Westcon-Comstor has announced the expansion of Dorio Bowes’ leadership role within the company. Bowes, who currently serves as Director of Comstor Southern Africa, has taken on the additional position of MEA Alliance Lead, broadening his mandate to cover the Middle East and Africa while continuing to oversee Comstor Southern Africa.In his expanded capacity, Bowes will focus on strengthening strategic vendor relationships, driving greater regional alignment, and supporting the company’s teams and partners in converting opportunities across the MEA region into sustainable growth.Speaking on the new role, Bowes said he was excited about the opportunity to connect strong local execution with a broader regional strategy. He added that he looks forward to deepening engagement with the company’s alliances, identifying emerging opportunities, and helping teams and partners translate them into long-term growth.Westcon-Comstor congratulated Bowes on the appointment, describing it as part of the company’s continued commitment to regional leadership and partner success.Westcon-Comstor is a global technology distributor operating under two brands, Westcon and Comstor, specializing in security, collaboration, networking, and data center solutions. The company works with a broad network of vendors and partners to deliver technology solutions across multiple regions, including Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and beyond, helping businesses accelerate growth through innovative and reliable technology partnerships.
Read briefing The African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) has appointed South African telecommunications and Internet governance veteran Mike Silber as its next Chief Executive Officer, bringing an experienced regulatory and technology executive into the leadership of Africa’s regional Internet registry.Silber has been named CEO designate and will formally assume the position on 1 January 2027. His appointment follows an extensive recruitment process conducted by the AFRINIC CEO Search Committee and was approved by the AFRINIC Board with the consent of the Receiver. He will take over at a critical point for the organisation as it works to strengthen its operations, governance and relationships with members and stakeholders across Africa.He currently serves as Group Executive for Regulatory Affairs at MTN Group, where he is responsible for regulatory matters across a telecommunications business serving more than 300 million customers on the continent. His career has also included senior leadership roles at Liquid Intelligent Technologies, where he served as Group Chief Regulatory Officer, and Africa Data Centres, where he was Chief Administrative Officer.Beyond his corporate roles, Silber has been closely involved in the institutions and processes that underpin the global Internet. He previously served on the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organisation responsible for coordinating key elements of the Internet’s domain name system and other Internet identifiers. He also served as vice chair of the Address Supporting Organization Address Council.His experience extends to international organisations and regulators, including the International Telecommunication Union, the European Union and the African Union. He has also worked with telecommunications regulators across several countries. Silber has held governance positions within South Africa’s Internet ecosystem, including on the boards of the .ZA Domain Name Authority and the Internet Service Providers’ Association of South Africa. He currently serves as a director and chair of the Audit Committee at the Public Interest Registry and as a director of TENET South Africa.A lawyer admitted to the High Court of South Africa, Silber specialises in Internet and e-commerce law as well as regulation across the technology, media and telecommunications sectors. That combination of legal, regulatory, corporate and Internet governance experience is expected to be central to his role at AFRINIC. The organisation said his appointment is intended to support efforts to restore operational stability, improve transparency and accountability, and rebuild confidence among AFRINIC members, employees, partners and the wider African Internet community.Silber will also be expected to help address outstanding legal matters and strengthen AFRINIC’s ability to provide services to its members. His appointment comes as AFRINIC seeks to rebuild its institutional foundations and reinforce its role within Africa’s Internet infrastructure ecosystem.AFRINIC is responsible for managing and allocating Internet number resources across Africa and the Indian Ocean region, including IP addresses and Autonomous System Numbers. These resources are essential to the operation and growth of Internet networks, allowing devices and networks to communicate across the global Internet.Headquartered in Ebene, Mauritius, AFRINIC was established in 2004 and was formally recognised by ICANN as the world’s fifth Regional Internet Registry in 2005. The organisation serves more than 2,500 members across 56 countries, including Internet service providers, data centres, academic institutions and government organisations. The board has emphasised that Silber’s appointment is part of a broader recovery effort and that AFRINIC’s future will depend on cooperation among its members, employees, partners and other stakeholders.“AFRINIC’s mission remains to serve as a responsible and effective steward of Internet number resources for Africa,” the board said.Silber will begin his tenure in January 2027, taking responsibility for an organisation whose work sits at the foundation of Africa’s digital connectivity. His experience across telecommunications regulation, Internet governance, law and corporate leadership gives AFRINIC an executive with a broad understanding of both the policy environment and technical ecosystem surrounding the continent’s Internet infrastructure.
Read briefing Uganda and Kenya are reaffirming their commitment to strengthening cooperation in tourism, innovation and regional integration as preparations advance for the 5th Uganda–Kenya Coast Tourism and Innovation Summit, to be held from 26th to 27th October 2026 at Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort & Spa, Mombasa.Convened by the Consulate General of Uganda in Mombasa in collaboration with tourism stakeholders from Uganda and the Kenya Coast, the Summit will be held under the theme, “Unlocking Tourism Opportunities: Resolving Policy Bottlenecks through Technology, Youth and Seamless Mobility across East Africa.”The 2026 Summit represents the evolution of the annual Uganda–Kenya Coast Tourism Conference into a more targeted and action-oriented platform. It will bring together selected representatives from government, tourism, technology, investment and the private sector to consider practical areas of cooperation and identify opportunities for stronger regional linkages.“This Summit reflects the strength of the partnership Uganda has built with our friends on the Kenya Coast over the past five years. As we mark ten years of the Consulate’s presence in Mombasa, we are moving beyond dialogue to concrete, action-oriented cooperation, particularly in harnessing technology and youth innovation to unlock the full potential of tourism between our two countries,” said Amb. Herbert Kiguli, Consul General of the Republic of Uganda in Mombasa.The partnership between Uganda and the Kenya Coast has, since 2022, provided a platform for tourism stakeholders to exchange knowledge, build business relationships and promote the complementary strengths of the two destinations. More than 450 stakeholders have participated in the associated familiarisation programme, strengthening understanding of tourism products on both sides of the border.This year’s Summit will place particular emphasis on youth-led innovation and technology as enablers of tourism development, including the showcasing of digital solutions intended to enhance visitor experiences across the Uganda–Kenya Coast corridor. It will also provide space for dialogue on tourism investment, smart destinations and connectivity.“Mombasa County is proud to welcome this Summit as a platform that puts our tourism offering firmly on the regional stage. We see real value in deepening ties with Uganda, particularly in opening up smart, tech-enabled and youth-driven approaches to tourism that benefit both our destinations,” said Hon. Mohammed Osman, County Executive Committee Member for Tourism, Mombasa County.A further area of focus will be the implementation of Article 104 of the EAC Treaty on the progressive removal of restrictions on the movement of persons, labour and services. The Summit will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to consider practical challenges affecting tourism and business travel and to explore constructive measures within the regional framework.Through policy dialogue, innovation showcases and structured business-to-business engagement, the Summit seeks to translate shared priorities into practical partnerships and institutional commitments. It is expected to culminate in a Summit Communiqué setting out agreed priorities and timelines for follow-up.The 2026 edition is also significant as it marks the fifth annual collaboration between the Consulate General of Uganda in Mombasa and the Kenya Coast, while coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the Consulate’s active presence in Mombasa and its transition to newly owned premises.The organizers view the Summit as an opportunity to further strengthen the spirit of partnership between Uganda and Kenya and to contribute, through tourism and innovation, to the wider objectives of East African integration, economic cooperation and shared prosperity.
Read briefing Kenya is set to deepen its engagement in the global digital economy after the Digital Cooperation Organisation (DCO) Council approved the country’s candidature for membership, opening the way for its formal accession to the international body.The approval, made on 28 August, follows nearly two years of work towards Kenya’s accession. Albania, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Zambia also received approval for their candidatures. Kenya is not yet a full member of the DCO. The decision starts the formal accession process, with membership taking effect once the country completes its national procedures and deposits its instrument of accession.For Kenya, the move could strengthen cooperation on digital policy, innovation, skills development and cross-border technology activity while giving the country access to tools and programmes designed to support digital economies.Kenya’s Special Envoy on Technology, Ambassador Philip Thigo, highlighted the potential benefits in a post announcing the development, pointing to practical digital tools, partnerships and opportunities for entrepreneurs as some of the areas that could benefit from membership.One of the tools he highlighted is the DCO’s Digital Economy Navigator, which benchmarks countries against 145 indicators. For Kenya, the platform could provide a clearer picture of its digital strengths and identify areas where further policy or infrastructure improvements are needed. The organisation also provides programmes aimed at helping technology companies and entrepreneurs expand into new markets.Amb. Thigo pointed to the DCO’s STRIDE and InvestConnect programmes, which connect startups and innovators with investors, markets and potential partners. He said participating startups have collectively raised more than $21 million. STRIDE supports startups seeking to scale across borders, while InvestConnect helps connect entrepreneurs to potential investors, markets and business opportunities. The broader significance for Kenya lies in the potential to connect its technology ecosystem with a wider network of countries pursuing digital transformation.The DCO was established in 2020 by Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Its mandate covers digital policy, trade, skills, innovation and cross-border digital activity, with a broader focus on accelerating inclusive and sustainable growth in the digital economy. The organisation currently has 16 member states representing nearly 800 million people. If the eight newly approved candidatures complete their accession processes, that membership will grow to 24 countries representing approximately 980 million people.For Kenyan technology companies, the expanded network could create new opportunities for regional collaboration, market access and knowledge exchange. It could also give policymakers greater access to experiences from countries pursuing similar digital transformation agendas. The country has been expanding access to digital services and infrastructure through initiatives including public digital hubs, while digital-skills programmes are aimed at increasing the number of people able to participate in the digital economy.Kenya is targeting 120,000 people for digital-skills training over three years, reflecting the growing emphasis on building the human capital required to support a digital economy.Thigo credited the DCO leadership, Kenya’s diplomatic representatives and officials involved in the accession process, including DCO Secretary-General Deemah AlYahya and former Kenyan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mohamed Ruwange, as well as Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications and the Digital Economy William Kabogo.The next step is for Kenya to complete the required national accession procedures.Once that process is concluded, membership will give Kenya another platform for shaping and participating in international discussions around the digital economy, while connecting its policymakers, businesses, startups and innovators to a wider digital ecosystem.
