We hope you your week was all about #goals. You work too hard. Don’t forget to keep up with everything that is happening around you with our weekly news summary.
Here are 7 interesting news items that may have escaped your attention:
Kenya’s position in the 2018 Rule of Law Index
It’s very difficult to run any kind of business without rule of law. And it is a fact that running a business in Kenya is difficult. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that Kenyan is ranked 71 out of 113 countries in the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index 2018. Our score was 0.45 out of 1. This rank is low even by Sub-Saharan Africa findings, far behind leading lights like Ghana, South Africa and Botswana.
Kenyans have more money…average bribes paid have gone up 25%
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) released data this week revealing that the average bribe paid for national services in Kenya has gone up 25% in 2016. With increased public spending, tenders rake the biggest share of bribes followed by job seekers (spend money to make money?). Bribes averaged sh.5,600 in 2015 and are now at sh.7,000. At least corruption complaints have gone up 1.55%.
KEBS reduces time to get product certification
You should read this btw. The Kenya Bureau of Standards says it has reduced product certification time by 20 days, from 77 to 57. This has resulted from investment, sh.300 million, in modern equipment used to test samples as per the Quality Assurance and Inspection Director, Eric Chesire.
Safaricom get into music streaming business with Songa App
Songa App has a catalogue of 2.5 million songs from local and international artists. I guess we can put our phone memories to better use now. It will be an additional revenue stream for Kenyan artistes, alongside Skiza Tunes. The app is still only on Android (Google Playstore) and offers a 14-day trial period after which you can opt to subscribe daily, weekly or monthly.
Kenyan startup named Africa startup of the year
Kenyan startup, HydroIQ beat 600 contenders from 52 countries to win the grand Startup.Info award in Morocco. HydroIQ also received sh.1,270,000 (10,000 euros) for its GPS/Internet based monitoring of water use, quality and leakages – smart use of water. The founders are Victor Shikoli and Brian Bosire.
New way for Kenyan startups to raise funds
Bitsoko introduced another application for blockchain technology for entrepreneurs in Kenya. This is in the build up to the first ICO (Initial Coin Offering) summit in the country, where 15 small businesses will be able to raise funds by direct interaction with investors. Startups will need to fill in their application on bitsoko’s website for shortlisting.
Black Panther Premiers in Kisumu
Who said comic book movies are for nerds? Kisumu was chosen to host a private and public screening of, the film on the 13th of February, Black Panther that features Lupita Nyong’o. The film is part of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe – the biggest anything ever done in film making. It’s worldwide launch is the 16th of February.
Enjoy the trailer: