Author: Kaluka wanjala

Mastercard has appointed Yasemin Bedir as President of its Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) region, effective September 1, 2026. Based in the UAE, Bedir will oversee Mastercard’s operations across the 81-country EEMEA region, including its strategy and partnerships with financial institutions, fintechs, businesses, governments and retailers. She succeeds Dimitrios Dosis, who recently took on the role of Chief Commercial Payments Officer, where he will lead Mastercard’s Commercial & New Payment Flows business. Bedir brings nearly two decades of experience at Mastercard, having joined the company in 2007. Most recently, she served as Division President for Eastern Europe, a…

Raxio Group has appointed Dennis Kahindi as General Manager for Uganda. Kahindi brings more than 20 years of experience in Uganda’s technology and telecommunications sectors. His previous roles include senior positions at Huawei, Microsoft, Oracle, Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Airtel Uganda. Raxio operates data centres across Uganda, Ethiopia, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and Angola, with a facility under development in Tanzania. Its colocation facilities meet Tier III international standards and are carrier-neutral, allowing customers to select their preferred connectivity providers. “Dennis combines deep knowledge of the region’s technology landscape with a proven ability to build…

Safaricom’s Pochi la Biashara has grown to 2.2 million users, more than double the company’s 1 million Lipa na M-PESA merchants. The growth is a significant jump from 600,000 users in 2024 to 1.1 million in 2025, before doubling again to the current 2.2 million. According to a study conducted by the GSMA involving 1,992 women microentrepreneurs across Nairobi, Murang’a and Kajiado, Safaricom’s growth strategy went beyond acquiring new customers. The study found that many Pochi users were aware of some of the wallet’s features but were not necessarily using them. For instance, 48% of new Pochi users were aware…

Samsung has partnered with Housewives Paradise to launch the Samsung Brand Store, a direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform designed to expand the company’s digital retail presence in Kenya. The platform is available at samsungbrandstore.co.ke and is operated by local partner Housewives Paradise and supported by an e-commerce technology and operations vendor. The new store targets Kenya’s increasingly mobile-first consumer market, leveraging the country’s high internet usage and established mobile payment ecosystem. Samsung says the platform will complement its existing retail network while introducing exclusive products and inventory aimed at expanding demand across its product categories. The Samsung Brand Store will offer an…

Kenya is set to strengthen its position as a regional digital infrastructure hub with two new submarine fibre-optic cables expected to land in the country before 2027. The first cable is a 4,108-kilometre subsea fibre-optic system connecting Oman to Mombasa, being developed through a partnership between Meta and Safaricom. According to telecom research and analysis firm TeleGeography, Kenya is also expected to become a landing point for Africa-1, a 10,000-kilometre international submarine cable running from France through Africa to the Middle East, with the cable expected to reach Kenya next year. Kenya currently has seven subsea cable landings, ranking fifth…

Airtel Kenya has secured a new 25-year operating licence from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), bringing an end to years of uncertainty over the telecom operator’s long-term licence status in the country. The licence has been issued under Kenya’s Unified Licensing Framework (ULF) after Airtel paid an undisclosed fee, according to Airtel Kenya Managing Director Djibril Tobe. “I am pleased to tell you that we have successfully renewed our licence for another 25 years, which assures us that we are here to stay,” Tobe said. He added that Airtel now has greater confidence in its Kenyan operations and that…

NTT DATA has launched NTT DATA AI for Insurance, an AI-native agentic solution designed to help insurers modernise core workflows while maintaining governance, auditability and human oversight. The Service-as-Software solution combines configurable AI agents, insurance-specific data models, workflow orchestration and enterprise-grade governance to support processes including underwriting, claims and customer service. The launch comes as Kenya’s insurance sector continues to expand and digitise. According to the Insurance Regulatory Authority’s latest figures, long-term insurance premiums increased by 36.3% in the first quarter of 2026, while industry assets surpassed KES 1.1 trillion. “AI is no longer a future capability; it is becoming…

Yellow Card has raised $40 million in a strategic funding round to accelerate the expansion of its stablecoin infrastructure and Global USD Accounts. The round attracted investment from SC Ventures by Standard Chartered, Sony Innovation Fund, Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital and other strategic investors, bringing Yellow Card’s total funding to more than $120 million. The new capital will support the rollout of Global USD Accounts, an end-to-end dollar account designed for businesses. The platform enables companies to hold U.S. dollars, manage treasury, swap stablecoins and send or receive local currency payments through domestic payment rails in more than 50 countries.…

Moove has secured $250 million in a Series C funding round, pushing its valuation to $2.1 billion. The funding round was led by Mubadala Investment Company and co-led by Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund, alongside Ion Pacific. New investors including BlueCrest Capital Management, Sona Asset Management and The Raptor Group joined the round, while existing backers such as BlackRock, MUFG, Franklin Templeton, Uber and Endeavor Catalyst also continue to support the company. If you have a startup you want featured on TechArena, let us know through this contact form here. Moove said the fresh capital will be used to expand its autonomous vehicle…

Absa Asset Management Limited (AAML), the asset management subsidiary of Absa Bank Kenya PLC, has received regulatory approval from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to register two new special funds under the Absa Unit Trust Scheme. The approval clears the way for the launch of the Absa Global Multi-Asset Special Fund (USD) and the Absa Global Multi-Asset Special Fund (KES). These will give investors access to professionally managed global investment opportunities while enabling greater portfolio diversification. According to the CMA, the new funds comply with the requirements of the Capital Markets (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations, 2023 and have been approved…