Visiting the Nairobi iHub today with Erik (@whiteafrican), which you can read more about at his post. while enjoiying the freat view of Naiorbi from the roof, and I test the wireless network Emer of butterfly works we chat about:
- Getting people do cool stuff - at this connection point where you’ll met people to enable you to get things done
- Get better developers
– The need to open more centres like this in e.g. Buru Buru
– Have a match making interface/board
– Enable people can upload their CV’s and
– Enable developers to get funding for their projects
We’ll be seeing more of Eric at Skunkworks (Feb 2) and Mobil East Africa (Feb 3 and 4) before the official launch of the iHub (@iHubNairobi)
Showing posts with label skunkworks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label skunkworks. Show all posts
Monday, February 01, 2010
Nairobi iHub
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Skunkworks: Nairobi September 29
The latest Skunkworks was held on September 29 2009 at Teleposta Towers Nairobi. The focus of the tech group this week was on Tech & Entrepreneurship and four speakers were chosen to provide their insight on the new business models they are developing in Kenya. This comes at a time when the fibre cable initially considered the greatest thing since sliced bread has become a corporate product with targets to break-even before cheap internet costs can be passed on. The fibre is just one arm, so it was good to hear techpreneurs talk not just about revolutionary business but grappling and scaling numerous challenges of running such businesses in this part of Africa – i.e. business registration, financing, staffing, patenting, winning contracts, succeeding and making money
skunkworks panel
full disclosure – I correspond with Liko, drink with Kahenya and Joshua arranges some advertising at this site
1. Liko Agosta - Founder and CEO of Verviant a leading web developing firm and BPO provider talked about:
Startup financing: He started his company with savings, then family & friends, and finally banks
company strengths: include having a good team (20 staff in Kenya), good track record (measured by repeat business they get), interacting with customers, good customer service (including fixing up products for their customers that other companies had previously messed up)
customers: - have contracts with companies in the USA, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and South Africa
- show companies how they can save money e.g. Africa online, akamba, instead of having staffed offices all around t company waiting for people to bring them money, have a platform that does this cheaper
watch cash - many business fail because they are under-capitalized, entrepreneurs should save money and keep costs low because it can sometimes take many months for them to get paid
- advises tech companies to focus on mid size products and contracts; this is because cash flow kills many Kenyan companies and this is likely to happen when if serving large contracts whose payments are spaced out
new product: pesapal will allow Kenyans to pay online via mpesa or zap for products and services from vetted merchants. It will also store transaction details details for 7 years, and comes with a readily available API, and pre-built components. More details on pesapal availed at verviant site on October 2.
2. Caroline Juma is the managing director of KCR - which stands for Kenya computer resources. She talked about her company which does human resources for IT professionals exclusively.
education or experience don’t always matter: while some companies ask for job candidates with advanced degrees or who have several years experience to fill positions, she sometimes finds that the best person may be one who is still in school, or who does not have the work experience. She looks at what they have done; KCR can test/examine what their skills are and will vouch for them to companies to employ them as IT professionals. IT professionals should show initiative, and work on projects that will enhance their career prospects not just learn outdated VB in university
don’t wait for governments: Kenya is not known for IT and call centers will not save the day. People should stop waiting for the government to do things in outsourcing, fibre etc. But governments don’t do that they only crate policy.
KCR is free IT professionals can place their CV's with KCR for free, there is no charge, unlike with other placement companies
IT conference upcoming KCR will be involved in an Aitech conference in November in Nairobi on business match-making
3. Kahenya Kamunyu - CEO, ViRN Instruments. Involved with Zuqka, previously worked for BT, Yahoo, Sanyo Business, and Sony Playstation. Currently developing smart ideas and providing Venture Capital to small enterprises. Kahenya has been coding since he was 13 years old and gave a talk on his entrepreneurship and employment history from South Africa, UK, Japan and finally in Kenya, and the lessons he has picked up along the way:
boot-strap: be frugal, pay bills, and put whatever cash is left aback in the business. Businesses that are under-capitalized and will fail
More education produces bad developers! college kids write better program than senior engineer with degrees; his is because kids write code without rules, while company programmers can only write within the parameters/box set by the company
business is fun
what?! if you’re single you’ll never make money – get a wife/husband.
have a wish list: these targets let you know where you are going and give you targets to work for
look after your health don’t over-work yourself or get tired. Work smarter
give back to community: tithe, get involved in non-profits, help others – this is because what goes around comes around, and you may be the one in need of a helping hand next time
debt is bad: do not start a business when in debt, you will go deeper into debt and have to sell off assets
on partnerships: set the rules before you go into partnerships
Kenya is not friendly to start-ups it is very hard to start a business and expensive. It would also be nice if there were incentives for local companies. E.g. Vodacom in South Africa has a super low tariff for start-up businesses that use their products, why not Safaricom? Also banks are not friendly in lending to star-ups.
banking secret you can use a patent to get a bank loan
small is better many entrepreneurs chase one big multi year contract, but it is better to serve several small contracts. The big contract may pay one, and replace you with someone cheaper, while the small ones, diversify the risk, provide for better cash flow, and the happy customers whose expectations are easier to meet, will grow and stay your loyal customers of many years big fish =small fry, small fish= big fry
high tech not the answer many young people go into high tech industry because its the in-thing, cool, sexy now, but internet has expiry date, while people will always eat food.its unfortunate some entrepreneurs are too proud to go into mundane (non-tech) industries that are more sustainable in the long run-
Kenyans should invest in R&D talk to customers, observe competitors. Many Kenyan companies don’t do this and fail owing to bad idea/false assumptions i.e. build it and they will come.
