Kenya hosts Digital Migration and Spectrum Policy Summit

By Dan Muhuni 

African Telecommunications Union (ATU) in partnership with the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology,International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) and Qualcomm today officially opened the Digital Migration and Policy Summit at the Laico Regency Hotel.

The conference which concludes on Thursday 1^st December 2011 brings together policy makers, regulators, broadcasting and ICT experts across Africa and the rest of the world to encourage and assist Member States to consider effective regional approaches for transitioning and reallocating the digital dividend spectrum.

Minister for ICT Kenya Samuel Poghisio

Addressing the delegates during the official opening ceremony, the Minister for Information Communication Technology Kenya Samuel Poghisio said, “The Government of Kenya is proud of what it has achieved with regard to the development of the ICT and Broadcasting sectors in the country, but of course a lot more still needs to be accomplished. We look forward to interacting with all the delegates in the coming three days so that we can learn and continue to innovate in these very important sectors.”

Speaking at the same ceremony, ATU Secretary General Mr. Soumaila Abdoulkarim said, “ATU as the specialized agency of the African Union has the mission to promote the rapid development of info - communications in Africa in order to achieve universal access and full inter- country connectivity. I hope this forum will provide us with solutions that we require as Member States in our efforts to realize the smooth digital migration and as a result, testify to the rest of the world our capabilities of embracing and enhancing the enabling environment for ICT investment and access in Africa.”

The Union explains that the analog to digital broadcasting migration will transform the lives of many viewers as it will offer them a platform to access more channels, and higher quality pictures.

The summit, whose key note speakers include The Hon. Minister of Posts, telecommunications Technology & ICT, Hon Thierry Moungalla, Director of ITU Radiocommunications Bureau Mr. Rancy Fracois, (we can get others on the day),consists of keynote presentations, as well as deliberate on key topics regarding policies on digital migration including; national administration transition plans in the region, policy and regulation for Digital TV transition, estimation of future spectrum needs for broadcasting in the countries/region, the importance of harmonizing the digital dividend spectrum, establishing procedures for the award of the digital spectrum in the most efficient manner, current status of the digital dividend around the world including spectrum band plan approaches in other regions, using digital dividend spectrum to facilitate broadcasting and broadband development in Africa.

Crown Beverage Ltd launches Redds in a bottle

By Dan Muhuni
Crown foods have launched a new bottled Redds alcoholic beverage in the Kenyan market alongside the usual canned drink. Redds which has been available in 330ml cans will now be available in 330ml Non returnable bottles. It will be available in 330ml Non Returnable Bottles.


Speaking during the launch in a Nairobi hotel, Redds Marketing Manager Pinkie Nyandoro said a pilot study on bottled Redds in Kenya received positive feedback, where it currently commands 3% market share in the beer category.



New look bottled Redds

 “Market research has shown that there is a need for Redds in a bottle and we will work towards strengthening our distribution channels as well as a targeted consumer campaign to increase awareness of the product. We have put into consideration our consumers needs by ensuring that the new bottle is modern and appealing while ensuring that the content remains the same crisp clean apple taste that Redds consumers have become accustomed to.” Added Nyandoro.

Crown Beverages Limited under a partnership with Sab Miller Africa will be the official distributor.

Co-op Bank Group Managing Director and CEO Honoured

 By Dan Muhuni n Agencies

The Co-operative Bank of Kenya Group Managing Director and CEO Dr. Gideon Muriuki, has been awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Businesses Leadership (Honoris Causa) by the Kabarak University in recognition of his exemplary performance in entrenching the co-operative banking model in the Kenyan financial market and the demonstrated leadership in sustainable growth over the last 10 years.

Under his watch, the Co-operative bank of Kenya has climbed from a Ksh 2.3 billion loss to a Ksh 5.6billion profit. For the first nine months for 2011, Mr. Muriuki’s specific mandate at the point of engagement was to return the bank to profitable trading away from massive loss position.

The Bank has since increased its customers base from 125,000 to the now 2.4 million customers, grew its branch network from 30 branches to over 94 and more importantly unique interconnectivity with the Co-operative movement to reach the over 9million members of the movement.

Commenting on this award Dr. Muriuki said, “The success of Co-operative Bank cannot be appreciated by simply looking at its good financial performance alone. Rather, its strength lies in the transformative influence it has had in the lives of millions of Kenyans who depend on the co-operative movement. It is great privilege for me to serve an institution that has made such a tremendous contribution to the improvement of the welfare of so many Kenyans. I take this award as an affirmation that service with integrity and honour will always be rewarded in the fullness of time.”

