CIO East Africa

JAMES KIZZA

Journey to the scooping of the East Africa’s CIO of the Year Award

CYBERSECURITY

THE VC WATCH-LIST

DOING BUSINESS

DATA PROTECTION

Challenges in the year ahead

Experience in 2019 and beyond

Shall it get easier for SMEs in 2020?

Kenya’s milestone in handling data

VOL 11 | ISSUE 11 | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 /CIOEastAfrica

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Editor

Guest Editor

From digital operator to digital orchestrator

Is it getting easier for SMEs to do business in Africa?

JAMES KIZZA

Journey to the scooping of the East Africa’s CIO of the Year Award

NEWSBYTES

THINKING ALOUD

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HARD TALK

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CIO EDITORIAL TEAM

MANAGING EDITOR Humphrey Odhiambo

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PUBLISHER Harry Hare

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Andrew Karanja

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Laura Chite

TECH WRITERS Sid Chudasama | Molly Wasonga | Ambrose Gahene |

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TECH COLUMNISTS Francis Mwangi | Robert Yawe | Michael Michie |

MARKETING MANAGER Vanessa Obura

SALES MANAGER Josephine Soi

EVENTS MANAGER Ellen Magembe

FINANCE MANAGER Norah Kirumba

EVENTS ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

EVENTS PLAN LEAD

Mellisa Dorsila | Joan Jepkosgei | Justin Maganga | Felix Moturi | Stacey Njeri

ADMIN STAFF

WEB DESIGNER

TRAINING

David Muli

PHOTOGRAPHY Arthur Kintu

BUSINESS CONSULTANT Njambi Waruhiu

Bonface Shikuku Videlis Syovata Priscilla Egehitsa Daniel Mwaha Rose Waguthi

CREATIVE DESIGN Sam Morara | Infobox Media

Francis Mwangi, MD, Zindua Technologies Francis demonstartes how security was a critical component of every technology that is in use today and wil continue to do so while organizations deploy innovations and trailblazing applications.

Robert Yawe, CEO, SYNAptech Technologies In Hard Talk, Robert highlights how we keep discussing Big Data (BD), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) yet we are doing very little to collect the underlying data required to make these technologies worthwhile and indeed feasible to invest in.

Michael Michie, CIO, TripleOKLaw Shares insights about ethical concerns in AI observing that we have an overwhelming tendency to focus on consequences of the action or even non-action of AI. He argues that by looking at things from the perspective of consequences stifles the thinking.

Samo Bryton, CEO, Alternative Agency

Molly Wasonga, Tech Writer

In the article B2B Marketing 101, Samo stresses on the need for vendors to understand their markets and connect their businesses to specific target audience.

Misty Malan, Lead Channel Manager - KnowBe4 Africa Misty higlights how cyber-attacks needs to be addressed as automation and other technological advancements contue to transform the way we work.

Sid Chudasama, Techwriter In this edition, Sid has captued a roundup of inspiring activties happening across the East African region besides walking us through some trending social media highlights.

Soromfe Uzomah, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Microsoft 4Afrika

Ambrose Gahene, Tech Writer

Soromfe highlights how digital platforms can quickly process and streamline administrative tasks, giving SMEs back precious time and money to focus on doing, and growing business.

In this edition, Ambrose highlights about the latest digital tranformation oriented activities unfolding in Uganda..

Tania Ngima, CEO - DEMO Ventures

Arthur Kuwashima, Lead Photographer

Tania reviews how 2019 has been a riveting year in Venture Capital owing to some spectacular investments, a trend that’s primed to persist in 2020 and beyond.

In this edition Arthur has captured compelling images that have added life to the articles telling the story of East Africa’s steady transformation.

EXECUTIVE TEAM

Harry Hare Chairman & Publisher

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Andrew Karanja Laura Chite Director, CIO EA CEO, CIO East Africa

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Molly a rising star tech writer has in this edition written about the inspiring journey of Nikki Summers, Regional Director, Sage East Africa besides other articles roundedup from various sources. Among the special segments being the who-is-who appointed in various companies located within the Eastern Africa region.

SALES TEAM

Norah Kirumba Finance Manager

Vanessa Obura Marketing Manager

Josephine Soi Sales Manager

TECH DESK

David Muli IT Account Lead

ADMIN

Videlis Syovata AdmiNstrator

editor.

From the

From digital operator to digital orchestrator

T

oday’s changing role of the CIO marks a more refreshed beginning particularly in the business circles. Reason? Well, historically; Information Technology has owned the role of technology steward. They’ve maintained systems, mitigated risks, and ensured compliance – a role equated with gatekeeping. That role is quickly changing. Aha! Changing to what?

Well, today’s CIOs space have evolved beyond the traditional role as the IT gatekeeper. It is a role that was bound to change purposely to help navigate the testy waters of an evolving enterprise and a quickly changing digital economy. But it’s not enough to just stay afloat. IT must digitally transform, too - from maintaining backend systems to enabling technologies where the user experience is paramount.

This dramatic shift couldn’t be articulated better as was demonstrated during the ninth edition of the East Africa CIO Symposium & Awards hosted on 22nd – 23rd in Naivasha, Kenya.

The session themed: Harnessing Innovation in the Era of Automation shared successful use-cases both in government and private sector the reasons as to why IT departments must quickly move from a maintenance role to an innovative partner, with CIOs leading the way.

While a spot-check survey sampling 300 CIOs and Heads of IT revealed that 95% of CIOs expect their jobs to change or be remixed owing to digitization, 84 percent were of the view that CIOs already have responsibility for areas of the business outside traditional IT - the most common being innovation and transformation.

who are trusted to move the business forward.

They’re tasked with developing innovative business processes, implementing new technology, ensuring seamless integrations, and helping to demonstrate a return on technology investments.

HUMPHREY ODHIAMBO

Managing Editor

Different speakers attested to the fact that, CIOs today are likely to focus more on influencing the purchase of a range of technologies, and on nurturing talent and innovation across the business – a good news to CMOs, CFOs and even the CEOs. However, this position comes with some added responsibilities in the partnership and collaboration department. It’s imperative for CIOs and CMOs to work together at the top to ensure the long-term success and viability of any new technology investment - not just in the spirit of collaboration, but for the sake of the business.

CMOs who take the deliberate step to loop their technology departments into buying decisions early can ensure that every system works seamlessly together — and that every technology investment is truly good for the business, rather than the next flashy trend.

As we begin the New Year, it is worth singing and dancing to the tune of a digital orchestrator other than a sheer digital operator.

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With innovation kicking in on the platform of digital transformation, the IT leaders are now more compelled to think more like business leaders

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The content of CIO East Africa is protected by copyright law, full details of which are available from the publisher. While great care has been taken in the receipt and handling of material, production and accuracy of content in this magazine, the publisher will not accept any responsility for any errors, loss or ommisions which may occur.

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GUEST

editorial



Is it getting easier for SMEs to do business in Africa?

The 2020 World Bank Doing Business report was recently released, and shows the overall business climate in subSaharan Africa is steadily improving. Looking at the ease of starting and maintaining a business, the region as a whole improved one percentage point over the last year, with a few standout countries. Mauritius and Rwanda rank among the top 20 countries globally, while Nigeria and Togo are among the top global improvers.

In the last year, countries across the region implemented 73 reforms, removing certain red tapes and obstacles for SMEs. While this is positive development, sub-Saharan Africa is still classified as a weak-performing region overall, with an average ease of doing business score of 51.8 – below the global average of 63.0.

Small businesses continue to battle with challenges including unreliable electricity, property registration, tax payment and debt management. But one trend is clear: As levels of internet access, technology adoption and digital innovation improve, so do many of these challenges.

The enabling power of technology

SOROMFE UZOMAH, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Microsoft 4Afrika

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The use of online systems for tax filing, for instance, improved the ease of doing business scores in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mauritius and Togo. Nigeria also introduced the e-payment of trade fees, reducing the time to import and export, and an online platform for registering businesses, strengthening its ranking. Globally, markets that scored the highest in the report all have widespread use of

www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

electronic platforms.

Digital platforms are able to more quickly process and streamline administrative tasks, giving SMEs back precious time and money to focus on doing, and growing, business. Removing the burden of paperwork and long queues also has an incredible motivating factor. When the Kenya Copyright Board worked with Microsoft to develop an online, automated platform to help SMEs register intellectual property (IP), registrations increased by 100 percent.

Additionally, one study found that the knock-on effect of increased IP registration is economies that are 26 percent more competitive and twice as likely to produce and export complex, knowledge-intensive products.

SMEs are eager to adopt these digital services to improve their productivity. In South Africa, The State of Small Business report found that 78 percent of small businesses surveyed choose accounting software to manage their financial records.

Foundations of access needed But, the same report found

that more than half of SMEs list internet access as their principal obstacle to adopting technology. The accessibility and success of these digital platforms depends on reliable access to electricity and the internet. In terms of connectivity, many African countries are still below the 20 percent critical mass necessary to achieve improved efficiencies and information flows for economic growth and innovation.

To tackle this, more investments into reliable infrastructure are needed.

However, while infrastructure develops, innovation can help to bridge the gap. In Nigeria, ICE Commercial Power has introduced an off-grid, solarpowered solution to connect 10,000 SMEs to electricity.

The solar grids are linked to a Microsoft cloud-computing platform, which enables remote maintenance of the equipment (reducing any downtime) and lets SMEs manage and pay for their electricity use as they go.

Similarly, in Kenya, Mawingu Networks has introduced Wi-Fi hotspots run on solar-powered base stations, connecting some 600 SMEs in Nanyuki to highspeed, low-cost internet.

An ecosystem for growth and development While governments can play a leading role in building supportive business climates for SMEs, the responsibility doesn’t sit solely with

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editorial GUEST

them. Public and private sector organisations can collaborate on building an enabling ecosystem, where private-sector innovation and services are backed by public-sector policy to accelerate growth.

Recently, the United Kingdom took regulatory action by forming the Banking Competition Remedies Ltd, which administers funding directly to financial institutions that address SME needs. While this action was specific to the banking industry, it’s a great example of public-private collaboration to learn from. Africa’s market for digital solutions targeting SMEs is vibrant. In East Africa, Africa 118 provides directory and marketing services to SMEs, while Popote Payments supports budgeting, expenditure tracking and accounting.

In West Africa, SpacePointe helps SMEs build affordable online marketplaces and ecommerce strategies. Finally, FirstBank, Vodacom (and soon to be Jumia) have all partnered with Microsoft to offer a discounted package of technology and educational resources to their SME customers.

While the private sector has historically taken the lead investing in these kinds of solutions, the United Kingdom example demonstrates ways the public sector can get involved, encouraging innovation that benefits small business growth.

The shared benefits of supporting small businesses are numerous.

Governments benefit from boosted economies and job creation. Privatesector businesses attract a large and lucrative consumer base. And SMEs are able to access the resources they need to succeed. Key to this collaboration will be involving SMEs very much in the innovation and policy-making process – ensuring their needs are meaningfully heard and met.

A compilation of trends leading up to #CIO100AwardsEA, CIO East Africa will host the forum themed; “Harnessing technology in the age of automation” aiming to reward various businesses for implementing and utilizing technology in their respective fields.

Outlining the deliberations technology would bring about to the advancement of the industry.

TWITTER “The country is moving towards a digital nation and we should all move in tandem” Mercy Wanjau, Ag DG CA “Strategy, not technology, should drive transformation with an effective risk based approach to cyber security” Bassam Touma, Shelt “Core building blocks of cloud computing; Storage, networking, deployed as a platform

within the private and public cloud” – Michael Wilson, VMware SSA “The core drivers of digital business, are fundamentally different from the traditional drivers” -Pepper the robot “The banking world is aligning itself towards online channels” -Lanre Bamisebi, CIO, Equity Bank.

FACEBOOK “Technology as an enabler is here to help us do more jobs with less people and not the same jobs with less people.” – Parag Mendiretta “Well behaved women seldom make history.” – Laura Chite, CEO CIO Robotics, Machine Learning, Big Data, Blockchain and the many other technology buzz words, are they an opportunity or a threat? Kate Krukiel, Sera Afrika

What you say is not only what you are but who you are. Use new media platforms wisely for communication and maintain integrity both in real life and social media.

Your brand lives online! –Ali Hussein, finteXX Speak up, be confident, mentor your juniors, do not be afraid to make mistakes, crack a balance between work and family, be inquisitive, be different. And do not conform if you do not have to. – Tonia Kariuki, Tellistic

LINKEDIN Make cyber security fun, think about games that will instill a think twice before you click culture” –Misty Malan, channel lead KnowB4 “Through automation, we create efficiency by lowering mundane tasks” – George Njuguna, CIO Safaricom “The commands and structures that held organizations a decade ago are gone, they

By Soromfe Uzomah, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Microsoft 4Afrika

10 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

must now evolve with the current situation to align with current brand.” – Agnes Gathaiya, CEO IPSL “Speak up when you can’t do it. It helps one realign and recalibrate their priorities and it takes time and courage.” Gladys Kimani, “You have got to be ruthlessly selfish about who you pick as your mentor”- Tonia Kariuki Tellistic

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New Appointments

BY MOLLY WASONGA

Eddy Kayihura appointed Afrinic’s CEO

The search for the AFRINIC’s next chief executive officer is over after Mr. Eddy Mabano Kayihura was selected the next CEO after a rigorous recruitment process with effect 04 November 2019.

Kayihura, brings a wealth of experience acquired over a period of more than 20 years as a CEO and CIO, a network engineer, software developer among other positions in the IT and Telecommunications industry.

the Bank of Kigali, the largest Bank in Rwanda, where he managed a team of over 70 engineers and business specialists in charge of running both the IT department as well as the Digital business of the Bank.