4. Joshua Wanyama: Founder and CEO of Pamoja Media, and a TED fellow, helps companies strategize their online presence to make money.
company strategies (i) interactive strategy (ii) creative development (iii) media buying & placements online
niche is getting companies aiming to advertise to Africans e.g western union
understand marketing: easy to get a meeting in Kenya, much harder in the US
keep learning: learn through reading, searching online & in libraries, networking, associating with smart people. He has learnt more about business from reading after his education
use web tools: he runs a web based company that has several components - all online including e-mail, ad server, sales leads, finance (payroll) and project management> can this also be retransferred to a farmer or fisherman?
opportunities Kenya
- include online services, e-commerce, procurement and local content
- It’s time to walk the talk in Africa; in a country like Kenya only 20% of the top 100 sites ranked by alexa for Kenya are Kenyan companies. We need to retain more people within our domain, and keep traffic generated within Kenya
- thanks to m-pesa’s success, it’s now easier for Kenyan mobile development companies to get funding from abroad
- Mentioned other companies doing exciting things online including: Preciss,
Ushahidi, Verviant, Nyeri Online, Jumuika and Mama Mikes
keys to success for Kenyans online
- tell our success stories better
- Ease the way of doing business: it has taken him several months to register his business in Kenya as well as to open a bank account for the company in Kenya. There seem to be difficulties for companies that have overseas-based directors or partners, and he has only been able to open an account with the help of a lawyer
- Cultivate a culture of entrepreneurship. Financing entrepreneurs is risky business the world over with expectations that 40% of business will fail, 40% will break even and 20% will bring in rewards
- companies should do R&D and follow through on these because one year from now the company or its products may not be relevant
full disclosure – I correspond with Liko, drink with Kahenya and Joshua arranges some advertising at this site
1. Liko Agosta - Founder and CEO of Verviant a leading web developing firm and BPO provider talked about:
Startup financing: He started his company with savings, then family & friends, and finally banks
company strengths: include having a good team (20 staff in Kenya), good track record (measured by repeat business they get), interacting with customers, good customer service (including fixing up products for their customers that other companies had previously messed up)
customers: - have contracts with companies in the USA, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and South Africa
- show companies how they can save money e.g. Africa online, akamba, instead of having staffed offices all around t company waiting for people to bring them money, have a platform that does this cheaper
watch cash - many business fail because they are under-capitalized, entrepreneurs should save money and keep costs low because it can sometimes take many months for them to get paid
- advises tech companies to focus on mid size products and contracts; this is because cash flow kills many Kenyan companies and this is likely to happen when if serving large contracts whose payments are spaced out
new product: pesapal will allow Kenyans to pay online via mpesa or zap for products and services from vetted merchants. It will also store transaction details details for 7 years, and comes with a readily available API, and pre-built components. More details on pesapal availed at verviant site on October 2.
2. Caroline Juma is the managing director of KCR - which stands for Kenya computer resources. She talked about her company which does human resources for IT professionals exclusively.
education or experience don’t always matter: while some companies ask for job candidates with advanced degrees or who have several years experience to fill positions, she sometimes finds that the best person may be one who is still in school, or who does not have the work experience. She looks at what they have done; KCR can test/examine what their skills are and will vouch for them to companies to employ them as IT professionals. IT professionals should show initiative, and work on projects that will enhance their career prospects not just learn outdated VB in university
don’t wait for governments: Kenya is not known for IT and call centers will not save the day. People should stop waiting for the government to do things in outsourcing, fibre etc. But governments don’t do that they only crate policy.
KCR is free IT professionals can place their CV's with KCR for free, there is no charge, unlike with other placement companies
IT conference upcoming KCR will be involved in an Aitech conference in November in Nairobi on business match-making
3. Kahenya Kamunyu - CEO, ViRN Instruments. Involved with Zuqka, previously worked for BT, Yahoo, Sanyo Business, and Sony Playstation. Currently developing smart ideas and providing Venture Capital to small enterprises. Kahenya has been coding since he was 13 years old and gave a talk on his entrepreneurship and employment history from South Africa, UK, Japan and finally in Kenya, and the lessons he has picked up along the way:
boot-strap: be frugal, pay bills, and put whatever cash is left aback in the business. Businesses that are under-capitalized and will fail
More education produces bad developers! college kids write better program than senior engineer with degrees; his is because kids write code without rules, while company programmers can only write within the parameters/box set by the company
business is fun
what?! if you’re single you’ll never make money – get a wife/husband.
have a wish list: these targets let you know where you are going and give you targets to work for
look after your health don’t over-work yourself or get tired. Work smarter
give back to community: tithe, get involved in non-profits, help others – this is because what goes around comes around, and you may be the one in need of a helping hand next time
debt is bad: do not start a business when in debt, you will go deeper into debt and have to sell off assets
on partnerships: set the rules before you go into partnerships
Kenya is not friendly to start-ups it is very hard to start a business and expensive. It would also be nice if there were incentives for local companies. E.g. Vodacom in South Africa has a super low tariff for start-up businesses that use their products, why not Safaricom? Also banks are not friendly in lending to star-ups.
banking secret you can use a patent to get a bank loan
small is better many entrepreneurs chase one big multi year contract, but it is better to serve several small contracts. The big contract may pay one, and replace you with someone cheaper, while the small ones, diversify the risk, provide for better cash flow, and the happy customers whose expectations are easier to meet, will grow and stay your loyal customers of many years big fish =small fry, small fish= big fry
high tech not the answer many young people go into high tech industry because its the in-thing, cool, sexy now, but internet has expiry date, while people will always eat food.its unfortunate some entrepreneurs are too proud to go into mundane (non-tech) industries that are more sustainable in the long run-
Kenyans should invest in R&D talk to customers, observe competitors. Many Kenyan companies don’t do this and fail owing to bad idea/false assumptions i.e. build it and they will come.
4. Joshua Wanyama: Founder and CEO of Pamoja Media, and a TED fellow, helps companies strategize their online presence to make money.
company strategies (i) interactive strategy (ii) creative development (iii) media buying & placements online
niche is getting companies aiming to advertise to Africans e.g western union
understand marketing: easy to get a meeting in Kenya, much harder in the US
keep learning: learn through reading, searching online & in libraries, networking, associating with smart people. He has learnt more about business from reading after his education
use web tools: he runs a web based company that has several components - all online including e-mail, ad server, sales leads, finance (payroll) and project management> can this also be retransferred to a farmer or fisherman?
