Blogs

I have always held the view that innovation in ICT for a long time is going to be dominated by the youth. Every period has its icons of innovations in ICT. The 80s and 90s had the likes of Hotmail, Yahoo, Google, Linux, HP and Microsoft. This decade has had social networking with the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn, blogging, iPod and Blackberry, among others.  read more »

Kenyans are known for copying most Western trends, from fashion to language. Even radio presenters who have never left the country speak with an American accent and try to put that "twang" on their speech.

The copying has gone on so well that it is now acceptable for ladies to expose parts of their bodies and boys to wear sagging pants.  read more »

Telkom says it’s not a price war; Kenyans say it is. But whatever you want to call the recent offer by Orange, it is good for the consumers.

The offer came a week after Zain offered the Vuka tariff, which allows cross-network calls at a flat rate. So far, Safaricom has only provided reduced costs on midnight calls, which does not benefit the majority.  read more »

There are few meetings where there are more than 300 people in the morning and by evening the number has risen to 400. Forget that the lunch vouchers were not enough for all techies or that some of them had to stand because the seats were taken.  read more »

The Western media has been blamed for the desperate image of Africa. Images of hunger, civil war, disease and dictatorship make headlines. It is argued that the only time an African story makes headlines is if it fits the prejudicial criteria.  read more »

So much has been said about the Madaraka PC, yet no one has seen it. It has been hailed as the solution to imported junk in the name of refurbished computers. But where is it?  read more »

It is funny how the issue of “network problems” has become an excuse for not returning calls or outright lies. It has become easy to say, “Simu yako ilikuwa mteja” ("Your phone could not be reached"). The network problems mean that calls never go through at first attempt. You have to try two or three times.  read more »

“Helo James, when will 'Uganda be ready' I seem to be discouraged by yo paper on BPOs posted on 20'oct 07 on the internet. Johnson-interested party” read the text I received a week ago.  read more »

I am one of those Ugandan employers that had, for a long time, lost hope and confidence in graduates from Makerere University, Kampala. Not only was I critical of the knowledge these kids get from the university, but I was also not contented with their attitude and appreciation of work.  read more »

One of the reasons why Kenya introduced 25 percent duty on imported used computers was to cultivate local innovation. The government pointed to the Madaraka PC project as one of the ways locals would promote locally produced PCs instead of importing used ones.  read more »