Before his appointment as AFRINIC’s CEO, Kayihura worked as a telecommunication, financial technology (fin-tech), and IT infrastructure consultant in Rwanda.

Mr. Kayihura holds an MBA International Business from Oklahoma Christian University, a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from the National University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda, and numerous other professional qualifications.

Between December 2016 and December 2018, he was the CIO at

Airtel Appoints the General Manager Africa African telecoms operator, AirtelTigo, announced the appointment of Murthy Chaganti as the new Chief Executive Officer after playing a key role in the successful integration process of Airtel Ghana and Millicom Ghana, following the merger of the two telecommunications giants in Ghana as the then COO. Following the completion of the integration in record time, the first of its kind in Africa and delivering significant savings in operating expense (OPEX), Chaganti assumed the additional responsibility of leading the commercial function to focus and deliver growth, which saw a turnaround of data growth.

Chaganti brings a wealth of experience in General Management, Commercial and Business Strategy, Sales and Marketing, having spent over 20-years in various roles within the Telecommunication and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sectors in Ghana and India.

12 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

Before joining AirtelTigo on 3rd January 2018 as COO, Chaganti served in senior leadership roles in the telecommunication industry in India. As the CEO of the Gujarat Circle, Bharti Airtel India, he led the turnaround of this multi-million business by delivering quality network and superior customer experience in the process, achieving the highest ever revenue market share gain.

He was the Head of Business at Chennai and Andhra Pradesh Circles of Aircel India, where he led the launch of Aircel, establishing Aircel as the brand of choice in data through innovative go-to-market initiatives and ultimately building a marketleading business.

Chaganti holds an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the XLRI Business School in Jamshedpur, India and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Osmania University College of Engineering in Hyderabad, India.

Going...going...gone.

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THE REGULATOR

THE REGULATOR

ICT regulator urges parents to monitor children online consumption trends

Mrs. Mercy Wanjau, Ag. Director General, Communication Authority

ICT regulator Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has urged parents and other guardians to be on the look out on the content their children consumer online, especially during the ongoing long holidays.

Speaking at a consumer outreach event at Embu County, Mr. Gituku said CA’s national cybersecurity centre had observed a sharp increase in the number of cyber-threats and incidents in the country, rising from 11.3million in the quarter ending in March 30 to 26.6 million between April 1 to June 30 this year.

“It is not enough to purchase smartphones and other devices and leave children on their own without providing the required guidance and controls,” the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) Board Chair, Mr. Ngene Gituku, has said.

The CA Board Chairman said the Authority has a lot of online and physical Children Online

Protection materials that could assist parents and guardians guarantee the safety of children online, and urged Embu residents to take advantage of the education resources.

Speaking at the same event, organized jointly

by CA and the County Government of Embu, CA acting Director General Mrs. Mercy Wanjau said Embu residents enjoy good 2G and 3G mobile connectivity, with a respective population coverage of 99.8% and 88.2%.

Mrs. Wanjau said ICTs, if well harnessed, could contribute to increased food productivity in Embu and thus contribute to the government’s Big 4 Agenda on food security.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

6th February 2020 14 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

Newsbytes COMPILED BY SID CHUDASAMA & AMBROSE GAHENE

Rwanda unveils electric motorcycles and bicycles Shared electric motorcycles will be launched in Rwanda this week as part of broader efforts toward smart cities and a clean energy-oriented transport arrangement.

New mobile app, helping Kenyan farmers thrive

Safi Ltd, a local start-up behind the technology for shared electric bicycles and motorcycles, says it aims to increase the options for public transport and promote the use of bikes.

“We are here in Rwanda because of the approach we have seen the Government taking in reducing the use fossil fuel (such as the car-free day) as one of the key aspects toward achieving a cleaner environment,” Tony Adesina, the Founder and the Chief Executive of Safi Ltd, told reporters in Kigali.

The arrangement will first be rolled out in Kigali, Huye, Rubavu and Musanze.

“As we unveil this innovation, it is key to understand that it comes with different arms, including the construction of stations where the bikes will be stationed, skill development centres where operators will be quarterly receiving intensive training and an assembling plant for the bikes which will all enhance the employability of Rwandans,” Adesina noted.

Based on the several government clean energy initiatives, he added, penetrating the local market will not be a challenge.

East Africa CLOUD & SECURITY SUMMIT (RWANDA) 26th – 27th March

FarmSmart, in partnership with London-based technical consultancy Amido, announced earlier this week that it has launched an innovative mobile app that not only shares essential, sustainable and climate-smart farming knowledge to Kenyan farmers but also provides tailored recommendations for farmers based on location, soil type, season and irrigation access.

With an easy to use UX, the app provides an immersive learning experience, taking the user through all stages of the growing process, including identifying pests and diseases, making organic pesticides, right through to post-harvest tips. Also, the app includes links to chat groups, allowing the farmers to communicate, share information and eventually sell their produce.

“At Amido we believe that technology, and particularly its ability to empower people with greater knowledge and understanding of the world around them, has a massive role to play in helping us live more sustainable, and have a low impact and environmentally responsible life,” says Amido CEO, Alan Walsh.

“The FarmSmart project has been a

16 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

very significant CSR investment and is an example of how our technology has a positive impact, by helping embed sustainability into communities all around the world.”

“FarmSmart is a powerful tool that revolutionises how organisations working with farmers disseminate sustainable farming content. For farmers, it recommends what to grow and takes them through how to grow the recommended plot or crop.

Through its easy to use the platform and immersive content, FarmSmart is about empowering anyone to be an agri-entrepreneur,” says FarmSmart’s founder, Alia Malik.

The FarmSmart app is now available for download from the Google Play Store or by visiting the FarmSmart website.

IOT DEVELOPMENT ON TRACK IN KENYA The Internet of Things (IoT) revolution is gaining momentum in East Africa as use cases for the technology continue to grow by the day.

I

n August, CIO East Africa held its third IoT & AI summit in Nairobi. The event brought together leading industry experts and stakeholders to discuss how these emerging technologies can help drive digital transformation in the region.

As an exhibitor and sponsor of the event, Liquid Telecom took the opportunity to showcase its IoT network and solutions as well as demonstrate the benefits the technology can bring to business and society.

Through its partnership with Sigfox, Liquid Telecom has been building Kenya’s first and fastest growing IoT network. The network already covers key areas of the country, including the Narobi-Central Kenya transport corridor, all county HQs and other major towns as well as all airports and seaports, and will eventually cover up to 85% of the Kenyan population.

“We’re very excited and happy that we are in a position to provide the country with cutting edge technology that has the potential to improve lives and support the economy,” says Adil Yousesefi, CEO of Liquid Telecom East Africa From cutting costs to streamlining operations and offering new insights into a business, there are endless benefits from adopting IoT technology. Asset-heavy industries such as utilities, logistics and manufacturing in particular look set to be early adopters of IoT technology in East Africa.

“We see interest in all major use-cases, such as manufacturing, logistics, health and agriculture. But what we’ve seen people most excited about is service and product tracking. People are seeing IoT solutions as being far superior in terms of capability, cost and features,” says Adil.

IoT use cases The use cases for IoT are in fact growing by the day in Kenya. For example, the technology could play a starring role in wildlife conservation.

Earlier this year, Liquid Telecom helped establish a Conservation Tech Lab at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya which is being used to research, trial and develop new technology-based solutions to conservancy challenges.

The Conservation Tech Lab is already monitoring cattle movements using IoT solutions provided by Liquid Telecom, and this technology will soon be adapted to track rhino - making a significant difference to their security and data collection. In the long term, IoT is expected to play a critical role in protecting endangered species from poachers and improving overall wildlife management.

Meanwhile, Liquid Telecom’s IoT network in Western Kenya and Nyanza is being used to monitor and protect freshwater fish populations.

Fish production has been declining steadily throughout Kenya. In response, Liquid Telecom connected ten pilot-phase sensors that monitor water temperature and pH values in ponds. The sensors send information and feeding instructions to farmers through an Android and iOS app called AquaRech, which has been developed by the Kisumu innovation technology hub LakeHub and developers Pinovate.

The IoT network is also being used to combat air pollution in Kenyan cities.

Through a partnership with Africa’s largest non-profit civic technology network Code for Africa (CfA), Liquid Telecom installed air quality sensors at 3,000 sites across Kenya.

According to results from the pilot project, Nairobi’s air quality is averaging 45% to 65% above the minimum safe pollutant levels set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

With extended network coverage likely to generate more benefits and insights for businesses and governments throughout the region, the IoT revolution is just beginning in East Africa: “Everyone needs to ask themselves what they need to do to make this unstoppable technology pay-off for them,” summarises Adil.

For more information on our IoT network, visit: www.liquidtelecom.com

www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

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NEWSBYTES

PS ISSUES ULTIMATUM TO INSTITUTIONS ON E PROCUREMENT THE Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Planning Mr Doto James has directed the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to ensure that all public procuring institutions are joining in the online base procurement system

by December this year.

Mr James said in Dar es salaam yesterday that there were no any scapegoat for the remaining institutions to join the online system dubbed Tanzania National Online e-procurement System (TANeP) for advertising and processing procurement bids among the public institutions as it was already tested and proved to be of numerous benefit to all involved parties and was to cut costs of nearly 36bn/-.

“I have been told that so far, a total of 418 public procurement institutions have joined TANeP electronic procurement system under PPRA. This is equivalent to 77.4 per cent of the 540 institutions. I want to make it clear that no institution will be allowed to use manual system as per January next year,” he emphasized.

Doto said that TANeP procurement system was set to benefit all bidders by ensuring equality and reducing costs as no one was forced to move from a region to another to present tender documents and it will eliminate tediousness of paper work and eliminate corruptive actions and allegations.

Other benefits of the electronic system include putting fair competitive environment among bidders and openness, save time, reduce procurement transaction costs and increase accountability among the procuring institutions.

Kenya’s agritech startup Twiga Food secures $30M to digitize food distribution

Kenyan food distribution startup, Twiga Foods has raised $23.75 million in a Series B equity round led by Goldman Sachs. The round also saw participation from existing investors including the International Finance Corporation, TLcom Capital and Creadev. An additional $6 million in debt was raised from OPIC and Alpha Mundi.

Twiga Foods says the Series B will fund the continued development of its proprietary technology and logistics assets to support the roll-out of its distribution system and lay the foundations for expansion into other cities on the continent.

Twiga operates a mobile-based, cashless platform to aggregate urban retail demand, offering thousands of small and medium-sized vendors convenient one-stop shop ordering. Retailers have access to lower-cost, higher-quality fresh produce and processed food, conveniently and reliably delivered to their doorstep within 18 hours of ordering. As a result, farmers and food manufacturers have guaranteed access to a fairly priced, transparent marketplace. Twiga pays farmers within 48 hours of collection with mobile money, providing them with increased income visibility and permitting better financial planning.

18 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

Twiga is also tackling inefficiencies in the supply chain, helping to reduce food prices for consumers. Currently, between 30 and 50 percent of fresh produce is lost through poor post-harvest processes.

Through investment in its supply chain and material handling, Twiga says it has reduced the level of food waste by up to 70% compared to the market averages.

“Twiga’s innovative model combines technology and modern logistics tailored to the local market to re-engineer the food supply chain. We are delighted to be backing Peter and the highly capable team as they scale operations and drive sustainable access to lower cost quality food on the continent.” Jules Frebault of Goldman Sachs said.

With Sub-Saharan Africa’s population set to double over the next 30 years, access to reliable and affordable food sources for consumers and guaranteed markets for farmers are essential for effective food distribution.

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Vodacom launches Tanzania’s first smart feature phones

Vodacom Tanzania PLC, Tanzania’s leading cellular network company, has today announced the launch of the first smart feature phone, Smart Kitochi, operating on KaiOS, the leading mobile operating system for smart feature phones.

AIRTEL LAUNCHES 4G IN TANZANIA Airtel Tanzania, the country’s third largest mobile operator by subscribers, has announced the launch of LTEservices in the capital Dodoma. Local newspaper The Citizen reports that the 4G network will be rolled out to a further 25 towns and cities in the near future.

Airtel is the country’s latest mobile operator to enter the 4G sector, following launches by rivals Vodacom Tanzania, Millicom Tanzania (Tigo), Smile Communications and Tanzania Telecommunication Corporation (TTCL), notes TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database.

This new launch serves as a milestone, for both the companies and the country, as it is the first smart feature phone available in the Tanzanian market, starting at a discounted price of TZS 48,000 ($ 20). The device also comes with a special offer from Vodacom, which include a monthly bundle of 4GB data, 100 Mins Talk time and 500 SMS for the first 6 months.

The Smart Kitochi comes with access to popular apps like WhatsApp, Google Assistant, Facebook, YouTube, and many more giving more Tanzanians access to the internet society.

Equipped with smartphone-like features such as Wi-Fi, GPS, the device also comes with a hybrid dual-SIM slot that can support two SIM cards with 4GB + 512MB RAM memory. It also boasts a powerful 1400mAh battery, which enables up to 6 hours of talking time. While exclusively available in Tanzania upon release today, the device will be available in other African countries soon.

“We’re excited to introduce the first smart feature phone in the market alongside our partner KaiOS Technologies,” says George Lugata, Vodacom’s Executive Head of Sales. “Despite wide coverage of network in the country, we still face a challenge of digital divide caused by low smartphone penetration so by introducing the Smart Kitochi, we’ll bring valuable digital services and information to this market at a price that people can afford.”

