Wrap-Up: Our pick of main stories, Wednesday July 1st, 2015

Facebook eyes Kenya office after South Africa entry…. IBM Research Africa to help the Kenyan Government to help drive economic growth…. Kenya’s Umati Capital wins Zambezi Prize competition….. Huduma Kenya programme wins top UN award for improving service delivery….and much more

2000 Nairobi schools to get internet

The Wananchi Group, the owner of pay TV company Zuku, has rolled out a Sh197.4 million ($2 million) initiative to connect over 2,000 schools in Nairobi to fixed Internet. Through a partnership with the Kenya Education Network (KENET) and the county government of Nairobi, over 150 schools have been connected to fix high-speed Internet in a pilot project that began April this year.

After South Africa, Facebook now eyes Kenyan market

After announcing on Monday that Facebook had opened its office in Johannesburg, South Africa, Facebook now eyes the East African market with a major focus on Kenya. The social media network with over 5 million users locally looks into partnering with governments, telecom operators, agencies and other stakeholders to deliver localised solutions to advertisers and users continent-wide.

IBM Research – Africa targets Telephone Farmers with Ez-Farm solution

A new class of farmers, known as the Telephone farmers are set to benefit from Ez-Farm, a water management solution for agriculture which has been designed by Water Research Scientists at IBM Research-Africa. Telephone farmers are motivated, moneyed, and keen people who want to invest and succeed in agriculture, but who reside in cities (not on their farms) and need better reports on inputs and operations – and water usage is one of the most important elements in a farms’ success.

IBM Research Africa to help the Kenyan Government drive economic growth

IBM Research Africa has engaged with several Kenyan Government departments in the transformation of official processes as part of improving the East of Doing Business in the country. This was announced by Kamal Bhattacharya, the Vice president – IBM research Africa, where he said that currently they were closely working with the Ministry of Industrialization on where they were planning to implement some projects that he couldn’t reveal by then.

GOtv launches in Migori County

Kenya’s leading digital terrestrial television provider, GOtv Kenya, has launched the GOtv signal in Migori. Migori residents are now set to enjoy the best local and international programming from GOtv and benefit from easy access to an increased number of channels, with enhanced picture and sound quality synonymous with digital television at a price they can afford.

Kenya’s Umati Capital wins Zambezi Prize competition

The Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation announced Umati Capital from Kenya as the overall winner of the Zambezi Prize competition at an awards ceremony held at the Fairview hotel in Nairobi. Umati Capital was intern awarded USD 100,000 for their start-up venture that focuses on the provision of credit and related payment technologies.

Data collection technology by IBM Research Africa to curb garbage menace in Nairobi

Data Research Scientists from IBM Research Africa have developed an application that could soon help curb the menace of garbage heaps across Nairobi County. The scientists have designed and developed a solid waste management system to help solve this problem. A survey conducted in 2011 revealed that Nairobi is one of the most congested cities in the world. It is actually the fourth-most congested city in the world. It is estimated that the Nairobi Roads were developed for a city of 350,000 inhabitants, instead of the over 3.4 million population today embarking on this research the IBM Scientist noted that this could be the reason that poses the challenge of traffic jams as well as garbage collection across the city. However, despite several initiatives, the county government has been unable to effectively deal with mounting garbage.

Huduma Kenya programme wins top UN award for improving service delivery

The Huduma Kenya Programme implemented by the Ministry of Devolution and Planning has been declared this year’s winner of the United Nations Public Service Award in improving delivery of public services. Kenya won the Public Service Award for 2015 for the programme. The United Nations Public Service Awards is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service.