Senator beer brand has introduced ‘Jipe Form na Senator Ushinde’
Senator Consumers to win over Ksh 97 million in prizes in cash, shopping and home makeovers.
The national consumer campaign seeks to uplift the lives of loyal Senator customers and drives KBL’s sustainability agenda.
Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL), through its low-end flagship beer brand, Senator Keg, has today announced a nationwide consumer campaign dubbed Jipe Form na Senator Ushinde that aims to reward its consumers as well as drive its sustainability agenda.
The Kshs 97 million campaign, dubbed, Jipe Form Na Senator Ushinde, seeks to enrich the lives of Senator consumers and communities, nationwide.
The three-month-long campaign, worth Kshs 97 million, will see five (5) grand lucky winners win Ksh2 million each, with each winner receiving Ksh1 million to invest in their personal growth and another Ksh1 million to be donated to a community of their choice.
Additionally,20 consumers will receive monthly home makeovers monthly, 12,000 winners will receive weekly shopping vouchers, and a whopping 1,980,000 winners will receive daily Cash and airtime vouchers. These rewards underscore the Senator’s commitment to the welfare of its customers.
While announcing the initiative, KBL Managing Director Mark Ocitti said that the company has invested over Kshs 200 million in the initiative, demonstrating its steadfast commitment to promoting social sustainability and economic empowerment in Kenya. He stated that as a sustainable business, KBL will continue to make deliberate and aggressive efforts to empower Kenyans to make informed decisions that will positively impact their social and economic well-being.
“Over the years, KBL has been intentional in contributing significantly to the development and prosperity of the Kenyan economy. Catalysing the creation of thriving communities is embedded in our vision and sustainability agenda. Now more than ever, we understand that our business must be a force for good. Through initiatives such as these, we are scaling up our commitment to promoting social sustainability and economic empowerment of our communities,” said Ocitti.
Mr Ocitti added that this is the third edition of the campaign, which has been hugely successful in the past. He disclosed that KBL aims to continue transforming illicit beer market zones into commercial markets while creating wealth for communities in the process. The campaign also seeks to educate consumers on the effects of illicit beers on social, economic, and health progression. Mr Ocitti underpinned that KBL will continue to collaborate with various business partners and key stakeholders to achieve its strategic intent.
“We are proud of the impact that our previous campaigns have had on communities, and we are committed to making a positive difference in people’s lives through this campaign and future ones,” concluded Mr Ocitti.
To participate in the campaign, customers need to purchase two 500ml mugs of either Senator Lager or Dark Extra and receive a scratch card. They can then SMS a unique valid code found under the scratch panel to 22110 to enter the competition. Each valid code gives one entry.
Also commenting on the campaign, Senior Brand Manager of Beer Abel Ratemo, said, “Senator KEG is a brand by the people, for the people, and what better way than to reward customers with incredible prizes while empowering them to give back to the community through community development projects.”
The Jipe Form Na Senator Ushinde campaign builds on Senator Keg’s previous successful National Consumer Promotions, which have had a positive impact on communities. Last year’s grand prize winners received Kshs 1 million to partner with community-based organizations and EABL to upgrade lives.
Last year’s 5 grand draw winners picked community development projects worth Kshs 1 million each. They partnered with Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) alongside EABL to upgrade lives within communities. The projects undertaken by the winners were as follows:
Furaha Community Organization in Nairobi – Water, Health, and Sanitation
Kambu Water and Sanitation Self Help Group Kibwezi – setting up of solar-powered water station
Bungasi CBO in Mumias West – Setting up three water kiosks
She Is More CBO in Kilifi – Setting up a chicken-rearing business
Green Community Self-Help Group in Njoro – Setting up organic fertilizer processing areas, greenhouse, decomposing shed and mechanizing the whole operation.
KBL remains committed to building lasting relationships with consumers and appreciates their support of the brand. Senator Keg continues to be the undisputed market leader in the beer segment, with a 34% value share in sales and volumes. Presently, Senator’s distribution and the retail network has witnessed growth that directly supports over 47,000 farmers, country-wide.