opportunities Kenya
- include online services, e-commerce, procurement and local content
- It’s time to walk the talk in Africa; in a country like Kenya only 20% of the top 100 sites ranked by alexa for Kenya are Kenyan companies. We need to retain more people within our domain, and keep traffic generated within Kenya
- thanks to m-pesa’s success, it’s now easier for Kenyan mobile development companies to get funding from abroad
- Mentioned other companies doing exciting things online including: Preciss,
Ushahidi, Verviant, Nyeri Online, Jumuika and Mama Mikes
keys to success for Kenyans online
- tell our success stories better
- Ease the way of doing business: it has taken him several months to register his business in Kenya as well as to open a bank account for the company in Kenya. There seem to be difficulties for companies that have overseas-based directors or partners, and he has only been able to open an account with the help of a lawyer
- Cultivate a culture of entrepreneurship. Financing entrepreneurs is risky business the world over with expectations that 40% of business will fail, 40% will break even and 20% will bring in rewards
- companies should do R&D and follow through on these because one year from now the company or its products may not be relevant
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Week on Twitter: September 22
Another re-cap of a week full of Twitter - @bankelele posts which included issues like Olympia prepares for shareholders then postpone AGM, a skunkworks forum and a fibre summit are coming to Nairobi this week, but how is the fibre being used in government? There’s a new newspaper from the government of Kenya and a new magazine from EAM. Charterhouse bank may re-open while PTA bank has a silent bond, Kenya airways flies to ndola while Emirates air starts selling world cup 2010 packages, and finally twitter matures by enabling medical advice for Kahenya, drawing in the US ambassador to Kenya and also by helping Stanbic Bank improve customer service
- East Africa Fibre Summit - in Kenya next week http://www.aitecafrica.com/...
Emirates Air starts selling 2010 World Cup South Africa Packages http://tinyurl.com/pbj7e3 (where's SAA, @kenyaairways, Ethiopian?)
New GoK newspaper title Kenya Today; first issue has bullet trains, brigadier Ali, SMEs, IdiAmin, MJ, and rants about parliamentary dictatorship & NYTimes writers – all at a cost of Kshs 30/=
- @SupremeGREAM I'd be very surprised if Charterhouse Bank reopens. It will be like re-licensing Triton; @kachwanya is correct, something is smoking at Charterhouse http://bit.ly/3lk8d2
- R/T @kaboro Skunkworks Tech & Entrepreneur Forum, 29Sep Speakers: Liko Agosta, Verviant, Joshua Wanyama, Pamoja, Alex Gakuru.
- Help @kahenya with medical advice http://bit.ly/1YDJ3F #rhabdomyolysis
- @RookieKE CFA one very tough exam, it has driven some very bright professionals up the wall. CFA pass rates Level I: 46% Level II: 41% Level III: 49% @kainvestor http://tinyurl.com/mwegha i salute those who have tried it
- Tiomin say they have made progress with Canadian and Chinese investors on #kwale. Wait till they get to environment minister #michuki
- Kenya government has asked all ministries/agencies to email copies of procurement tenders - to be complied at a portal http://www.tenders.go.ke/ ; also http://www.tandaa.co.ke/ which is "all about Kenyan content" has NO KENYAN CONTENT! Just Anheuser Busch, French news, love in Warsaw...
- @kenyaairways 44th destination launch flight lands in Ndola #Zambia http://bit.ly/hMFk5
- Barclays waives joining fee for gold (6K) & classic (3k) cards http://www.barclays.com/afr... #youllpaysomehow @coldtusker i have no credit card, i can usually tap family or friends #TIA
- R/t @joosi @davos World Economic Forum (WEF) to be in Tanzania May '10. Nairobi star said kofi annan steered it away from Kenya’s bad leadership
- 
#Newshot and #bullseye are not too funny: seems marende may have banned use of parliamentary clips for satire. Did njoki spell stakeholder as steakholder in her protest letter? #NTV
- Sunday nation writes about US ambassador on twitter @usamb4reform, but twitter yet to be taken up keenly in Kenya unlike facebook
- Nairobi water company appoints 4 debt collection agencies
- PTA Bank has a $21 million 14% bond in Uganda closing Oct 2. Pity they stopped updating their website http://www.ptabank.org
- New women's magazine called Move out this week from EAM, costs just Kshs. 80 ($1) http://www.drum.co.ke/node/... was true love too pricey for the ladies?
- Twitter improves bank service R/T @coldtusker Thanks to @StandardBankGrp I got a call from CFCStanbic Kenya re: my problems at the bank
- R/t @kainvestor Kenya Ministry of Water office connected to fibre cable! But nobody knows what do with it...just watching movies online.
Olympia CEO comments South Africa has been a real challenge, but we still believe in the market M Matu http://tinyurl.com/klheg7 ; later Olympiacapital muddle continues, now AGM postponed to 2nd-oct cause delayed fin statement dispatch
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Google Launches Local Maps Domain for Kenya
On March 31, 2009 Google launched the local domain for Google Maps in Kenya, - an interactive map with many features and business listings.
Some Features
- Users can add locations to their own my maps (Local celebrities have contributed (Wangari Mathai, Churchill, and Julie Gichuru)
- Content can be added to maps by individuals such as photos of place, restaurant reviews, hotel information (no. of rooms, visa card accepted) and Wikipedia entries
- Photos that have coordinates can be over-laid
Business owners can add their business locations and details
- Collaborate users can share information and invite select others to contribute on parties, events, add maps and event-related information
- Privacy information can be designated as private of public (search engine accessible)
- Local websites can embed google maps by simply by adding some code
- Mobile phone same features for kenya also accesible via Google Maps for Mobile - like search, driving directions, show traffic, favorites, and my location
- Mapmaker: Tool can be enhanced with google mapmaker
- All these are Free
Other Mapping Events
- March 31 Skunkworks Tuesday at KCCT Teleposta Towers 4th Floor, from 5.45 pm. A talk by Dennis Karanja, Regional Director EA Sybase, a mobile phone application development company.
- More developer workshops being held today @Google
- Google will also sponsor Where Camp Africa on Saturday April 4
Some Features
- Users can add locations to their own my maps (Local celebrities have contributed (Wangari Mathai, Churchill, and Julie Gichuru)
- Content can be added to maps by individuals such as photos of place, restaurant reviews, hotel information (no. of rooms, visa card accepted) and Wikipedia entries
- Photos that have coordinates can be over-laid
Business owners can add their business locations and details
- Collaborate users can share information and invite select others to contribute on parties, events, add maps and event-related information
- Privacy information can be designated as private of public (search engine accessible)
- Local websites can embed google maps by simply by adding some code
- Mobile phone same features for kenya also accesible via Google Maps for Mobile - like search, driving directions, show traffic, favorites, and my location
- Mapmaker: Tool can be enhanced with google mapmaker
- All these are Free
Other Mapping Events
- March 31 Skunkworks Tuesday at KCCT Teleposta Towers 4th Floor, from 5.45 pm. A talk by Dennis Karanja, Regional Director EA Sybase, a mobile phone application development company.
