Telecommunications and data centre providers around the world, and especially in Africa, face increasing challenges in meeting the demands driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and the rapidly changing technology landscape, which is impacting their infrastructure and services.

This is according to Jon Abbott, sales director for strategic telecom clients in EMEA at Vertiv, a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions, who recently addressed Kenyan leaders in the local telco, tower, and colocation arena in Nairobi. Abbott shared insights into the operational and technology changes that are set to reshape the entire communications networks landscape by 2030.

According to the 2023 Digital Quality of Life Index, a study on digital wellbeing across 92 percent of the world’s population, Kenya, which is ranked 76^th overall of 121 countries globally and 3^rd of 25 African countries across pillars that impact a population's digital quality of life, drops to 82^nd overall in terms of its AI readiness.

“The challenge for Kenya is that AI adoption is already transforming the IT stack and our IT infrastructures. This means that accelerated architectures are needed to meet the requirements of AI workloads,” Abbott said.

He pointed out that the tangible network developments required will include adjustments on the operational side that consumers don’t see. This is likely to include changes in network ownership and increased costs of service largely driven by ever increasing demands for energy consumption as intelligent connectivity rises.

“This will place a greater emphasis on efficiency, while more attention will also have to be paid to sustainability and emission reduction,” Abbott explained.

At the same time, significant technology changes are expected to take place, including a greater move to the edge of the network, which will drive big tech collaboration and increased standardisation across the physical and logical infrastructure – a complex undertaking. We can also anticipate more open-source groups and commoditised hardware; data processing capability integrated into the network fabric; and new ecosystems with more private networks.

“Then there’s the Internet of Things (IoT), which has the potential to unlock insights and efficiencies across all sectors. The way this will evolve will be to propagate the landscape with processing capability, breaking the facility down into smaller and smaller localised facilities,” he continued.

What will this mean for data centres?

According to Abbott, the data centre as we see it today will not disappear. Rather, they will continue to grow, but in parallel, more and smaller “edge” data centres will populate the landscape, each with the same fundamental physical requirements as their larger counterparts – always on, never getting too hot, which will place cooling systems under strain, and operating as efficiently and securely as possible.

“The challenges all this poses in terms of energy provision, particularly in the face of energy transition and sustainability requirements to meet the 2030 global emissions reduction goals, will be considerable,” he said.

Other hurdles to be overcome range from meeting the likely exponential growth in rack density and constraints on skills availability, to trade-offs between new builds and retrofits, power grid constraints, and an increasing need for short turn-around times as well as repeatable, quick-to-deploy designs.

“The bottom line is that AI will be a major challenge for network providers with data consumption and creation accelerating across all sectors, and data processing saturating the facility landscape. While this could be daunting for providers, having the right partner at your side – one that can assist with power and thermal management, and integrated rack solutions - every step of the way will help to smooth your deployment journey. Vertiv is well placed to be such a partner,” Abbott concluded.

Global AfroPop artist Yemi Alade has today released ‘Rebel Queen’, her tenth body of work - out via Effyzzie Music. The album title is a testament to Yemi’s reign as Africa’s Queen of AfroPop and unapologetic love for her originality, heritage and love for the African continent.

She explains, “To be a Rebel is to travel the path less traveled. To Rebel is to continuously be true to oneself even when one's personal choices are not regarded as popular opinion.”

The second single off the new album, “Peace & Love” featuring 8x GRAMMY-winning Jamaican musician Ziggy Marley, is a powerful reggae-infused duet imagining a borderless Africa in a utopia where war, disease and injustice would not exist but peace and love.

This release follows “Tomorrow” - the first single off ‘Rebel Queen’ that has already amassed over 7.5 Million YouTube Views in just a month since release.

The timeless piece honors the aspirations of the future and the ongoing pursuit of turning them into achievements. 

The 16-track album also features collaborations with Konshens & Femi One in “Baddie Remix”, Angelique Kidjo in “African Woman” and Innoss'B in “Lipeka”.

From AfroPop, Dancehall, Amapiano, Lingala, Afrobeats to Reggae and R&B, ‘Rebel Queen’ is a cocktail of different genres with multiple flavours that will appeal to every single music lover from any corner in the world. Yemi Alade says, “I was inspired by the core African music of Highlife and different genres that got us excited as Africans. I created this album with the sole purpose of creating music I grew up loving and the variety I have grown to love now.”

