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CIO Africa

Safaricom Reshapes Board With Fintech And HR Expertise

Safaricom PLC is reshaping its Board with the appointment of two senior Vodacom Group executives, bringing additional expertise in fintech, corporate finance, human resources and organisational transformation to the telecommunications company.Safaricom has appointed Mariam Cassim and Matimba Mbungela as Non-Executive Directors, effective August 13, 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. The company also announced the resignation of James Ludlow and Dr. (Eng.) John Kipng’etich Mosonik from the Board, effective the same date.Cassim, the Chief Executive Officer, FinTech at Vodacom Group, brings experience spanning corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, commercial management, innovation and business development. Her appointment comes as financial services become increasingly central to Safaricom’s growth strategy, particularly through M-PESA and other digital financial services.Mbungela, Vodacom Group’s Chief Officer, Human Resources, has more than two decades of experience in human resources and organisational leadership, including regional roles covering talent, organisational effectiveness and change.His appointment comes as Safaricom and the wider telecommunications industry navigate rapid technological change, including AI adoption, new workforce requirements and digital transformation.The composition of the new Board therefore points to two areas that are likely to be increasingly important to Safaricom’s next phase of growth: digital financial services and organisational transformation.Cassim’s fintech and corporate finance background could strengthen the Board’s oversight of Safaricom’s expanding financial-services business, while Mbungela’s expertise could support the company’s approach to talent, leadership and organisational change as technology reshapes the workplace.The appointments also deepen the representation of Vodacom Group, Safaricom’s parent company, on the Board, potentially strengthening strategic alignment between the Kenyan operator and the wider Vodacom Group.Safaricom said the new directors bring extensive experience that will support the company’s continued growth and transformation.The company thanked Ludlow and Mosonik for their contributions to Board and committee meetings and wished them well in their future endeavours.

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Associated Press

Today in History: August 27, catastrophic eruption of Krakatoa

Today is Thursday, Aug. 27, the 239th day of 2026. There are 126 days left in the year.On Aug. 27, 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa erupted with a series of cataclysmic explosions. The explosions (which could be heard 3,000 miles away) and resulting tsunamis in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait claimed some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra.In 1894, Congress passed the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, which contained a provision for a graduated income tax that was later struck down by the Supreme Court.In 1964, the film “Mary Poppins” had its world premiere in Los Angeles, California.In 1979, British war hero Lord Louis Mountbatten and three other people, including his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas, were killed off the coast of Ireland in a boat explosion claimed by the Irish Republican Army.In 1982, Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s stole his 119th base of the season, breaking Lou Brock’s single-season stolen base record. (Henderson would finish the season with a still-unmatched 130 stolen bases.)In 1990, blues musician Stevie Ray Vaughn and four others were killed in a helicopter crash near East Troy, Wisconsin.In 2001, Israeli helicopters fired a pair of rockets through office windows in the West Bank city of Ramallah, killing senior PLO leader Mustafa Zibri.In 2005, coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations as they rushed to avoid Hurricane Katrina, which was headed toward New Orleans.In 2008, Barack Obama was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Denver, becoming the first Black presidential nominee from a major political party.In 2011, Hurricane Irene made landfall in the United States; the storm would be responsible for 49 total deaths and more than $14 billion in damage.In 2025, a shooter opened fire with a rifle through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis and struck some of the nearly 200 children celebrating Mass during the first week of school, killing two children and wounding 17 people. The attacker shot dozens of rounds toward the children seated in pews at the Annunciation Catholic School; police said he later died by suicide.Today’s Birthdays: Author William Least Heat-Moon is 87. Actor Tuesday Weld is 83. Actor G.W. Bailey is 82. Rock musician Alex Lifeson (Rush) is 73. Actor Peter Stormare is 73. Rock musician Glen Matlock (The Sex Pistols) is 69. Golfer Bernhard Langer is 69. Gospel singer Yolanda Adams is 65. Fashion designer and filmmaker Tom Ford is 65. Actor Chandra Wilson is 57. Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Thome is 56. Rapper Mase is 51. Actor Sarah Chalke is 50. Actor Aaron Paul is 47. Actor Patrick J. Adams (TV: “Suits”) is 45. Singer Mario is 40. Actor Alexa PenaVega is 38. Singer-songwriter Kim Petras is 34. U.S. Olympic and WNBA basketball star Breanna Stewart is 32. Rapper/singer-songwriter Rod Wave is 28.