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6th February 2020

KaiOS is a light operating system, which enables a new category of affordable smart feature phones that require limited memory, while still offering a rich user experience. It supports 3G + 4G/LTE, Wi-Fi, GPS and Hotspot. KaiOS-enabled phones come with popular apps and services like

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WhatsApp, Google Assistant, Facebook, YouTube, and Google Maps, as well as a store for apps called the KaiStore with over two hundred essential apps and counting, from global and local content providers. It is now the third largest mobile operating system worldwide, running on over 100 million devices shipped across Europe, Africa, Asia and Americas.

“The digital divide across Africa as a whole remains very large,” adds Sebastien Codeville, CEO of KaiOS Technologies. “We’re incredibly focused on establishing partnerships and delivering mobile technology that addresses this issue, which is why we’re so thrilled to be working with Vodacom. The Smart Kitochi is a key step in connecting those who remain disconnected from mobile internet and all of the valuable resources in Tanzania and beyond.”

“Smart Kitochi is available now across all Vodacom shops and service desks in the country at a discounted price of Tzs. 48,000. Therefore, I encourage our customers to buy these devices so they can make use of our Mtandao Supa using apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and more using the smart feature phone”, concluded Lugata.

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FON, Akamai partner to render Africa optimized digital services Frontier Optical Networks based in Kenya has partnered with Akamai, to deliver secure and affordable digital experiences in Africa.

Akamai’s intelligent edge platform surrounds everything, from the enterprise to the cloud, so customers and their businesses can be fast, smart, and secure.

Top brands globally rely on Akamai to realize competitive advantage through agile solutions that extend the power of their multi-cloud architectures.

Akamai keeps decisions, apps and experiences closer to users than anyone and attacks and threats at bay said Abdul Jama, a technical expert at FON. We are privileged to partner with Akamai whose portfolio of edge security, web and mobile performance, enterprise access and video delivery solutions is supported by unmatched customer service, analytics and 24hour service monitoring through-out the year.

Being both an Akamai NetAlliance Partner and Akamai Accelerated Network Partner, FON has now the capacity to render TIER-2 Network Service Provider. It has invested on

Barry Macharia, Solutions ARC

400km fiber and Metro fiber in Nairobi, Thika & Mombasa which necessitates it to deliver end-to-end International bandwidth provider via EASSY/WIOCC. The fast, reliable and secure Akamai solution said Jama addresses helps in addressing congestion, an inherent problem on internet. With 240,000 servers on 3,750 in 2,400 networks in 134 countries, Akamai stands out as a leading provider of cloud services for delivering, optimizing and securing online content and business applications.

Owing to partnership with Akamai, Jama affirmed that peering with FON guarantees businesses or end-users yearning for reliable and seamless servers to also enjoy affordable services in both transit savings and possible backbone savings. The peering comes with optimized and marketing opportunity which claims better performance benefits over competitors.

It also keeps customers from seeing “important” web sites through their second uplink.

Abdul Jama, CTO, FON Limited

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As we were proceeding to press, we were briefed that Akamai, delivers over 2 trillion Internet Transactions daily, distributed Cloud Platform that manages underlying complexities of the Internet and with a single hop away from 90% of Internet users.

Among the three core services that FON is now able to offer as a result of the partnership squarely hinge on seamless web performance, cloud security services, and media service delivery. Touching on the later, it is able to deliver the highest quality streaming video at broadcast scale.

Studies by Soasta, now a part of Akamai reflect that nearly 50 percent of consumers will abandon sites due to slow page loads. More than 1 in 5 customers won’t return to a site due to poor performance while a site averaging $100,000 a day can lose $2.5 million annually due to 1 second delay.

Recent studies by Delloite affirms that adaptive digital media would be the way to go considering that it statistically pointed out that that 57 percent of video consumption by 1425 year olds occur on digital devices.

Separately, 80% of all internet traffic will video by 2020 (Cisco, spring 2015).

At the moment, 52 percent of all ESPN digital media is consumed on mobile devices (PwC, 2014).

Jama Mohamed, Executive Director, FON Limited

NEWSBYTES

Uganda hosts over 250 delegates for the 2019 Africa FinTech Festival The 2019 Africa FinTech Festival (AFF) themed ‘The role of FinTechs in Africa’s Digital Economy’ was officially opened on Tuesday in Kampala. The two-day event co-hosted by The Financial Technology Service Providers Association of Uganda (FITSPA) and Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Uganda is taking place between November 5th and 6th at the Serena Hotel, Kampala. The 2019 AFF has attracted over 250 delegates from across Africa including FinTechs, regulators, policy makers, investors, financial service providers and development partners. The overwhelming response to the event demonstrates the need for collaborative platforms that convene stakeholders to explore opportunities that will enable FinTechs to play an active role in growing Africa’s digital economy.

Mr. Vincent Bagiire, Permanent Secretary – Ministry of Information, Communication Technology and National Guidance opening the event on behalf of the Minister, Hon. Frank K. Tumwebaze, commented: “Government views FinTech operators as crucial enablers of electronic transactions and e-commerce. They are key players in the integration of systems that are vital for service delivery where citizens have to pay for a service – such as passports.”

Delegates are discussing wideranging issues covering regulatory environment, resourcing FinTechs for sustained success, consumer protection and innovative models that will disrupt savings, credit, insurance and investment services for more inclusion.

“Our primary role at Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Uganda is to address constraints to accessing financial services and facilitate the financial market system to function more effectively and inclusively. Because of the agility of FinTechs, they play an increasingly important role in ensuring relevant financial services reach marginalized groups, build their resilience and secure their wellbeing,” explained Rashmi Pillai, Executive Director of FSD Uganda.

Participants also explored new business models and innovative partnerships that are expanding efficiency and service provision in key sectors including trade and agriculture.

Adequate resourcing will be key to

ensuring that FinTechs can innovate and scale in ways that support ambitious national development targets.

“The Fintech movement is gathering momentum. Our members, ranging from startups to long-established companies are keen to engage on how financial regulation is changing in response to the disruption caused by FinTechs, how to build value-adding partnerships with other industry players and how to attract even more investment to their businesses,” explained Peter Kawumi, Chair of FITSPA. “They also want to learn about how to get and retain the right talent to sustain their growth. This festival provides a timely platform for members to have these conversations with regulators, banks, insurance companies, investors and academia.”

FITSPA is committed to catalyzing the development of Uganda’s financial services industry through its local and international networks. The Association will curate learnings from the event and use them to champion interventions that will strengthen the local FinTech ecosystem.

“This festival will provide a strong platform for our FinTech community to grow, mature and compete with the rest of the world. Already there have been promising signs with an increasing number of enquiries being directed to our national umbrella, the Financial Technology Service Providers Association of Uganda (FITSPA).

This widespread, global interest

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is a reflection of FITSPA’s role in strengthening the FinTech industry in Uganda and advancing the objectives of the Africa Fintech Network as a whole,” Zianah Muddu, General Secretary of the Africa Fintech Network and Engagement partner for FITSPA said.

The Africa FinTech Festival will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on the 2019 Financial Inclusion Week theme ‘Financial Inclusion: For What’ and address the pervasive issue of industry-wide under-representation of women. A special panel on Day one will explore issues that limit women’s access to financial services.

The annual Africa FinTech Festival is an annual point of convergence of ideas, trends, innovations, key debates on wide ranging issues ranging from regtech, consumer protection, disruption of savings, credit, insurance and pension value chains, to borderless operations, non-traditional partnerships, and game-changing business models. This year, Uganda hosts the Africa Fintech Festival. Representatives from over 26 African nations – from regulators, policy makers, FinTechs, investors, banks (traditional, digital and neo) and more, will examine “the role of Fintech’s in Africa’s digital economy.” The Africa Fintech Festival 2019 is being brought together by the Financial Technology Service Providers Association of Uganda (FITSPA) and Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSDU).

Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSD Uganda) is a company limited by guarantee promoting greater access to financial services in Uganda. FSD Uganda seeks to develop a more inclusive financial sector with a focus on low-income individuals (particularly women, youth and forcibly displaced people) and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). With support from DFID, FSD Uganda facilitates product innovation, conducts research, helps to promote and improve policy, laws and regulation that shape the financial sector in Uganda.

NEWSBYTES

RUSSIA, RWANDA AGREE TO CONSTRUCT FIRST CENTRE OF NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGIES IN RWANDA Russia and Rwanda signed an agreement to construct the first Centre of Nuclear Science and Technologies in Rwanda with participation of ROSATOM. The signing ceremony took part at the Russia-Africa Economic Forum.

The agreement to construct Rwanda’s first Centre for Nuclear Science and Technology (CNST) was signed by ROSATOM Director General Alexey Likhachev, and Rwanda’s Minister of Infrastructure Claver Gatete.

The CNST will become a modern platform for carrying out a whole range of scientific research and practical application of nuclear technologies. It will allow the production of radioisotopes for widespread use in industry and agriculture as well as in healthcare, thus addressing the issue of lack of cancer treatment. Moreover, the Centre will facilitate the analysis of elemental composition of ore and minerals and environmental samples, train highly qualified local personnel for the nuclear industry, contribute to digital technologies research and many others.

The CNST is expected to comprise of a multi-purpose research water-cooled reactor with up to 10 MW capacity.

It will be equipped with laboratories, systems and functional units necessary for safe operation.

Mastercard to assist EdTech Entrepreneurs in Rwanda

The Mastercard Foundation Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) inviting growth-stage, educational technology (EdTech) innovators to apply for an opportunity to grow their ventures while contributing to improving the quality of education in Africa. The deadline for submissions is November 21, 2019.

This is the first RFP to be offered by the Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT located in Kigali, Rwanda. The Centre works with governments, EdTech developers, and other stakeholders to identify and eliminate the barriers facing young people pursuing secondary education in Africa. Selected EdTech companies will be supported for a minimum of 12 months and benefit from a comprehensive package that includes: customized mentorship, financial support, and the opportunity to test, validate and scale their business.

At a recent ministerial roundtable hosted by the Mastercard Foundation in Botswana, education ministers, African Union representatives, academics, young people, and EdTech entrepreneurs met to discuss how EdTech can improve outcomes for teachers and students. During these consultations, two priority areas emerged - professional development and enriched learning content.

“Our aim is to create an active connection between those who need

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the solutions and those who create them,” said Joseph Nsengimana, Regional Director, Mastercard Foundation Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT. “Solutions often do not consider the on-the-ground limitations from both a training perspective and the technical environment. We’re talking about cocreation every step of the way.”

Working with EdTech entrepreneurs and governments, the Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT will support entrepreneurs and scale up their innovations.

The Centre was established as part of the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works Strategy to enable 30 million young people to secure dignified and fulfilling work by 2030. Technology has the power to strengthen and improve how education is delivered across the continent, however, education technology entrepreneurs and implementers often struggle to grow and scale their solutions.

Ethiopian Telecom Regulators Meet Global Investors

moment in terms of liberalizing the telecom sector.

The recently established Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) today host a consultation meeting on Ethiopian telecommunication reform process and regulatory framework with potential investors gathered from different parts of the world.

Balcha Reba (Eng.), Director General of ECA, stated that the gathering will allow the authority to gather inputs for Ethiopia’s communications regulatory framework, which includes telecom company licensing process being drafted.

partial or fully privatization. These reforms in strategic service sector are aimed to unleash the potential of our economy across the all sectors,” said Ahmed Shide, Finance Minister of Ethiopia, in his opening remark this morning in the capital, Addis Ababa.

“We are liberalizing strategic sectors such as telecom, energy and logistics to enhance the quality of services and improve access. We have slotted key state-owned enterprises to private sector like, telecom, energy, sugar, logistics, railway and industries for

Minister Ahmed stated that today’s consultation is the first of its kid since the new institution is established and aims to make the process transparent and participatory, while allowing the potential investors to understand where the government is at the

Ethiopia has set a target to add two new telecom operators into play in mid-March 2020 to end the monopoly of the state owned Ethio Telecom. The government has also announced its plan to sell up to 49% of Ethio Telecom for foreign telecom operators. The decision of the government with around 110 million populations, has attracted many global telecom operators from Safaricom, MTN and Huawei to Europe’s’ and American top telecom companies.

Currently most of the majority of Ethio Telecom’s infrastructure is installed by the Chinese companies ZTE and Huawei, which seem to have more comparative advantage to secure some shares in Ethio Telecom compared to other Western or African telecom companies bidding to secure the deal.

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NEWSBYTES

MUSEVENI LAUNCHES UGANDA’S FIRST PHONE MANUFACTURING PLANT President Yoweri Museveni on Friday launched Uganda’s first mobile phone manufacturing and assembling plant.

The plant by Chinese firm, Engo, in Namanve in the capital Kampala,will produce SIMI-branded handsets.

At full capacity, the factory will run three production lines; each line with daily production of 2,000 feature phones, 1,500 smart phones, 800 laptops, 2,000 chargers, 4,000 USB cables and 4000 sets of earphones and directly employing more than 400 staff.

“I am very happy with the Chinese solidarity with Uganda and Africa.

Uganda is moving very well, the economy has grown to $35 billion using the normal method of calculating GDP,” said President Museveni.

He added that the only remaining challenge for his government to overcome was corruption.

“We don’t have any other problem.

We now have electricity, we are going to solve the problem of transport costs. We have also started solving the problem of ICT,” Museveni added.

Airtel Uganda reduces mobile money fees by 79 per cent Airtel Uganda recently announced a deduction in their sending and withdraws fess on their mobile money service.

This was during a press Conference at the Airtel Uganda Head office in Kampala, in which the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, Amit Kapur said this was part of their efforts to ensure financial inclusion.

per cent in the financial industry. A number of people are now using bank agents to withdraw and deposit their money as compared to mobile money accounts following the introduction of the mobile money tax in 2018.

“Airtel Uganda has taken big strides towards financial inclusion through giving Airtel money, the most affordable rates. Starting October 31, our Airtel money customers will enjoy 79 per cent and 60 per cent reduction on withdrawal and person to person transfer rates respectively, making it the most competitive rate on the market”, said Kapur.