Rebel Queen’ also speaks of Yemi Alade’s bold spirit and global domination to a great degree. She says, “I am a true rebel in words and in action. I have always charted my own course and walked the path less traveled.

A lot of albums tend to have monotony in genre and style and it bores me easily most times. This album has something new, old and borrowed. Every song is unique and a capsule of my thoughts, melodies and truck load of nostalgia,” adding, “All the collaborations excite me! I couldn’t wait to share, especially because I am a fan of these artists.”

Yemi started the year 2024 on a big note - performing at the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) opening ceremony. ‘Rebel Queen’ adds to Yemi’s global domination.

She has already joined her fans and industry stakeholders in celebrating the album at release parties across the globe in the cities of Paris, London, New York and Lagos.

She will this year embark on her ‘Rebel Queen Tour’, following a successful ‘African Baddie’ world tour alongside her African Train Band that stopped in 22 countries through Africa, America and Europe in 2023.

Yemi Alade sums up, “Growing up, African pop music was a mixture of music that carried messages and helped us through different situations in life. This album is a blend of what my playlist consists of right now e.g. the new and old pop music that cuts across generations and boundaries.”

A report on sexual harassment has revealed that 60 per cent of people (especially women) working in the media space have experienced sexual harassment.

The report titled Sexual Harassment in the Kenyan Media Landscape 2024 was commissioned by the Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK).

The study involved 240 participants, 20 Key Informant Interviews, and had as its aims including assessing the prevalence of sexual harassment, evaluating the existing legal framework and uncovering the underlying challenges to curbing such harassment.

The study findings revealed a disturbingly high prevalence of sexual harassment in Kenyan newsrooms.

"A staggering 60% of the respondents reported experiencing sexual harassment during their careers. These incidents ranged from unwelcome advances and requests for sexual favours, to offensive behaviour, and the use of sexually explicit language,” stated the report.

The study is a continuation of the WAN-IFRA research conducted between 2020 and 2021, which identified Kenya as having the highest prevalence of sexual harassment of female journalists in the region, with 79 per cent of them experiencing verbal sexual harassment.

It aimed to address the critical need for additional data that can be used to design effective interventions against sexual harassment in Kenya.

According to the report, most of the females who experienced sexual harassment were between the ages of 18 to 35, and 54 percent of journalists aged between 25 to 35 have experienced sexual harassment

It revealed that 40 percent of female interns have experienced sexual harassment which underscores the vulnerability of entry-level professionals in Kenyan newsrooms.

Interns, according to the report, are often eager to gain experience and establish themselves in the industry, making them susceptible to exploitation and harassment by their senior colleagues.

“This finding raises concerns about the lack of protection and mentorship available to young female journalists who are starting their careers,” said the report

According to the report, in the context of Kenya’s media landscape, sexual harassment can be linked to misogyny as 61 per cent of respondents indicated that they felt the issue of men who feel entitled resulted in a high prevalence of sexual harassment.

Over 50 percent of male respondents believed that women behaving inappropriately is a reason for sexual harassment, in contrast to 37 percent of women who share this opinion.

“This pervasive misogyny is what contributes to media capture. The fact that most victims of sexual harassment have not been able to attain justice, as male perpetrators continue to work in the newsroom, suggests there is an extensive form of media capture by patriarchal interests,” the report said.

The report showed that 64 per cent of the respondents said that current policies are insufficient in curbing sexual harassment with most women respondents stating that existing policies favour male journalists and protect them against sexual harassment compared to females.

Respondents also noted that there is a significant awareness gap regarding who can help combat sexual harassment, with 53 per cent noting the lack of guiding policies for journalists.

This, according to the report, leads to speculation and creates gaps exacerbated by issues such as the abused or harassed bearing the burden of proof, which tends to favour male harassers and discourages female journalists from reporting sexual harassment cases.

The report revealed that 71 percent of the respondents indicated knowledge of the perpetrators of sexual harassment, who have neither been prosecuted nor held accountable for their crimes.

However, approximately 46 percent of the respondents indicated a lack of knowledge regarding safe reporting mechanisms.