- More developer workshops being held today @Google
- Google will also sponsor Where Camp Africa on Saturday April 4
Friday, January 09, 2009
Best bank for netpreneurs?
This is based on a skunkworks discussion thread and as many answers are welcomed. A growing number of young Kenyans are now making money online from blogs and websites; They often earn money in and receive foreign cheques for $50, $100 or $200 (e.g. from Google Adsense) but have different experiences when they try and encash them. I use Co-op Bank, but the cost of Kshs. 1,000 (losing ~13%) to get funds one month later is something I’m sure another bank can improve on
My questions to the netpreneurs earning from advertising and other online sources is what did you do with your last adsense cheques? Where do you bank them? What kind of bank account do you have? How much does it cost to clear such a cheque and how long before funds are available? and finaly What do you as a young digital entrepreneur /internet like about your bank?
Results (after a week)
Concept says Family Bank - Kshs. 650
I say Co-op Bank - - Kshs 1,000
and KCB Customer Service the only of three dozen banks to reply to e-mail says minimum Ksh.800 maximum Ksh.4800 plus postage charge of Ksh.300. (so Kshs 1,100)
My questions to the netpreneurs earning from advertising and other online sources is what did you do with your last adsense cheques? Where do you bank them? What kind of bank account do you have? How much does it cost to clear such a cheque and how long before funds are available? and finaly What do you as a young digital entrepreneur /internet like about your bank?
Results (after a week)
Concept says Family Bank - Kshs. 650
I say Co-op Bank - - Kshs 1,000
and KCB Customer Service the only of three dozen banks to reply to e-mail says minimum Ksh.800 maximum Ksh.4800 plus postage charge of Ksh.300. (so Kshs 1,100)
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Education Moment
Google hosted the latest skunkworks where the debate was how to design a better computer science curriculum. Present were a team from the Google EngEDU (Engineering Education) which works with campuses to mould student skills that will enable them to adapt to a work environment at Google, and through continuous learning within Google that feeds back into universities through training.
Present was a nice mix of professionals, programmers, coders, Google, who were ex-students of Nairobi, Kenyatta, JKUAT, Strathmore and other foreign universities.
So what ails the Kenyan computing curriculum?
- Universities are large factories, that focus on quantity (of students) not quality (of learning) to support their income streams
- Lecturers are lazy (don't want to teach new concepts or learn new developments), instead they spend more time outside, on more lucrative consultancies
- Students are programmed to (cram) pass exams, obtain degrees and gain employment. Few are inspired to learn outside, or become developers. They accept poor learning, without challenge, and will riot over food but not poor lectures
- Engineering/ computer science curriculums are static, have not changed in years. It is difficult to change the curriculum as it involves all departments of university, and even consultation with the Government (for public universities)
- There is little research and publishing at universities
- There was an unresolved debate of why JKUAT is a ‘better’ institution for technology programs than Nairobi University which has more resources and ‘better’ lecturers
What can be done?
- Teach children more computer/programming skills (in high school) before university
- Universities should be encouraged to compete more with each other
- Corporations should establish mentorship programs
- More programming languages should be taught, even at schools e.g. python, .net, ruby, java, not just C++ and Visual Basic.
- Engineering students remain highly employable in other sectors like accounts and audit
What else is happening?
- Google now has a director for education for Africa (A sign of better things to come)
- South Africa has signed up to link with TEAMS (submarine cable), and Governments now recognize that skills shortage is the next critical area to address after bandwidth
- Google will be working with Strathmore, Nairobi, JKUAT and with other universities on design of better computer science curriculum.
elsewhere
Safaricom University: the latest Safaricom Options magazine talks about a corporate learning & development initiative the company has with Moi University that began in October 2006. Safaricom helps design the electrical engineering curriculum at the University to produce competent engineers with skills that are useable by Safaricom, with the top performing telecommunication bachelor of engineering students, currently in first and second year, eligible to be offered attachment places at Safaricom. The collaboration is next targeting a master’s telecommunications program (to be based in Nairobi). More on Moi and JKUAT collaborations.
Universities need Change: A very timely post this week from Gukira on the difficulty of doing research from a technological standpoint at Nairobi University. For one who is used to the research recourses available at a US university, Kenyan universities are rather close-minded about IT access to research students’ e.g.
- Internet resources are lamentably bad
- Printing costs are exorbitant.
- Could not get into the library could not even apply to get into the library
- Faculty members teach ridiculously high loads
Read more
Multimedia University: The Government has gazetted the establishment of the Multimedia University College of Kenya, formerly Kenya College of Communications Technology (KCCT)
Multimedia Cows: Over the weekend, I heard about Michigan State University research program with Maasai pastoralists – where they used GPS to track the movement of cattle and their grazing patterns to help pastoralists find pasture for their cattle easier, and by having to walk shorter distances.
University Blog: Diary of a Kenyan Campus Girl is a great read about university life by a female student studying computer science at JKUAT.
Present was a nice mix of professionals, programmers, coders, Google, who were ex-students of Nairobi, Kenyatta, JKUAT, Strathmore and other foreign universities.
So what ails the Kenyan computing curriculum?
- Universities are large factories, that focus on quantity (of students) not quality (of learning) to support their income streams
- Lecturers are lazy (don't want to teach new concepts or learn new developments), instead they spend more time outside, on more lucrative consultancies
- Students are programmed to (cram) pass exams, obtain degrees and gain employment. Few are inspired to learn outside, or become developers. They accept poor learning, without challenge, and will riot over food but not poor lectures
- Engineering/ computer science curriculums are static, have not changed in years. It is difficult to change the curriculum as it involves all departments of university, and even consultation with the Government (for public universities)
- There is little research and publishing at universities
- There was an unresolved debate of why JKUAT is a ‘better’ institution for technology programs than Nairobi University which has more resources and ‘better’ lecturers
What can be done?