Bishop David Munyiri Thagana is the Secretary General of the Federation of evangelical churches of Kenya. He is also the founder and Presiding bishop of Glory Outreach Assembly. He shares with us his thoughts pertaining the shocking events of massacre in Malindi.
“We need to have the conversation because the things we are seeing now are not new to us. Only the magnitude is much higher. One of the things we as Kenyans we are very reactive instead of being proactive.
If we were more proactive in looking at things before they happen, we could save a lot of lives.
I want us to go beyond the conversation and go beyond the system and structures. Not just religion but we have other agencies .
About regulation this is an overdue.
The question has been how. And not just churches or religious organizations.
Accountability structure. If someone deviates then you have a redress mechanism. I guess our major concern as churches is for us to be regulated by the government .
Some of them may not draw the line between regulation and curtailing the freedom of worship. The church should clearly be heard championing self regulation under their umbrella.
“in my view there is corporate blame starting with the whole system of internal security all the way from nyumba kumi, to the chief to the entire system..parents are to blame. The church is to blame
But above all, the government is the one that should be taking care of all of us.”
As life is a circle, majority have chosen to take it in different angles as the writer can tell the story of Winjoy Kananu a youthful entrepreneur literally ventured in second hand clothes.
The lady Winjoy started small. She didn’t despise her humble beginnings.
The writer tells how she started selling eggs. After a while switched to selling fruits the power of hardwork paid off and she eventually started opening bales.
In an interview, she alludes to the writer that her greatest driving factor is passion.
She says,
“It’s all about passion. When selling fresh things they can sometimes disappoint you due to their perishable nature. But the moment you sell clothes it’s so fulfilling.”
Kananu says that passion is all the drive to success as it remains the true pillar.
“In business it’s all about passion. Do something that can motivate you so that by doing so you can become your Chief Encourager Officer.”
She sources her second hand clothes from the United Kingdom.
The writer tells that Kananu advises the youths to step out and do so with faith. It’s all about ”kujituma.” Start small. Give it your all and finally you shall succeed.
Winjoy delivers her clothes to her clients locally and even across borders serving clients in South Sudan, Nigeria Tanzania and South Africa.
“The African Market is magnanimous. That’s why I’m currently looking into means of transportation to deliver to them.” Kananu notes.
Kananu has however stood her ground to advise those wishing to pioneer in these business to avoid giving up.
“Don’t give up. Being your own Boss is the greatest feeling, you manage yourself observe Self Discipline and in business never quit. Stay focused and give your business at least One year to break even. Let Passion be always your driving factor.” She concluded.
Police from criminal investigation headquarters (DCI) have net 25 and half sacks of bhang with estimate street value of 4.5 million in mihango immaculate area arresting 4 suspects, the owner of the car, the worker and two drivers also with them police recovered 2 probox with fake number plates.
The bhang was traced from migori to Nairobi Mihango Area where they found another consignment in the House where it was destined for supply.
The OCPD Kayole, Mr Paul Wambugu while confirming the incident said the police were acting on a tip off and urged residents to continue to give information to the police in the fight againist narcotics.
Mr Paul has urged the judiciary to join hands by giving strict term’s and bails while charging them in court .
Present was the new OCPD Ruai Mrs. Patricia Yegon who urged Kenyans to join hands to figure narcotics to save a generation.
Sustainable Development Goal number 13 targets the world to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
A deeper dive into the SDG Report of 2022 further paints a grim outlook with indications that by 2030, an estimated 700 million people will be at risk of displacement by drought alone.
Kenya is not an isolated case either. In early February this year, for example, the country had been experiencing some of the worst drought conditions in decades, causing loss of livestock, wildlife, crop failure, biodiversity, and malnutrition
The U.N. humanitarian agencies termed the drought in the region a “rapidly unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.” And by the time the long rains typically from March to May began, approximately 5.4 million people in Kenya were projected to lack adequate access to food and water between March and June according to the International Rescue Committee.
