Tech Trends KE
TechTrendsKE is a leading Kenyan news blog that covers technology and business trends, product and service reviews in Kenya and across Africa.
Jan 04, 2026 at 06:45PM
As the January “Njaanuary” back-to-school rush peaks, Absa Bank Kenya has stepped in to cushion parents from the perennial financial squeeze. The lender has launched a targeted campaign centred on its Absa Digi Loan, a digital credit solution designed to help guardians pay school fees instantly and spread the repayment over several months. With many …
The post Absa Digi Loan Offers Instant Financing for Back-to-School Fees appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Jan 03, 2026 at 01:36PM
What happens when you combine Kenya’s world-leading fintech infrastructure with cutting-edge gaming technology? You get an explosion of crash games, Aviator mania, and jackpot innovations that are redefining what casino gaming looks like in East Africa. If you’ve been anywhere near betting conversations lately, you’ve heard about Aviator. That little plane climbing higher and higher, …
The post Crash Games, Aviator and the Evolution of Casino Jackpots in Kenya appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Jan 03, 2026 at 08:41AM
In a significant move that signals a strategic shift in the African data center landscape, veteran technology leader Dan Kwach has been appointed as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of STELLARIX. Kwach, who is widely regarded as one of the chief architects of Kenya’s digital infrastructure, transitions to the Madagascar-based firm following a monumental 19-year …
The post Dan Kwach joins Madagascar based STELLARIX as Deputy CEO appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 31, 2025 at 09:55AM
Safaricom Ethiopia has announced a sweeping 44% average increase in mobile data tariffs, marking its most aggressive pricing adjustment since entering the Ethiopian market about two years ago. The increase, which took effect in late December 2024, is part of a desperate push by the telco to achieve break-even targets by March 2027 following a …
The post Safaricom Ethiopia announces aggressive data price hike amid currency volatility appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 31, 2025 at 07:01AM
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced that it has granted operating licenses to an additional 42 Digital Credit Providers (DCPs). This move now raises the total number of approved lenders operating in the country to 195 as regulators intensify efforts to clean up Kenya’s fast-growing digital lending space. In a statement issued on …
The post CBK licenses 42 more digital lenders appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 30, 2025 at 12:13PM
TechTrends Media, in strategic partnership with Africa Business Communities, is proud to announce the GreenShift Sustainability Forum, a premier full-day event dedicated to accelerating Africa’s transition toward a resilient and sustainable economy. Scheduled for March 2026, the forum will convene under the theme: “Driving Africa’s Sustainable Future: Innovation, Collaboration & Action.” As the continent faces …
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Dec 30, 2025 at 12:06PM
Kenya’s telecommunications sector is heading toward a high-stakes regulatory showdown in 2026, as the current Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs) are set to expire on February 28, 2026. The MTRs are the costs that operators charge each other to allow customers to communicate across networks. In March 2024, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) capped both …
The post Kenya set to review Mobile Termination Rates for 2026 appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 29, 2025 at 02:19PM
Predictive analytics plays a direct role in how betting companies plan cash flow, manage exposure, and allocate capital. The shift began when live betting overtook pre-match volume. Static financial models stopped reflecting reality. Operators now rely on forward-looking data models to estimate revenue volatility, payout risk, and short-term liquidity needs. Platforms such as afropari casino …
The post The Role of Predictive Analytics in the Financial Planning of Betting Companies appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 28, 2025 at 04:56PM
CyberSafe Foundation, with funding support from Google.org will launch Resilio Africa, a 3-year cybersecurity resilience project that aims at reducing the growing risks of cyberattack in institutions and communities across Sub-Saharan Africa. The project will strengthen the cyber resilience of 200 Critical Community Institutions (CCIs) in the region through provision of free technical tools, assessments, …
The post Google.org and CyberSafe launch 3-year cybersecurity resilience project for Africa appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 24, 2025 at 12:32PM
Netflix’s move into original content is often remembered as ambition. A distributor deciding it could compete with Hollywood. A technology platform declaring itself a studio. That reading flatters the outcome, not the decision. The real driver was exposure. Netflix understood early that a global streaming business built on licensed content carried a structural weakness that …
The post The Warner Bros. Discovery Talks Are Forcing Hollywood to Revisit a Choice Netflix Made Years Ago appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 24, 2025 at 12:18PM
For more than a century, Africa’s communications networks have been built in uneven bursts. Lines arrived in ports before hinterlands. Mobile leapfrogged fixed. Coverage expanded faster than capacity planning. Today, the conversation has moved again, away from access alone and toward what those networks actually support. Productivity. Industrial coordination. Public services that function under pressure. …
The post Why Africa’s Next Phase of Connectivity Depends on More Than Coverage Maps appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 24, 2025 at 12:03PM
Kenya’s credit guarantee scheme is about to get much larger on paper. The National Treasury plans to raise seed capital from Sh3 billion to more than eight times that amount, with the stated aim of pushing commercial banks to lend up to Sh50 billion to small businesses. It is an audacious number, especially when set …