"This points to an inadequacy in reporting mechanisms and limited protection for victims. This situation amounts to media capture, as male journalists continue to enjoy privileges and favouritism due to lax policies intended to address sexual harassment,” the report said.

A significant 39.8 percent of participants indicated that a fundamentalist and conservative culture is responsible for the pervasive issue of sexual harassment

Coast civil society groups have vowed to block the reappointment of six cabinet secretaries the cabinet by president William Ruto.

Haki Africa and human rights Ageda (Huria)and a host of coast human rights groups say Ruto acted in total disregard of demands by the Gen-Z,demands who wanted a complete overhaul of the cabinet.

Speaking in Mombasa on Sunday, they have declared to explore all opportunities, including going to court to block the reappointment of incompetent cabinet secretaries.

"We want to strongly oppose,the reappointment of any individual who was in the previous cabinet ,if they were declared incompetent, why then did the president change his mind overnight to reappoint them, we automatically reject them. We are considering the other new faces before we make our stand," posed Hussein Khalid,Haki Africa CEO.

President Ruto reappointed to his cabinet, Alice Wahome (Lands), Davis Chirchir(Transport),Kithure Kindiki( Interior) ,Soipan Tuya(Environment)Aden Duale (Defense)and Rabbeca Miano (AG).They served in previous cabinet that was disbanded by the president.

On his part Huria chief executive Yusuf Lule termed the re-appointment of the six Cs as a betrayal to the voice of Kenyans who protested poor leadership and incompetent of the cabinet.

"We are not mad as Kenyans, when Kenyans went to the streets they had a reason to do so, the reappointment of these individuals who previously served in the government is a betrayal to the voice of the Kenyan youth who came out to demonstrate," Said Lule.

Khalid further slammed the government for attacking civil society groups in the pretext of funding anti-government protest. He said non governmental organizations will remain undeterred and will not succumb to any form of state intimidation.

"We want to state that peaceful protests are a constitutional guarantee and people should not be intimidated ,the narrative that CSOs are funding protests is baseless, people come out by themselves,. The Gen Z revolution is organic, they have not been funded by anyone contrary to what politicians want people to believe" said Khaid.

Khalid further asked the opposition to play the role of keeping checks and balances instead of going to bed with the Kenya Kwanza administration. This deals a blow to some of ODM politicians warming up to take up cabinet slots in the Kenya Kwanza administration.

"For democracy to thrive, there must be opposition, so we are asking those in opposition to continue oversight and not in anyway join the government, by joining the government, they will betray the Gen Z revolution," said Khalid

Pride Inn Group of hotels has announced it's plan to expand its footprint in every county in Kenya.

The company announced that so far three game restaurants have already been built as part of the expansion plan.

Speaking during the launch of the Sayari All Day dining restaurant in Westlands, on Friday evening, the Managing Director PrideInn Hotels, Resorts & Camps, Hasnain Noorani said the plan is aimed at creating employment opportunities among the youth and the local communities.

The chain currently has eight hotels spread across Mombasa, Maasai Mara and Nairobi.

Noorani noted "In a span of 13 years, PrideInn has grown from one hotel with 28 rooms and 18 staff members to 8 hotels with 950 rooms, and over 1500 staff members.” 

Adding "“Sayari Restaurant has already made a significant impact by creating employment opportunities that have impacted over 100 households, underscoring the company’s commitment to improving and enriching the livelihoods of Kenyans.”

The launch is also  part of the hotel chain’s growth strategy after rebranding last November.

The Sayari restaurant, which means ‘planet’ and is located at the PrideInn Westlands outlet, also plays into the firm’s long-term energy efficiency strategy.

Noorani revealed that PrideInn is creating open spaces to replace air conditioners, which will significantly reduce the chain’s energy consumption.

"We want to be a company that cares for our environment" he said.

Pride Inn Group of hotels has announced it's plan to expand its footprint in every county in Kenya.

The company announced that so far three game restaurants have already been built as part of the expansion plan.

Speaking during the launch of the Sayari All Day dining restaurant in Westlands, on Friday evening, the Managing Director PrideInn Hotels, Resorts & Camps, Hasnain Noorani said the plan is aimed at creating employment opportunities among the youth and the local communities.

The chain currently has eight hotels spread across Mombasa, Maasai Mara and Nairobi.