Airtel was launched in Uganda in June 2010 and is Uganda’s most innovative mobile phone operator, which has introduced many “firsts” in the telecommunications sector.

Airtel Uganda officials said, the move is intended to draw more customers to use Airtel money services but also ease access to affordable and basic financial services across the country.

The massive reductions will apply to all transactions between one million and seven million shillings.

The development comes at a time when banking agents are slowly eating up on the market share of telecom companies that had controlled the financial sector through mobile money. A year after its introduction, agent banking transactions total to shs30 billion daily, according to the Agent Banking Company of Uganda and a market share of almost 20

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As a mobile operator Airtel introduced affordable communication products and services that have transformed millions of Ugandans and businesses.

In May 2013, Airtel Uganda achieved a great success story having acquired Warid Telecom and growing to a family of over 8.9 Million customers and being the 2nd largest telecom in Uganda.

CELTEL Uganda was the first Telecommunication Company in Uganda that was introduced in 1995 and transformed telephony by connecting people with the use of a mobile phone.

In July 2007, CELTEL Uganda changed its brand name to ZAIN Uganda that was eventually changed to Airtel Uganda in 2010 thus joining a family of over 361 million customers across its operations at the end of May 2016.

NEWSBYTES

Uganda goes live with Bysystems Collateral registry Uganda has gone live with a Collateral Registry System called Security Interest in Movable Property Registry System (SIMPRS).

The software solution was designed and developed by leading Ghanaian IT firm Bsystems Limited. It is a fully electronic platform open to secured creditors, borrowers and the general public for registration of notices and searches. It will provide information on encumbrances of movable property of borrowers.

Secured creditors will be able to access the data base online.

Registration on the system notifies the public of the secured interest in the movable asset.

Following the passing of the Security Interest in Movable Property Act of 2019 by the country’s legislative body, Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSD Uganda) and the Bank of Uganda together with other financial entities worked together to establishthe SIMPRS to provide world-wide access for users to register an interest in movable property, enforcement of security interests, search of the register and other related matters.

Bsystems has worked with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) a member of the World Bank Group and successfully implemented the Collateral Registry Solution for

Bank of Ghana (BOG), Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), Department of Registrar General (DRG) of Malawi, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bank of Sierra Leone, Patents and Companies Registration Agency of Zambia (PACRA). This brings to seven the number of Sub – Saharan African countries that Bsystems has deployed its Collateral Registry Software Solution.

Speaking to Biztechafrica, the Vice President & Chief Information Officer of Bsystems Limited, Mr. Dennis Okyere, expressed his profound gratitude to the Government ofUganda for the support and the bold

step to improve doing of business in the country.

He also expressed gratitude to the Registrar General of URSB Mr.Bemanya Twebaze for his support and leadership and specifically entrusting Bsystems with the task of establishing the collateral registry at Uganda Registration Services Bureau.

He expressed thanks to the URSB and Bsystems project implementation team for their dedication and hardwork which led to the successful implementation of the Security Interest in Movable Property Registry System (SIMPRS).

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

6th February 2020

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Russia, Ethiopia sign cooperation agreement on peaceful uses of atomic energy On the side lines of the Russia – Africa Economic Forum, Russia and Ethiopia signed the Intergovernmental framework agreement on cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy.

The document was signed by Alexei Likhachev, ROSATOM Director General on behalf of Russia and by Getahun Mecuria Kuma, the Minister of Innovation and Technology of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on behalf of Ethiopia.

The Intergovernmental agreement will serve as a springboard for starting active dialogue between the two countries in the field of nuclear technologies and practical implementation of specific projects within the framework of cooperation.

Alexei Likhachev noted: “We are glad to provide Ethiopia with access to more than 70 years of experience in the peaceful use of nuclear technologies in Russia and hope that our cooperation will contribute to the sustainable development of Ethiopia and improve the quality of life of the nation.”

The Intergovernmental agreement creates a legal framework for 32 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

establishing cooperation between Russia and Ethiopia on a wide range of areas. These areas include: fine tuning the projects for construction of the Center for nuclear science and technology (CNST) and nuclear power plant (NPP) on the territory of the Republic of Ethiopia, developing nuclear infrastructure in accordance with international recommendations; applying nuclear and radiation safety regulations; implementing fundamental and applied research for peaceful uses of nuclear technologies; producing and using radioisotopes in various industries, healthcare and agriculture; cooperating in the field of radiation technologies and nuclear medicine applications and education, training and retraining of specialists for the nuclear industry.

The Intergovernmental agreement was signed following the signing in 2017 of the Memorandum of understanding between ROSATOM and the Ministry of science and technology of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. In May 2019, the parties signed the roadmap or establishing cooperation on the construction of an NPP and a CNST in Ethiopia.

THE START-UPS

THE START-UPS

Venture Capital Watch-list 2019 and Beyond 2019 has been a riveting year in Venture Capital. We have witnessed some pretty spectacular investments, a couple of exits to IPO (even in Africa) and sadly, the crash and burn that accompanies ecosystems where money is chasing deals.

And while this piece is about Africa, there’s an obstinate thing called context that is inescapable.

A recap of this year (and projections into the next) would be remiss without paying some attention to the origins of private equity investments (alongside the misplaced expectations that accompany VC in Africa), the sectors to watch out for and the pervasive role that pattern matching plays in investments.

TANIA NGIMA CEO - DEMO Ventures, Director, Consultant Strategy, Governance and Finance

A Brief History of VC In the beginning, the Vanderbilts, Whitneys, Rockefellers, Wallenbergs et. al. held most of the cards for participating in investment through private equity. History Channel’s ‘The Men who Built America’ gives a fascinating account about that era – and is recommended for anyone who wants to understand the particular brand of Capitalism that we are now so enamored by.

In the mid 1950’s, a confluence of various factors increased outsider participation in Venture Capital and laid foundation to what we now refer

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to as Silicon Valley.

First, the US passed the Small Business Investment Act, providing tax breaks to companies that were participating in equity-led transactions. Firms came together to coinvest or complete transactions, which allowed them access to a much larger capital pool and consequently larger investments.

In the 60s and 70s, the majority of investment activity centered on technology breakthroughs. In fact, VC colloquially became known as technology finance, setting the stage for the obsession we now seem to have with technology ‘Unicorns’.

Pattern Matching There is that pesky phrase again – pattern matching. To understand how insidious a role it plays in investing, let’s look at how pattern matching influences our daily decision making, even at work.

Imagine your team presents two ideas before

THE START-UPS

where shareholders are continuously watching the share price, share of market and bottom lines, it can feel like a minefield the minute you step off the beaten path.

Pattern matching is a well understood phenomenon in the VC space. Simply put, if money is already flowing into a certain sector or to a certain demographic, and has produced equal, or above market valuations and exits, most people will probably back what has proved to be a winning horse.

Because VC in Africa is so nascent, there is a lack of empirical data that allows us to predict, with any certainty, the kind of returns we should expect from specific sectors.

The assumption then, is that if there are enough co-investors into a certain industry, there is an element of derisking at play and further down the line, viable exit routes will materialize more easily.

2019 and 2020 In the VC space, understanding trends is a big part of working with startups and other co-investors. you, but the organization only has resources to implement one. You need to choose which you’ll pitch to the board, how to package it and then follow up with a request for funding.

One of the ideas is novel, exciting and has great potential. However, it has not been tried before and there’s no guarantee of you and your team hitting your KPIs if you go with it.

The other is predictable, has worked in the past and in fact, it boosted the organization’s bottom line by a sizeable margin in the relevant financial year.

I often tell founders that the biggest indicator when deciding whether to woo an investor is 1) Investigating if they have made prior investments in the vertical where you’re pitching them and 2)Identifying other investors they may have worked with so they can make a referral.

When looking at hallmark investments, and by extension predictions for 2020, we go further than Kenya, into SubSaharan Africa (SSA) in order to understand geographical reach and ‘bordelessness’ of investment capacity.

Which one would you go for?

And so, without further ado…

In 2016, a survey conducted to test whether organizations are as innovative as they say they are found that 78% of executives chose to defend tried and tested routes to increasing market capitalization over new, novel ideas.

Fintech

And I don’t blame them. In a world

This sector has banked the highest dollars this year, bolstered by Visa’s US$ 200m into Interswitch and a US$ 50m co-investment that includes Sequoia China, IDG Capital and Opera into Opay.

And even though the two largest investment targets may be considered more established than startup - Interswitch was founded in 2002 and Opay has been around since circa 2011 - the kind of activity we have seen in the Fintech and Digital Financial Services space doesn’t show signs of letting up any time soon.

In fact, the trend around Sub Saharan Africa attracting investment bucks is telling – in 2018 we had Cellulant closing what the industry considered a record-breaking Series C round led

by The Rise Fund.

Around the same time Tala and Branch, both fintech lenders operating in Kenya among other countries announced successful fundraising, part of which is earmarked for expansion.

What is most interesting is that for both these fintech lenders, India falls into their expansion targets. Aware of the ecosystem comparisons we often make between the technology and financial inclusion landscape in Kenya (and by extension, SSA) and India, the activity over the past 2 years is proof that investments into Fintech and Fintech enabled platforms is only going to grow.

Additionally, the participation of larger, more established players like Standard Chartered through SC Ventures Fintech Bridge and the desire to transform by innovating collaboratively alongside fintech startups matches most corporates’ aspirations – involvement in, as opposed, to being disrupted.

Fintech is the one area where we have seen interest and investment coming from the Chinese arm of investors (such as Sequoia China), and I suspect we will see more engagement with the East, beyond just building our road and rail systems.

Logistics, Mobility and Transport In some African countries, haulage and logistics are estimated to contribute up to 75% of a product’s cost, compared to 8% and below in developed economies. It makes sense

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THE START-UPS

profitability, with legislation playing a crucial role in this.

Healthcare Even though healthcare has received fewer investments (apart from mPharma which raised US$13.5 in 2019) both in numbers and amounts in the past few years, drug distribution, validation and easing the payment burden for patients could do with a lot more engagement and involvement.

Initiatives such as TeXchange 2020 focus on innovations in healthcare in order to create an investor-ready pipeline of investments.

then, that while we tinker with the efficiency economics of our new rail systems, disruptions abound.

to energy, impacting our outcomes around unlocking economic potential, health, education, industry etc.

2019 was a hallmark year for the logistics space, with Lori Systems, Swvl, Safeboda and Twiga Foods among the enterprises operating or headquartered in Kenya that raised funding above US$1m.

To compound the situation, many African governments run monopolies around energy distribution, creating fertile ground for disruption, and opportunities for investment.

And while often categorized under Agriculture/FMCG, I think Twiga Foods fits in squarely in logistics for their role in supply chain efficiencies and the reduction of post-harvest losses.

Further afield, a back of the napkin calculation shows that the number of Logistics startups that raised funding exceeded 10% in number across the continent. From follow on investments to startups that are tackling mobility and logistics, we expect additional activity in 2020 – including some forward (and in some cases backward) integration within the value/supple chain.

Energy There’s really no 2 ways about it – as mankind, we have a long way to go in re-inventing energy generation and storage. In Africa, our challenges revolve around the fact that over 640m people do not have access

Energy has been and will continue to attract attention from investors, especially those with an impact focus.

2019 was no exception with Azuri and SystemaBio fundraising alongside notable Bbox, Daystar Power and PEG Africa further afield.

On one hand, investment activity in this space will continue unabated for years to come. On the other hand though, there’s a lot that governments must do to not only allow investors to realize the ROI that encourages further reinvestment but to also ensure that we reach sustainability as soon as possible.

And top of this to-do list has got to be the willingness to de-monopolize power distribution and design and honor Power Purchase Agreements.

The importance of getting to ROI cannot be overemphasized – many of the energy startups in our investment pipeline have been struggling with getting to sustainability and

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Just like energy, healthcare is ripe for disruption but with the same caveats – significant investments are required to achieve the kind of R&D and scale that can deliver an investment ROI. One of the ways startups can best position themselves is by capturing a manageable corner of the market and disrupting it. The other is by working with more established players as the incoming innovation partners.

Retail and Jobs At the time of writing this article, Copia Global, a mobile platform that brings retail services to African consumers in rural areas had just closed US$26m in Series B funding.

Hailed as a more ideal eCommerce model for Africa, this adapted model reminds me of Sokowatch, which also raised US$2.5m in 2019.

And while the list of retail enterprises raising VC money is still nascent, I suspect that models catering to previously overlooked demographics and upcoming aspirational customers will win the day, and investor interest.

One of the main uses of funds upon VC investing tends to be attracting competitive talent that is market priced with the intention to strengthen go to market and scaleup efforts. On the other end of the scale, the upcoming gig economy is becoming an attractive feature of markets that have a growing need for skilled and unskilled labour.

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JAMES KIZZA

Assistant Commissioner IT, Uganda Revenue Authority

38 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

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ARTICLE by

HumPHREY ODHIAMBO

JAMES KIZZA

Journey to the scooping of the East Africa’s CIO of the Year Award James Kizza, Assistant Commissioner IT, Uganda Revenue Authority emerged the winner of the East Africa 2019 CIO of the Year following his crucial role in the trail-blazing digital development of the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).

According to the CIO100 judges, led by Professor Louis Fourie, former VC at the Western Cape Peninsula University of Technology and flanked by Alex Ntale CEO – Rwanda ICT Chamber, Bill Sangiwa, Digital Transformation Expert

in Tanzania, Charles Musisi, a senior ICT Expert in Uganda and Elizabeth Ochien’g, ICT Director, Deloitte appreciated the high level of submissions for the 2019 regional awards.