According to the humanitarian body’s estimates, the drought situation had resulted in the death of over 2.4 million livestock, a heavy blow to pastoralist communities who largely depend on them for income and food.
“The drought is worsening. International agencies have predicted low rainfall during the March-May season that is ongoing,” said Siati Ali Amin, executive director at Horizons Analyst and Researchers Network.
“And this will translate to a sixth consecutive below the average rainfall season in the ASAL regions with the number of people affected by food insecurity might increase from 4.5 million to probably 5.8 million as projected by the experts.”
Narok County has more than 1.1 million people according to the 2019 census with four main livelihood zones including pastoral, agro-pastoral, mixed farming, trade, and tourism. It is one of the drier counties in Kenya. Narok South where the Narosura community is situated is vulnerable to climate change. This means the lowlands experience water shortages which put pressure on the available water resources.
Prolonged dry spells and periods of drought have reduced the availability of pasture, and pastoralists are now struggling to feed their animals.
In the arid, desolate landscape of Narosura-marked by miles and miles of acacia trees and dust-we meet Mr. Eric Setek busy in his patch of the luscious green plot.
We arrived at Setek’s farm on a searing afternoon where we met him tending to tall and luxuriant tomato plants, which he has intercropped with cabbages and maize planted in neat rows on the edges of the plot.
Setek is a smallholder farmer from Narosura in Narok South, a semi-arid lowland mainly inhabited by the pastoralist Maasai Community.
A last born in a family of six, Setek is part of a 21-member Oloibor-oing’oni farmers group that recently embraced horticultural farming, abandoning an old practice of leasing farmlands to foreigners.
“As a pastoralist community, we have for the longest time leased farms to foreigners to farm on. We charge them Sh8,000 an acre for a six months lease period. They produced food that as a community we ended up relying on for our food security. But they gain so much in return,” explained the 23-year-old Setek.
This is a huge cultural shift and one, the farmers say-is a shock of a lifetime. Due to their nomadic nature, Maasais like Setek has long been known to lease their land to be farmed by other people from as far as Tanzania and Uganda. He had 30 livestock but lost more than half to drought.
“Instead of continuing to keep livestock and sometimes lose all the stock to prolonged drought, we decided to make good use of our land and venture into farming for food security,” added Setek.
During the drought season, Setek would be on the border of Kenya and Tanzania in Loita, herding his cattle. Not anymore. On this day he was busy weeding a section of his young tomato crop and soon his maize will be ready for harvest.
This means from December last year, the father of two, now remains in the village to tend to his tomatoes disrupting his earlier nomadic lifestyle. Climate change is slowly eroding Maasai’s traditional nomadic culture.
Like several other Maasai men within Narosura village, prolonged drought has rendered traditional graze lands untenable because, the weather is no longer promising us grass, and the short rains can barely sustain some crops in my area-said Setek who relies on irrigation for his crops in a one-acre farm.
According to the January 2023 National Drought Early Warning bulletin produced by the National Drought Management Authority(NDMA), Narok County was in the alert drought phase.
The bulletin further revealed that the drought situation was critical in 22 of the 23 ASAL counties due to the late onset and poor performance of the much-anticipated October to December 2022 short rains, coupled with previous consecutive failed rainfall seasons.
As the dry spells in the county became prolonged and severe, rainfall became intense and short-lived.
Pasture and livestock browsing conditions have deteriorated in Narok, Baringo, Isiolo, Garissa, Mandera, Kajiado, and Kwale counties according to the agency. Consequently, the body condition of cattle and goats ranges from fair to poor as a result of long trekking distances in search of water and pasture.
The seasonal rainfall analysis from 1st October to 31st December 2022 (short rains) by the Kenya Meteorological Department indicated that depressed rainfall was received in most stations over the Southeastern lowlands, northwestern, North-Eastern, and Coast.