Read briefing The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Kenya, the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy (MICDE) and the Technopolis Development Authority have opened a national call for artificial intelligence use cases aimed at identifying and advancing practical AI solutions with the potential to deliver measurable development, public, environmental, research and economic value.As artificial intelligence continues to reshape economies, public services and innovation globally, Kenya is strengthening the foundations needed to translate the technology into solutions that address real-world challenges. The Artificial Intelligence Accelerator Programme brings together government, development, research and innovation capabilities to support the development and application of AI in ways that are safe, responsible and secure.Through the Open Call for AI Use Cases, public institutions, universities and research institutions, startups and innovators are invited to submit challenges, concepts and existing AI-enabled solutions at different stages of maturity. Selected use cases will undergo structured assessment to determine the suitability of AI, potential impact, data and technical readiness, implementation requirements, and relevant safety and governance considerations.Depending on needs and readiness, selected use cases may be supported through AI compute at the Technopolis Development Authority, data readiness and preparation, AI solution development and technical assistance, talent and capacity development, Responsible AI and assurance, research and technology partnerships, and ecosystem connections. Eligible startups may also be connected to investors, potential buyers, industry partners and market opportunities.John Paul Okwiri, Chief Executive Officer, Technopolis Development Authority adds, “The future will belong to countries that do not just consume AI but build it. Through this programme, the Technopolis Development Authority is creating pathways for Kenyan innovators, researchers and startups to develop AI solutions that address real-world challenges, create economic value and improve lives. Our role is to provide the infrastructure, partnerships and innovation ecosystem that will help position Kenya as Africa’s leading destination for technology and innovation.”The programme is designed to build a pipeline of accountable and locally relevant AI solutions that can strengthen public-service delivery, accelerate research and innovation, support environmentally sustainable growth, and contribute to Kenya’s broader social, environmental and economic development.Public institutions, universities and research institutions, startups and innovators with a relevant AI use-case concept, prototype, pilot or existing solution ready to scale are encouraged to apply https://ai.konza.go.ke/
Read briefing Absa, Kenya Airways and Visa have launched the Asante Global Card, a co-branded travel-lifestyle credit card the three companies describe as the first of its kind in the Kenyan market. Announced on 31st August 2026 under the “Your Life Rewarded” campaign, the card is targeted at professionals, frequent travellers and premium banking customers, and is designed to convert everyday spending into travel and lifestyle rewards.The card brings together Kenya Airways’ route network, Absa’s local banking infrastructure and Visa’s global payments acceptance, marking what the partners say is the first time an airline, a bank and a payments network have combined on a single product in Kenya. Cardholders earn Asante Rewards Points on purchases, which can be redeemed across the Kenya Airways network. The name pairs “Asante” – Swahili for gratitude -with “Global,” a nod to the card’s usability on Visa’s worldwide network.John Njoroge, Country Manager for Kenya at Visa, linked the launch to a shift in consumer expectations. “We are seeing strong demand from Kenyan consumers for products that reward how they already spend and travel, and that demand is being driven by a generation that is earning more, travelling more and expecting more from the cards in their wallets,” he said. “The Asante Global Card responds to that directly, and we are pleased to bring our technology and global network to a card built for this market.”Points accrue across all transaction types, from routine purchases such as groceries, fuel and dining to travel bookings and international payments.Julius Thairu, Chief Commercial and Customer Officer at Kenya Airways, framed the card as an extension of the airline’s existing rewards strategy. “At Kenya Airways, we are constantly designing solutions that make travel more rewarding and accessible for our customers. This co-branded card is a natural extension of that commitment, allowing customers to earn travel rewards through their everyday spending,” he said. “As an airline that has connected Africa and the world for decades, we are proud to offer a product that turns daily transactions into opportunities for flights awards, point conversions and exclusive benefits across our network and partner airlines.”Absa Bank Kenya’s Consumer Banking Director, Moses Muthui, tied the partnership to the bank’s broader positioning. “This launch is a powerful reflection of our purpose of Empowering Africa’s Tomorrow, together… one story at a time. Every customer has a unique journey, and personal aspirations that extend beyond borders. Through innovative partnerships such as this, we are helping to unlock opportunities, connect people to the experiences that matter most, and enable them to write the next chapter of their story wherever in the world it takes them.”According to the companies, new Asante Global Signature cardholders will receive a welcome bonus of 10,000 Asante Rewards Points, while Platinum cardholders will get 5,000. The partners say the card also comes with airport lounge access, travel and medical insurance, extra baggage allowance and SkyPriority services, along with discounts through select shopping, dining and lifestyle partners locally and internationally, and access to golf and wine-tasting events.Applications are said to open on 1st September at asante.kenya-airways.com, with points accruing once an application is approved and the card activated.
Read briefing Here’s a question worth sitting with: how much growth are Kenya’s lenders leaving on the table simply because they can’t see the full picture?It’s not a rhetorical exercise. Across our market, 43 per cent of consumers remain thin-file, meaning they don’t carry enough traditional credit information to be confidently assessed. Think about what that means in practice. Nearly 1 in every 2 potential customers walks up to a lender and, through no fault of their own, appears almost invisible. Not because they’re risky or can’t repay, but simply because the data doesn’t tell their story.And it’s far bigger than most of us assume. When lenders cannot see enough of a consumer’s credit story, they risk overlooking creditworthy customers, limiting growth opportunities and slowing financial inclusionWhen people think about data challenges in lending, their minds go straight to credit losses and defaults. That’s understandable, but it’s only a fraction of the story.Ultimately, all of this adds up to slower business growth. In a market as dynamic as Kenya’s, that’s a cost no lender can comfortably carry.Kenya’s credit landscape is evolving at remarkable speed. Digital lending has reshaped how people access credit, particularly younger consumers stepping into the market for the first time. At the same time, lenders are balancing real growth ambitions against portfolio quality, especially after a demanding credit cycle.The pressing question is whether we can grow without compromising portfolio performance. The data suggests we can, but only if we understand today’s borrower better than we understood them yesterday.Consider how visibility shifts across generations. Thin-file rates tell a striking story:Younger Kenyans are becoming steadily more visible in the credit ecosystem. The opportunity lies in leveraging richer credit insights and broader data ecosystems to responsibly extend credit to the remaining 43 per cent.For much of the past year, one question dominated industry conversations: is credit quality finally improving? The evidence points to yes.Kenya’s NPL ratio climbed to a 20-year high of 17.6 per cent during early 2025, before easing to 15.5 per cent by January 2026. Lower interest rates, stronger recoveries and improving economic activity have all played a part, and that improvement signals growing borrower resilience.Still, we shouldn’t relax. At 15.5 per cent, non-performing loans remain elevated against historical norms. The lesson is straightforward: the market is recovering, but early risk detection matters more than ever. The best-performing lenders won’t wait to react to risk. They’ll spot it before it takes hold.If you want to know where future growth will come from, look to new-to-credit consumers. These borrowers represent tomorrow’s customers, tomorrow’s revenue and tomorrow’s portfolio performance.And the face of that future is unmistakably Gen Z and Millennial. These generations account for nearly all new borrowers entering the market today, and they’re entering differently from those before them. Their access point is digital. Their preferred products are short-term and mobile-driven. Their expectations are speed, convenience and flexibility.For lenders, this