The Economist, in its January 7 edition, reports on the success of the Kenyan and Ethiopian military effort to defeat Al Shabaab militants in Somalia. The campaign has put Al Shabaab fighters on the defensive “for the first time in years,” and has helped give Somalia “its best chance of peace and security since 1991.”

Indeed, The Economist notes, as the Al Qaeda-backed extremists are pushed back, their tactics have become increasingly desperate. The Somali people, once intimidated by Al Shabaab, are less afraid of reprisals, and “have turned hostile” towards the terrorist group. Signs are hopeful that, thanks in large part to Kenya and Ethopia’s actions, Somalians will spend 2012 rebuilding their own livelihoods, rather than “fending off jihad.”

To read the full Economist article, please click here.

October 10, 2011
By Larry Magid

Dr. Ndemo’s full interview with The San Jose Mercury News’ Larry Magid can be listened to here.

With an average salary of under $800 a year, Kenya is ranked near the bottom when it comes to per capita income. But, if Bitange Ndemo has his way, the country will use technology as its ladder to prosperity.

Ndemo, permanent secretary of the country’s Ministry of Information and Communications, is optimistic that Kenya’s relatively well-educated — it has a 92 percent literacy rate — and English-speaking population will leapfrog 20th-century technologies and cash in on mobile broadband.

“A few years ago we started to think about how to absorb many youth,” Ndemo told me in a recent interview at his office in Nairobi, adding that half the population is below age 20.

While most Kenyans work in agriculture, information technology is key to the government’s plan to transform the nation from an agrarian to a service-based economy. That includes call centers, software development and light industry.

In 2007, the government drafted what it calls “Vision 2030,” a plan that includes greater government transparency and accountability as well as economic, social and political reforms. To that end, Kenya is launching “open data” websites to make government data “accessible to the people.”

In partnership with the World Bank and Nokia, the country has created an “m-lab” to incubate mobile application startups. In June, m-lab sponsored a mobile apps developers conference and a contest that recognized 25 East African app developers,

including Simba Technologies, which created an app called MedKenya that delivers heath information to Kenyans via mobile phone, using information from the government’s open data project. Last month the company participated in DEMO Fall 2011 in Silicon Valley, where it showed off an expanded version, called MedAfrica, to bring similar content to other countries on the continent.

Perhaps the most famous mobile success is M-Pesa (“M” stands for mobile and “pesa” is Swahili for money). Launched in 2007 by Kenya mobile carrier Safaricom, M-Pesa allows people to use text messaging to transfer funds via cell phone. Stores selling cards to top off M-Pesa accounts are everywhere. I even spotted them in small towns while traveling in rural parts of the country.

“Africa is the Silicon Valley of banking,” said Carol Realini, executive chairman of Obopay, a Redwood City-based mobile banking company. “The future of banking is being defined there.”

Ndemo said that there are thousands of young Kenyans involved in app development. One Kenyan company, Planet Rackus, has done well with its “Ma3Racer” driving game that the Kenya Standard newspaper said “allows one to test his or her driving skills on the busiest, and roughest Nairobi roads.” The app, I’m told, is based on racing matatus (taxi vans) on real urban roads. Just inching along Nairobi’s incredibly crowded streets in taxis has been tough on me.

Some rural communities lack electricity, let alone Internet. Although there are projects to bring fiber to the home, most Kenyans get online either at cybercafes or by purchasing an inexpensive USB modem and buying mobile Internet top-off cards.

Fortunately, my laptop has a pretty good battery, which was needed because hardly a day passed during my stay without a brief power outage — even at a luxury hotel in the capital. A lodge I visited in the Masai Mara game reserve uses generators, which they turn off late at night. But Kenya has an abundance of sunshine, and Ndemo hopes to see widespread adoption of solar power. Last year, the country lowered the import tax on solar equipment in an effort to promote “green energy.”

As for the short-term future, one corner of Ndemo’s spacious office is dedicated to a scale model of Konza City, a planned 5,000-acre technology park to be located about 40 miles from Nairobi. The area, already nicknamed “Silicon Savannah,” will eventually feature housing, a science park, a university campus and two “BPO Technology Parks.” BPO stands for business process outsourcing, which can include a variety of “back office” functions including accounting and human resources.

I don’t know how long it will take for Kenya to achieve a modicum of prosperity, but after spending 10 days with some marvelous people, I’m convinced they’ll get there.

Source: The San Jose Mercury News

Google, in partnership with Safaricom and Equity Bank, plans to bring small and medium scale enterprise (SMEs) businesses in Kenya online for free.

The project, dubbed “Getting Kenyan Businesses Online (GKBO)”, provides a template for SMEs to log onto www.kbo.co.ke and fill in information to upload onto their new website.

The Google-led effort will also give SMEs the opportunity to create their own website at no cost. With 10.2 million Internet users in Kenya, Google Kenya Country Manager Olga Arara-Kimani said the initiative would transform the SME landscape, while positively impacting on the economy.

Speaking at a Nairobi hotel, Arara-Kimani said many small businesses fear getting online because they think it is complicated and expensive.

“We are providing your own, easy to build website for mobile and desktop. The SME will be listed online under our website, www.kbo.co.ke. If we are able to get these businesses online, where we are now seeing that they are not only being found locally, but have the opportunity to be found internationally; they can contribute to the growth of the business,” she said.

The GKBO website is mobile and desktop compatible allowing SMEs to personally manage the site and update business information in real time. Resources available include a shopping cart service and SMS alerts providing the number of hits to the website.

According to a recent Google study, one in three mobile Internet searches in the East African region pertains to local information. Ministry of Information and Communication Permanent Secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo said GKBO also helps to address high registration prices for website domains that often discourage SMEs from signing up.

“The storage capacity in this country is four times as expensive as it is outside the country. If it continues to be that expensive it will discourage people from getting local domains. What Google brings in is the leveraging of their capacity for storage to bring lower costs,” he said.

He said the government was taking steps to boost cyber security through the Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT) at the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK).

CIRT will receive, review and respond to computer security incident reports and activity, as well as create awareness of cyber security issues through the provision of cyber security advisories.

Partners involved in the GKBO initiative include Safaricom, Equity Bank, the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Information and Communication, World Bank and Kenya Network Information Centre.

Source: IT News Africa