Several counties recorded near-average rainfall with Narok recording (95.7%), Kakamega(124.7%), Kericho(123%), Kisii(98.9%), Thika(88.7%), Makindu(81.9%), Nyahururu(81.2%),Kisumu(79.1%), Embu(78.2%),Kitale(77.4%) with Lodwar recording the lowest at 15.2% as a percentage of the October-November-December Long Term Means(TLM).
The county would further receive depressed rains, in February, that were poorly distributed in time and space across the livelihood zones according to the NDMA bulletin.
Narok recorded an average of 5.54 and 6.56 millimeters of rainfall in the first and second decade of February 2023 compared to 17.70 and 28.90 normally respectively, according to World Food Program-VAM, CHIRPS/MODIS data.
As the dry spells in the county became prolonged and severe, rainfall became intense and short-lived. The changing weather patterns eroded the value of livestock at the Narosura market.
Currently, livestock farmers need to sell a total of three livestock to be able to meet expenses, such as school fees for one child.
“But with tomatoes and cabbages all year around from my farm, I’m now able to sell the products and get school fees for my two children with ease,” noted Setek.
There are three main sources of water for domestic use in the county including; pans, dams, rivers, shallow wells, other boreholes, and traditional river wells.
The major water sources for both human and livestock consumption during the month of February were pans and dams, rivers, and boreholes alternating with piped water systems according to NDMA.
Pans and dams were relied on by 24 percent of the households while rivers and boreholes/piped water systems were each relied on by 17 and 11 percent of the households respectively.
According to the July 2022 Long Rains Food and Nutrition Security Assessment report by Narok County Steering Group and Kenya Food Security Steering Group, lower parts of Narok South and East had the lowest number of water points due to vastness and poor accessibility.
About 73 percent of boreholes are operational across the livelihoods with most non-operational being in Narok South and West sub-counties due to mismanagement and collapse of management committees, theft or breakage of solar panels, breakdowns, and dilapidated infrastructure.
Like other members of Oloibor-oing’oni farmer’s group, Mr. Setek relies on the water from Enkong’u Enkare (locally known as the eye of the water) spring-a critical freshwater source for his irrigation.
The wetland is the source of river Narosura that supports farming from the upstream to the downstream, serving in its wake more than 15,000 households.
To solve water-related conflicts and regulate the amount of water used for irrigation activities, Narosura Water Resource Users Association (WRUA)supported by the Water Resource Authority in Narok County was formed.
James Ole Tago, secretary of Narosura WRUA noted that the water catchment area also supplies water for domestic use downstream for schools, health, and shopping centers within the community.
“Were it not for this water, people wouldn’t have lived here, because the place is so dry. And because of the multiple water uses, the spring needs more protection than any other wetland,” noted Mr. Tago.
The water from the spring serves both Oloibor-oing’oni and Narosura irrigation schemes. Farmers grow mainly fast-maturing horticulture crops, such as tomatoes, onions, cabbage, maize, and bean crops.
“We are proud farmers contrary to an earlier way of life because part of the fresh horticulture produce we get from our farms serves various town markets, as far as Nairobi, Kisumu, Bomet, and Kisii,” said Jeremiah Takona a member of the group who was once a pastoralist.
The farmer’s group began growing tomatoes and maize in December last year. They have already harvested and sold their first batch of tomato produce raking in some Sh120,000 profit.
“We intend to use this money to expand into other areas. We will then sit down together as a group and decide on how best to share this money amongst ourselves after deducting all production expenses when we finally finish the harvesting of the tomatoes,” said John Takona. chairman of Oloibor-oing’oni farmers group.
During dry seasons, when the water volumes in the spring reduce, Narosura WRUA advises farmers to prepare a small portion of the land to enhance the uniform allocation of water in each plot of land.
“I water my crops twice a week according to the schedule laid out by the WRUA. The farmer group has also drawn a timetable for members that are tasked to oversee the process. We use pipes to pump the water for irrigation,” said Setek.
Narosura market.
Setek sells a full crate of tomatoes at the range of Sh15,000-17,000 depending on the market rates and harvests twice a week. One cabbage goes for Sh100 and a sack of maize fetches him Sh6,000 at Narosura market.