- Teach children more computer/programming skills (in high school) before university
- Universities should be encouraged to compete more with each other
- Corporations should establish mentorship programs
- More programming languages should be taught, even at schools e.g. python, .net, ruby, java, not just C++ and Visual Basic.
- Engineering students remain highly employable in other sectors like accounts and audit
What else is happening?
- Google now has a director for education for Africa (A sign of better things to come)
- South Africa has signed up to link with TEAMS (submarine cable), and Governments now recognize that skills shortage is the next critical area to address after bandwidth
- Google will be working with Strathmore, Nairobi, JKUAT and with other universities on design of better computer science curriculum.
elsewhere
Safaricom University: the latest Safaricom Options magazine talks about a corporate learning & development initiative the company has with Moi University that began in October 2006. Safaricom helps design the electrical engineering curriculum at the University to produce competent engineers with skills that are useable by Safaricom, with the top performing telecommunication bachelor of engineering students, currently in first and second year, eligible to be offered attachment places at Safaricom. The collaboration is next targeting a master’s telecommunications program (to be based in Nairobi). More on Moi and JKUAT collaborations.
Universities need Change: A very timely post this week from Gukira on the difficulty of doing research from a technological standpoint at Nairobi University. For one who is used to the research recourses available at a US university, Kenyan universities are rather close-minded about IT access to research students’ e.g.
- Internet resources are lamentably bad
- Printing costs are exorbitant.
- Could not get into the library could not even apply to get into the library
- Faculty members teach ridiculously high loads
Read more
Multimedia University: The Government has gazetted the establishment of the Multimedia University College of Kenya, formerly Kenya College of Communications Technology (KCCT)
Multimedia Cows: Over the weekend, I heard about Michigan State University research program with Maasai pastoralists – where they used GPS to track the movement of cattle and their grazing patterns to help pastoralists find pasture for their cattle easier, and by having to walk shorter distances.
University Blog: Diary of a Kenyan Campus Girl is a great read about university life by a female student studying computer science at JKUAT.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Kutwa Friday: Everything Must Go
It’s been a while since the last Kutwa post. Here’s a rundown of things, most from the daily papers and various sites that have piled up
Banking: Co-Operative bank are deep into the marketing program for their October 20 listing at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. They may also venture into mortgage finance
- Barclays and Standard Chartered will both offer mobile messaging services to their customers
- Rand Merchant Bank (SA) plans to expand to Kenya
- Salary cards are coming to Kenya as FNDS3000 Corp which launched its payroll card program in South Africa and will follow into Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates and Qatar
What's in a Name?
a step forward: Telkom Kenya is now Orange: more on their new site and products
will they have orange phone booths?
- Nyanza petroleum dealers is now called Auto Xpress
- Chloride exide is now Chloride Solar
- The naming rights for Nyayo national stadium are up for sale to a corporate bidder (will it be Safaricom or Zain Stadium?)
a step back
- A new name is recommended for the discredited electoral commission of Kenya
- Grand Regency is now Grand Laicos Hotel?!
Developments: A new 21 storey 5-star hotel in Nairobi to be situated next to Barclays plaza (and is a stones throw away from the former Grand Regency)
- Kenya anti corruption to build a new headquarters
- Two battery recycling factories will be set-up; one in Changamwe and one in Konza
- Ethacom international will set up an ethanol production plant in in Bungoma
- Nairobi City council is seeking 50 acres for a new cemetery
Airlines: There’s little reporting about a pending strike of Kenya Airways engineers; however K24 TV reported that this may affect plans of President Kibaki to fly to London next week as engineers were going slow on maintenance of his planned aircraft and also other repairs after another little reported aircraft incident.
[image: KQ 777]
Energy: Following last months electric shock it was pleasant to see my electricity bill drop from 2,600 to 1,800 shillings ($26). No thanks to KPLC though, as the savings came largely from taking cold showers that reduced consumption from 161 to 115 units . Meanwhile there was another increase in KPLC fuel cost from 769c/kwh to 778c/kwh this month.
popular item in supermarkets
- Why doesn’t the government owned National Oil Corp (NOCK) who are supposed to check against check the high petrol prices charged by oil marketers sell petrol at the Kshs. 100 per litre (~$6.4/gallon) price that Energy Ministry says is correct?
- An S-class with the fuel economy of a Toyota? Pity Merc drivers are not concerned about fuel economy
ICT: The Kenya government plans to set up an official blog by September this year to facilitate better communication between the government and the public. "The blog will allow the government to respond to everyday issues being raised by the citizens," PS Bitange Ndemo told journalists in Nairobi. "More and more people are turning to the internet to read, write or say whatever they want to say and if such forums were properly utilized, especially during the election period, we would not have experienced the kind of problems we had in the country at the beginning of the year." hat tip Xinhua News - China
- Also the Kenya Government will set up a $39 million venture capital fund
- Telkom /Orange makes peace with Safaricom
- Controversy about an outsourcing scholarship
- Outsourcing #1: Pioneer BPO Kencall will manage call center for Telkom/Orange
- Outsourcing #2: site stats here show that Mauritius (9%) has overtaken the UK (8%) to be the third highest source of traffic to bankelele – after Kenya (45%) and the US (17%) - but, upon closer scrutiny for true fans there, it turns out the readers actually Kenyan-based - but routed through Mauritius.
Opportunities: The Skunk Awards 2008 is your chance to recognize and reward the leaders in the various ICT fields in Kenya. Chosen by YOU, the real stakeholders in the Industry. Vote for ICT Company of The Year, Best ISP, Most Innovative ICT product, Best Local Website, Best Local eCommerce Website, Worst Local Website, Best Local WebHost, Most Open Sourced (is that a verb) Organization, Best Customer/User Support, Worst Customer/User Support, Best Training Institute, Most Promising ICT Startup, Best Paying Company, ICT Entrepreneur of the Year, Best Local Application, Most Transparent ICT Tendering Govt Branch, Most Successful Government ICT project, and Worst Government ICT project. Send in your nominations to skunkawards@gmail.com before Friday October 10th.
- Apply online to be an Acumen Fund Fellow 2009-2010. D/L is 20 October
- Take part in the Wildman Triathlon in Watamu on October 18.
