July 2021, organisations are settling into the reality of conducting business in alignment with its regulations and data protection best practices. While many organisations have placed compliance at the core of operations, there has sadly been a surge in data breaches impacting South African businesses in the same period, creating a climate that is ripe for POPIA enforcement.

The first anniversary of POPIA

POPIA governs the processing of personal information of individuals and juristic entities (“Data Subjects”) by organisations (“Responsible Parties”) in South Africa. regulates the processing of personal information of individuals by organisations from collection, aggregation and usage all the way through to retention and destruction.

Encouragingly, the Information Regulator, empowered to monitor and enforce compliance with the provisions of POPIA, has been active in engaging with organisations that have experienced data breaches over the past 12 to 18 months.

The added scrutiny means organisations must be far more cognisant of how they process personal information, ensuring that  their security controls are adequate and effective.

Gateway to international arena

While compliance has historically been viewed as an administrative burden, many organisations now realise that privacy enablement is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but a valuable necessity of being able to do business. In tandem, technology companies are ensuring privacy forms a key part of their offerings.

The role of the Information Officer

The mandatory appointment of an Information Officer in all organisations remains one of the more contentious aspects of POPIA. Without clear guidance on where this role needs to be positioned, organisations have adopted differing approaches. In practical terms, this is often driven by the size of the organisation, the resources at its disposal and the level maturity of its data protection programme.

Whereas smaller organisations are likely to appoint a multitasker, where the role of Information Officer will be added to the existing headcount in the business, larger arge organisations are more likely to hire a full-time candidate who will be dedicated to the role and oversee a discrete data protection function.

A seat in the boardroom

As more organisations begin to recognise the impact of data protection, both fiscally and reputationally, –privacy has become a business imperative requiring executive input. This often becomes the preserve of Chief Information Officers, but there is an increased focus on appointing experienced Chief Privacy Officers with specialised skills in ensuring POPIA protocols are followed.

Attention to third parties

One of the biggest challenges for local organisations is the lack of attention to privacy risks associated with third parties. As operators in the POPIA relationship, they must also play their part in preventing security compromises.

It is therefore imperative to consider the reputation of the third party, the maturity of their privacy programme and whether they employ suitably qualified and certified privacy and security personnel to oversee their operations.

A final, overarching component of the compliance journey is ensuring that awareness of data protection obligations and privacy rights permeate all levels of the organisation through regular privacy training. Privacy training must be regularly conducted, departmental based and appropriate to the organisation.

The adage “privacy is everyone’s responsibility” holds true, which is why organisations must improve accessibility to data privacy practices and ensure all employees are cognisant of the privacy regimes within their organisation. Data protection must become part of the living culture of all organisations.

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA)  has suspended all operations of bus company Modern Coast.

This comes a day after an accident involving one of its buses killed 33 passengers, and injured scores at Nithi bridge. 

In a statement, NTSA Director General George Njao said that the suspension will apply to 31 buses belonging to the company operating several routes with the country.

"A thorough multi-agency investigation into the crash and an evaluation of the operator's safety operational standards is currently underway," reads part of the statement.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the Sunday accident hit 33 on Monday morning after more passengers who had sustained injuries succumbed while undergoing treatment. 

Nyali ODM parliamentary seat candidate Said Abdallah Saido has vowed to address the issue of youth unemployment in the area if elected in the August polls.

According to Abdallah, youth unemployment is among the major challenges facing the constituency thus the need to urgently address the issue.

Addressing a group of youths from all the wards in the constituency at the Uwanja wa Mbuzi grounds, Abdallah said he will  he will create projects that aim at increasing the economic productivity of youths within Nyali constituency to improve their livelihoods through sustainable income generating activities.

"Youthful population accounts for 71% of Nyali Constituency and it is very sad to see them suffering for lack of jobs. We are ready to explore the potential in youths through empowerment and mentorship programmes" said Abdallah.

Abdallah also urged the youths to avoid being misused by politicians during this election period.

Abdallah charged "I know they are now coming to you with alot of promises and money, please do not let them incite you against others or other aspirants. Be on the look out and avoid any incidents that are likely to interfere with our peace"

Meanwhile, Abdallah's bid got a major boost after one of the aspirants of the Nyali seat Joshua Ndere shelved his ambition to support him. 

Ndere was previously vying as an independent candidate

Fast- rising Ugandan singer Azawi last month announced her maiden concert to her fans. Through her socials, she promised an action-packed show.

"MY MAIDEN CONCERT. 22 JULY. LUGOGO. 3 Years of work packed in one evening of magic. Vibes only, No bad energy.. party mood only," she tweeted.

The announcement immediately got the attention of her fans that in a matter of minutes it was already trending on social media.

It is still this same speed at which tickets to the concert sold. In just a week, early-bird tickets to the show had already sold out!

By 8pm Friday night, the host venue, Zoe Grounds was already full to the brim.

Dressed in white pants that went slightly below her knees and a matching coat and top, the long awaited musician, Azawi real name Priscilla Zawedde finally hit the state at 10pm. She kicked off her performance with her hit, "My Year", sending thousands of revellers into a frenzy mood. This was followed with more bangers; Crazy Love, Ache For You and Gimme.

This was followed by more hit songs; Slow Dancing, Lo Fit, Fwa Fwa, Party Mood and Majje all of which revellers sang word for word. 