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CIO Africa

Kenya, AWS Move To Scale Digital Skills And AI

Kenya is seeking to deepen its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to accelerate digital transformation, with a focus on digital skills, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and connectivity.The discussions were held during an official visit by Hon. William Kabogo, Cabinet Secretary for ICT and the Digital Economy, to the AWS offices in Nairobi.Through the AWS re/Start programme, thousands of Kenyans have been trained in cloud computing, with the programme recording a 45 per cent placement rate among trained participants.Kabogo said Kenya is looking to scale such programmes by leveraging existing infrastructure, including Jitume Digital Hubs, while strengthening partnerships with universities and other tertiary institutions.“We must ensure that our young people are not only trained, but equipped with practical, industry-relevant skills that respond to the evolving demands of the digital economy,” Kabogo said.The CS said the government would continue working with AWS to advance digital skills development, e-government, AI and connectivity, particularly in underserved communities.The meeting was attended by Robin Njiru, Head of Public Sector, Sub-Saharan Africa at AWS; Eng. John Tanui, Principal Secretary for ICT and the Digital Economy; and Paul Okwiri, CEO of Konza Technopolis, alongside other senior government officials.

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Africa Uncensored

In Singrobo, the Broken Promises of Côte d’Ivoire’s Dam

In Côte d’Ivoire, the Singrobo-Ahouaty hydropower dam was meant to showcase President Alassane Ouattara’s vision of green growth and inclusive development. One year after the GreenFakes investigation exposed the project’s environmental costs, residents of the village of Singrobo say conditions have only worsened. Construction has ground to a halt without any official explanation. Behind the promises of modernisation, they describe inadequate compensation, damaged homes and nearly a decade of losses that, they say, have never been properly addressed.Yverin Konan’s house partially collapsed after heavy rains in June. The former fisherman from the village of Singrobo says several neighboring homes have also been destroyed or severely damaged. He blames blasting carried out during construction of the Singrobo-Ahouaty dam, located just a few kilometers away. “The cracks started opening wider and wider, and then, well, that’s how it started collapsing,” he explains in a voice message sent along with photos and videos. “It’s not even habitable anymore. It’s dangerous.”Last year, as part of the GreenFakes investigation done in partnership with media outlets Mediapart, Africa Uncensored, and Mongabay, Mediapart revealed the environmental costs associated with the megaproject. Documents produced by the French environmental consultancy Biotope and obtained by Climate Whistleblowers (CW) estimated that filling the reservoir could submerge more than 1,100 hectares (2,718 acres) of forest and aquatic ecosystems while threatening vulnerable species.The dam’s developers and financiers, who had pledged that the project would not harm the environment, have yet to respond publicly to the shortcomings identified by GreenFakes. But the damage extends well beyond the environment.One year later, CW returned to Singrobo. According to CW, no environmental compensation measures have been implemented on the ground. More strikingly, residents describe an unexpected development: Construction has been at a virtual standstill for months. The machinery has fallen silent, and no official explanation has been provided.The Singrobo-Ahouaty dam was intended to become a flagship infrastructure project. Planned to generate 44 megawatts of electricity from the Bandama River, about 140 kilometers northwest of Abidjan, it was promoted as West Africa’s first large hydropower project developed under a public-private partnership. The total investment was estimated at more than €170 million ($200 million), including €110 million ($129 million) for the design and construction of the dam itself.The 35-year concession was awarded in 2013 to Ivoire Hydro Energy (IHE), a special-purpose company created for the project by a former executive of Côte d’Ivoire’s national electricity utility. Financing was expected to come from private investors and several development finance institutions, including the African Development Bank (AfDB). Construction was awarded to the French engineering group Eiffage, while U.S.-based GE Vernova was selected to operate the facility once completed.Throughout construction, affected communities were repeatedly urged to be patient in the name of the public interest and economic development the project promised to deliver.Residents say they have never been compensated for cracks that appeared not only in their homes, but also in classrooms and the village health center. They say government-appointed experts inspected the damage, but that blasting was intentionally less intense on the day of their visit. According to residents, the assessments never acknowledged any link between the damage and construction activities.”They came and said they were old cracks,” recalls Nanan N’Dri Kouassi, the chief of Singrobo.The conclusion continues to fuel resentment, particularly for owners of homes that were newly built after dam construction began. One of the damaged houses belongs to Adama Coulibaly and Tena Traoré. Their home was built only five years ago under the resettlement program linked to the dam, after project developers relocated them to the outskirts of Singrobo.Beyond the cracked walls, the ceiling is sagging and the wooden fittings are deteriorating. “Getting water is a problem. There’s no water nearby,” Adama Coulibaly says. “That’s why my children and I have health problems because of the dirty water.” To support his claim, his wife, Tena Traoré, pulls out a stack of medical records belonging to one of their children. Coulibaly then picks up a wooden shelf, which crumbles in his hands.The couple says they have never received a formal property title. The only document they possess is a village land transfer certificate signed by the village chief in 2019.For residents such as Yverin Konan, the suspension of construction now feels like a form of justice.“Today, I say glory to God,” he says while looking toward the nearly abandoned facilities.Yet the former fisherman describes himself as an animist. For him, the Bandama River and the wildlife it once sustained, including monkeys and crocodiles, were far more than a source of income; they were sacred beings. “If I could perform other rituals to destroy it, I would. I’m happy that the dam has stopped.”