- Zebrajobs is a cool new job site that has some interesting opportunities in this past of the world
Other jobs: You can’t compete with Kenya’s largest employer, the Government of Kenya. Soon available at the Governments Public Service site will be jobs including at the Ministry of finance principal accountants - 26 posts, chief accountants - 64 posts accountant II - 320 posts!; at the ministry of energy (director of renewable energy, senior deputy director of renewable energy (engineering) , senior deputy director of renewable energy (biomass) ) ; at the Ministry of immigration - immigration officer II - 200 posts; at the ministry of fisheries, chief fisheries officers – 142 posts, fisheries officers – 78 posts; and at the Ministry of medical services - Nursing officers III - 686 posts, clinical officers III – 548 posts, medical lab technologists – 124 posts and Pharmaceutical technologists III – 100 posts. The application process involves a mix of new and old technology – you can download the forms online but applications must be sent in by snail mail (post office) to the to the secretary PSC p o box 30095-00100 Nairobi by 13th October. Thereafter applicants can check the status of application by sending an SMS!
- Dyer & Blair: Database administrator, network specialist systems administrator. Apply through Manpower Associates by 26/9
- Econet wireless rolling out in Nairobi Mombasa Kisumu Eldoret (when?) is hiring head of field operations, field operations engineers, manager – RF optimization, RF Planning & optimization engineers, Manager base station sub systems, BSS engineers Regional managers – passive infrastructure . Apply to techrecruit@econet.co.ke by 29/9
- Equity Bank is hiring credit officers, and debt recovery officers
- Genghis capital: head of stockbroking, head or research securities dealers. Apply by 10/10 to the head of HR at 9959-00100 Nairobi
- Gulf African bank: Area sales manager, manager product development (housing) credit administration manager, head of audit - apply to recruitment@gulfafricanbank.com by 22/9
- HLB ashvir: audit seniors audit manager – apply to audit@hlbashvir.com by 20/9
- KCB branch managers, Business bankers- apply to recruitment@kcbco.ke by 28/9
Banking: Co-Operative bank are deep into the marketing program for their October 20 listing at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. They may also venture into mortgage finance
- Barclays and Standard Chartered will both offer mobile messaging services to their customers
- Rand Merchant Bank (SA) plans to expand to Kenya
- Salary cards are coming to Kenya as FNDS3000 Corp which launched its payroll card program in South Africa and will follow into Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates and Qatar
What's in a Name?
a step forward: Telkom Kenya is now Orange: more on their new site and products
- Nyanza petroleum dealers is now called Auto Xpress
- Chloride exide is now Chloride Solar
- The naming rights for Nyayo national stadium are up for sale to a corporate bidder (will it be Safaricom or Zain Stadium?)
a step back
- A new name is recommended for the discredited electoral commission of Kenya
- Grand Regency is now Grand Laicos Hotel?!
Developments: A new 21 storey 5-star hotel in Nairobi to be situated next to Barclays plaza (and is a stones throw away from the former Grand Regency)
- Kenya anti corruption to build a new headquarters
- Two battery recycling factories will be set-up; one in Changamwe and one in Konza
- Ethacom international will set up an ethanol production plant in in Bungoma
- Nairobi City council is seeking 50 acres for a new cemetery
Airlines: There’s little reporting about a pending strike of Kenya Airways engineers; however K24 TV reported that this may affect plans of President Kibaki to fly to London next week as engineers were going slow on maintenance of his planned aircraft and also other repairs after another little reported aircraft incident.
Energy: Following last months electric shock it was pleasant to see my electricity bill drop from 2,600 to 1,800 shillings ($26). No thanks to KPLC though, as the savings came largely from taking cold showers that reduced consumption from 161 to 115 units . Meanwhile there was another increase in KPLC fuel cost from 769c/kwh to 778c/kwh this month.
- Why doesn’t the government owned National Oil Corp (NOCK) who are supposed to check against check the high petrol prices charged by oil marketers sell petrol at the Kshs. 100 per litre (~$6.4/gallon) price that Energy Ministry says is correct?
- An S-class with the fuel economy of a Toyota? Pity Merc drivers are not concerned about fuel economy
ICT: The Kenya government plans to set up an official blog by September this year to facilitate better communication between the government and the public. "The blog will allow the government to respond to everyday issues being raised by the citizens," PS Bitange Ndemo told journalists in Nairobi. "More and more people are turning to the internet to read, write or say whatever they want to say and if such forums were properly utilized, especially during the election period, we would not have experienced the kind of problems we had in the country at the beginning of the year." hat tip Xinhua News - China
- Also the Kenya Government will set up a $39 million venture capital fund
- Telkom /Orange makes peace with Safaricom
- Controversy about an outsourcing scholarship
- Outsourcing #1: Pioneer BPO Kencall will manage call center for Telkom/Orange
- Outsourcing #2: site stats here show that Mauritius (9%) has overtaken the UK (8%) to be the third highest source of traffic to bankelele – after Kenya (45%) and the US (17%) - but, upon closer scrutiny for true fans there, it turns out the readers actually Kenyan-based - but routed through Mauritius.
Opportunities: The Skunk Awards 2008 is your chance to recognize and reward the leaders in the various ICT fields in Kenya. Chosen by YOU, the real stakeholders in the Industry. Vote for ICT Company of The Year, Best ISP, Most Innovative ICT product, Best Local Website, Best Local eCommerce Website, Worst Local Website, Best Local WebHost, Most Open Sourced (is that a verb) Organization, Best Customer/User Support, Worst Customer/User Support, Best Training Institute, Most Promising ICT Startup, Best Paying Company, ICT Entrepreneur of the Year, Best Local Application, Most Transparent ICT Tendering Govt Branch, Most Successful Government ICT project, and Worst Government ICT project. Send in your nominations to skunkawards@gmail.com before Friday October 10th.
- Apply online to be an Acumen Fund Fellow 2009-2010. D/L is 20 October
- Take part in the Wildman Triathlon in Watamu on October 18.