is genuinely good news. But it also means our risk models must evolve alongside changing behaviour. Yesterday’s borrower isn’t today’s borrower, and today’s borrower certainly won’t be tomorrows.Many lenders instinctively equate frequent borrowing with higher risk. Yet the picture is more nuanced. Gen Z borrowers opened an average of more than 10 loans per month during our observation period, with some accumulating over 70 facilities. At first glance, that sounds alarming. But these borrowers often carry relatively small balances and engage largely through digital products such as mobile loans and Fuliza.The takeaway is powerful. If our understanding of borrower behaviour stays static, we risk misclassifying good customers and missing real growth. The cost of the data gap isn’t only about approving the wrong borrower. It’s about misunderstanding the right one because the available data does not provide a complete view of their behaviour, repayment capacity and credit journey.Credit velocity, how quickly a borrower adds new obligations after their first facility, tells a similar story. Within six months, 50.2 per cent of Gen Z borrowers had opened two or more additional facilities, compared with 33.6 per cent of Millennials. Demand is strong, younger borrowers are highly engaged and risk can shift quickly. Often, the next meaningful signal isn’t the amount borrowed. It’s the pace at which new obligations accumulate.Analysis of consumer-level 30+ days past due (DPD) performance reveals a surprising pattern: delinquency is highest among borrowers early in their credit journey and generally declines as borrowers gain experience managing multiple credit facilities.Conventional thinking says risk rises steadily as borrowers hold more facilities. The data says otherwise:
Read briefing For an airline operating on some of the thinnest margins in global aviation, the case for AI at Kenya Airways was never going to be made on novelty. It was made on arithmetic.“The margins in Africa are less than 2.5 dollars net profit per passenger,” Fred Kitunga told CIO Africa on the sidelines of the AWS Summit in Johannesburg, when asked why the airline is moving from AI experimentation into full deployment. Elsewhere in the world, he said, airline margins run “upwards of 15 dollars net profit per passenger, and sometimes even 20 dollars net profit per passenger.” That gap, more than any enthusiasm for the technology itself, is what is driving the pace. “We must use all available channels and capabilities to make sure that we create value,” he said. “It is about making sure that we accelerate that value.”For Kitunga, the mandate from leadership is unambiguous: keep the airline operational and profitable, and use AI to get there faster. That means looking closely at customer lifetime value and ancillary sales opportunities generated through the airline’s many touchpoints with travellers — and organising those opportunities into what he called “a structured approach.”Kenya Airways’ approach to deploying agentic AI is deliberate. Rather than starting with the technology and looking for places to apply it, the airline — with AWS as a partner — works in the opposite direction. “We do not begin with a preconceived answer,” Kitunga said. “We first identify the need and then apply the appropriate AI Tool for use cases.”That discipline shows up across three areas where the airline says it is already seeing measurable value.The first is internal: employee productivity Amazon Q has been rolled out to more than 1,000 employees to support day-to-day work. The effect, according to Kitunga, has been a compression of task time: activities that “previously took days or weeks” are now measured in hours.Kenya Airways has also been at the forefront of training and building AI capability among its staff, recognising that successful AI adoption requires not only the right technology, but also people who are equipped and confident to use it — partly, Kitunga said, to help employees feel the technology is working for them rather than around them, in what he described as a broader cultural shift “from very orthodox and traditional ways of doing business towards relying on capabilities that are automated.”The second area is customer service, where Kenya Airways draws on a central system that consolidates customer data to identify individual travelers who have experienced disruptions — sometimes before those customers have reported the problem themselves. ” We are able to proactively identify these issues before a customer complains, and resolve them before they escalate” he said.The third is maintenance, where AI is being used to accelerate a historically manual, document-heavy process. “There is a lot of manual reading involved,” Kitunga said. “Maintenance teams have to review large amounts of data and compare one set of information with another.” AI, he said, speeds up the identification and resolution of maintenance issues on our aircraft.Aviation is among the most heavily regulated industries in the world, and Kitunga was direct about the trust problem AI still has to overcome, both internally and with regulators. “AI has to be explainable,” he said. “There must be explainability in how AI is used.”His response was to formalise governance ahead of deployment rather than after it. Kenya Airways developed a dedicated data and AI policy that went to the board for approval, informed by practices already in use elsewhere in the industry. Every AI use case is now assessed against that policy before it proceeds. “We do not use AI simply for the sake of using it,” he said. “Every use case must fall within the policy.” He linked the approach directly to the airline’s broader safety culture. “We are a very safety-conscious airline. We believe that safety is central to the delivery of our business, so everything is based on that principle.”Asked how much of Kenya Airways’ institutional knowledge — flight data, customer history, regulatory filings — was actually accessible to build AI capabilities on top of, Kitunga did not overstate the airline’s starting position. “To be honest, that is still a challenge,” he said. “It was a challenge before, and we remain conscious of it.” Data across the organisation, he said, remains “segmented, siloed, unstructured and spread across different parts of the organisation.”The response has been to build a data lake, using Amazon Bedrock to map and consolidate scattered data sets, remove inconsistencies, and establish a unique identifier per customer. The goal, Kitunga said, is a single, secured source of truth that can then be used in production — a project he described as still under construction rather than complete.Asked which process he believes could benefit most from AI but has not yet been able to deploy it, Kitunga pointed to flight simulation and flight data — “the entire journey and how we determine the efficiency of a flight, including capacity and other operational factors.” In principle, he said, it is an area well suited to automation. In practice, Kenya Airways remains bound by dependencies on original equipment manufacturers, whose manuals and established procedures maintenance engineers must still follow, along with restrictions from IATA and other aviation authorities. “The capability has also not yet been fully developed for this purpose,” he added.
Read briefing Banking technology expert, Joel K. Busienei, has joined Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) as Head of IT, taking on a strategic mandate covering IT strategy, infrastructure, cybersecurity, digital transformation, governance and service delivery. His responsibilities also extend to technology projects and vendors, regulatory compliance, IT risk management, business continuity and disaster recovery.It is a role that places him at the heart of one of banking’s biggest challenges: how to innovate at speed without compromising resilience, security or customer trust.Busienei brings more than 20 years of ICT management experience, including nine years in senior management, across both the public and private sectors. His expertise spans enterprise ICT governance, strategic planning, operational management, digital transformation and technology infrastructure.Before joining DIB, he served as Head of ICT at Consolidated Bank of Kenya. Earlier, as Group Head of IT Infrastructure at Equity Bank, NCBA and CBA before the merger. At Equity Group, he contributed to the design of the core banking platform and infrastructure upgrade architecture—work at the foundation of how a bank serves customers and scales its operations.Then came one of Kenya’s major banking transformations: the 2019 merger of NIC Bank and CBA. As an infrastructure architect, Busienei supported the integration of networks, data centers and collaboration services, helping bring together two technology environments into a unified operation. At DIB, Busienei steps into an increasingly strategic technology landscape—one where digital transformation, cybersecurity, operational resilience and customer experience are deeply interconnected.It is about building technology that customers can trust, systems that can withstand disruption and a technology organization capable of turning business ambition into reality.With a track record forged in complex banking environments, Busienei’s appointment signals a new chapter in his journey—from building the infrastructure behind banking to helping shape the future of banking itself.