Dr. Muriuki is also credited with successful restructuring of the Bank and its listing on the Nairobi Stock Exchange at a time when even the most optimistic analysts were predicting a poor subscription of the Initial Public Offer. The Bank’s IPO was awarded the Best IPO in Africa in 2008 by Africa Investor Awards. Recently the Bank was awarded the 2010 Best Bank in Kenya by the Financial Times for London.

He is a Director of the Deposit Protection Fund, Vice President Africa International Co-operative Banking Alliance (IBA) and Chairman of Governing Council Africa International University. In 2005, Dr. Muriuki was awarded the Order of the Grand Warrior in recognition of his turn –around of the Bank. He is also recipient of a decoration of Chevalier de L’orde National du Burkina Faso by the President of the Burkina Faso in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the rural finance in Africa.

It’s now E-Food as Innscor Kenya ltd adopts M-pesa for customers

It’s now E-Food as Innscor Kenya ltd adopts M-pesa for customers

By Dan muhuni

Innscor Kenya limited, the proprietors of galitos,Pizza Inn, creamy Inn, bakers Inn,Galitos, TKC and stop n shop  has today joined with Safaricom Limited for access of its mobile commerce platform - M-PESA.

This partnership translates to providing over 650,000 customers of fast food outlets under the Innscor chain an opportunity to pay their bills through the globally acclaimed M-PESA service.

The payment system will apply at both the tills at the various outlets and also for home deliveries where customers can order and pay through M-PESA.

Morne Deetlefs, the MD of Innscor Kenya Ltd (Left) 

and Safaricom’s Betty Mwangi Thuo  during the Launch. 

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Safaricom General Manager in charge of Financial Services Betty Mwangi-Thuo said M-PESA would continue seeking partnerships and innovating to meet the changing needs of its customers.

"We shall continue innovating and entering into strategic partnerships with service providers in our quest to entrench M-PESA as a mobile commerce tool for everyone. We are truly committed to making a difference in the lives of Kenyans through M-PESA. This partnership is aligned with our strategy of taking M-PESA to the next level as more than a money transfer service in line with the "Bigger than Cash" positioning," said Ms Mwangi.

Also speaking during the ceremony at their Westgate outlet, Morne Deetlefs, the MD of Innscor Kenya Ltd said, "Mobile money is a convenient way to pay for food at either our tills or when you want food delivered to your house. Innscor is always in pursuit of ensuring that we make purchasing as convenient as can be. M-PESA has met the requirement of ensuring that convenience for the customer is met."

To use the new service with Innscor, customers will be required to:

a.     Select 'PayBill' from their M-PESA menu

b.     Enter the correct 'Business Number' for the specific Innscor Outlet

c.      Enter the 'Account Number' of the outlet where you will be paying for the meal

d.     Enter the amount you wish to pay (between KShs. 100 - 35,000).

e.     Enter your M-PESA PIN.

f.       Confirm that all the details are correct and press OK

g.     Your will receive a confirmation SMS from M-PESA immediately.

Access Kenya realigns marketing strategies to tap into the youthful Internet market

By Dan Muhuni

Access Kenya Group has announced a realignment of its marketing strategies to upscale interactivity with youthful internet users through targeted media campaigns in a renewed bid to encourage fixed-price internet connectivity and further increase their customer numbers in the next financial year.

Access Kenya MD Mr Jonathan

AccessKenya Group Managing Director Jonathan Somen said the realignment, which will be driven mainly through digital media platforms and radio, is informed by the increasing need to reach out to the young internet users - who are key in driving digital content - and improve subscriptions to faster broadband internet.

The realignment is centered upon a campaign introducing a lifestyle aspect to internet usage – away from a straight business inclination - through chic messaging and has  seen the company adopt catchy phrases around the term “IT”.

“We want to reach out to the young people and encourage them to generate and share content. We are happy that the high speed internet is fast changing the way that young people share knowledge and information and this is integral to the development of ICT in Kenya,” said Mr. Somen.

He said the company will not change focus from its core business but is looking to develop avenues to encourage connectivity so that the industry can accelerate subscription numbers, which will in turn impact on the overall growth of the sector.