Stressing that incremental steps from sheer deployment of IT are insufficient in the present-day economy, Ms. Ochien’g lauded Kizza’s achievement on behalf of the 2019 CIO100 jurists.

“Kizza has not only a scooped deserving accolade but demonstrated his passion and consistency in upholding the momentum of change in the dynamic digital space that involves Ugandan citizens and customers,” said Ochien’g.

Observing that the role of the chief information officer (CIO) is evolving

at a breakneck pace, the jury was categorical that only the executives who advance in lockstep digital transformation will enjoy prolonged success as they better the enterprises they dedicate their energies to serve.

Eagerly Awaited Win Elated to receive the prestigious East Africa’s CIO award from Joe Mucheru, Kenya’s ICT Cabinet Secretary, who was the chief guest at the gala awards hosted in Naivasha, Kenya; Kizza said, it was a long waited achievement considering the 26 years he has offered in public service.

While lauding Kizza’s win Mucheru observed that governments across the region are opening up for ICT collaboration with a clear focus to

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Joseph Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary ICT, Kenya congratulates CIO of the Year Winner

serve citizens better and hasten the growth of investments in this era of digital transformation.

“Technology is evolving faster than ever and with it, are the citizen or customer expectations which even for the savviest business leaders and marketers, it can be easy to feel like one is always chasing the latest app, platform, or tool just to keep up with the competition,” said Mucheru.

Governments observed Mucheru are steadily taking a step-back and considering their larger business goals before diving headfirst into technological investment that must move the needle for quality service delivery.

He applauded President Yoweri Museveni for embracing technology as a measure accelerate and transform services in the country.

Major Intervention Rely on IT Digitalization at URA stands at close to 96 percent of the business; the filing of returns stands at 100 percent without IT we have no business. “All major interventions in Uganda today rely on IT,” said Kizza adding that each year the government relies on URA to extend the Tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio and adds an annual increment to authority’s target.

Digitalization at URA stands at close to 96 percent of the business; the filing of returns stands at 100 percent without IT we have no business.

40 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

“We achieve these through the various successful technology implementations we undertake which leads to more and more responsibilities. In 2019 alone, the increment was fivefold. We introduced Digital Tax Stamps, Electronic Invoicing – Electronic fiscal devices, Non-Intrusive Inspection together with smart gates to better manage our services at the borders and improve client experience from a wait time perspective,” Kizza said.

URA is currently interfaced with all government agencies said Kizza while delightfully reviewing the long journey of steady digital transformation. Government levies as well as university fees in all public universities settled digitally. Reason?

“The innovative payment solution the authority has put in place was well adapted by banks and various agencies. These ideas now exist in various revenue authority systems

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in neighbouring countries such as Kenya, Rwanda and Zambia after the benchmarking visits to URA.

So, Why Kizza?

Passionate to succeed in his quest for digital transformation, Kizza notes that his team at URA with the blessing of the leadership embarked on a long term plan that required a deliberate determination to execute it.

According to Kizza, URA was a critical partner in the process of securing and deploying the single customs territory system in which clearance of goods in the EAC region was deployed in Mombasa and Dar-es-Salaam.

Our line of focus was to eliminate unnecessary barriers to trade and reducing costs of doing business along the transit corridor, said Kizza. “This move reduced scheduled clearance times from an average of 22 days to 4 days and 87 percent reduction in paperwork documentation,� he averred.

The region has adapted an electronic cargo tracking system which Kizza notes was implemented in Uganda to have uniform system across the region including most recently at the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In an effort to transform her workforce to imbibe an analytical culture given the increasing value of information, URA asserts Kizza laid a foundation for data driven decision making - the eHUB - a business intelligence and data warehouse initiative for process visibility, insight and development of new business streams.

Improved Risk Management has given rise to sector wise targeting as opposed to tax type targeting thereby providing improved insight and strategies for addressing shortfalls leading to revenue growth.

This change in risk management yields better profiling of risky clients, impact on expected revenue giving the opportunity to develop different strategies for different client segments from corporate level right down to the smallest operational unit.

Shared Knowledge! Shared Prosperity!

Kizza has mentored, nurtured and inspired young technology teams, managing staff attrition at an average of one departure every year since 2011 except for this year. He ensures sustainability, builds team’s skills on a continuous basis through peering and other strategies.

It is encouraging that a number of great IT leaders have following his grooming emerged as CIOs of respected agencies in the Uganda, five are developers and are rendering

consultant services on IT at the United Nations. Some are engaged in IMF related work while others have since been an influence in major organizations within Uganda and internationally including Ghana, Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leon, Nepal, Bangladesh, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Burundi, South Sudan, Antigua and Barbuda.

In what was reckoned as a surprise win, the CIO100 jurists noted that Kizza has over the years proven to be a resilient resource and has over the years risked his neck for total digital modernisation, so that the Uganda

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Revenue Authority can competitively serve the citizens of Uganda and by extension the East African community with ease.

Qualitative and quantitative Declared the best in several disciplines of the selection process, Kizza nominated by a number of industry players was given a thumbs-up by a five-bench panel of CIO100 jurists who accorded him top score of the qualitative and quantitative work demonstrated in the intensive of change.

‘We chose to celebrate the leadership demonstrated by Kizza since he does not make any distinction between IT, technology and business and has proven that he realizes this region’s digital future depends with what one passionately does today,’ said Charles Musisi a member of CIO100 adjudication panel from Uganda.

Kizza the ever-smiling and soft-spoken ‘de facto’ CIO of URA has drastically improved client interaction for the public and various stakeholders in the various URA digital transformation initiatives. He envisioned and directed a number of technology innovations, laying a foundation on which many of what URA relies on today, in the process, pioneering major technologies in the region that has enabled consolidation and simplification the underlying delivery environment.

Where the Journey Began Born on 23rd June, 1969, Kizza holds a Bachelor of Statistics degree from Makerere University and Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe.

He started his career in 1991 after graduation as 42 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

a programmer in the Institute of Statistics and applied Economics Makerere University.

The humble work which involved managing the datacenter and introducing graduate and undergraduate students to computing and statistical packages as well as supporting them in their projects gave Kizza a moment to learn, appreciate technological trends and thought-leadership. It was at this juncture that he was involved in the computerization of the Makerere University academic staff register for the Economic Policy Research Center.

Public Service “I Joined Uganda Revenue Authority in 1993 as Revenue Officer Trainee in the Data Processing Division of the MIS department” Kizza said. My work involved managing the process for issuing TIN numbers, the payroll processing, and other tools that aided the accomplishment of various tasks such as calculating the license fees which was quite complicated and managing a team of Data Entry Clerks that performed data capture.

Given how time consuming some of these processes were, he along with his team decided to write applications beyond the simple functionality they did to ease our work and improve the services.

Automation in that period was only possible for processes that were hard to perform manually as the environment at the time did not propel these endeavors but instead limited them.

Dealing with Cash According to Kizza, one of the major pain-points when he started off was dealing with the cash office receipting process. It was not only critical to operations but also central to all collection activities yet very lengthy and laborious. He recalls that there were intense arguments during executive management meetings because figures presented by collecting departments differed from those provided by finance,

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which had the mandate, and reported what the team had from the available information.

the time we were proceeding to press.

He was also assigned project owner of the Service Support Enhancement Project (SSEP) as part of the Managing Compliance program that had four projects. SSEP had four components Service Management; Culture; Data warehouse Business Intelligence; Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery.

Tasked with addressing this challenge and after some requirement analysis Kizza specified and recommended new procedures that would enhance the utilization of IT in the daily activities of the cash office. The proposals included moving data acquisition to the point of generation, which called for issue Bank Advice forms generated by the systems that the team would develop to improve on the quality and timely availability of information.

The system greatly improved the work in cash office, enabled staff to finish their work without having to work late hours and our clients got their clearances faster.

Major Cost Savings

In 2001, Kizza was appointed URA’s Senior Principal Revenue Officer and later Manager Software Engineering in 2005 following a restructuring of URA that created a leaner agency. He led the software engineering unit where his team managed the acquisition of outsourced applications as well as internal development.

Having obtained approval the Electronic Cashbook the System was born in house. The system greatly improved the work in cash office, enabled staff to finish their work without having to work late hours and our clients got their clearances faster.

We had major cost savings, as the cost of the continuous receipt stationary used was much cheaper than the bound receipts. The system was scalable such that when work at the licensing office increased by 1/3 as a result of the introduction of collection of passport fees, URA did not have to employ more manpower for the extra load.

Improved Conversations Quality of data and its timely availability greatly improved conversations at MEC. Popularly referred to as the ECB, it went on to serve the authority for over 12 years.

A similar story exists for our Motor Vehicle and Licensing System (MOVIS).

This system handled all activities of the licensing office, which among others include First Registration of vehicles, Renewal of Road license, Transfer of ownership, Alteration of vehicle particulars, issue and renewal of driver’s permits.

The task involved, among others, the integration of the electronic cashbook with the licensing system.

Amazing Deliverables

URA’s Leaner Agency

“One of the major solutions we acquired was eTAX, which we still use today for our Tax business. During its implementation, I was responsible for managing from an IT perspective as ICT Task Leader for the Integrated Tax Administration Project,” said Kizza.

In transforming URA, Kizza and his team have since 2004 had modernization programs every four to five years. In 2011, he was promoted to Head of IT - a role he still served by

Although the unit he headed experienced funding challenges, they were still able to pull of some amazing deliverables from this SEPP project including the eHUB, which was the subject of the CIO Award 2019.

During this time, they embarked of a technology consolidation journey to make URA tech-ecosystem simple, reliable and scalable through the introduction of engineered systems, the first in East Africa.

Notable achievements here include the Single Customs Territory implementation, revamp of infrastructure environment, Upgrade to ASYCUDA World, Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System, consolidation and extension of the payment process by introducing additional channels, implementation of the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and the IT preparation within URA’s new headquarters.

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Top CIOs in the Regional Awards

SAMMY NYAMBU

KENNETH OGWANG

Sammy Nyambu, CIO Mwalimu National SACCO, with over 20 years’ experience; 15 of these in the Telcos before joining the Sacco sector.

Being in the Sacco Sector for four years now, Nyambu has passionately engaged in forums to highlight the massive potential the SACCO sector holds based on its previous huge success but with very little technology utilization. He has spearheaded this joint venture by identifying possible areas of partnership, seeking board buy-in, developing the revenue share models, negotiating the contracts and building an organization to operationalize the venture. This initiative is expected to dramatically transform the Sacco sector by providing a robust core system that will allow business innovation around products and efficient service delivery.

As the Head of IT in a multinational, based in Kenya and with geographical span across Eastern and Southern African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, South Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, Ogwang’s role is to provide leadership in the implementation of Diageo’s IT transformation agenda in the EABL tapped markets. However, the transformation agenda is not a oneway cascade from HQ to markets.

It also requires deep understanding of each market’s needs, market pain points and priorities and delicately balancing that with overall global agenda. Whereas these market pain points may initially pale in comparison to the big global agenda, he says, they in fact are the small cogs in the large wheel that oils the running of organization.

CIO MWALIMU NATIONAL SACCO

CIO, EAST AFRICA BREWERIES LTD

44 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

DAVID IGWETA

HF GROUP CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER AND ACTING COO. Igweta an astute ICT and operations expert has an average of 20 years of experience in technology in the financial services industry. For 54 years, HF Group has built a strong heritage as the leading mortgage finance provider in Kenya. However, the business has now embarked on a business strategy that includes diversification into full service banking and digital transformation. Given this transition, Igweta has been on the forefront in delivery of business transformation mandate, with his role being navigation of complex dynamics within the organization, and filtering these into a coherent analytics strategy. HF’s digital transformation agenda is underpinned by the desire to improve business efficiencies and deliver world class user experience to its customers. Earlier in the year, he led his team to deliver a WhatsApp banking solution, making HF the first bank in the region to commercially go live with such a solution.

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Top CIOs in the Regional Awards

EDGAR OKIOGA

CIO, BRITISH AMERICA TOBACCO Edgar Okioga is the Information and Digital Technology Manager for BAT East and Central Africa. He is a skilled professional with five-years experience in the civil engineering environment and more than twenty (20) years in the information technology field. He has a proven record of strong analytical, leadership, communication, execution and organisational skills. He is passionate about developing and disseminating business solutions that offer the competitive edge in today’s market and harness the power of information technology to realise a return of investment.

PAUL NGUGI

CIO MPESA FOUNDATION ACADEMY

Humbled to be nominated and shortlisted among the East Africa CIO of the Year 2019, Paul couldn’t hide his joy having put in hours to ambitiously set standards in design and use of technology both within and outside what today is a prided MPESA Foundation Academy. In just within years the academy has managed to achieve what seemed so farfetched, unrealistic, and unreasonable. When Paul was employed by the academy as the CIO, he spoke of ideas that seemed so ambitious and as usual some resistance. However, the CEO, Mr Baillie, believed in his propositions and gave him a greenlight to put the school on the map as a showcase of what’s possible in technology in education.

46 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

JOAB O. MAK’ONGUL CIO, DAVIS & SHIRTLIFF GROUP

Having joined Davis & Shirtliff Group 11 years ago in the ICT department then to relocating Nairobi, Kenya from Kampala, Uganda to head the newly created function of Software Systems Development and later taking up various leadership opportunities as the IT Manager, MakÓngul oversee the Group’s IT operations. Managing the IT function of a rapidly growing corporate to run its daily activities has been demanding more especially while aligning the same to strategic business requirements. MakÓngul has been leading and overseeing the implementation of world-class IT business solutions in this ever busy environment.