Read briefing GITEX NIGERIA officially opened as a high-profile inauguration ceremony launched the second edition of West Africa’s largest tech, AI, and start-up event in Abuja. Attended by senior government officials, international technology leaders, and digital economy stakeholders, the ceremony marked the beginning of an expanded 2026 programme designed to advance Africa’s sovereign AI and digital transformation ambitions, setting the scene for the Abuja Government Leadership & AI Summit that headlined the opening-day agenda in the Nigerian capital.Held under the patronage of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, GITEX NIGERIA takes place across Abuja and Lagos from 31 August–3 September 2026. Supported by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the event is endorsed by the Lagos State Government and organised by KAOUN International, the global organiser of GITEX events.During the event inauguration, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), hailed Nigeria’s efforts to build the foundations for digital sovereignty and technology-led growth. He stated, “Achieving true digital sovereignty means owning the capabilities, infrastructure, and intelligence that power our future. Through strategic initiatives like DL4ALL, 3MTT and Project BRIDGE, we are rapidly scaling our technical talent pool and extending high-speed digital inclusion across every local government area. We are building the policy, cloud infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks necessary to host our data locally, deploy AI responsibly, and enhance overall national productivity. GITEX NIGERIA positions our country as a global force shaping the international tech ecosystem, not just participating in it.”While national initiatives are strengthening Nigeria’s digital foundations, Lagos is translating this momentum into investable opportunities across compute infrastructure and digital public services. The state’s expanding connectivity, regulatory reforms, and public-sector digitalisation are creating new markets for technology providers and international capital.H.E. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State, said “Most international capital looks at Nigeria and sees consumer fintech. That was the last decade’s trade. Here is what I believe is being under-priced today. First, compute. Lagos is one of the most cable-landed cities on the African continent. We have world-class subsea capacity arriving on our shores and comparatively little of the compute that should sit behind it. Africa’s AI workloads are currently being processed in Europe. That is a latency problem, a cost problem, a data sovereignty problem, and therefore an investment opportunity. With our electricity law, our fibre programme and our data centre campuses, Lagos is the natural place to fix it.”He added that Lagos operates a budget larger than that of several West African countries, enabling them to “digitise procurement, revenue, permitting, health records, transport and land administration.” It creates a serious, recurring, creditworthy enterprise software market. “One that most global technology firms have not yet properly bid for.”The Abuja Government Leadership & AI Summit further reinforced the shared commitment of federal and state leaders to accelerate Nigeria’s technology-led economic transformation, highlighting the country’s ambition to advance from technology consumption towards indigenous innovation, digital sovereignty, and global production.Senator Dr George Akume, CON, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Nigeria, said “Under the vision of President Tinubu and the Renewed Hope Agenda, Nigeria is boldly driving toward a $1 trillion economy. To achieve economic transformation, we must now move far beyond basic connectivity to build true indigenous innovation and digital sovereignty. GITEX NIGERIA provides the strategic platform where government vision aligns with private sector execution. This is our opportunity for decisive transition from being mere consumers of foreign technology to becoming global producers of talent, sovereign infrastructure, and inclusively designed AI – built by Nigeria, for Nigeria. We are leading a new era for Africa.”Themed Beyond Connectivity – The Bridge to Sovereign AI & Innovation, the Abuja Government Leadership & AI Summit placed technology leadership, coordinated policymaking, and cross-sector collaboration at the centre of West Africa’s next phase of digital and economic development, welcoming over 500 public- and private-sector leaders and investors from across the region and around the globe.Discussions examined how Africa can translate growing digital ambition into trusted infrastructure, scalable innovation, and long-term economic value. From digital public infrastructure, AI, cybersecurity, and data sovereignty to connectivity, investment, and strategic partnerships, the summit welcomed over 25 distinguished international experts to analyse the foundations required for West African economies to strengthen technological capability while accelerating inclusion, productivity, and regional competitiveness.
Read briefing Kenya’s digital infrastructure has more than 2,000 critical security holes and over 4.8 million leaked credentials sitting exposed online, findings from what is called a first-of-its-kind national threat landscape study, unveiled by Dr. Bright Gameli Mawudor, CEO of Cyber Guard Africa and founder of AfricaHackon, at the opening of the AfricaHackon Cybersecurity Summit in Nairobi on August 27.The research was a passive scan, of email systems, firewalls, cloud servers, developer APIs, IoT devices and WiFi networks across more than 13 ASNs( autonomous system networks), the blocks of internet address space assigned to individual service providers, universities and large organisations. It was carried out jointly by Cyber Guard Africa and the AfricaHackon team. Speaking to CIO Africa about the state of the country’s cyber exposure, Mawudor put it plainly: “We are not ready.”That finding is what the AfricaHackon Cybersecurity Summit 2026 was all about. Held from August 27 to 29 at Hackhouse Africa in Nairobi, the summit is put on by AfricaHackon, now in its second decade as one of East Africa’s longest-running practitioner-led security communities. This year’s theme, “From Skills to Securing Systems,” was aimed squarely at security analysts, CISOs, developers, policymakers and regulators, the people who have to turn individual technical skill into protection for entire organisations, not just their own machines. The premise is that threats are now moving faster than most organisations can respond to them, and that technical skill on its own is no longer enough to keep up.This year’s programme was built around workshops and live demonstrations.”We want to make sure there’s that real impact and we want people to actually have a feel of what they can practically take back to the organizations.”Mawudor said.The agenda followed that logic across the three days – cyber operations and threat intelligence on day one, offensive security and AI-related risks on day two, then defence, cloud and governance on day three. Individual sessions ranged from the technical to the procedural: pentest reporting, privacy engineering, rebuilding threat intelligence with open-source tools, supporting law enforcement in cyber operations, cloud misconfigurations, third-party vendor risk, ISO 27001 governance, smart contract audits, DevSecOps failure points, free threat intelligence sharing through ShadowServer, data protection law, the security risks of AI agents and AI-driven databases, digital forensics, and a session bluntly titled “The Darkest Side of Bug Bounty.”That “not ready” feedback isn’t an isolated case. It’s a trend the whole industry has been reporting all year. The World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026 found that 63 percent of organisations in sub-Saharan Africa say they lack adequate cybersecurity staff, the sharpest such shortage of any region it tracks. In Kenya specifically, the Cyber Shujaa Industry Report 2025 counted more than 45,000 unfilled cybersecurity roles, even as the Communications Authority of Kenya’s own quarterly monitoring recorded billions of cyber threat events hitting the country’s systems in the first half of this year alone, most of them attacks on infrastructure that hadn’t been properly patched.Finding 2,000 critical security vulnerabilities across just 13 large networks might sound shocking, until you realize there are only about 20,000 certified cyber experts in all of Africa. The severe talent shortage explains why so much infrastructure is left completely unprotected.That gap between threat volume and available skill shows up just as sharply in how companies are governed as in how their systems are built. In the session “Get Your GRC Right: ISO 27001,” presenters Lena Ndanu, cybersecurity consultant, cyberguard and Fiona Msha, senior argued that most breaches trace back to how a company is run, not just what software it uses. As Ndanu put it: “If the leadership mechanism is wrong, the company is at risk.” Patch the servers all you like, if nobody at the top is accountable for security decisions, the underlying exposure doesn’t go away.Mawudor connects that skills shortfall directly to how Kenyan employers hire. Job postings routinely ask for four years of experience for roles someone with six to twelve months in the field could reasonably fill, he argues, pointing out that this habit keeps out the fresh talent that industry reports say is so badly needed.“We need to understand exactly what role we are hiring for, what is the purpose of what they’re hiring this person for,” he said. “And how long do we need to take to be able to actually make sure that the person they’re hiring actually fills that role and solves the problem that the organisation has?”Zooming out from Kenya, the reality across the rest of the continent is just as stark. Despite having over 220 million people, Nigeria only has about 8,352 certified cybersecurity professionals according to data compiled by CompTIA. Even South Africa, the continent’s most advanced digital economy, fields just 57,269, a fraction of the nearly 483,000 experts working in the US alone.
Read briefing China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry is expanding its footprint in Africa beyond vehicle exports and assembly, with investments increasingly moving into battery materials and component manufacturing.Morocco has emerged as one of the continent’s most advanced markets in this transition, attracting Chinese investment, government support and development finance for battery-related projects. South Africa, meanwhile, is positioning itself as another potential manufacturing base, with Chinese automaker BYD exploring the possibility of producing batteries locally.The developments point to a broader shift in Africa’s EV ambitions. Rather than limiting the continent’s role to importing electric vehicles or assembling vehicles from imported components, governments are increasingly seeking to capture more value from the battery supply chain.A major development in Morocco came with the African Development Bank’s approval of a $114 million loan for Gotion High-Tech’s planned battery gigafactory. The project is expected to strengthen Morocco’s position in battery manufacturing and represents a significant commitment from a development finance institution to an African battery production project. The financing is also significant because access to long-term capital remains one of the major challenges facing large-scale industrial projects across Africa. Development finance support could make battery manufacturing projects more attractive to commercial investors and potentially encourage similar investments elsewhere on the continent.Morocco has spent several years building the foundations for an automotive and battery manufacturing ecosystem. Chinese companies have increasingly become part of that strategy, with investments extending from vehicle production to battery materials. In 2024, Morocco signed a $300 million agreement with China’s BTR New Material Group to develop a cathode materials plant in Tangier. A separate Chinese-Moroccan joint venture, Cobco, is also developing battery component manufacturing capacity in the country.The country is also seeing investment in other parts of the battery supply chain. Abu Dhabi-based Falcon Energy Materials has commissioned a 25,000-tonne-per-year anode materials pilot project at Jorf Lasfar near Casablanca and has entered into technical partnerships with Chinese companies including Shanghai Shanshan New Material and Hensen. These projects complement Morocco’s established automotive manufacturing industry, creating the beginnings of a supply chain that connects raw and processed materials, battery components and vehicle production.Morocco’s advantage is partly the result of deliberate industrial policy. The country has spent years attracting automotive manufacturers and suppliers, creating an industrial base that can be extended into electric vehicles and their components.Further south, South Africa is pursuing a different route. BYD, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, is exploring the possibility of establishing battery manufacturing operations in the country. Rather than initially following other manufacturers into local vehicle assembly, the company is considering an investment centred on the battery technology that has been fundamental to its business.The possibility emerged more clearly following the launch of a BYD Finance joint venture with South African financial services group Absa in July, when company executives discussed ambitions extending beyond vehicle sales.For South Africa, battery manufacturing could connect the country’s automotive industry with its mineral resources while creating opportunities to participate in a higher-value segment of the EV supply chain. Policy is becoming an important part of that equation. The South African government has updated its Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy and is considering changes to automotive incentives designed to encourage greater local value addition in electric vehicle manufacturing.One proposed measure would allow a portion of the value of critical minerals sourced from Southern Africa to count towards local value addition in EV battery production. The objective is to encourage the processing of minerals within the region rather than exporting raw materials and importing finished battery components. If BYD moves ahead with a South African battery facility, the project could provide a significant boost to the country’s efforts to establish an EV manufacturing ecosystem. It could also provide the company with a regional base for batteries used in vehicles and energy storage applications. However, unlike Morocco, South Africa has yet to secure a comparable large-scale battery manufacturing commitment.The contrasting positions of Morocco and South Africa highlight a broader question for African countries seeking to participate in the EV transition: whether possessing mineral resources is enough to attract manufacturing investment. The evidence so far suggests it is not. Battery manufacturing requires access to electricity, transport infrastructure, skilled labour, industrial land, financing and reliable supply chains. It also requires policies that give investors enough certainty to commit capital to projects that can take years to reach commercial scale.