“Since the arrival of the fibre optic cable, internet connectivity has become significantly cheaper but over time with more customers and more content, we will be able to offer more to customers. Costs improvements will only take place once internet usage has reached a threshold where all ISPs can now leverage on the customer numbers to achieve more economies of scale and ultimately lead to better offerings in the market, said Mr. Somen.”

According to Mr. Somen, the realignment – which will constitute the majority of the company’s marketing budget for 2012 - will be key in solidifying the company’s market leadership position and upscale its corporate image and branding.

“We don’t want to remain a “suit and tie heavy corporate entity, we want to speak to all people more easily across the board while at the same time continue to be the best provider of Corporate and high end residential connectivity and value added services in the market,” he explained.

AccessKenya is the leading corporate internet service provider with a 40 % market share and has since diversified its service offering to incorporate managed IT services including Disaster Recovery, remote assistance, and network solutions among others.

The realignment is expected to further the company’s both interim and long-term strategies in the wake of increased competition in the internet and data market.

“We are still keeping ahead of the competition and we realize that we also need to speak more to the young people even as we remain the preferred business solutions partner to the larger and midsized corporate companies,” said Mr. Kevin Keya, AccessKenya Corporate Communications Manager.

We want to be as dynamic as the market is as well as easier to talk to,” noted Mr. Keya adding that more activities to support this realignment will be unveiled next year so as to encourage participation and on-board sharing of IT knowledge.

The announcement comes in the wake of recent statistics from CCK showing that mobile phone service providers represent the majority platform through which people are accessing internet. Mr. Somen however believes that this does not negatively impact on ISPs but instead drives the need for faster and more reliable internet.

“Most of our new customers especially on residential broadband come from using a mobile modem at home  and are then looking to upgrade to faster, more consistent , more reliable as well as a fixed price internet service that we provide,” said Mr. Somen.

THE SAFARICOM FOUNDATION PARTNERS WITH THE NAIROBI GREEN LINE TRUST

By Dan Muhuni and Agencies
The Safaricom Foundation has today partnered with the Nairobi Green Line Trust to support the latter’s efforts to preserve the Nairobi National Park from further encroachment and environmental degradation caused by urbanization.

 

While announcing the partnership, The Foundation’s Chairman Les Baillie, who issued a cheque of KES 43.6 million to the Trust said they will continue to support initiatives that improve and sustain Kenya’s environment.

 

Rugby sevens team player Collins Injera  assists Samuel
Waweru to read a book in a past Safaricom Foundation Event.

“The Safaricom Foundation aims at providing sustainable support to the preservation of Kenya’s environment and natural resources through partnerships to grow forests, conserve biodiversity, mitigate against human-wildlife conflict and promote the use of renewal energy sources,” said Mr. Baillie.

The Nairobi Greenline is a project that was initiated by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) and is now managed by the Nairobi Green Line Trust.

The project entails planting a 30-kilometre long, 50-metre wide forest of indigenous trees from the Cheetah Gate in Athi-River to the Carnivore Restaurant in Nairobi. Industrialization of Athi River Town and the proximity of Nairobi to the park have exposed this unique animal sanctuary to negative environmental impacts. The 117 square kilometres park is located 10 kilometres from the city centre.

Mr. Baillie said integrating the principles of sustainable development into Kenya’s communities through the projects the Foundation support’s is helping to reverse the loss of Kenya's environmental resources.

The Foundation’s environmental conservation partners seek to save Kenya's wildlife, forests, water catchment areas, reduce poaching as well as clean-up campaigns within communities. Through this partnerships, the Foundation has supported numerous tree planting initiatives in among other places, the Aberdares and Ngare Ndare.

Other initiatives the Foundation has supported include Save the Elephant through the implementation of an innovative elephant tracking project and partnered with the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust on a de-snaring project. “These partnerships are some examples of initiatives that contribute towards ensuring that man lives in harmony with his surroundings,” he said.

 

 

STANDARD CHARTERED BANK LAUNCHES A BANKING PRODUCT FOR THE YOUTH

By Dan Muhuni

As the banking fraternity continues to make forays into the retail segment, an increasing number of banks have seen the importance of launching products that fits its consumers. In this regard, Standard Chartered Bank has launched a new class of banking targeted at the young emerging affluent consumer. The Preferred Banking customer is aged between 28 and 40 years is young, upwardly mobile, and typically looking to achieve a higher level of affluence than his peers, usually within 5-8 years of his working life.