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Top CIOs in the Regional Awards

PETER KANDA

SAMMY MWITI

ERIC MUNYIRI

Kanda started his promising journey at Gertrude Children’s Hospital as the Head of Information Services in 2018. His first challenge was the quest of achieving operational efficiency. This was measured on uptime of critical infrastructure and network. Among the things he outlined with his team and achieved ranged from Email Migration to cloud, Nextgen Firewall Migration, Managed Network Migration, Migration to Navision, and Migration HMIS infrastructure.

These activities had a huge impact on the organization and also reduced the number of calls that the ICT team were facing daily.

Apart from improving the uptimes significantly with teams receiving sms notifications in case of specific event happening on the network, his team also managed to reduce the costs.

Mwiti has been instrumental in the Digital Bank project at Standard Chartered Bank Kenya. The project involved developing a fully digital arm of the Bank, supported by the bank’s app – SC Mobile Kenya.

Through this project he along with his team developed a digital bank that allows clients to carry out services previously only available in branches through the Mobile Phone. Clients are now able to carry out the services that range from End-to-end bank account opening, buying insurance (home, motor, travel & farewell insurance), Invest in global mutual funds (from the likes of BlackRock & Allianz), Carry out over 70 service requests among them; request for bank statements or block a debit/credit card, update personal profile/data); and more from the SC Mobile app.

Munyiri being the Chief ICT Officer at KenGen is also in charge of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and Relationship Management one of the most demanding responsibilities in the organization. As a champion of digital transformation initiatives at KenGen, he led his team in scooping the CIO100 2018 Silver Mark for Excellence in ERP adoption. The ERP team was recognized after deploying enterprise mobility, portfolio and project management and eProcurement platform in KenGen within time and budget while realizing value for money.

Among the digital transformation initiatives, which Munyiri steered and submitted for the 2019 CIO100 Awards included Enterprise Mobility to enable the workers work from anywhere and everywhere using mobile devices and deploying robust but flexible BYOD policies.

CIO, GERTRUDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

HEAD OF IT, STANDARD CHARTERED BANK

48 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

Chief ICT Officer, KENGEN

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STANDING IN THE

Hall of Fame CIO East Africa recently introduced to its portfolio of awards, the CIO100 Hall of Fame, aimed to fete the outstanding professionals in the East Africa’s IT space.

First of its kind in Africa, the award was inducted by Harry Hare, Chairman and Publisher CIO East Africa in the presence of Andrew Karanja - Director CIO East Africa and Joe Mucheru, the Cabinet Secretary for Ministry of ICT in Kenya.

This elite group (Cohort one), has a reputation for leadership among their peers and outside entities such as industry experts and have shown a positive influence on the IT profession and/or advancement of the CIO role.

Successful nominees have been previous CIOs and current ones, with at least 8-10 years’ experience in CIO positions at mid-sized to large enterprises.

The first cohort comprised of Dr. Fernando Wangila, the current CIO with NTSA who is strategically and operationally accountable for

Jack Maina received the honorary award, joining the cohort 1 hall of fame. He has been with Britam for more than 8 years now, and is currently the group COO in charge of Group operations, Customer service and Technology in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Malawi and Mozambique. Prior to joining Britam, Maina was the Head of IT at Safaricom for 6 years.

George Njuguna was feted among his peers for the Hall of Fame awards. He is currently the CIO at Safaricom prior to which he held the same position at HF bank, even winning CIO of the year 2018 while at HF. The double alumnus of the Geneva college holds a masters degree in Strategy and Finance and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) in Management Information Systems. George has a rich experience working in the IT space of the banking industry.

“This is to award the IT leaders who have significantly contributed to, and profoundly influenced the IT discipline, the use of technology in business and the advancement of the CIO role,” said Harry Hare adding: “The award is a responsibility bestowed on the winners to mentor the junior and upcoming IT professionals,” added Hare.

CIO East Africa inducted its first class of honorees into the CIO Hall of Fame - cohort one - during 2019 CIO100 Symposium and Awards, held at the Lake Naivasha Resort in what was its 9th anniversary.

where he currently is the head of Diageo Business Services (DBS) for EAstern and Southern Africa.

Harry Hare, Chairman and Publisher CIO East Africa

the National Transport and Safety Authority’s ICT Department and the delivery of the Authority’s agreed outcomes, targets and objectives. Dr. Wangila holds a Ph.D. in Business Innovation and Technology Management from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.

The second successful candidate is Kenneth Ogwang, the CIO at East Africa Breweries limited.

Ogwang holds a Masters Degree of Business Administration from the United States International University and has been the Head of IT with BAT for 7 years before moving to AEBL,

50 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

John Barorot has over 20 years progressive experience in the ICT and Telecommunication industry, directly linked with a strong track record of attaining key business goals, innovation, policy development and implementation; strategically applying knowledge and skills to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in high paced organizations.

Currently, he is the Chief Technology Officer with Telkom Kenya. He holds a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in Strategic Management and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical, Electronic and Communications Engineering Technology/Technician both from the Moi University. He was awarded the Hall of Fame honorees.

Kevin Kinyanjui specializes in IT Strategy analysis and definition, alignment of IT and business, transformational leadership, project and stakeholder management, operations management, creation and innovation and business executive leadership. He has been in the CIO

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role in busy commercial environments since 1995 and currently is the CEO at DUO Tech Limited.

Kinyanjui served as the CIO with Kenya Airways for 13 years. He has an Executive Development Programme qualification from Gordon’s Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria in South Africa.

Wainaina Mungai, the President of the Internet Society (ISOC) Kenya Chapter, is interested in internet governance and in discussing more about how to solve infrastructure problems and how to use universal access funds and policy on broadband

as a utility for this mission. He has a passion for innovating approaches to the application of communications technology in business and socioeconomic development.

He was formerly the Head of ICT at Royal Media Services for 4 years where he led the ICT for Efficiency and Effectiveness in Media projects, involving applications development for newsrooms, election monitoring, audio/video streaming and HR Systems.

With a Masters Degree of Communications Management from the Buckinghamshire New University

and a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) in Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering from Moi University, Mungai was named into the Hall of Fame, closing the first cohort at 7 inductees.

The seven satisfied a panel of judges and were deemed fit for the CIO100 Hall of Fame 2019 Award.

The Hall of Fame shall, going forward, be an annual event in which all the outstanding CIOs, previous or current shall get inducted as noted Harry Hare.

Congratulations to the 2019 inductees of the Hall of Fame.

HALL OF FAME HONOREES

Joseph Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary ICT, Kenya congratulates Hall of Fame Honoree, Dr. Fernando Wangila, CIO, NTSA

Jack Maina, Group CTO, Britam congratulated by Kenya’s ICT Cabinet Secretary, Joseph Mucheru following his admission into the CIO Hall of Fame

George Njuguna, IT Director Safaricom receives a plaque from Joseph Mucheru Cabinet Secretary ICT, Kenya following his admission into the CIO Hall of Fame

George Njuguna (centre) IT Director Safaricom moderates a VIP Breakfast session themed: The role of policy and regulation in catalyzing innovation. The panelists comprised Louis Otieno, Director, Barclays Bank, Prof. Daniel Tarus (left, DVC Finance, Moi University, Louis Otieno (second left), Director, Barclays Bank of Kenya, Robert Nyamu (right), Partner and Digital Solutions, Financial Services and Risk Advisory Leader, EY, East Africa, Dr. Gilbert Mugeni, (second right) Ag. Assistant Director, Innovation, Research & Development, Communications Authority

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Louis Otieno, Director Barclays Bank delivers a keynote at the East Africa CIO100 Symposium

Section of CIO100 Symposium delegates led by Laura Chite, CEO CIO East Africa and Mercy Wanjau, Ag. Director General Communications Authority take a breather in a jovial dance during the CIO100 Symposiun in Naivasha

52 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

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Section of the 350 CIO100 Symposium delegates

Nikki Summers, Regional Director, Sage East Africa interrogates Pepper, the first humanoid to speak at CIO100 Symposium

Laura Chite, CEO – CIO East Africa hand-over Company of the Year Award to Paul Ngugi, CIO, Mpesa Foundation Academy flanked by the Academy’s Digital Media Specialist Gloria Ireri during the East Africa CIO Awards ceremony in Naivasha, Kenya.

Robert Yawe (center in blue), CEO, Synaptech Technologies moderates HerNovation Session themed Personal Branding for Women in the Corporate Space. The panelists comprised Agnes Gathaiya (right) CEO, IPSL, Ali Hussein (left), CEO, Fintexx Joan Mburu (second left) – Information Security, Old Mutual and Doreen Nalo, Managing Africa India and Middle East – Digital Transformation, EY

CIO East Africa team in a jovial session after the CIO100 Award session

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Section of the Silver Mark Award Category pose for a photo after receiving their certificates from Elizabeth Ochieng’ (left), IT Director, Delloite who was one of the CIO100 review adjudicators.

Valerie Mbalanya (left) handover the CIO100 Gold Mark Award won by the KenGen ICT Team.

Kenneth Ogwang (right) CIO EABL who scooped the CIO of the Year Award in 2016 congratulates James Kizza for winning the prestigious industry accolade in 2019

Kate Krukiel (standing), Managing Director, Sera Afrika moderates a session on the future of IoT. Session panelits are Parag Mendiratta (secong right), Regional Manager, Eaton Electric Ltd , Dr. Tani Tambila (right), Founder, Tsquared Robotics Nir Dery (left), Pre-Sales & Support Manager West Europe / SSA, TrippLite and Andreas Fruhen, CTO, Cellulant.

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Charles Musisi (cladding white and red stripes shirt) in a photo-op with the Bronze Mark CIO100 Award Winners.

Pratik Roy, Business Group Director (Security & Modern Workplace) - North & Sub -Saharan Africa, Levant & Pakistan

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THE HERNOVATION

‘Well behaved’ women seldom make history The second Hernovation forum co-hosted with East Africa CIO100 Symposium and Awards, at the Lake Naivasha Resort, had women agree to having been socialized from young ages into believe that they can not challenge the society’s set code of conduct for women, that inhibits them from airing their opinions.

ARTICLE by

Molly Wasonga

In the IT domain and maybe generally, as noted Tonia Kariuki, the Managing Partner at Tellistic, women cannot afford to conform to this societal standard anymore.

Laura Chite, the CEO CIO East Africa who gladly opened the second version of the annual Hernovation forum thanked attendees for coming, listing its progress hitherto.

“Well behaved women do not leave history,” averred Tonia who guided women on how to go through a rigorous mentoring relationship and how to choose a mentor. She asked women to always define their value propositions and to own the responsibility to always mentor a woman below them.

“In 2019, the room is full with new partners, sponsors and delegates unlike when we started in 2018,” said Ms Chite, adding; “We wish to even better the experience going forward.”

56 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

Laura added that the biggest challenge women face and that hinders their growth is the lack of a proper framework around mentorship.

THE HERNOVATION

Hernovation was born of the act to conceptualize a platform that promotes and enhances inclusion and involvement of more women into active participation in the tech space and senior managerial positions.

Also at the forum was Everline Kariuki, the Channel Lead East Africa at V-MWare who noted that women need to be authentic about themselves as to present their true personalities to their employers and spouses in order to avoid ‘suffering in silence’ especially when people cannot leverage on their strengths and weaknesses for having not been black and white about it.

“Success is not final and failure is not fatal,” avered Kinyanjui. Adding; “women are their own limit.”

At a panel discussing personal and corporate branding, moderated

by Robert Bobby Yawe, the CEO Synaptech Technologies, delegates were advised to use digital platforms in the most objective way as a branding tool since anything that

happens in the internet ‘lives’ forever thereafter.

Overall, it was agreed that women have proved better positioned to rise to leadership roles in this fast evolving technology space owing to support structures in some organizations, however their distinct minority in the tech-workforce and leadership positions calls for deliberate accelerated efforts to empower them through such development programs.

She said, “Own the power of authenticity and selfawareness, asserting your influence by consistently leveraging on your circles (network).”

Other speakers included Catherine Kinyanjui, the Employee Experience Lead at the East Africa Breweries Limited who, while speaking about the importance of public speaking said that fear limits career growth. www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

57

THE HERNOVATION

Harnessing the

Power of Limitlessness There is no doubt that as the world is evolving, women are still lagging behind when it comes to leadership roles in business. While it is obvious that they can perform far better only a handful have been daring to take CEO roles in varied top ranking corporate companies.

In Kenya where innovations continue to steal the limelight, it couldn’t escape the delegates converging in Naivasha for HerNovation Forum of a strong entrepreneurial spirit that is deeply rooted in women entrepreneurs as well as many line managers in employment

eager to break the barriers and take that zeal to a whole new level of competence.

The second HerNovation Forum demonstrated that although there is little movement of women making

ARTICLE by

HumPHREY ODHIAMBO

up these high-ranking positions as company leaders, they are steadily pushing to reach the top much as they face a barrage of challenges which many of their male CEO counterparts don’t have an understanding of. It is these issues that are preventing many women from achieving their goal of becoming a leader at their company and diminishing their ability to get ahead in business.

Below are some of the inspirational areas that both women and men thought-leaders at the HerNovation Forum candidly explored.

HONE FOR SKILLS Laura Chite, CEO – CIO East Africa formally opened the session by acknowledging a sudden increase of women who signed up for the annual HerNovation Forum. In line with the session’s theme, she pointed out that one of the biggest challenges women line managers continue to face is equality in the workplace. “My advice for women leaders everywhere is to go for what they want in their careers and not to give up.

Hone the skills necessary to give you those opportunities, such as your communication skills, leadership development, and emotional intelligence. Gather the courage to participate in meetings. Speak up, and be heard”.

Hone the skills necessary to give you opportunities, such as your communication skills, leadership development, and emotional intelligence.