Read briefing Every day, governments make decisions that affect the health and well-being of millions of people, from responding to disease outbreaks and improving maternal and child health services to planning the health workforce and investing in stronger health systems. Yet these decisions are often made using information scattered across multiple systems, making it difficult to obtain a complete and timely picture of population health.Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa launched the Regional Health Data Hub, a new digital platform that brings together fragmented health data and transforms it into actionable intelligence for better health decision-making across the African Region.The consequences of fragmented data are practical. Efforts to reduce maternal deaths, for instance, depend on combining information on antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric services, health workforce availability and medicine supplies, data that are often stored in separate systems. By bringing these datasets together, the Regional Health Data Hub helps decision-makers identify underserved populations, target resources where they are needed most and make more informed decisions that improve health outcomes.The Regional Health Data Hub is a shared digital platform that supports all 47 Member States of the WHO African Region. It enables governments, public health institutions, researchers, development partners, and other stakeholders to access harmonized health information, monitor trends, compare progress and generate the evidence needed to make informed decisions. Through a secure web platform, users can access integrated data while countries retain full ownership of their information.“No health decision in our region should be taken in the dark. Every policy, every investment and every action to improve people’s health should be guided by reliable evidence. The Regional Health Data Hub reflects our commitment to ensuring that countries have timely access to the evidence they need to anticipate challenges, direct resources where they are needed most and improve the health and well-being of their populations,” said Dr Mohamed Yakub Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa.The Hub integrates information from multiple health programmes, including maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, noncommunicable diseases, infectious diseases and health systems, into a single interoperable platform. Through interactive dashboards, maps and analytical tools, it enables users to explore trends, monitor progress towards universal health coverage and generate insights that support timely, integrated and evidence-informed decision-making.The Regional Health Data Hub complements existing national health information systems rather than replacing them. Countries retain ownership of their data while benefiting from common standards that improve interoperability, strengthen data quality and support secure information sharing. A regional governance framework under development will further promote transparency, accountability and responsible data stewardship, helping to build trust in the use of health information across the Region.The platform also incorporates advanced analytics and artificial intelligence-enabled capabilities that support forecasting, trend analysis and evidence generation. As additional datasets, indicators and analytical tools are introduced through a phased approach, the Hub will continue to expand its ability to support proactive planning, better resource allocation and more resilient health systems across the Region.Better data alone do not improve people’s health—better decisions do. By giving countries faster access to reliable, integrated and actionable health information, the Regional Health Data Hub will help transform data into evidence, evidence into action, and action into better health outcomes for millions of people across the African Region.
Read briefing Tech First Gulf (TFG), a leading value-added technology distributor across the Middle East and Africa, has announced the appointment of Mustapha Rafiki as General Manager – Maghreb & Francophone Africa. This strategic appointment marks another significant milestone in TFG’s continued regional expansion and reinforces the company’s commitment to strengthening its footprint across Africa.With over 19 years of experience in the information technology industry, Mustapha brings extensive expertise in business development, channel management, sales leadership, and operational excellence. Throughout his career, he has successfully built and managed high-performing partner ecosystems while driving sustainable business growth across North, West, East, and Central Africa.Before joining Tech First Gulf, Mustapha served as Head of B2B Africa at Logitech, where he led business operations across multiple African markets, developing strategic go-to-market initiatives and strengthening channel partnerships. Prior to Logitech, he held the position of Country Manager at Canon, where he played a pivotal role in expanding the company’s presence, developing strategic alliances, and accelerating growth across key enterprise and commercial segments.As TFG continues to expand its operations throughout Africa, Mustapha’s appointment reflects the company’s vision of investing in experienced leadership to unlock new opportunities, deepen vendor and partner relationships, and deliver greater value to customers across the markets.Under his leadership, TFG aims to accelerate regional growth by strengthening its distribution network, expanding strategic technology alliances, enabling channel partners, and introducing innovative solutions that address the evolving needs of enterprises and public sector organizations across the region. His deep understanding of African markets, combined with his proven leadership, will play a vital role in driving TFG’s next phase of growth.“We are pleased to welcome Mustapha to Tech First Gulf as we continue our expansion across the region. The markets under his leadership offer tremendous opportunities for growth and innovation, and we remain committed to investing in their future through strong leadership and long-term partnerships. Mustapha’s proven track record, strategic vision, and extensive regional expertise make him the ideal leader to accelerate our growth, strengthen our market presence, and deliver lasting value to our partners and customers,” said Mr. Akashdeep (Sky), Chief Strategy Officer, Tech First GulfCommenting on his appointment, Mustapha Rafiki said: “I am excited to join Tech First Gulf at such an important stage of its growth journey. TFG has built a strong reputation for delivering innovative technology solutions and empowering its partner ecosystem. I look forward to working closely with our vendors, partners, and customers to accelerate growth, expand our market presence, and create lasting value across the region.”As Tech First Gulf continues its regional expansion strategy, the company remains focused on empowering businesses through world-class technology solutions, strengthening strategic partnerships, and building a future-ready digital ecosystem across India, Middle East and Africa.
Read briefing Microsoft has announced the appointment of Angela Nganga as the Country Lead for East Africa. A long-standing member of the Microsoft Middle East and Africa (Emerging Markets) leadership team, she brings extensive experience in government engagement, strategic business development, stakeholder management and digital transformation to the role.Nganga will advance Microsoft’s commitment to empowering people, organisations and governments across Kenya and the broader East Africa region. Her leadership will support inclusive digital and AI transformation while deepening investment in local innovation, skills development and strategic partnerships.“I am delighted to lead Microsoft’s work in East Africa as the region strengthens its position as an innovation and AI hub. I look forward to partnering with governments, enterprise and the local startup ecosystem to build AI skills and workforce readiness, and to help partners develop and scale locally relevant solutions to real-world challenges. Enabling East African companies to become producers as well as consumers of AI innovation is essential to its success in the global digital economy,” says Nganga.Based in Nairobi, Nganga joined Microsoft in 2012. Before assuming the role of East Africa Country Lead, she served as Regional Director of Customer Success for East and West Africa. She has worked as Director of Corporate Affairs for the Middle East and Africa and Education Industry Director for Africa, leading customer success, digital transformation and strategic engagements across East and West Africa.A seasoned business leader with more than 20 years of experience across technology, telecommunications, healthcare, public affairs and policy, Nganga has built government partnerships and supported digital transformation and AI adoption. Before joining Microsoft, she held senior strategic corporate affairs and public policy roles at Telkom Kenya and AAR Health Services Ltd.The region’s vibrant tech ecosystem, youthful population, and commitment to innovation position it as a powerhouse for digital skills development in Africa, driving growth through a dynamic startup ecosystem and advanced private tech sector. With a strong foundation in mobile technology, fintech, and digital services, the region is well-placed to lead in AI-driven solutions across the continent and beyond. This appointment underscores Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to East Africa’s success in the global digital economy.