Noorani noted "In a span of 13 years, PrideInn has grown from one hotel with 28 rooms and 18 staff members to 8 hotels with 950 rooms, and over 1500 staff members.” 

Adding "“Sayari Restaurant has already made a significant impact by creating employment opportunities that have impacted over 100 households, underscoring the company’s commitment to improving and enriching the livelihoods of Kenyans.”

The launch is also  part of the hotel chain’s growth strategy after rebranding last November.

The Sayari restaurant, which means ‘planet’ and is located at the PrideInn Westlands outlet, also plays into the firm’s long-term energy efficiency strategy.

Noorani revealed that PrideInn is creating open spaces to replace air conditioners, which will significantly reduce the chain’s energy consumption.

"We want to be a company that cares for our environment" he said.

Following the success of his acclaimed third studio album, Emeka Must Shine, Nigerian music sensation Blaqbonez, is back with a new captivating release “Fire On Me”, the soulful anthem captures all the beautiful intricacies of a sizzling summer romance. 

On "Fire on Me" Blaqbonez masterfully narrates a tale of passion and emotion punctuated by his irresistible melody and infectious rhythm.

The track envelops listeners in a whirlwind of sensations, leaving them craving more with each captivating verse.

What sets "Fire On Me" apart is its embrace of love—a stark departure from Blaqbonez's earlier sonic personas which heralded a mission of anti-romance in albums like "Young Preacher" and "Sex Over Love."

The artist bares his soul through poignant lyrics and heartfelt vocals, inviting audiences on a journey of vulnerability and intimacy.

Prepare to be enchanted, as Blaqbonez sets hearts ablaze with "Fire on Me." The single is available on all streaming platforms.

Schneider Electric, the leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, has partnered with Nairobi-based IXAfrica Data Centres to launch East Africa’s first and largest hypercloud data centre. The power train for the new Tier 3+ facility is built around Schneider Electric MV and LV switchgear to ensure stable and reliable cloud services renewably powered by Kenya’s grid.

Nicknamed ‘NBOX1’, the new development is now open and ready for business as a carrier-neutral, AI-ready data centre - the largest and most technologically advanced digital habitat for cloud, colocation and connectivity in East Africa. It is designed to attract hyperscale and internet customers to the region’s largest data hub, delivering a customer and user experience comparable to facilities in North America and Western Europe.

Underpinning the launch of NBOX1 is Schneider Electric’s proven EcoStruxure for Data Centers architecture and solutions, providing the new data centre with maximum resilience, uptime and cost efficiency, enhanced security, and the ability to meet IXAfrica’s sustainability goals.

A Natural Digital Habitat for Innovation

Backed by a $50m capital investment from leading investment firm Helios, IXAfrica’s new data centre is positioned amid Africa’s growing technology epicentre, the so-called ‘Digital Savannah’ – serves a population of over 300 million and supports an ecosystem for innovation which includes a skilled workforce, cloud and content providers, and colocation and connectivity services.

“Kenya,” says Snehar Shah, CEO IXAfrica, “is a hypercloud-ready region with advanced cloud adoption propensities, a digitally savvy ecosystem, access to diverse internet fibre connectivity, high-availability and low-carbon sources of power. This all sits within a country offering a stable regulatory and political environment, and a strong economy forecast to grow 5.2% in 2024.”

Schneider Solutions Guarantee 99.999% Uptime

A key customer requirement for this major new campus data centre development is to ensure ongoing and dependable IT operations. To ensure power quality and reliability, IXAfrica turned to Schneider Electric to provide the power train solution including power protection and distribution equipment, together with transformers, MV and LV switchgear, and a basic BMS for monitoring the solution.

Schneider Electric worked with local consultants Prisma Techniques to ensure that the power train solution met the objectives of the design provided by FutureTech on behalf of IXAfrica. The equipment is engineered to meet IEC standards as well as local requirements imposed by the nature of Kenya’s national grid, and environmental considerations such as weather conditions and Nairobi’s high altitude.

The new data centre is ‘EcoStruxure-ready’, with components of the installed EcoStruxure for Data Centers platform solution including:

• Galaxy VX modular 3-phase UPS with Li-ion
• PDUs
• LV and MV Switchgear

 According to Ifeanyi Odoh, Schneider Electric Country President in East Africa, “The solutions provided by Schneider Electric are engineered to support N+1 redundancy with four independent power trains, meeting IXAfrica’s immediate and long-term objectives, including design 1.25 PUE across the campus, as well as a 99.999% uptime guarantee”.