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CIO Africa

MacOS Users Report More Cyber Threats Than Windows Users

Kaspersky’s latest survey highlights a protection gap between macOS and Windows-based devices. While macOS has long been regarded as the more secure operating system, 12 percent of its users reported malware infections compared with 9percent of Windows users. Moreover, only 35percent of macOS owners install dedicated security software, versus 42 percent of Windows users. According to Kaspersky’s latest global survey, Windows users report a higher adoption rate for most security measures, while macOS users show a modest advantage in a few privacy‑focused actions. At the same time, during the past year macOS users reported higher percentages than Windows users for a number of cybersecurity incidents.The largest gap in cybersecurity approaches appears in the habit of not opening suspicious emails or links, with 62 percent of Windows users following this practice compared to 51 percent of macOS users. What’s more, when it comes to cybersecurity software installation, macOS users are also lagging behind. While among Windows users 42 percent reported using digital‑life‑protection software, for macOS this rate is only 35percent, what Kaspersky security experts call a worryingly low figure.It is noteworthy that 12 percent of macOS respondents said they fell victim to phishing (fake emails, websites or messages) over the past year compared with 9percent of Windows users. Moreover, during this period macOS users faced more scams and investment frauds (16 percent vs 13 percent), privacy violations (11 percent vs 8 percent) and thefts of personal data (12 percent vs 7 percent).To counter these specific threats, robust anti-malware and anti-phishing protection is essential. Malware authors put a lot of effort into developing new, more powerful and stealthier versions of stealers, spies and other classes of malicious payloads, while relying on phishing techniques that allows them to get access to user’s data.

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Citizen Digital

Boundary-delimitation pressure rises as leaders demand IEBC clarity before 2027

Former Justice Minister Justin Muturi has publicly pressed IEBC to clarify the status of boundary delimitation, warning that unresolved constitutional questions could trigger crisis and post-election litigation before the 2027 vote. The intervention follows a broader debate over whether delimitation can still be completed in time.Why it matters: Boundary uncertainty affects county representation, constituency competitiveness and litigation risk, especially in areas seeking changes to seat allocations. Political reporting sensitive for editor review.

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