The post Banks, Small Businesses, and the State Are Headed Back Into the Same Credit Experiment, Only at a Larger Scale appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 24, 2025 at 11:40AM
Kenya’s tax authority has moved from preparation to execution on foreign account surveillance. The exchange of financial data with 77 countries is no longer a regulatory promise sitting in the Gazette. It is live. For Kenyan taxpayers with money abroad, the line between domestic compliance and offshore opacity has thinned in practical terms, not just …
The post KRA finally turns on the offshore data tap and some familiar hiding places are missing appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 24, 2025 at 11:21AM
Mobile money in Kenya has always projected certainty. Balances appear instantly. Transfers clear in seconds. Withdrawals feel final in the hand. That sense of solidity has become so familiar that few users stop to ask what actually sits beneath the numbers on their phones. Regulators are now asking that question more openly. The State, through …
The post Mobile Money Made Kenya Bankable. It Also Left Millions Outside the Safety Net appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 24, 2025 at 11:00AM
Uganda has seen administrative directives come and go, but some land differently because of timing and memory. The Uganda Revenue Authority’s December memo halting the clearance of Starlink equipment unless backed by written military approval is one of those moments. It arrived weeks before national elections and immediately revived a precedent many Ugandans have not …
The post Uganda Tightens Its Grip on Satellite Internet Just as the Campaign Clock Runs Down appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 24, 2025 at 10:39AM
When William Ruto and Abiy Ahmed stood together in Addis Ababa, the moment carried more weight than the polite language of joint statements suggested. This was not simply a courtesy call or another nod to regional cooperation. It was a public endorsement of Safaricom Ethio Telecom joint investments as a political project, one that places …
The post Why Ruto Is Personally Backing Safaricom and Ethio Telecom’s Regional Expansion Push appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 24, 2025 at 09:41AM
Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has officially licensed Safaricom PLC and Airtel Money Kenya Limited to operate as Intermediary Service Platform Providers (ISPPs). This regulatory approval, announced on Monday, is set to transform Kenya’s investment landscape by allowing millions of mobile users to access regulated capital markets directly from their phones. The licensing of Safaricom …
The post Kenya licenses Safaricon and Airtel Money to expand digital trading sector appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 23, 2025 at 10:16AM
As the festive season reaches its peak, Kenyans are increasingly choosing digital convenience over the steering wheel. Bolt, the leading ride-hailing platform, has reported an 8% surge in ride demand this December, marking its highest-usage month of 2025. This uptick signals a significant shift in local behavior, as more citizens opt for ride-hailing services to …
The post Bolt sees 8% surge in December rides appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 23, 2025 at 10:08AM
More than 15 years ago, mobile financial services emerged as a transformative force across Africa. From the earliest days of mobile money, platforms such as MTN MoMo have enabled millions of people to access financial services for the very first time using the most ubiquitous technology available: the mobile phone. At the heart of this …
The post Serigne Dioum | Digital-First: Unlocking the next generation of African fintech appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 23, 2025 at 05:58AM
As of late 2025, Airtel Money has transitioned from being just a backup option to a formidable financial partner for many users in Kenya, evolving its ecosystem to handle everything from government payments to merchant shopping. Driven by aggressive expansion, technical upgrades, and strategic partnerships, Airtel Money is carving out a significant slice of the …
The post How Airtel Money is evolving to meet the daily financial needs of Kenyans appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 22, 2025 at 02:10PM
Instagram’s move onto television screens did not arrive with grand certainty. It arrived with doubt. That uncertainty is telling. Platforms usually enter new terrain with rehearsed confidence, even when the strategy is thin. Here, the hesitation sits closer to the surface. The living room has become the most contested space in digital media. Phones still …
The post Instagram Wants a Place on Your TV and That Raises Hard Questions About What the App Has Become appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 20, 2025 at 10:30AM
Transsion’s move toward a secondary listing in Hong Kong is not about survival capital. It is about reframing how the company is read by global markets. The Shenzhen-based phone maker, already listed in Shanghai at a valuation near $13 billion, has filed paperwork that could allow it to raise up to $1 billion from Hong …
The post Transsion’s IPO is a bet that the world is ready to price an Africa-first tech powerhouse appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 20, 2025 at 10:04AM
When Kenya signed a $2.5 billion health cooperation agreement with Washington this month, officials framed it as a vote of confidence. A new funding model. Direct government-to-government support. Fewer intermediaries. More control. Within days, the courts intervened. A High Court order has now frozen implementation of the agreement where it enables the transfer, sharing, or …
The post Kenya’s US health deal hits a court wall, and Africa is paying attention appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 20, 2025 at 09:01AM