“My livelihood has changed since I ventured into farming. I’m able to take my children to school. I’m looking forward to increasing my livestock and opening a new business,” added Eric.
But high costs of farm inputs and pesticides might derail his target in the farming venture so they are forced to just farm on a small portion of the land that they are able to afford.
Mr. Bob Aston, project officer at Arid Lands Information Network(ALIN) which promotes climate change adaptation practices in East Africa, urged both the national and county governments to increase budgetary allocations towards agriculture.
“Most of the communities in ASAL areas are pastoralists, but we also have those practicing crop farming. When you look at the budgeting at the national level we have not reached the 10 percent target. At the ASAL counties, a lot of emphasis is made on livestock. With the drought situation, we have reached a point where we need to put more allocation towards the agriculture sector because we really depend on rain-fed agriculture.” said Mr. Aston.
“We need to lay more emphasis on irrigation-particularly drip irrigation.” According to the Kenya Meteorological Department Climate Outlook for the long rains (Mar-May 2023) published in early March showed that the depressed rainfall over most parts of the country is likely to negatively affect agricultural production in South Rift Valley and Southern lowlands.
The weatherman in its outlook further advised farmers to plant drought-resistant and early maturing crops, fodder, and pasture and liaise with the Ministry of Agriculture for appropriate land use management practices. Alston further challenged farmers like Setek to embrace fodder production to mitigate the effects of drought on their herds.
“Pastoralists and farmers now need to become serious with issues of fodder farming because the weatherman has already warned that there are some ASAL places that will receive below-average rainfall,” Mr. Aston added.
During dry periods, farmers in Narosura experience big challenges, because the water volume reduces drastically. Sometimes the water is rationed, by closing it at night to allow farmers downstream to access the water.
“Although we have water, the farms are too many meaning the water has to be rationed. The national government helped us by laying pipes to allow the water to move with pressure. Earlier, we used to rely on canals for irrigation and we pumped the water using generators from a small dam after diverting the water from the canals,” said Setek.
Naivas regrets to announce that alongside many corporates and organization’s in and outside Kenya, they have been the victims of a ransomware attack by an online criminal organization (Threat Actor), terming the action as unlawful intrusion may have compromised some of it’s data.
Naivas through a statement read that it has contained this attack, and the systems are secure and operations are normal.
On becoming aware of the attack, Naivas took immediate steps to prevent external access and engaged leading cybersecurity experts CrowdStrike to ensure system integrity.
Statement reads that the process is complete and systems are secure.
“We are cooperating with the relevant law enforcement agencies, as they investigate this and the many current ransomware attacks in Kenya.” Naivas statement reads.
Naivas has been made aware that the Threat actor has claimed to have stolen some of Naivas data and is alleging that this may be published in due course.
Statement however reads that; “We and law enforcement agencies are monitoring this closely. Naivas has also informed the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner Kenya of this incident.”
Naivas has cconfirmed that they do not hold any credit card/debit card information on there ystems, and that such payment information is handled securely and protected through Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption.
Naivas has further denied any claims purporting to have stolen data saying its malicious allegations.
“At this moment, we are not aware of any malicious use of stolen data. However, it is recommended in the face of this type of situation to pay particular attention to any phishing attempts (by phone, SMS or email) as well as to the sufficient security of passwords.” Naivas statement reads.
Finally the statement states that all Naivas information is securely kept and stored.
“We at Naivas we take the protection of personal information very seriously. Please accept our deepest apologies for the worry and inconvenience that this criminal activity may cause.”
Stanbic Bank in partnership with Radio Africa are excited to announce the upcoming second edition of the Stanbic Yetu Festival, scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 10th, 2023, in Nairobi. Following last year’s highly successful event, which offered attendees an electrifying musical experience, this year’s festival will feature an exceptional lineup of both Kenyan and international Rhythm and Blues artists. The Stanbic brand aspires to give Kenyans a unique, unforgettable, and authentic live music experience that will leave a lasting impression.