- Zebrajobs is a cool new job site that has some interesting opportunities in this past of the world
Other jobs: You can’t compete with Kenya’s largest employer, the Government of Kenya. Soon available at the Governments Public Service site will be jobs including at the Ministry of finance principal accountants - 26 posts, chief accountants - 64 posts accountant II - 320 posts!; at the ministry of energy (director of renewable energy, senior deputy director of renewable energy (engineering) , senior deputy director of renewable energy (biomass) ) ; at the Ministry of immigration - immigration officer II - 200 posts; at the ministry of fisheries, chief fisheries officers – 142 posts, fisheries officers – 78 posts; and at the Ministry of medical services - Nursing officers III - 686 posts, clinical officers III – 548 posts, medical lab technologists – 124 posts and Pharmaceutical technologists III – 100 posts. The application process involves a mix of new and old technology – you can download the forms online but applications must be sent in by snail mail (post office) to the to the secretary PSC p o box 30095-00100 Nairobi by 13th October. Thereafter applicants can check the status of application by sending an SMS!
- Dyer & Blair: Database administrator, network specialist systems administrator. Apply through Manpower Associates by 26/9
- Econet wireless rolling out in Nairobi Mombasa Kisumu Eldoret (when?) is hiring head of field operations, field operations engineers, manager – RF optimization, RF Planning & optimization engineers, Manager base station sub systems, BSS engineers Regional managers – passive infrastructure . Apply to techrecruit@econet.co.ke by 29/9
- Equity Bank is hiring credit officers, and debt recovery officers
- Genghis capital: head of stockbroking, head or research securities dealers. Apply by 10/10 to the head of HR at 9959-00100 Nairobi
- Gulf African bank: Area sales manager, manager product development (housing) credit administration manager, head of audit - apply to recruitment@gulfafricanbank.com by 22/9
- HLB ashvir: audit seniors audit manager – apply to audit@hlbashvir.com by 20/9
- KCB branch managers, Business bankers- apply to recruitment@kcbco.ke by 28/9
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Safaricom @ NSE Day 8
Deals: 5,620
Turnover: Kshs 883.5 million [$14 million]
Average price 7.84
Closing 7.80 (no change)
High 7.90
Low 7.70
Last 7.90
Volume 112.6 million shares
Commentary: We are still below the 8 pivot, which is key. The pull back was very shallow and confirms underlying muscularity. Foreign buying and selling is now in balance. Courtesy of Rich.Co.Ke [NSE data vendor]
All Safaricom, all the time?
Meanwhile AKS [Rich.co.ke] has a Nairobi Star column and in February this year, started a running NSE portfolio 2008 with Equity, Access Kenya, Athi River Mining, and Sasini. This week, he retired the portfolio – cashed in a 50% gain to throw everything into Safaricom!
Mainstream blogging
stuff I used to post about and need to get back after IPO rush
Meet the bloggers: The Nairobi barcamp is now set for June 21 and is shaping up to be one of the biggest ever with a packed day planned
Meet the money: Two opportunities for bloggers to meet the e-government, BPO, and Kenya ICT Board officials on 19th and 21st of June. first come, first served
Turnover: Kshs 883.5 million [$14 million]
Average price 7.84
Closing 7.80 (no change)
High 7.90
Low 7.70
Last 7.90
Volume 112.6 million shares
Commentary: We are still below the 8 pivot, which is key. The pull back was very shallow and confirms underlying muscularity. Foreign buying and selling is now in balance. Courtesy of Rich.Co.Ke [NSE data vendor]
All Safaricom, all the time?
Meanwhile AKS [Rich.co.ke] has a Nairobi Star column and in February this year, started a running NSE portfolio 2008 with Equity, Access Kenya, Athi River Mining, and Sasini. This week, he retired the portfolio – cashed in a 50% gain to throw everything into Safaricom!
Mainstream blogging
stuff I used to post about and need to get back after IPO rush
Meet the bloggers: The Nairobi barcamp is now set for June 21 and is shaping up to be one of the biggest ever with a packed day planned
Meet the money: Two opportunities for bloggers to meet the e-government, BPO, and Kenya ICT Board officials on 19th and 21st of June. first come, first served
Friday, June 06, 2008
Safaricom IPO Allocation Part II
From a discussion in the skunkworks group forums: Taking up on concerns about e-government in the IPO application process, the same site now offers investors tracking their applications a chance to check how many shares they will get. (I checked and for retail investors, like me, the 22% application appears to be in order)
However the skunkworks group users raised concerns that anyone (not just applicants) could tweak ID and CDS numbers and look up other people’s applications – and beyond that - box numbers, phone numbers, e-mail, amounts applied for, where their refunds will go, etc.
update 1 [SITE TAKEN DOWN NOW - 5PM NAIROBI TIME]
update 2 CHECK BALANCES VIA PHONE SMS
There was an advert in the Saturday (7/6) newspapers, advising investors to confirm their allocations via mobile phone SMS; send an SMS with CDS and ID numbers ( "CDS___*ID ____*")to 2732 on Safaricom or Celtel [cost is Kshs. 10 per message] I tried but got an error message, i.e one of my numbers was wrong!
Update 3 CHECK BALANCES VIA PHONE SMS
There was an advert in the Sunday (8/6) newspapers, advising investors to confirm their allocations via mobile phone SMS; send an SMS with CDS and ID numbers ( "CDS___*ID ____*")to 4009 on Safaricom or Celtel [cost is free/unknown] I tried and got an answer SIX HOURS later, same balance as the e-mail - 22%
However the skunkworks group users raised concerns that anyone (not just applicants) could tweak ID and CDS numbers and look up other people’s applications – and beyond that - box numbers, phone numbers, e-mail, amounts applied for, where their refunds will go, etc.
update 1 [SITE TAKEN DOWN NOW - 5PM NAIROBI TIME]
update 2 CHECK BALANCES VIA PHONE SMS
There was an advert in the Saturday (7/6) newspapers, advising investors to confirm their allocations via mobile phone SMS; send an SMS with CDS and ID numbers ( "CDS___*ID ____*")to 2732 on Safaricom or Celtel [cost is Kshs. 10 per message] I tried but got an error message, i.e one of my numbers was wrong!