Read briefing The BPO industry has embraced AI as a technology capable of improving operational efficiency, enhancing customer experiences, and supporting business growth. But inside South African call centres, the opposite is quietly happening.As AI tools become deeply embedded into customer engagement environments, many operators are discovering that the real cost of AI is not the software licence – it’s the infrastructure required to run it.From voice neutralisation software and real-time call assistance to AI-driven first-line support and live agent coaching, the processing demands inside modern BPO environments have increased dramatically over the past 18 months.What many providers underestimated was the backend impact. AI does not run for free. It requires compute power, memory, networking throughput, low-latency environments, and increasingly expensive infrastructure to support it at scale.The result is that many BPOs are now facing a difficult and expensive decision. One approach is to run AI workloads directly on endpoint devices. This means moving away from standard workstation deployments toward higher specification machines capable of handling AI-assisted applications locally.In practical terms, this is driving a noticeable shift away from traditional Intel i5 deployments toward growing demand for i7-powered devices on the call centre floor. AI-enhanced workloads are forcing hardware upgrades far earlier than many refresh cycles originally planned for.The second option is to keep endpoint devices relatively standard while shifting the AI processing burden into the backend environment. In this model, AI applications and workloads are hosted centrally on servers, reducing the processing demand on the user device itself. While this avoids large scale desktop upgrades, it introduces a different problem – significantly increased server infrastructure requirements.This is where many BPOs are starting to feel the financial pressure. Backend server environments capable of supporting AI driven workloads require substantially higher compute density, increased storage performance, more advanced networking, and far greater scalability than traditional call centre infrastructure.The cost of expanding on premises server stacks to accommodate these workloads is rising rapidly, particularly as demand for AI capable hardware continues to grow globally.According to Gartner, worldwide spending on AI optimised servers is accelerating sharply as organisations race to support enterprise AI workloads, contributing to overall global IT spending reaching $6.15 trillion in 2026.The third route many organisations are exploring is moving AI infrastructure off premises entirely through hyperscale providers such as Amazon Web Services or colocation environments like Teraco. In this model, the infrastructure is rented rather than owned, with AI workloads hosted externally and delivered to the BPO environment through cloud or hosted platforms.While this removes the burden of large upfront infrastructure investment, it introduces ongoing rental and operational expenditure costs that must be managed carefully over time. For some BPOs, this creates far greater flexibility. For others, especially those operating at scale with strict latency and compliance requirements, the long-term cost equation becomes more complex.What is becoming increasingly clear is that AI is fundamentally changing the economics of the BPO industry. For years, cost optimisation in call centres focused largely on labour efficiency. Today, infrastructure efficiency is becoming equally important.The conversation is shifting from simply how many agents a BPO can support, to how much compute power it takes to support them effectively in an AI enabled environment. This is why the traditional procurement model is coming under pressure. Many operators still attempt to purchase server infrastructure outright through large capital expenditure projects.But in a market where AI workloads are evolving rapidly, hardware demands are changing constantly, and infrastructure pricing remains volatile, locking large amounts of capital into fixed infrastructure is becoming increasingly risky.A growing number of BPOs are instead exploring leasing and rental models for backend AI infrastructure. Rather than purchasing expensive server environments upfront, providers can deploy infrastructure through operational expenditure models that spread costs over time while maintaining flexibility as AI requirements evolve.This approach also reduces the risk of overinvesting in hardware that may become insufficient or obsolete far sooner than traditional infrastructure cycles allowed for. In an AI-driven environment, scalability and adaptability are becoming more valuable than ownership itself.The uncomfortable reality is that AI is not automatically reducing operational costs inside BPOs. In many cases, it is increasing them. The difference is that the costs are shifting away from people and moving into infrastructure.
Read briefing The conversation about AI in Africa has changed. The question is no longer whether the continent will adopt AI, but whether it can create the conditions to use it responsibly, confidently and at scale.That question is becoming more important as AI systems grow more capable and become increasingly embedded in how organisations work. At the heart of that shift is a defining question of trust: can an organisation benefit from AI without surrendering control of the data, intellectual property and institutional intelligence that make it distinctive?That challenge is already visible in adoption patterns. Microsoft’s Global AI Diffusion Report for the first quarter of 2026 found generative AI usage among working-age populations at 27.5 per cent in the global north compared with 15.4 per cent in what the report categorises as the global south, with the gap continuing to widen. For Africa and other countries across the global majority, closing that gap is both an economic imperative and a chance to shape how the next phase of AI develops.The opportunity remains extraordinary. The African Development Bank estimates that, if developed and deployed inclusively, AI could contribute as much as $1 trillion in additional GDP across Africa by 2035. Realising that opportunity will depend on whether Africa can build AI ecosystems that people and institutions trust.Trust is what enables innovation to move from experimentation to adoption and from adoption to economic impact. Building that trust will require progress across three mutually reinforcing areas: meaningful choice and openness, partnerships that develop local capability, and responsible, secure and resilient deployment.The African Union’s Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy sets out an Africa-centric, development-focused vision for AI. It identifies the potential for AI to transform areas including healthcare, agriculture, finance, and education.Realising that vision requires African governments, companies, researchers and developers to have meaningful choice in how they build, deploy and govern AI.This means access to a model-diverse and interoperable ecosystem in which organisations can select the technology most appropriate to their needs. Governments and businesses should be able to choose among frontier, open, and specialised models without being locked into a single technological pathway.Openness should not mean the absence of safeguards. It should mean an ecosystem in which innovation can take place across technologies and providers, supported by common standards, appropriate governance, and the ability of customers to retain control of their data and intellectual property.This platform approach is particularly important for Africa. It can lower barriers for local developers, enable solutions to be adapted as community and market needs evolve, and give governments and enterprises greater resilience as models and technologies change.It also creates space for African innovators to participate in the AI value chain rather than simply consume products developed elsewhere.Choice alone will not close the AI adoption gap. Africa’s AI ambitions will also depend on partnerships capable of addressing the interconnected constraints that limit diffusion.No single actor can provide all these foundations. Governments must create enabling policy environments. Universities and research institutions must develop talent. African startups and established businesses must create locally relevant solutions. Civil society has an important role in shaping accountability and public confidence. Technology providers have an important role in contributing cloud infrastructure, technical expertise, security, and responsible AI practices.The strongest partnerships will be those that build enduring African capability, leaving governments and communities better equipped to develop, deploy and govern AI themselves.LINGUA Africa illustrates this approach. The $5.5 million initiative brings together the Masakhane African Languages Hub, Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab, the Gates Foundation and Google.org to strengthen responsibly sourced language data and models for African languages. The 26 selected projects span more than 50 African languages, dialects and sign languages spoken by more than 500 million people across 47 countries. AI systems that work more effectively in the languages people use can improve access to education, healthcare information, government services and economic opportunity.Responsible AI remains the foundation connecting these efforts. It should not be treated as a governance process applied after a system has been developed. Privacy, security, fairness, transparency, accountability, and appropriate human oversight must be incorporated throughout the AI lifecycle.For organisations, it means having the technical and operational controls needed to use AI without losing authority over their information, workflows, and intellectual property.
Read briefing Industrial software company AVEVA has appointed Brock Ballard as its new Chief Revenue Officer, with the executive set to take up the role on 1 October 2026.Ballard joins AVEVA from Bentley Systems, where he served as Chief Revenue Officer from 2023, overseeing the company’s global accounts. He succeeds Sue Quense, who is stepping away from her full-time executive responsibilities to take up an advisory role with AVEVA. He brings more than two decades of experience in technology sales and executive leadership. He joined Bentley Systems in 2020 as Vice President and Regional Executive for the Americas before being appointed Chief Revenue Officer three years later.Before joining Bentley, Ballard held senior sales leadership positions at Dassault Systèmes’ DELMIA and Autodesk. At AVEVA, Ballard will join the company’s executive leadership team as the industrial software provider looks to continue expanding its business across sectors undergoing digital transformation.AVEVA CEO Caspar Herzberg said Ballard’s experience in technology sales and scaling technology businesses would be relevant to the company’s next phase.“I am delighted to welcome Brock to the Executive Leadership team at AVEVA, where we will benefit from his expertise, experience and commitment to building successful, high-growth tech companies,” Herzberg said.Ballard said he was joining the company at a time when industrial organisations are increasingly looking to technology to improve operations and resource management.“Having long admired AVEVA’s vision to drive innovation in the industries that deliver the essentials of life, I am delighted to be joining the executive leadership team,” Ballard said.Quense has led AVEVA’s revenue operations for the past five years and will remain involved with the company as an advisor. She will work with Ballard during the leadership transition and continue to advise the executive team.“In Brock, we have found someone who embodies the AVEVA values and shares our focus on driving innovation for our customers and enabling industries to thrive in our rapidly-evolving world,” Quense said.Ballard holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and information sciences from the University of Alabama.His appointment comes as industrial software companies increasingly compete to provide digital tools for manufacturers, energy companies and other asset-intensive industries seeking to modernise operations and integrate technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and industrial data analytics.