Stanbic Yetu Festival is thrilled to announce the main headline act as Boyz II Men – one of the most iconic R&B groups in the music industry’s history.
The group has redefined popular music and continues to create timeless hits that appeal to fans across all generations. The band has penned and performed some of the most celebrated and best-known classics of the past two decades.
The group’s 4 Grammy Awards are just the tip of the iceberg. throughout their 25-year career, Boyz II Men have won an incredible nine (9) American Music Awards, nine (9) Soul Train Awards, three (3) Billboard Awards, and the 2011 MOBO Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well and a Casino Entertainment Award for their acclaimed residency at the Mirage Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, which has been ongoing since 2013. The group’s mega hits include “End Of The Road”, I’ll Make Love To You”, “One Sweet Day”, “Its So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday”, “Motownphilly” and “On Bended Knees”. We expect Kenya to witness the greatest music show this year.
Kenya is the first leg of their first ever Africa tour. They will also perform in Uganda and South Africa.
The concert will also showcase some of the best Kenyan Dj’s including DJ G-Money (Conrad Gray), DJ Forro (Andrew Waititu), Dj Shaky (Allan Wainaina) , DJ Grauchi (Zacchaeus Ngani), CNG (Charles Githumbi) and DJ Cream ( Derrick Kamau).
We are pleased to also have on board other sponsors and partners. Pernod Ricard Kenya joins us this year as our spirits category sponsor. The company offers a unique portfolio of international premium brand encompassing every major category of spirits, wines and champagnes. Their brands include Jameson, Chivas, Glenlivet, Martell, Absolut Vodka, Ballentine’s, Royal Salute amongst others.
Sankara Hotel is once again our hotel partner. We look forward to an RnB Experience of a life time. Our official airline partner is Kenya Airways, the Pride of Africa.
The first edition of the Stanbic Yetu Festival took place last year with multi award winning star, Anthony Hamilton together with Otile Brown and June Gachui. The event was highly successful with most attendees voting it “the best organized music event in Kenya”.
Stanbic Bank and Radio Africa Group through The Stanbic Yetu Festival seeks to leverage music, a powerful human connector, to bring to life Stanbic’s brand promise “IT CAN BE” by creating a soulful and magical live musical experience in Kenya, making possibilities real and dreams possible for millions of Kenyans. Stanbic Bank is also deeply committed to ensuring Kenya’s talent is celebrated through promoting arts and music, contributing to the growth of the entertainment industry and consequently the economy of the country.
Standard Bank Group is a leader in supporting arts across Africa and uses its extensive footprint on the continent to promote the arts, mould a unique cultural identity, nurture, and promote the development of both the visual and performing arts, encouraging engagement, social interaction and embraces diverse initiatives. The group has sponsored music in South Africa, Zambia, Malawi and now Kenya as it continues to grow in popularity and stature.
Radio Africa is a media conglomerate with a long history in the music industry with six (6) radio stations in Kenya including Classic FM, Kiss FM, Radio Jambo, East FM, Gukena Fm and Smooth FM, as well as radio stations in Nigeria and Uganda. The company is also affiliated to The Star Newspaper. The company has over 8.6m social followers on its various social media handles and its website attract over 8m unique users per month.
The company events division RA Events has organized over two hundred and fifty (250) events featuring top local and international artistes. RA Events offers international and local artiste booking, event management and events consultancy.
Tickets for the Stanbic Yetu Festival are available for purchase on www.ticketyetu.com. For more information about the Stanbic Yetu Festival please visit our website www.stanbicbank.co.ke and social media pages Twitter, Facebook and IG @StanbicKE.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA and SHENZEN, CHINA – April 20, 2023. Akili Labs (Pty) Ltd, a pioneer of cost-effective molecular diagnostics and secure genomic data storage solutions, and BGI Genomics Co. Ltd, one of the world’s leading genomics companies, today announced the signing of a technology transfer agreement that will provide the Southern region of Africa with clinical-grade sequencing solutions.