She used the show to pay homage to her management by performing one of their hits, "I know", where she was joined by both Vamposs and Benon.

She was also joined by Weasel and Viboyo to pay homage to the late Mowzey Radio by performing "Nyumbani".

She capped up a rather beautiful show by thanking her fans for turning up. "Thank you all for coming out. Thank you for your support. You guys have definitely made this my year!"

True to her promised when announcing the concert, Azawi indeed delivered one of the best shows by a Ugandan musician.

She has since been lauded by many music critics and experts for not only being immensely talented and well behaved and decent.

"Azawi had all her clothes on and the music did all the talking. Let's just say she planned to showcase just the music to her adoring fans. Those who had hoped to see other things sorry this is Azawi not...You can sellout in Uganda with your clothes on. Proof of concept," a fan commented.

"Azawi’s concert should serve as a lesson to these upcoming artistes that you get genuine love and support from people if you make good music, stay humble and avoid drama!!" another fan remarked.

Azawi had earlier remarked the concert would not have been possible if it were not her managers' trust in her. She last week confessed on Tv that she was pretty scared of holding a concert having been in the industry for less than three years but was encouraged by her management. 

“I was scared but what motivated me is that I had so many people that show faith in me saying we can do it. So we went with faith and released the posters on social media, and at that point it was irreversible,” she said.

This was not the first time her management showed their trust in her. Three years ago, we hardly knew who Azawi was. At the time, she was merely a songwriter, a talent she had been nurturing since 2005 when she joined Kika dance troupe as a child. As a song writer, she had written songs for some artists like; Lydia Jazmine, Nina Rose, Eddy Kenzo and many more.

When she set out to sell songs to Swangz Ave in 2019, that turned out to be her turning point. The record label not only bought her songs but also signed her.

Swangz Ave unveiled her as their artist in November 2019.

This year, she released her debut five-track EP titled LO FIT

For the past 12 years, we've watched rapper K ing kaka tell stories in each and every one of his songs! And now we're about to watch his brilliant entrance into the film industry as writer, director and producer.

The pucnhline maestro is today (Friday) expected to release his debut film dubbed ‘Kamtupe’. The red carpet event is expected to go down at the Anga Diamond Cinema.

Kamtupe is a thrilling story about a government official trying to locate his relative in the wrong neighbourhood one night.  Anything he could have imagined goes wrong, but what happens after that is what will determine the fate of millions of people.

Voiced by media personality  Jeff Koinange,  the film stars Jimi Gathu, Stanley Obienji, Kelvin Musili, Femi One, Joyce Maina, Femi One & many more.

The film is fused with music that features King Kaka, Otile Brown, Femi One, Kanambo Dede, Ndume, Mbithi & Jadi.

Watch the trailer below..

Equity Bank Kenya has signed a partnership with NALA Payments Limited, a remittance payment processing platform licensed in the UK and United States, to facilitate diaspora remittances into Kenya.

This partnership will allow Kenyans living in the United Kingdom and United States send money directly from their banks, through the NALA app, instantly and at the most competitive rates to EquityBank Kenya accounts and other mobile wallets.

Equity Bank Kenya offers integrated financial services to their clients and by engaging NALA as their technology partner, the Bank fortifies its position in remittances by giving its customers access to simple, competitive and faster services leveraging off the growing popularity of digital channels.

In turn, NALA gains reach to serve more users in the United States and United Kingdom who would like to save and invest in the Kenyan economy through solid financial infrastructure.

NALA CEO Benjamin Fernandes commented, “NALA’s mission is to increase economic opportunities globally and partnering with Equity Bank is a foundational step for us. Combining NALA’s technology with Equity Bank’s reach allows us to build stronger financial infrastructure for Kenyans worldwide. Payments in Africa are 1% built, and technology enables us to make strides towards integrating the
financial tools for advancement.”

Robert Kiboti, Equity Head of Private Banking who spoke on behalf of Equity Bank Kenya's Managing Director Gerald Warui said that this partnership cements the position of the bank as the leading bank supporting Kenyans in the diaspora to send money to their loved ones as well as for investments.

He added that the bank is delighted to work together with NALA to bridge the access gap.

He attributed this linkage as one that will help widen the geographical reach in the remittances segment.

“Equity will continue to build linkages with likeminded partners such as NALA to ensure that all its members’ have access to seamless and most competitive remittance services. Using fintech capabilities has given us a global presence, and as a result we have become a major processor of remittances payments around the world including across currencies,” he said.

Equity grew the volume of diaspora remittances it processed by 39 percent in 2021 compared to the  corresponding period in 2020, leveraging on the growing popularity of digital channels for sending money home from abroad.

It handled Sh383.5 billion in remittances in the 12 months to December, up from Sh279.4 billion in 2021.

NALA is also opening a new office in Nairobi, to host a third of the company’s staff.

While NALA operates with a globally remote workforce, operational components like partnerships and customer support will be grounded in the Nairobi Headquarters under the leadership of NALA COO Nicolai Eddy.

Despite the array of options for sending money to Africa from abroad, the continent continues to be the most expensive place to send money.

The World Bank estimates average transfer fees to Africa at ~9%. Further, many of the existing options include hidden fees that make it hard to discern the true
cost of sending money.

Last year the two entities inked a similar deal in Tanzania.

NALA and Equity Bank are changing the

paradigm of financial tools across the region by providing fair and transparent services to empower people with control over their finances.