Laura Chite, CEO – CIO East Africa

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THE HERNOVATION

BUILDING ALLIANCES Everline Wangu Kamau, Channel Lead –East Africa, V-MWare called on women and men to deliberately build alliances with decision-makers. It is time women pushed themselves to be part of the conversation that makes the ultimate decisions at the prime-table where they’ve shied to belong owing to demands that stretch beyond the formal work environment. “It is time we claimed and upheld the sense of belongingness at the table. I suggest women build healthy relationships with advocates, create a strong personal brand, establish guidelines before each project, position themselves as experts in their field, and communicate with confidence.

Ms. Wangu further stressed that women need to be authentic about themselves, present their true personalities to their employers and spouses to avoid 'suffering in silence' especially when people cannot leverage on their strengths and weaknesses for having not been black and white about it.

“I suggest women build healthy relationships with advocates, create a strong personal brand.”

Everline Wangu Kamau, Channel Lead –East Africa, V-MWare

Anne Joy, Head Marketing Sales, East African Breweries Limited

www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

59

THE HERNOVATION

Gladys Kimani-Warirah, Associate Director , EMA Information Protection Group (IPG), KPMG

SPEAKING UP

Tonia Kariuki – Managing Partner, Tellistic Technologies

WELL BEHAVED WOMEN SELDOM MAKE HISTORY In a terse presentation, themed: Becoming a member of the C-Suite Tonia Kariuki – Managing Partner, Tellistic Technologies was categorical that well behaved women seldom make history.

integrity, it is important that we strive to make history as we demonstrate passion, excellence and enthusiasm toward laying the foundation for our progress through our work.

While it is obvious that women are steadily making auspicious moves in the workplace and even taking more risks and preparing themselves to take on more challenging roles, it is time they challenged the status quo and gather the courage to walk the extra mile.

Tonia further guided women on how to go through a rigorous mentoring relationship and how to choose a mentor. She asked women to always define their value propositions and to own the responsibility to always mentor a woman below them.

While it is critical that women support and empower each other, starting with basic principles of who we are — our morals, values,

“It is it is important that we strive to make history as we demonstrate passion, excellence and enthusiasm toward laying the foundation for our progress through our work.”

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According to Gladys Kimani-Warirah, Associate Director, KPMG who made an insightful, it's not enough to be in a role or to sit at the table. One must also speak confidently, regardless of odds faced. Women should purpose to have standards. She noted that a number of women leaders fear being ostracized or rejected; however, respect comes when one's voice is heard. “It is incumbent on women leaders to share their voice and perspective because it can help shape policy, the workforce and perspective”.

Make your presence known as a leader and collaborator for good.

“It is incumbent on women leaders to share their voice and perspective because it can help shape policy, the workforce and perspective” For over 32 years, I have led women entrepreneurs to their next levels in business, and often the challenge is sales and anything related to income — not charging enough, being afraid to ask, underpricing, marketing, promoting, "bragging" to establish authority, and giving away services for free. My advice is to learn to master sales and get confident in your skills so you price properly and gain respect.

THE HERNOVATION

BARGAINING POWER In what indeed emerged as a thought-provoking presentation, Agnes Gathaiya, CEO, Pesalink stated that women in several organizations are leading the charge for change save for when it comes to negotiating their salaries.

There’s no denying it: Women are calling for change. They’re mobilized, invigorated, and determined to make sure the future is one that supports them both in their personal and professional pursuits.

But there’s one glaring area where women are still lagging behind men—equal pay for equal work.

Agnes Gathaiya, CEO, Pesalink

Stressing that there are tips to boost a women’s bargaining power it is

important that women, be they in formal employment or entrepreneurs should strive to be their next levels in business. “Women should deliberately recognize their value so that they charging enough for an would be employer. “Women should never be afraid to ask or even challenge the underpricing, marketing, promoting, “bragging” to establish authority, and giving away services for free. My advice is to learn to master sales and get confident in your skills so you price properly and gain respect.

“Women should deliberately recognize their value so that they charging enough for and would be employer.”

NEGATIVE THOUGHTS In yet another signature presentation at the forum, Maureen Mwaniki, Women in Technology HUAWEI (WITH), Leader was assertive that one of the biggest challenges my female clients face is allowing negative thoughts that arise in their mind to take control of their life. Her advice for women is to take control of their thoughts by becoming consciously aware of them and to either replace them with more positive and encouraging thoughts or to accept them and decide to move forward despite them.

Maureen Mwaniki, Women in Technology HUAWEI (WITH),

www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

61

LawTech

Data Law to Protect

Data Handling T

he Data Protection Bill, 2019, is officially a law! The president of the Republic of Kenya, H.E Uhuru Kenyatta signed the bill into law on the 8th November 2019, marking a milestone into Kenya Data handling and processing.

The purpose of the Act is to among other things, regulate the collection and processing of data in Kenya. It introduces elaborate obligations to persons who collect and process data whose infringement would lead to stiff penalties of an administrative fine of up to KES 5 million or in case of an undertaking, up to 1% of its annual turnover of the preceding year or whichever is lower.

Robert Nyamu, the Digital Solutions, Financial Services and Risk Advisor Leader in East Africa at Ernst and Young talked to CIO East Africa, demystifying the implications of the new law and why it could not come at a better time.

Robert quickly points out that it is a robust and extraterritorial application in a law as it applies to data controllers and processors, within or outside Kenya in so far as they process personal data while in Kenya or of data subjects located in Kenya. The signing of the act is quite a significant milestone in bringing quality, direction and clarity to data protection and privacy matters.

“The Act establishes the office of a Data Protection Commissioner which is to be headed by a Data Commissioner,” Nyamu points out.

Adding; “The Data Protection Commissioner is obligated to implement the Act, establish and maintain a register of data controllers and data processors, exercising oversight on data processing operations and receiving/ investigating any complaint by any person on infringement of the rights under the Act.”

ARTICLE by

Molly Wasonga

It has been waited for a long time in Kenya and is the first critical milestone in giving good policy direction within the country across many sectors in terms of data protection and in the rights of the citizen. And albeit a critical first step, there are a number of other steps that need to follow like guidelines spelling out the specific details around how this will happen.

The Data commissioner The new law opens for the position of a data regulator called commissioner, who will look at data and its handlers simply called processors.

It allows for entities to appoint a single data protection officer provided that the officer is accessible by each entity.

The office of the data commissioner will be empowered to drive very clear policies and regulations in terms of how data is governed and protected within the context of Kenya and helping to classify the importance of data.

“The Data Commissioner may carry out periodical audits of the processes and systems of the data controllers or data processors to ensure compliance with the Act,” Nyamu avers.

“The law further allows data controllers and data processors to appoint a data protection officer who may be a staff member whose role includes advising on compliance with the Act.” Processing of data is thereby prohibited unless

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LAWTECH

under set conditions laid out in the Act, including the obtainment of the consent of the person whose data is processed are fulfilled. In addition, the processing of sensitive personal data is prohibited except for the stipulated permitted grounds. Further, personal data relating to the health of a person may only be processed by or under the responsibility of a health-care provider; or by a person subject to the obligation of professional secrecy under any law.

The Act outlines the principles of data protection which are modelled on the principles set out in the EU General Data Protection Regulation. It further stipulates the rights of persons whose data is collected, including the right to:

¡¡ be informed of the use to which their personal data is to be put

¡¡ access personal data in custody of a data controller or data processor

¡¡ correction of false or misleading

data and deletion of false or misleading data about data owners.

“It is a very significant milestone and we are very excited about it. We however urge the stakeholders to fast track the process of the office of the data commissioner set up and the guidelines to finally have a full framework of data governance in the country.” Robert Nyamu.

The Act also outlines the conditions for the transfer of personal data outside of Kenya and stipulates that a person data shall not be used for commercial purposes, unless with obtainment of consent from the person whose data is to be used.

Before the bill was proposed and later signed into law, as Nyamu recounts, Kenyans used tads and pieces of legislations sitting with individual regulation bodies for example the insurance and banking industries drew references from Acts that contemplated how data could be treated and used guidance notes from Central Bank of Kenya and Insurance Regulatory Authority.

“The data commissioner as shall be appointed, must have the experience and gravitas in handling governance matters because this is a critical role

Robert Nyamu, the Digital Solutions, Financial Services and Risk Advisor Leader in East Africa, EY to ensure that no more data abuse is perpetrated. Idea contribution from the stakeholders as to what they’d like to see in the guidelines is vital,” he adds.

Implications of the new law The new law sums up the pieces as the apex regulator for data and its handling; it is a comprehensively rich and well-structured law, similar to the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe and POPI act in South Africa.

“Companies that operate regionally may have to adopt to the Kenyan law as it is the most superior regionally so as to avoid potential fines in the future. So to ideally bring all the subsidiary companies to comply with the standards of the new law,” he adds.

This law will address the abuses of privilege around handling of data.

Formerly and without this law, data handling was a free for all where there was not a clear policy and/ or regulatory direction about whether someone could handle, sell, move someone else’s data without their consent or not. Companies mined, manipulated and basically processed data in malicious ways usually without data owners consent but could not be apprehended for lack of a proper stipulation about the same.

Such culprits went scot free for arguing there was no law inhibiting

such illegal processing of data then and law cannot be applied retrospectively, but now since there is a law, such violations shall be punishable as spelt in the law.

“Going forward, anyone that handles data against the provisions of the Act- abuses of data in collection, processing, handling and sharingshall be held liable.” Robert Nyamu.

“The impact of this Act is that persons who collect, control, manage and store data will need to review their terms and conditions and operations to avoid the risks of non-compliance.”

If the guidelines are spelled out in the right way, it will attract a lot of big investors and big technology giants.

In terms of implementation cost, Nyamu is uncertain about the exact figures for spending but advises the Kenyan taxpayers to brace for a spend towards the same. is difficult to put an estimate we need to first draw up an organogram of what the office will be structured like.

“The commissioner, he notes, must appoint few other people to work with, whose recruitment can commence at a more granular level. Once the act is operationalized, data collection and analysis teams will deploy technology to ensure successful operations, concludes Nyamu, adding; “The full operationalization of this act may take two to three years.”

www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

63

EduTech

Students at the Great Wall of China

Bridging the gap between workplace and academia I nadequate prerequisite skills have been the key hindrance among the youth in securing employment. This coupled with the lack of technical and soft skills result to a good number of graduates being unable to get job placements after leaving institutions of higher learning.

The numbers are growing by the day and it is up to both the private and public sector to provide solutions to the growing problem, but who does the buck stop with?

Huawei has been on the forefront in bridging the digital divide, nurturing ICT professionals through ICT awareness and skill transfer thus ensuring digital participation. The Huawei Seeds for the future programs was initiated in 2008 globally to help bridge the gap between academia and the work place. In Kenya the program commenced in 2014 and takes pride in being the first country in Africa to kick start the program under the MoU signed with ICT Authority.

ARTICLE by

Molly Wasonga

The program takes 30 interns a year in their 3rd, 4th and 5th year of university through a 2 month training and internship in Kenya and a further 2 week training at the Huawei Headquarters in China to the 10 outstanding

64 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

interns that year. Over the years, 128 students have completed internship and 57 have travelled to china for further ICT training while 10 students have secured jobs at Huawei and with various subcontractors. “While at the Huawei University in Shenzhen we were trained on mobile network, key ICT technologies, emerging technology and 4G/5G base Data configuration. All these topics are heavily laden with a lot of insights that were very eye opening to myself and the rest of the team� said Irvin Lumumba during the recent training in China.

Certificates awarded to students after completing the Chinese language training at

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Certificates awarded to students after completing the Chinese language training at BCLU

BCLU H.E Amb. Sarah Serem at the 2019 Seeds for the future opening ceremony in Beijing China In light with addressing the challenge of unemployment, Preceding the CIO 100 Symposium and Awards, Huawei, CIO East Africa and Media Council of Kenya organized the forum on Skilling the Kenyan youth for the 4th Industrial revolution. The forum brought together participants from various sectors among them the Seeds for the Future alumni. Various key points raised during the round table discussions revolved around the need for better awareness and use of online platforms for youth so they can make use of the available resources that are free whilst looking for jobs. In addition government was encouraged to create incentives for companies to take interns and provide training to replicate programs like Seeds for the Future, whilst companies can more proactively support youth to setup their own enterprises, hire more youth as freelancers through Ajira, and create more training and content that is relevant for the coming 4IR like Huawei’s ICT Academies do with Kenyan Universities.

H.E Amb. Sarah Serem at the 2019 Seeds for the future opening ceremony in Beijing China

country is not left out in the current 4th industrial revolution.

Huawei Deputy CEO Public Affairs Adam Lane closed out the event remarking that Huawei would remain committed in its efforts to build a

skilled ICT workforce in the Kenya through training and internship programs like Seeds for the Future and partnerships with various local universities to provide certifications and training on current industry trends.

“Emerging technology will soon be embedded in all sectors of the economy and the youth need to build this skill set while in school to remain relevant in the current digital age” beckoned Wendy Ombima, a Seeds for the future alumni.

What was consistent during the event was the emphasis that the youth should start engaging with technology from an early age to ensure that the 66 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

Alumni from the Seeds for the future program

Thinking Aloud

B2B Marketing 101

F

or the longest time, if you had a product and/or a service, that you needed to get to market, you would ideally employ a number of marketing tools, to drive this, or just commission a marketing agency to achieve your goals for you. Marketing thus serves to connect a business to their market, and us such the most import question marketers ask themselves is who is the target audience?� The answer to this question drives everything, it decides when and where to find this desired target audience, how to communicate to them, what to appeal to them with, in short it forms the fabric of your marketing campaign. With this in mind, we must think of our brands not serving just the changing landscape of today, but that of the future as well, something dear to us at Alternative; building brands of the future.

