Author: Elan
Nairobi — Standard Chartered Bank Kenya has mobilized more than Sh97 billion in sustainable finance since 2021, supporting renewable energy, affordable housing, sustainable infrastructure and women-led businesses as demand for climate-focused investments grows. According to the bank’s 2025 Sustainability Progress Report, the funding has also supported financial inclusion initiatives, underscoring the banking sector’s growing role in financing Kenya’s climate and development goals. “We have continued to support our clients in their sustainability journeys through sustainable finance solutions while strengthening our own environmental performance,” the bank said. “Our ambition remains to be the leading cross-border bank connecting capital with sustainable growth…
Telegram founder Pavel Durov said Russian authorities designated him a “terrorist” after he refused government demands for mass surveillance and censorship on the messaging platform, responding publicly a day after Russia announced charges against him.In a Telegram post on Thursday, Durov also said Russia had barred him from “publishing information on the Internet,” adding that authorities had “got confused about who can ban whom from the Internet.”Source: Telegram, Pavel DurovThe comments came a day after Russia’s Federal Security Service accused Durov of facilitating terrorist activity, alleging Telegram failed to remove channels used by terrorist groups and Ukrainian intelligence services.The case…
Visa, the global payments company, has appointed Anne Kinuthia Otieno, the former managing director of Airtel Money Kenya, as the Vice President and Head of East Africa, less than a week after announcing her departure from the mobile money operator. She will assume the role on August 4, overseeing Visa’s business across seven East African markets. According to Visa, Kinuthia-Otieno will be based in Nairobi, where she will lead the company’s efforts to grow digital payments, deepen partnerships with financial institutions and partners, and expand financial inclusion across the region. The appointment answers the question industry watchers had after Kinuthia-Otieno…
As AI reshapes product design, it could give designers greater autonomy or expose the gaps that autonomy makes harder to hide. Exploring both the bull and bear cases, Andy Budd examines what happens when designers need less permission to act.Designers have spent years saying they would do better work if the organisation got out of the way. Not always in those exact words, obviously. It usually comes out as something more reasonable: we didn’t get enough engineering time, product had already decided the solution, the roadmap was too packed, leadership only cared about this quarter’s numbers, research got cut, the…
Ballot blitz After months of administrative difficulties and divisions to get Trevor Mwamba’s candidacy registered, the opposition has united behind Brian Mundubile and is mounting a last-minute campaign to unseat President Hakainde Hichilema in the 13 August election. Zambian opposition leader Brian Mundubile addresses supporters at a political rally. © Brian Mundubile/Facebook Published on July 30, 2026 at 17:00 pm (GMT +1) Bishop Trevor Mwamba had been planning to run as presidential candidate for the United National Independence Party (UNIP), Zambia’s post-independence party once headed by Kenneth Kaunda. But when he went to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to…
Seun RasheedOur new book, How we made it in Africa II: Real stories of entrepreneurs turning opportunity into profit, is available here. The book was recently shortlisted for the Business Council for Africa (BCA) African Business Book of the Year Awards 2026.Interview with Seun RasheedFOUNDER AND CEO, SOUK FARMSLives in: Kigali, RwandaNigerian-born Seun Rasheed was working for oil giant Shell in Qatar when a holiday to Rwanda set him on a different path. During the trip, the wide gap between the local price of passion fruit and what it sold for in Europe caught his attention. He realised there was…
Many refugee camps are unliveable – here’s what needs to happen – African Business Many refugee camps are unliveable – here’s what needs to happen – African Business
GoLemon, the Lagos-based grocery delivery startup founded by four former senior Paystack executives, has ceased operations after 28 months, leaving behind a trail of 40,000 registered customers, tens of thousands of delivered orders, and more than ₦2 billion worth of groceries moved across Nigeria’s commercial capital. In a Medium post titled “Thank you, Lagos” published on July 29, 2026, GoLemon said it had become “part of thousands of weekly routines” across the city. But despite efforts to raise additional funding, the company said it “couldn’t find a sustainable path forward within the time available to us.” The shutdown marks the…
Wema Bank generated ₦7.14 billion from its electronic banking products in the first half of 2026, highlighting the increasing importance of digital banking in generating revenue for Nigerian lenders. According to the bank’s unaudited financial results for the six months ended June 30, 2026, fees for electronic products reached ₦7.14 billion, making it one of the bank’s largest sources of fee and commission income during this period. The bank reported a fee and commission income of ₦36.09 billion for the first half of 2026. Notably, electronic banking contributed nearly 20% of this total, deriving from activities outside traditional lending. For…
David Imel / Android AuthorityTL;DR Pixel 4 series phones, and the Pixel 4a in particular, have recently been suffering from a boot loop problem. Back at the start of July, Google let us know that a fix would soon be heading out. Pixel 4a owners now report that their latest Play update has finally sorted the bug out. Outside of full-on bricking a device, where you just can’t get it to respond at all anymore, is there any glitch more frustrating to deal with than a boot loop? At least most of the time when an app is malfunctioning, we…