“Improving the cost and turnaround time of genetic sequencing services will play a major role in expanding precision medicine-driven healthcare in Africa,” said Charles Faul, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Akili. “Locally provided services have struggled with capacity restraints and are challenged with local pricing of reagents and equipment. Often, the only solution is to send samples to Europe or the USA, where sequencing is cheaper. However, this comes at a price: the application for export permits can be a lengthy process, and then there is the risk of sample loss or damage during shipping.
“Access to sequencing is only one part of the equation”, said Stuart Ali, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Akili. “Sending samples overseas means that they are not processed in locally accredited laboratories. And with the enforcement of the regional data protection laws and need to preserve the geographic sovereignty and security of genetic data, local in country solutions are now an imperative. Indeed, this partnership supplies the first truly Africa-based service to meet our client needs”.
“We are thrilled to see the progress being made in genomics sequencing development in Africa.”, said Ronnie Mao, Business Manager of Southern Africa, BGI Genomics. “With the continent being home to the world’s most diverse genomics data, it is crucial that local talent has the tools and resources to further our understanding of clinical genetics. We welcome the initiative to develop localized genomics sequencing capabilities in Africa, with a focus on clinical genetics and improving health outcomes. This will not only benefit the people of Africa, but also enable and empower local talent to lead this effort and bring their unique perspectives to the field. We look forward to seeing the positive impact that this development will have on the health of individuals and communities in Africa.”
END.
About Akili Labs
A Founders Factor Africa portfolio company, Akili Labs specialises in cost-effective and accessible diagnostic services by carefully selecting technology and optimizing processes. Aiming for vertical integration to drive precision medicine, its services are supported by a proprietary cloud platform that manages clinical and genetic data through robust encryption and data compression algorithms. Akili Labs has regional offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa; Lusaka, Zambia; and Maryland, USA. Theselocations collectively establish the start of a global network for precision medicine and consumer genetics services.
About BGI Genomics
BGI Genomics, headquartered in Shenzhen China, is the world’s leading integrated solutions provider of precision medicine. Our services cover over 100 countries and regions, involving more than 2,300 medical institutions. In July 2017, as a subsidiary of BGI Group, BGI Genomics (300676.SZ) was officially listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
Representatives from Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Seychelles, Malawi, Mauritius, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kenya seek clarity on SEZ operations.
Tatu City Special Economic Zone, the 5,000-acre new city on Nairobi’s doorstep, hosted the Secretariat of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) for knowledge exchange at Tatu City, the first operational mixed-use Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the region.
Led by Lucas Mwago, the Chief Trade Development Officer at Kenya’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, the COMESA Secretariat delegation of trade and SEZ experts discussed design, taxation regulatory framework, infrastructure requirements, planning and development.
Tatu City Executive Vice President Solomon Mahinda said, “There are very important lessons we have learnt over time in Kenya, which we are glad to share with other COMESA member states with similar visions. The areas of market access and rules of origin are critical areas where we are keen to collaborate and facilitate knowledge-sharing opportunities with other African nations.”
Providence Mavumbi, Director of Industry & Agriculture Division-Zambia in the COMESA Secretariat, expressed enthusiasm about the learning opportunity, stating, “We are impressed by the level of planning, design, and execution of Tatu City’s mixed-use vision. Integrating residential, commercial, and recreational spaces sustainably and in an aesthetically pleasing way is commendable. As COMESA, we want to create and support a collaborative trading environment between member states. SEZs are critical in these efforts, and we are in the process of adopting the right policies to help member countries set up similar developments to promote trade and regional market access.”
“Our mission at Tatu City is to appreciate and learn from a team that has already established a functioning mixed-use SEZ,” said Lucas Mwago, Chief Trade Development Officer at the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry-Kenya. “This is a great opportunity for governments to learn from the private sector, measure ourselves against a successful developer such as Tatu City and see how we can expand SEZ developments in Kenya and other COMESA nations.”