ARTICLE BY

SAMO BRYTON

Unlike traditional lead generated methods, an account based marketing approach involves creating customized messages aimed at engaging key prospects within targeted accounts.This approach allows you to personalize your content based on the individual needs and attributes of your target audience. It acts as an add-on to your overall marketing strategy by aligning your resources and budget towards accounts that will generate the highest return on investment.

Ultimately, the effectiveness and overall success of an Account Based Marketing (ABM) strategy starts with a clear and precise description of your ideal customer profile (ICP). Your ideal

68 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

customer profile is based on the specific criteria of your target client such as their revenue, size, industry etc. An ICP consists of individuals who are likely to become valuable customers based on their ability and willingness to purchase your product. By specifying your ICP, you can link your marketing and sales team by directing their efforts towards driving the engagement and conversion of a set of high value accounts.

Essentially, gaining valuable insight into your ICP allows you to go beyond lead generation and focus on providing relevant content targeted towards your high value accounts. With your ICPs mapped out, the rest of your strategy easily falls

THINKING ALOUD

into place, comprising: A strategy, data, account planning, content & offers, channels & offers, metrics and a technology stack. Your technology stack enables you to execute your strategy at scale. For instance with your ICPs mapped out, you can utilize predictive analytics to map out their behaviour and interests and as such, be able to for instance be able to accurately is person X, who has shown a high interest in motor vehicles is at a position to require a motor vehicle insurance product and their tendency to purchase the same.

This same approach can be used to target key decision makers and users, at a target business organization.

This is a challenge we’ve previously encountered at Alternative, working with Internet Solutions(IS), whereby we all know IS as the global tech giant.

The question we were asked is why should anyone care, our answer the #TechISTomorrow campaign, whose success allowed us to evolve it to the #TechISToday campaign. Our understanding of our ICPs allowed us to break down the complex offering of IS to palatable material that is relevant to their day to day lives, enabling a connection between the brand and its audience.

and personalization platform for business-to-business companies, powered by iamigloo.com. Our ABM strategy is something we are successfully carrying out for sales lead generation for a diverse number of B2B organizations.

The ROI from ABM, makes it very attractive, if effectively undertaken, directly leading to sales, and a

continuously identifiable expandable and predictable clientele pool.

However, for maximum results you need a strategy that properly and effectively identifies and utilizes your ICPs, and tech stack, and therein lies the catch. The secret is not in getting a fishing rod, it’s knowing, how, when and where to use the fishing road.

Thus a key requirement in this day and age is having and setting up enabling infrastructure, to enhance the actualization of your ABM strategy. Resources such as your website, are very valuable if set up and utilized effectively, as this houses a huge pool of data that enables you to understand who your ICP is, and compare that to who you think they are. Ideally you need a CRM module, marketing automation, Bots which are all enabled by your acquisition strategy. Utilizing A.I pixels, your ICP can be continuously redefined to accurately represent who they are from who you think they are, providing a case of from quantity to quality. Something we rolled out for the #TechISToday campaign, and have utilized for clients such as Pesamill and Prudential Insurance.

Alternative Cognos.ai is a targeting www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

69

Thinking Aloud

Automation is transforming the way we work

A

utomation and other technological advancements have transformed the way we work and also how we secure it, but with cyber-attacks still regularly hitting the headlines, it’s clear that this almighty game of cat-and-mouse will run and run.

These advances mean that the role of the traditional IT worker is being flipped on its head, with security high on their checklists along with an approach that actively pinpoints areas of risk.

The overriding need now is to work across the organisation to help them deliver the outcomes they’re looking for, while reducing risk. It’s not about perfect security; it’s about setting a risk profile for the business based on appetite for risk, the type of industry the business is in and the sorts of threats it faces.

MISTY MALAN

Lead Channel Manager KnowBe4 Africa

We’ve seen that - across security applications, across endpoints, across network infrastructure - there will always be vulnerability. That’s interesting, but what actions can we usefully take? We need to think about is what is exploitable, what is realistic and how could the business be impacted? As a result, where should we invest our time and money?

This is a very different posture to how, historically, security used to be practiced in IT. Akin to a castle with big walls, defenders facing outwards, a drawbridge and a moat, security used to be predicated on a situation where whatever is on-premises were the only things that had to be considered in the security sense.

Now, half the company’s critical assets and data

70 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

are scattered across various cloud providers in several different countries.

With this reality in mind, we believe that two areas of security are going to become the cornerstone of successful IT security strategies going forward. First, there’s the big area of identity: who has access, how do you manage that access, what is that access, how do you deal with changes to that access?

And then there’s the data itself. Where is that data, who should have access and what data is the most valuable? The modern company on the road to digital transformation needs to protect the things that are the most valuable and the most impactful to maintaining trust, revenues and ongoing operations.

The commonality in these two aspects is privileged access or, in other words, the special permissions humans, applications or machines need in order to manage and control critical assets. In nearly every breach, privileged access is compromised in order to assume identities and access data. It is critical to manage and protect privileged access wherever high value identities and data reside – whether on-premises or in the cloud.

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Thinking Aloud

Cyber Security Kenya’s year in review

S

ecurity continues to form a critical component of every technology that is in use today. Kenya has adopted the use of many innovations and trailblazing applications such as M-Pesa, Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMÏS), National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) or huduma number if you like and the Ajiira job search portal.

Due to this, online security threats have been on the rise this year as the hunting field for cyber criminals continues to expand significantly. An an article in the Daily Nation by Annie Njanja revealed that cyber attacks in Kenya had risen to 11.2 million by the end of quarter one of 2019.

These attacks are estimated to have cost the country approximately 29.5 billion. This outcome has compelled more and more organisations especially within the financial sector to increase their investments in cyber resilience and create awareness among their employees.

To make matters worse, the country is currently facing a shortage of cyber security professionals.

At present, there are only 17,000 certified security professionals with two thirds of companies continuing to face a shortage of skilled personnel. Further to this, the number of learning institutions locally that are offering security courses are not commensurate to the market demand and very few candidates are being churned out into the market place every year.

This year the government embarked on the huduma number registration process and as a result more than 20 million Kenyans registered.

In spite of the governments resilience and commitment towards this process, a lot of questions around data privacy lingered on how the government plans to use it’s citizens data and whether the data was being collected and stored securely especially because the data protection bill had not yet been signed into law when the registration process was on going. To add salt to injury, a cyber security specialist by the name Anand Venkatanatayanan claimed that the NIIMS system used for huduma number registration was flawed and can be breached very easily by cyber criminals. Anand’s claims made before a high court judge were mainly based on the understanding that the NIIMS system uses a centralised database system which is easy to breach. Further to this, the NIIMS design architecture is archaic when compared to modern day system architecture according to him.

FRANCIS MWANGI MD, Zindua Technologies

As we move into 2020 and beyond, the attack surface and level of sophistication for cyber attacks is likely to grow to an astronomical scale. This is due to the emergence of disruptive

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technologies such as AI, IoT and Blockchain. As Kenyans within the technical space get more innovative and come up with various applications, cyber criminals are also working hard towards getting better at breaching security of these applications. In addition to this, Kenya now has a data protection law in place, and this was the ingredient missing before the recommendations of the Blockchain and AI report could be implemented to drive forward the government’s Big Four agenda.

We are now likely to see blockchain and AI being used within various sectors such as the lands registry for titling process, the insurance sector for the management of health records as well as the claims process and even the Kenyan electoral process. As a result of this, cyber criminals will be looking for ways to by-pass any security controls in order to get their hands on critical data maintained within such applications. There is therefore a great need for the government as well as the private sector to ensure that there are enough skilled security professionals to meet the demand of the market as the scale and magnitude of the attacks keeps growing.

Information Security personnel will need to be trained and enlightened on how to secure blockchain, AI and IoT applications. A lot also need to be done to create deep awareness about the data protection law so that citizens are aware of their rights when it comes to data privacy issues and what action they can take if any against the custodians of their data in the event of a breach that leads to data leakage.

What are the

ethical concerns in AI?

W

hen thinking about ethical concerns in AI we have an overwhelming tendency to focus on the ethical consequence of the action or even non-action of AI. We look at things like is it ethical to have AI control a vehicle and who does the blame fall to in the event of error.

Little light is shed on the more important aspect of how AI makes decisions and predictions. This is the most crucial part to discuss ethics. Should a car make the decision to save its passengers or save the passengers of the other oncoming car during a head on collision and what should it account for in making this decision. Ethics doesn’t come into play just while AI is interacting with us, it starts from the code even before we determine how the AI will interact with us and how arrives to decisions. Regardless of the outcome, ethics beings with the developers.

Luck is the uncertainty of outcome. Automation allows use to have a certainty of outcome which is great. Artificial intelligence is built to reduce our dependency on luck and how we build it matters to ensuring we have outcomes that are certain. But what happens when we make AI incapable of violating predetermined constraints, we take away its ability to be creative. Achieving this requires use of principles that allow AI to be ethical and remain creative. Various methods can be implemented together or individually.

Is ethics possible in AI? If the gaol of AI is to emulate human thinking, then ethics is something that can be emulated with a degree of difficulty. This one particular item doesn’t sit on the band wagon of Universality of computations which states that anything the laws of physics require an object to do can in principle be achieved (emulated) by a program given enough time and memory.

So how are developers getting it done now.

Bias evaluation Simply states that one should be able to understand, document, monitor any form of bias during development and the production use of an AI. This is easier said than done while trying to account for the bias of bias or “the lack of bias being bad or being a bias on its own” some philosophical issues here to answer.

Human in the loop review This allows for humans to review all decisions

and predictions made by AI. Sounds simple enough but who gets to decide the human in the middle what makes a good candidate for human in the middle. And does this process of counter checking reduce the overall turnaround of using AI?

Explain-ability by justification Allow the AI to be built in a way that if it can justify the decision or prediction then the set of tools used can later be termed as ethical moving forward as it always produces an outcome that can be trusted to be ethical in the required case.

Thinking Aloud

THINKING ALOUD

The few methods mentioned above however fail to answer one important question, if we have gotten ethics wrong (rather failed to agree on it) why would something emulating our thinking succeed?

AI vs AI A rogue concept if ever there was one, this AI works currently in theory better than in practice, however, it is a valuable piece to look into. expanding on the Machine learning system invented by Ian Goodfellow, the use of generative adversarial network could be essential into ensuring ethics within AI. One AI give a decision or prediction and the other AI would then contest this outcome. Similar to the current working of generative adversarial network where two neural networks contest each other in a game like scenario. GAN aims to generate new data sets from sample or training sets which is then evaluated and passed by the models.

The goal really isn’t to find how to do it either of the methods here and many more can be justified to work. The goal is just how much luck we want with our decisions and predictions. Too constraint and we lack in creativity to lose and we risk damaging outcomes. Strangely though as humans we think we are very rational creatures yet a majority of our decisions are irrational, and as a species we seem to be doing just fine with all this irrational thinking. So maybe we should have more of this thinking into AI.

MICHAEL MICHIE Head of IT ,TripleOKLaw

www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

73

HardTalk

Leveraging power distribution for IoT

W

e keep discussing big data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning yet we are doing very little to collect the underlying data required to make all the others feasible.

Many of us walk around with multiple sensors and also powerful processing capacity but yet most of it remains a talking point at cocktails, workshops and symposiums while the rest of the world is collecting the data to assist in decision making, in some cases letting machines make the decisions as with traffic lights.

We are clueless on the latter issue as we have no faith in traffic lights being able to manage the effective flow of traffic, or is it that the mechanical controller programmers all retired and we have no replacements?

Neurotic Intervention What does IoT have to do with traffic lights you must be asking, if we had faith in the traffic lights by now we would have installed sensors across the entire CBD to provide a holistic network of traffic flow at different times of the day but instead we opt to fall back to NI (Neurotic Intervention) instead. “An electric traffic light was developed in 1912 by Lester Wire, a policeman in Salt Lake City, Utah, who also used red-green lights�

Our technophobic nature continues to persist even as we continue with the development of a smart city elsewhere instead of testing the concepts in the existing ones but as we know a government prefers the waterfall method of development, agile only works with incentivisation.

Buried fibre Networks Back to the issue at hand, over the years we have developed a comprehensive power distribution network that has a better footprint than our multiple buried fibre networks, which for some strange reason refuse to co-share ducting even into the same building.

The power network has sub-stations that act as locations to handle switching and also to lower the voltages for local consumption, for the uninitiated the high-tension grid operates at 380 Kv definitely too high to use for charging your phone which uses 240V, sadly, a few have tried?

ROBERT YAWE

CEO, Synaptech Solutions

Fortunately for us the grid also happens to carry multicore dark fibre that can be used to provide data services making the deployment of a country wide IoT infrastructure easy to do.

74 www.cio.co.ke | DEC 2019 / JAN 2020 | CIO EAST AFRICA

Unfortunately, it will most likely not happen for the same reason that fibre providers decided not to use the existing Postal and Telecommunications ducts and instead opted to excavate our roads and footpaths as they believe that infrastructure is a competitive advantage, in this age of software defined networks!

Smart-number plates The various IoT communication protocols, be it LoRA or SigFox, offer long enough range to be able to provide a mesh network across the country with concentrators situated within the power sub-stations allowing us to roll-out smart number plates the data of which as mind boggling applications.

To reduce latency and the impact of having to backhaul data over the WAN, edge data centres can be deployed within the power substations for localised processing. Seems the centralisation model is about to be disrupted as processing power moves out of the core.

As IoT devices get ever smaller and cheaper such a network could make cattle rustling a thing of the past and also resolve the surprises of a bumper harvest or draught.

We have the infrastructure to turn the entire country smart but do we have people smart enough and with the will to implement the solutions?

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