Read briefing Google has expanded access to its AI-powered learning tools for higher education students across Africa, offering eligible university and college students in 27 countries a free one-year subscription to Google AI Plus.The offer, announced on 25 August 2026, gives eligible students access to Google’s Gemini AI tools, including Gemini Omni, higher usage limits and 400GB of cloud storage shared across Google Drive, Gmail and Google Photos. Students in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and 24 other African countries will be able to access the offer, subject to verification of their student status.The move comes as universities and colleges across the continent increasingly explore how generative AI can be incorporated into teaching, research and academic work. Students are already using AI tools for tasks ranging from research and revision to understanding complex subjects and preparing coursework, although concerns around accuracy, academic integrity and responsible use remain. Google said its latest student offering is intended to provide tools that support the learning process rather than simply generate answers.Among the features available to students is a dedicated Student Hub within Gemini, where users can organise their studies, create practice quizzes and access different learning tools. Another feature, Study Notebooks, allows students to upload materials such as lecture notes, syllabi and reading materials. Gemini can then use those materials to help break down topics, identify areas where a student may need further study and generate lessons and quizzes.The platform also includes interactive visualisation capabilities that can generate 3D models, simulations, tables and other visual elements to help explain complex concepts. Students can additionally use Gemini Live and Deep Research to discuss research topics conversationally and generate multi-step research reports. Other learning features allow users to practise concepts and work through visual problems and diagrams.Alex Okosi, Managing Director for Google in Africa, said the initiative is aimed at expanding access to AI tools as the technology becomes increasingly relevant to education and employment.“Higher education requires students to research deeply, solve complex problems and continuously build new skills,” Okosi said. “As AI becomes an increasingly important tool for learning and work, we want to enable more students across Africa to access the resources they need to explore ideas, build knowledge and prepare for the future.”The expansion follows Google’s student AI offer introduced last year. Students who previously claimed the offer can renew their access for another 12 months, provided they complete the required student verification.Access to the programme is subject to eligibility requirements, with students required to verify their status through SheerID. The offer is available from 25 August 2026 and covers higher education students in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.The expansion comes as African universities face the dual challenge of increasing access to digital learning tools while developing policies around the responsible use of generative AI. Beyond access to the technology itself, institutions are increasingly having to consider how AI should be incorporated into academic research, assessment and teaching without undermining critical thinking or academic integrity.Google’s latest initiative therefore puts AI tools directly into the hands of a wider student population, while leaving universities and students to determine how the technology is incorporated into their academic work.
Read briefing Power and cooling infrastructure for artificial intelligence workloads will be among the topics on the agenda at International Telecoms Week (ITW) Africa 2026, where Vertiv will exhibit its data centre infrastructure technologies.The event, scheduled for 8 September 2026, comes as data centre operators and telecommunications companies across Africa face growing demand for infrastructure capable of supporting increasingly compute-intensive workloads.Vertiv will use its presence at the event to showcase technologies covering high-density power, liquid cooling, heat rejection and infrastructure management for AI applications. The company will also demonstrate its technologies through virtual and augmented reality experiences at Stand 404.The growing adoption of AI is putting additional pressure on data centre infrastructure. AI workloads can require significantly greater computing power and generate more heat than many traditional enterprise applications, increasing the demands placed on power distribution and cooling systems.These challenges are particularly relevant to Africa, where data centre operators are expanding capacity to support cloud services, digital platforms and emerging AI applications while also dealing with constraints around electricity availability, infrastructure costs and efficiency.Wojtek Piorko, Managing Director for Africa at Vertiv, is scheduled to participate in a panel discussion at ITW Africa titled “Designing Efficient and Sustainable Data Centres.” The session will take place on 8 September from 15:50 to 16:30.The discussion is expected to examine how data centre operators can balance rising computing requirements with the need to improve energy efficiency and sustainability.At its exhibition stand, Vertiv will demonstrate its infrastructure technologies using the Vertiv XR mobile application and virtual showroom, alongside virtual reality experiences focused on power and thermal management for AI environments.The company’s participation comes as investment in African data centre capacity continues to expand, driven by cloud adoption, digital services and the emergence of AI workloads. As operators increase computing density, infrastructure design is increasingly becoming a key consideration in determining how quickly new capacity can be deployed and how efficiently it can operate.For African technology leaders, the shift towards higher-density computing is also raising questions around the availability and cost of electricity, cooling requirements, data centre sustainability and the ability of existing facilities to accommodate AI infrastructure without major upgrades.
Read briefing The World Bank Group has imposed a minimum five-year debarment on Webmasters Kenya Limited and its founder and CEO, James Ayugi, citing fraudulent and obstructive practices during an international procurement process.The decision, contained in Sanctions Board Decision No. 147 (Sanctions Case No. 790), places renewed scrutiny on the Kenyan technology company, which has been associated with the development of eCitizen, Kenya’s central digital government services platform.According to findings published by the World Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency (INT), the misconduct occurred during procurement processes for development projects in Somalia.Webmasters Kenya submitted bids to develop a Single Business Registration System for Somalia’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry under two World Bank-financed programmes: the Somali Core Economic Institutions and Opportunities Project (SCORE) and the Somalia Capacity Advancement, Livelihoods and Entrepreneurship through Digital Uplift Project (SCALED-UP).The World Bank found that Webmasters Kenya included the CVs of two proposed key experts in its technical bids, indicating that the professionals were committed to and available for the contracts.However, when the World Bank contacted the individuals, both denied authorising the use of their CVs or consenting to being listed as key experts.The Sanctions Board found that the misrepresentation was intended to improperly secure a financial benefit of $98,000, which had been allocated for expert remuneration.The World Bank also found that Webmasters Kenya obstructed a subsequent investigation.Following concerns raised during the procurement process, the bank issued an audit letter in November 2022 requesting accounting records, subcontractor agreements, invoices and corporate financial information.Despite receiving extensions and 10 written reminders, according to the findings, Webmasters Kenya did not provide the requested records. The company instead submitted broader project deliverables and high-level timelines.The Sanctions Board concluded that the company had materially impeded the World Bank’s inspection and audit rights.Responding to the debarment, Ayugi described the matter as an “administrative lapse” and a “compliance issue”, while presenting it as a learning experience for local technology companies.He also pointed to the company’s work in Somalia, saying the system it deployed had enabled local businesses to register in less than three days.The World Bank’s debarment, however, remains in effect for a minimum of five years, subject to the company’s fulfilment of specified conditions for release from sanction.The decision is likely to draw increased scrutiny to Webmasters Kenya’s public-sector contracts, particularly given the company’s association with eCitizen, a critical component of Kenya’s digital government infrastructure.Webmasters Kenya bills the national government between $773,000 and $1.55 million (KSh100 million to KSh200 million) every month to run and support the eCitizen gateway. The payments come amid concerns over systemic vulnerabilities within the platform, with a recent report by Kenya’s Auditor-General raising questions over its financial controls.The audit found that $2.7 million (KSh349 million) was overcharged to citizens through unapproved convenience fees, while $982,000 (KSh127 million) in government revenue was allegedly diverted from the official Paybill number 222222 to unverified private bank accounts.
Read briefing In 2019, I attended a government seminar and delivered a presentation with a Cheeky title, “Digitising public sector bureaucracy”. My central argument was simple, and at the time it unsettled a few people in the room: most technology projects, in most organisations, were not eliminating bureaucracy at all. They were digitising it. And government, more than almost any other sector I had seen, was remarkably effective at exactly that — taking a slow, paper-bound, multi-signature process and turning it into a slow, screen-bound, multi-click process. Same friction, same delay, same lack of accountability—just faster typing.I coined a term for it that day, somewhat off the cuff: “digitising the bureaucracy.” It landed harder than I expected. The Permanent Secretary presiding over the session picked it up and repeated it back to the room in his closing remarks, using it as shorthand for exactly the trap I was warning against.That moment has stayed with me, because the pattern I described in 2019 hasn’t gone away — it has simply migrated. It is no longer confined to government digitisation programmes. It is now the defining risk of enterprise AI transformation. There is a quiet assumption sitting underneath most transformation programmes today: that technology is the fix. Buy the platform, deploy the model, automate the workflow, and the organisation will somehow become more disciplined, more efficient, more “digital.” It rarely works that way. What actually happens, far more often than boards like to admit, is that badly governed processes get automated at speed — and the chaos that used to move at the pace of a human simply starts moving at the pace of a machine.Every transformation slide deck tells roughly the same story: legacy process on the left, sleek digital future-state on the right, an arrow labelled “AI” or “automation” pointing from one to the other. What the arrow conveniently skips over is the actual condition of the process being transformed. Is it well controlled? Is ownership clear? Does anyone actually know why the process works the way it does, or has it simply calcified into “the way we’ve always done it”?Organisations that skip this question don’t get transformation. They get a faster, better-branded version of their existing problems. A reconciliation process with unclear accountability doesn’t become accountable because it’s now run through an RPA bot. A lending decision shaped by inconsistent judgement doesn’t become consistent because a model now makes it — it becomes consistently opaque, and considerably harder to interrogate after the fact.This is the trap: technology projects are approved and funded as efficiency and growth initiatives, sitting under profit and transformation mandates, while the governance question — should we even be automating this, and is it safe to do so — gets treated as a downstream implementation detail rather than a precondition.Culture rarely appears on a transformation roadmap, and that omission is itself revealing. Culture is what determines whether risk gets raised or buried, whether a control failure is escalated or quietly worked around, whether “the system told me to” becomes an acceptable answer to an auditor. No amount of technology sophistication compensates for a culture where people don’t feel safe naming a problem.This matters more, not less, as organisations adopt AI. Automated systems don’t just execute a process — they encode an organisation’s tolerances. A culture that tolerates ambiguous ownership will produce an AI deployment with ambiguous ownership. A culture that treats controls as a compliance checkbox rather than a genuine safeguard will deploy AI the same way: as a checkbox exercise, rushed to production because a deadline is louder than a risk register.Technology inherits the culture of the organisation that builds it. If the culture is chaotic, the technology will digitise that chaos with impressive fidelity.There’s a persistent framing, especially in fast-moving technology functions, that controls and risk exist to slow things down — the department that says no while everyone else tries to ship. This framing is not just unhelpful, it inverts the actual value controls provide. A control is what allows an organisation to move quickly with confidence, because it defines the boundaries within which speed is safe.Controls that are designed after a system is already in production are not controls. They are documentation of what already happened, useful mainly for the post-incident review. Real control design has to happen before the technology decision is made — as part of the technology decision — not layered on afterward as a governance patch.This is precisely why AI Operations as a discipline matters: it is not simply “operations, but with AI in it.” It is the deliberate practice of building operating models where control design, risk appetite, and human accountability are established before the automation goes live, not reconstructed after something goes wrong. Enterprise AI transformation done properly is a controls-first exercise wearing a technology coat.