Last year, Tatu City hosted Ugandan members of parliament for a learning tour on establishing mixed-use Special Economic Zones. More recently, Kenya’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industrialisation and the Council of Governors visited the city as the government looks to develop industrial parks and SEZs in each of Kenya’s 47 counties.
Dozens of companies operate in Tatu City’s business-friendly location, including Kenya Wine Agencies Limited, Dormans, Copia, Cooper K-Brands, Grit Real Estate Income Group, Twiga Foods, CCI Global, Freight Forwarders Solutions, Friendship Group and Davis & Shirtliff. More than 3,000 homes and apartments are occupied or under construction at Unity Homes and the Kijani Ridge premier neighbourhood.
OpenAI’s ChatGP-3 has been a game changer across many sectors since its launch last November. Now, the recent upgrade of the technology to GPT-4, which has been trained on trillions of parameters, will certainly improve thisinnovation’s workings, introducing functionalities that are bound to revolutionize tech as we currently know it.
The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enterprises is fast creating possibilities to automate everyday tasks including facilitating complex communications, creating content, manipulating text in correspondences to improve communication languages, and generally to simplify content.
In any business outfit, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are integral components for productively and effectively managing, controlling and running all the operations that the institution accomplishes on a daily basis.
Gradually, AI, armed by Machine Learning (ML) – and by extension Chat GPT- is growing into a potentially critical part of ERP systems, with its incorporation promising to result in an array of benefits to the enterprises and organizations using them.
When integrated with an ERP system’s database, ChatGPT-4 can provide users with natural language search functionalities. This allows employees using data on the database to find and access the information they need faster.
Instead of working late or extra shifts, companies can deploy ChatGPT to build better chatbots that can interact digitally with users with a human touch and provide them with requested information or assistance within an ERP system. This can improve user engagement and reduce the workload on customer service teams.
All businesses want to know how to forecast their future. With ChatGPT integrated with an ERP system’s data, business leaders can combine wider, global, and seemingly (but not) irrelevant data with predictive analytics to gain insights about their core business. This will go a long way in monitoring industry trends and predicting the future and taking proactive actions to keep operations aligned to the future.
ChatGPT has the potential to provide the enterprise with real-time information, analytics and insights that could be essential in fast-tracking and improving organizational decision-making processes.
Take, for instance, a case where an AI-driven system guides the organization’s management in better understanding prevalent trends that would advise how their products or projects perform against their competitors.
In such cases, AI presents the organization with an opportunity to easily determine which sectors of their projects need to be improved to make it more competitive; a factor that makes it easy for the enterprise to make decisions on how to better serve customers or improve products.
AI can assist and refine business-related activities such as procurement, accounting, project management, risk analysis and management, compliance, and supply chain operations through ERPs in any organization.
In ERP systems, data entry for cash flow management, income statements, balance sheets, expense reporting, invoicing, production planning and control, inventory management and supply chain, human resource (HR) and payroll management, are all modules that could be automated, and their data/information outputs integrated with Chat GPT to augment effectiveness and productivity in the workplace. Let’s see.
ChatGPT could certainly be effectively deployed in user training on what ERP is there to accomplish, and how to use the system. In this case, Chat GPT is automated to generate training material in language, style and content that is effective for the purpose, provide guidance on how to use the ERP and even respond to user questions. Deploying the chatbot to address these queries makes it easier to train new users on how to run the ERP.
ERPs basically act as the organization’s hub for end-to-end workflow and the management of all the data involved, allowing the different departments working within the organization to access all the information required to efficiently run it.
In essence, these systems are without a doubt an indispensable component for modern-day business enterprise, or industry due to all the seamless functions they perform.
With AI and tools like Chat GPT, enterprises have the leverage to turbo-charge use of the different modules in their ERP systems, using know and “unknown” insights to align them more effectively with the daily activities and functions required to run these organizations.
But beware, before using such tools, it is even more critical that master data in ERP systems is clean and constantly cleaned or the Machine Learning will simply fuel “Artificial Interpretation” not Intelligence.
Mr Hunter is the Manager, Customer and Ecosystem Enablement at Syspro Africa