With the power grid creating stability challenges as it introduces more power from renewable sources, the use of back-up lithium-ion batteries in conjunction with the Galaxy VX UPS provides a formidable solution to some of the challenges associated with intermittency or variability of supply.

Sustainability by Design

With NBOX1 designed and built as a ‘Data Centre of the Future’, Schneider Electric EcoStruxure for Data Centers and its supporting solutions not only enable the highest levels of data centre performance, resilience and resource efficiency, but also support IXAfrica’s sustainability ambitions through energy savings and lowered CO₂ emissions.

Mouna Essa Egh, Secure Power Vice President for Middle East & Africa also highlighted Schneider Electric’s commitment to pioneering sustainable solutions for data centres: “We believe that sustainable practices are essential for the future of data centres, and we are proud to partner with organizations like IXAfrica to create environmentally conscious and innovative digital habitats for the evolving technological landscape."

Snehar Shah added: “We have a very strategic relationship with Schneider Electric – in fact, our new Nairobi campus site is built on land formerly part of Schneider’s complex, and the power engineering for the site was designed by Schneider’s local partners. NBOX1 is sustainable by design, and our goal is to ‘Keep it Africa’ - our switchgear and panelware were all manufactured by Schneider Electric on our own doorstep.”

He concluded: “We’re delighted to partner with Schneider Electric, a company that not only shares our ethos and passion for the environment, but is also committed to ensuring that IXAfrica and its clients meet their operational and sustainability goals.”

There is need to seek and increase funding for the Children Justice System in the country to enable stakeholders mitigate challenges affecting children and support childcare and welfare programmes. 

Speaking during the launch of the National Council on Administration of Justice (NCAJ) National Strategy on Justice for Children (2023-2028), Chief Registrar of the Judiciary (CRJ) Winfridah Mokaya said the recognition of the need for increased budgetary allocation for children in the justice system is key in the implementation of the strategy.

 “We understand that without adequate financial resources, our ambitions for child-friendly facilities, trained justice actors, and enhanced capacity to respond to children's needs will remain unfulfilled,” said the Chief Registrar.

The CRJ noted that the launch of the National Strategy is not just a milestone but a beacon of hope and a testament to the justice sector’s unwavering commitment for a brighter future for every child.

“The Strategy we launch today is our promise, our pledge, to fundamentally transform how our society and our justice system interact with and protect our children. As Nelson Mandela powerfully stated, ‘There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.’ Let us reveal the soul of Kenya as one that fiercely protects and cherishes its young,” said  Mokaya.

She noted that the Strategy was justified by the pressing need to address the systemic and multifaceted issues that children face and that the injustices experienced by children, such as abuse, neglect, and exploitation, are not just individual tragedies but societal failures that hinder our nation’s progress. 

The CRJ assured that the NCAJ will spearhead the coordination efforts, bringing together stakeholders from across sectors to promote, protect, and improve the administration of justice for children in both formal and informal settings.

“Our vision extends far beyond the justice system. We aim to empower all stakeholders - including children themselves, communities, civil society organizations, and development partners - to contribute to a child-friendly justice sector. This partnership is not just instrumental; it is essential. Together, we can enhance our response to violence against children, promote their participation and empowerment, and strengthen collaboration among all involved parties,” said CRJ Mokaya.

Speaking at the launch, the Chairperson of the NCAJ Standing Committee on Justice for Children, Justice Teresia Matheka said the Strategy represents NCAJ’s commitment to enhancing the administration and access to justice for children in Kenya and it would require robust coordination and resources from both the government and development partners.

 “Together, we can build a justice system that truly serves and protects our children,” said Justice Matheka.

The objectives of the Strategy are: to ensure a coordinated, efficient, effective and consultative approach in the administration of justice for children in Kenya, to empower stakeholders, to prevent violence against children, timely response and child participation towards a child friendly justice system that is well resourced, to strengthen the coordination by NCAJ and relevant stakeholders to promote, protect and improve access to justice for children in the formal and informal sector and to establish a monitoring, evaluation, learning and budgeting framework for the child justice system.