According to Kariuki Ngari, Standard Chartered Bank’s Executive Director for Consumer Banking, East Africa said that the Preferred Banking offering will holistically address this significant customer segment; a sizable and rapidly growing customer segment with needs that have been largely underserved and undifferentiated.

A customer research study undertaken by the Bank in 2009 shows that the young emerging affluent segment is a key indicator for economic recovery and growth. This growth is fueled by a conscious effort by African governments to create stable political and economic environment that   encourage investments, better economic management of government budgets and cutting back debts and deficits and urbanization.

“The young emerging affluent are in their peak years when they have tremendous appetite for financial products that will help them achieve their aspirations, like borrowing to buy their first home, or upgrade to a larger property, saving and investing for their future, their children’s education and buying more protection for themselves and their families. This led us to believe that this consumer segment will fuel the economic recovery and growth across our markets in Asia and Africa. And at Standard Chartered we see a huge opportunity for us to partner them in this growth,” said Jane Kimemia, Standard Chartered Bank’s General Manager for Priority, Preferred and International Banking.

Preferred Banking comes hot on the heels of the successful launch of the Priority Banking business last year, to complete the suite of offerings from Standard Chartered in the overall affluent space. It addresses the key needs of customer and is positioned as more personal, more convenient and more rewarding.

Customers will receive the convenience of preferential services at the branch, phone and internet and assistance from a team of preferred bankers – all available on demand, recognition of their relationship through special benefits such membership cards, specially designed pan bank rewards and special offers and a full range of solutions primarily offered through bundles across banking, borrowing, investing and protection that are relevant to their life-stage.

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Safaricom's profit declines as M-pesa revenue increases

By  Dan Muhuni

As predicted earlier by financial analysts, its now official that the full impact of mobile phone price war, escalating energy cost and rising inflation in the country are the major challenges that contributed to dismal Safaricom profits.

Investors were very keen to see how East Africa's most profitable company is holding up in the face of serious competition on voice revenues particularly with a further reduction in mobile termination rate expected in July this year.

Bob Collymore stressing a point during the financial announcement.

 According to Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore, during the announcement of the financial results,Safaricom net profit declined to Ksh 4 Billion from 7.6 billion in the last results. “Within the first half of this financial year we grew our active customer base by 8.0% to 18.1 million and revenue by 5.3% to Kshs. 49.6 billion despite a heightened competitive environment especially in the voice sector with headline tariffs falling by over 80%. “ However our voice business has shown considerable resilience with a traffic increase of 83% and a marginal decline in voice revenue of 5.5%.

The CEO noted that the Mobile Number Portability has had a negligible impact on Safaricom with net port-outs of only 18,000 recorded from April 2011.

“Our strategy to diversify into non-voice services has continued to deliver strong growth with these revenue streams gaining traction and now contributing 32% of service revenues. “ added Collymore

“Our M-PESA and Data offerings are undeniably market leaders in their respective sectors with a collective 43% growth in revenues. This is a clear demonstration that we remain Kenya’s preferred network and that our products and services are indeed making a constructive difference in the lives of our customers. “

Infrastructure:

Collymore noted that as Safaricom continue to invest in the network to ensure that we offer cutting-edge technology and reliable connectivity. In the first half of the year, we invested Kshs. 15.5 billion on our 3G network, our switching capacity, fibre connectivity and upgrading of our existing 2G equipment for increased quality and capacity. 52% of our network coverage is now 3G active. We recognise the increasing need for superior but affordable data connectivity and the fast paced changes in data needs among our customers.

We have reduced our mobile data pricing and introduced a variety of internet bundles to meet the varying needs of our customers. Our data customers now account for just over 10% of the Kenyan population, with 92% of all internet subscriptions in Kenya on Safaricom connected devices. By further expanding our distribution network and by making available affordable data enabled devices we are ensuring that every Kenyan has the opportunity to access the internet using the best and fastest connection in the region. We now offer mobile data speeds of 21 Mbps and trials for 42 Mbps are in progress. We continue with the modernization of our core network to ‘IP’ based technology. We have also upgraded our billing system to one of the most advanced billing systems in Africa and highlighting our commitment to customer service.

The firm's mobile money transfer platform M-Pesa, according to the analysts, has played a major role in enhancing "stickiness" and supporting overall profitability given the low calling tariffs during the period.

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