Update 3 CHECK BALANCES VIA PHONE SMS
There was an advert in the Sunday (8/6) newspapers, advising investors to confirm their allocations via mobile phone SMS; send an SMS with CDS and ID numbers ( "CDS___*ID ____*")to 4009 on Safaricom or Celtel [cost is free/unknown] I tried and got an answer SIX HOURS later, same balance as the e-mail - 22%
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Kutwa Tuesday
Revelations Chapter 11, verse 1 and 2: Hats off to the business daily for their exposes of the downfall of Francis Thuo stockbrokers. It is an anomaly that brokers don’t have to publish their accounts, oversee each others lapses and gallantly bail each other out, and that white collar crime is something only the faint hearted fail at (they even raided the stockbroker after the company died. I guess the customers of Nyaga stockbrokers will be paid off now that the investor compensation fund is padded with millions from the Safaricom IPO
Thai is good: Kenya Airways will double its service from Nairobi to Bangkok to six flights a week to cope with growing demand – and four will connect to Hong Kong and two to Guangzhou, China. Also msafiri reports that they will get a replacement 737-800 in October, to replace the one which crashed last May a- and another two 737-800 this year. I think they should reduced European flights and focus on Asia and Africa
Kenyan snub: There's no Kenyan presence in the final list of sustainable banking award nominees of the FT/IFC. Earlier, only Equity Bank and Vodafone/Safaricom forBanking at the Bottom of the Pyramid were in but they probably canceled each other out.
ICT watchdog: an initiative formulated at skunkworks forum in March forum has come to fruition with news that the members will form a website to monitor the quality of ICT service in Kenya.
love your sponsors: Mama Mikes have a new venture - Channel Safari to market tourism in Kenya and were featured in the featured in the business daily
Thai is good: Kenya Airways will double its service from Nairobi to Bangkok to six flights a week to cope with growing demand – and four will connect to Hong Kong and two to Guangzhou, China. Also msafiri reports that they will get a replacement 737-800 in October, to replace the one which crashed last May a- and another two 737-800 this year. I think they should reduced European flights and focus on Asia and Africa
Kenyan snub: There's no Kenyan presence in the final list of sustainable banking award nominees of the FT/IFC. Earlier, only Equity Bank and Vodafone/Safaricom forBanking at the Bottom of the Pyramid were in but they probably canceled each other out.
ICT watchdog: an initiative formulated at skunkworks forum in March forum has come to fruition with news that the members will form a website to monitor the quality of ICT service in Kenya.
love your sponsors: Mama Mikes have a new venture - Channel Safari to market tourism in Kenya and were featured in the featured in the business daily
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Skunkworks: Nairobi March 4
A Skunkworks (blog) meeting yesterday was hosted by (7 month old) Google Kenya, and it was attended by an interesting mix of engineers, webhosts, designers, admins, bloggers and rivals of Google, - who all listened as Google employees explained their aps and maps.
some scribbled notes
- There’s an ongoing Google East Africa competition for students to develop gadgets for Google (closes March 17)
- They are mapping the country with Google map’s – started with Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru, with a Kenyan team, doing the mapping work, using the tools. Ideally the next step will be for maps to stream into local yellow pages
- Safaricom have the largest customer base of any kind in Kenya – 8 million strong – and so Google partnered with them to give all their subscribers free e-mail. Many people’s introduction was and still remains, accessing an email account.
- Ushaidi was cited as an examples of enhanced use of a Google platform
- Google in Africa for the long term, with an altruistic motive of sharing local content & information – and currently get less than 1% of revenue from Africa. They helped NTV set up a Youtube platform that has been a big success in terms of Kenyans abroad now able to watch local news online. They monetize in three ways - videoads, adsense, search box advertising. Kenya/Africa needs to get more local content up. Already some local web sites are making good money off adsense that is enough to sustain their online operations.
- Hot point #1 was bandwidth; or the performance of connectivity, service providers and other operators. They are known in the industry for short-changing consumers who are not wary and in the face of a regulator (CCK) who does not seem to care. There was a call for users to take the initiative, to test bandwidth speeds, and identify those with superior speeds and those who were short-changing consumers (a model from Australia called Whirlpool to test broadband was mentioned as a model that could be used to do this)
- Hot point # 2 was the lack of investment in infrastructure/or the wrong kind of investment. Examples: There are 4 ethernet cables in Nairobi, but no cooperation between providers. Government is building data centers, but with no servers there. Local loops are not benefiting end users. It would be nice of government required new building developers to also install connectivity in buildings
- Other challenges with local advertising – does it work? Yahoo never advertised in Kenya; yet have more e-mail accounts through word of mouth. Google is working with universities to give them free e-mail as a way of building a long term relationship. There’s also a move to alert local advertising companies to the presnce of local site to advertise on.
There were many other conversations but they were drowned out by sounds of mouths slurping pizza slices and mshikaki’s.
some scribbled notes
- There’s an ongoing Google East Africa competition for students to develop gadgets for Google (closes March 17)
- They are mapping the country with Google map’s – started with Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru, with a Kenyan team, doing the mapping work, using the tools. Ideally the next step will be for maps to stream into local yellow pages
- Safaricom have the largest customer base of any kind in Kenya – 8 million strong – and so Google partnered with them to give all their subscribers free e-mail. Many people’s introduction was and still remains, accessing an email account.
- Ushaidi was cited as an examples of enhanced use of a Google platform
- Google in Africa for the long term, with an altruistic motive of sharing local content & information – and currently get less than 1% of revenue from Africa. They helped NTV set up a Youtube platform that has been a big success in terms of Kenyans abroad now able to watch local news online. They monetize in three ways - videoads, adsense, search box advertising. Kenya/Africa needs to get more local content up. Already some local web sites are making good money off adsense that is enough to sustain their online operations.
- Hot point #1 was bandwidth; or the performance of connectivity, service providers and other operators. They are known in the industry for short-changing consumers who are not wary and in the face of a regulator (CCK) who does not seem to care. There was a call for users to take the initiative, to test bandwidth speeds, and identify those with superior speeds and those who were short-changing consumers (a model from Australia called Whirlpool to test broadband was mentioned as a model that could be used to do this)
- Hot point # 2 was the lack of investment in infrastructure/or the wrong kind of investment. Examples: There are 4 ethernet cables in Nairobi, but no cooperation between providers. Government is building data centers, but with no servers there. Local loops are not benefiting end users. It would be nice of government required new building developers to also install connectivity in buildings
- Other challenges with local advertising – does it work? Yahoo never advertised in Kenya; yet have more e-mail accounts through word of mouth. Google is working with universities to give them free e-mail as a way of building a long term relationship. There’s also a move to alert local advertising companies to the presnce of local site to advertise on.
There were many other conversations but they were drowned out by sounds of mouths slurping pizza slices and mshikaki’s.
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