Read briefing Rosemary Kimwatu Koech, Head of Data Protection at KCB Bank Group, has died, CIO Africa has learnt. She passed away at her home in Ngong on Friday morning. She was a well-known figure in Kenya’s technology, fintech, legal and data protection communities.Koech’s death brings to an end a career that spanned nearly two decades across law, public policy, technology, fintech and data protection, with her work increasingly focused on one of the most important issues facing organisations in the digital economy: how personal data is collected, processed and protected.The circumstances surrounding her death have not yet been disclosed. Her family is yet to issue a public statement on the cause of death.Koech joined KCB Bank Group in June 2022 as Data Protection Officer, transitioning from Safaricom PLC, where she had served as Public Policy Manager. She was subsequently appointed Head of Data Protection in June 2023, taking responsibility for the Group’s data protection compliance. Her move to KCB was reported by CIO Africa in 2022, when she announced the transition from Safaricom, describing it as a “season of growth and transition” and an opportunity to take on a new challenge.Before joining Safaricom in 2020, Koech had built a career that brought together legal expertise, public policy and the technology industry. She previously served as Head of Public Policy and Legal and Regulatory Specialist at Oxygène Marketing Communications, and held senior legal and regulatory roles at technology and fintech companies including WayaWaya and MODE.Her career began in marketing before she moved into industrial relations and legal practice. She subsequently worked as a Legal and Administrative Officer at Caritas Nairobi before moving into the technology sector.Beyond her corporate roles, Koech was deeply involved in Kenya’s wider technology ecosystem. At the time of her death, she served as a member of the Board of Trustees of KICTANet, a board member of the Association of Fintechs in Kenya and a director and board member at KeNIC TLD. She also chaired the Data Protection Working Group at the Kenya Bankers Association and served as an operational board member of Legal Hackers as a volunteer.These positions placed her at the intersection of some of Kenya’s most important digital policy conversations, including data protection, financial technology, internet governance, cybersecurity, regulation and the responsible use of technology.Koech’s career was notable for the way it evolved alongside Kenya’s rapidly changing digital economy. Her legal background gave her an understanding of regulation and governance, while her years working with technology companies, telecommunications and financial institutions put her close to the practical challenges created by digital transformation.This became particularly relevant as Kenya’s data protection framework developed and organisations began grappling with the requirements of the Data Protection Act and the growing importance of privacy and responsible data management.At KCB, she was part of the leadership responsible for navigating these issues within one of East Africa’s largest banking groups. But her influence extended beyond her day job. Through KICTANet, the Kenya Bankers Association, the Association of Fintechs in Kenya, KeNIC and other industry platforms, Koech participated in conversations that brought together technology companies, policymakers, regulators and other stakeholders.For many in Kenya’s technology community, she was therefore more than a data protection professional. She was part of a generation of professionals helping shape the rules and institutions around the country’s digital economy.Her academic and professional background reflected that intersection. Koech held a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi and an Advanced Diploma in Public Relations from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.Her career demonstrated how legal expertise could be applied beyond traditional legal practice, particularly as technology increasingly became intertwined with regulation, public policy and business, earning her a place in our inaugural Most Influential Women in Digital Transformation list in 2020.Koech leaves behind a professional legacy in an area that has become increasingly central to Kenya’s digital future: ensuring that innovation and the use of data are accompanied by accountability, privacy and trust.At the time of publication, her family had not yet communicated details regarding funeral arrangements. CIO Africa will update this story as more information becomes available.
Read briefing Kenyan organisations are facing a cyber threat environment that looks increasingly similar to what is being seen globally, but the biggest risks are often coming from vulnerabilities and security practices that have been known for years.The latest ESET Threat Report, which analyses threat activity since December 2025 using ESET telemetry and research, suggests that attackers are continuing to rely on familiar techniques such as malicious email attachments, phishing, outdated software and exposed remote desktop services. At the same time, artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly intertwined with the threat landscape, both as a target for attackers and as a tool for developing and carrying out attacks.ESET said it analysed around 900,000 AI skills globally, identifying more than 3,000 that were outright malicious. However, for Kenyan organisations, the more immediate concern may not be emerging AI-driven attacks but the continued effectiveness of conventional techniques.“The threats facing Kenya are the same around the world, and email remains one of the most reliable ways of getting ransomware into the organisation,” says Allan Juma, Lead Cyber Security Engineer at ESET.Malicious email attachments continue to provide attackers with a relatively straightforward way into organisations. According to ESET, scripts accounted for 46.2% of malicious email attachments detected during the reporting period. Microsoft Office documents followed at 14.4%, PDFs at 11.9% and archives at 9.7%.Kenya broadly follows the same pattern, indicating that attackers do not necessarily need highly sophisticated techniques to compromise organisations. Instead, commonly used file formats and social engineering remain effective because employees continue to interact with them as part of their normal work.Another established technique is also becoming more prominent. QR code phishing, commonly known as “quishing”, reached record levels globally during the reporting period. About 11% of detected phishing emails contained a QR code, often directing victims to websites through their personal smartphones. The approach can be particularly useful to attackers because the victim may move from a corporate computer, where security controls are in place, to a personal mobile device that is subject to different protections.In Kenya, ESET telemetry recorded a 145% increase in quishing between the second half of 2025 and the first half of 2026. ESET cautions that the comparison is based on an incomplete baseline and should therefore be viewed as directional rather than a precise measure of growth.Kenya’s overall share of quishing activity remains below that of some major markets. North America, for example, accounted for 12.4% of detections, suggesting that the technique may still have considerable room to expand in Kenya.“QR codes have been adopted everywhere and are a convenience that attackers are counting on,” says Tony Anscombe, Chief Security Evangelist at ESET. “Many people still scan a QR code without stopping to consider where it leads.”Perhaps more significant for Kenyan organisations is the continued exploitation of vulnerabilities that should have been addressed years ago. ESET recorded more than a doubling of exploitation attempts against CVE-2017-0199 in Kenya between the second half of 2025 and the first half of 2026. The vulnerability affects outdated Microsoft Office installations and can allow malicious code to execute when a victim opens a specially crafted document.First disclosed in 2017, CVE-2017-0199 remains among the most frequently detected vulnerabilities globally in ESET’s latest report. It has also reportedly been incorporated into commercially available attack frameworks, including GhostX, which has been sold through dark web marketplaces. Its continued effectiveness in Kenya highlights a problem that extends beyond the vulnerability itself. For organisations running outdated software, an old vulnerability can remain a viable attack route long after security researchers and vendors have identified the weakness and issued fixes.The issue is also reflected in the exposure of remote desktop services. ESET found instances of remote desktop endpoints accessible from the public internet, including systems running versions of Windows that are no longer supported. Such systems can provide attackers with a direct path into an organisation when they have not been properly patched, secured or restricted.“The key takeaway is to do the basics,” says Juma. “Patch your endpoints, protect them at a minimum standard, and stop using default ports and passwords. Too much of what we are seeing comes down to organisations not doing the fundamentals.”The Kenyan threat landscape is also seeing increased activity from malware designed to steal information and deliver additional malicious payloads. ESET telemetry recorded a pronounced increase in Aotera, an infostealer and dropper that has become the fourth most frequently detected malware family in Kenya. Aotera can be used to deliver other malware, including AgentTesla, Formbook, PureLogs, PhantomStealer and Vidar. The connection is significant because the payloads being delivered in Kenya are not isolated threats. They include malware families that are already widely used internationally.
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