The Adinkra Fellowship has announced its 2026 Cohort, a distinguished group of twenty exceptional Black leaders selected from 1,257 applications representing 84 countries across Africa and the global diaspora. Representing diverse fields including technology, governance, education, entrepreneurship, and community development, the Fellows reflect the breadth, depth, and global reach of contemporary Black leadership. Chosen through …
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Dec 19, 2025 at 08:02AM
Across much of Africa, telecom networks have stopped being background utilities. They sit in the foreground of daily economic life, often unnoticed until they falter. Payments, wages, remittances, merchant sales, and even informal credit increasingly pass through mobile networks before they touch a bank or a ledger. That reality sets Africa apart as the continent …
The post Mobile money built Africa’s digital promise, now the networks behind it are under real pressure appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 19, 2025 at 07:45AM
Mark Zuckerberg has always had a habit of deciding, abruptly and absolutely, that a single idea will carry his company into the next decade. Once he does, everything else bends around it. Products, people, budgets. Sometimes, Wall Street applauds. Sometimes it groans. The Meta AI superintelligence push belongs firmly in that lineage. It is not …
The post Inside Meta’s all-in AI gamble as Zuckerberg rebuilds the company at full speed appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 19, 2025 at 07:34AM
CES does not officially open until early January, yet the contours of the 2026 edition are already visible. Schedules are live. Keynotes are locked. And a familiar pattern is emerging as the industry prepares to converge on Las Vegas once again. The CES 2026 show floor runs January 6 through 9, with press events beginning …
The post Before Las Vegas opens its doors, CES 2026 is already showing its priorities appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 19, 2025 at 07:13AM
Lobbying has never been polite, but it used to carry some embarrassment. Meetings stayed off calendars. Donations were explained away as civic duty. Public values were still treated as something to protect, even when bent behind closed doors. That posture collapsed during Donald Trump’s second term. Over the past two years, Big Tech did not …
The post The long courtship between big tech and trump’s second White House appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 19, 2025 at 06:59AM
The idea of rockets leaving Kenyan soil is not new. It has circulated for decades, sometimes as ambition, sometimes as nostalgia. What has changed is the paperwork. This time the state has pushed the concept into the machinery of Treasury, procurement notices, and public private structuring. The proposed Kenya spaceport at Kipini, along the Tana …
The post Kenya’s spaceport ambition runs through Kipini where geography helps but markets decide appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 19, 2025 at 06:45AM
Safaricom is often discussed as a stock, a dividend story, or a political proxy. That framing misses what the company has become. At its core, Safaricom is now a technology platform with telecom roots, not the other way around. Mobile money rails, cloud-adjacent services, data infrastructure, and enterprise systems generate value in ways that traditional …
The post Safaricom grew into a tech power as its foreign owners learned to step back appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 19, 2025 at 06:30AM
For years, foldable phones have promised more space without quite earning it. Bigger screens unfolded, but habits stayed small. Video still played inside black bars. Multitasking looked impressive in demos, then collapsed into novelty once real work began. The Samsung Galaxy Trifold breaks that pattern, not by being clever, but by finally being literal about …
The post Samsung’s Trifold is not trying to replace your phone and that is the point appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 19, 2025 at 05:58AM
Kenya is moving to formalise the cryptocurrency market by setting minimum capital thresholds for firms dealing in virtual assets, with exchanges, wallet providers, and stablecoin issuers facing the steepest requirements. Under proposed regulations, these operators will be required to hold Sh50 million in paid-up capital, an additional Sh50 million in shareholders’ funds, and at least …
The post Kenya sets Sh50m capital bar for cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 18, 2025 at 04:49PM
For more than two years, Elon Musk treated the Twitter name as finished business. The platform became X. The bird icon vanished. Internal language and public branding followed suit. The company projected finality. That certainty no longer holds. X Corp. has now sued Operation Bluebird, a Virginia startup attempting to revive Twitter as a standalone …
The post X Built a New Identity, Then Found It Still Needed the Old One in Court appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 18, 2025 at 04:19PM
For most of its life, Netflix behaved as if every minute on its platform had to earn focus. Sit down. Watch closely. Follow the plot. Finish the episode. That assumption is starting to fall apart. Netflix’s growing push into video podcasts suggests a different reading of how people actually use media now. Attention is not …
The post Netflix has discovered the power of content you do not have to watch appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 18, 2025 at 04:03PM
When Samsung rolled out a 115 inch Micro RGB television at CES last year, the size drew the headlines. The price did the rest. At roughly thirty thousand dollars, the screen functioned less as a retail proposition and more as a line in the sand. Samsung was no longer treating advanced LCD as a fallback …
The post Samsung Is Doubling Down on Micro RGB TVs and Betting That Precision Can Still Command a Premium appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 18, 2025 at 03:31PM
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 was designed to feel settled. That quality mattered more before Samsung showed its hand with the Tri-Fold. On its own, the Fold 7 reads as a refinement cycle done carefully. Slightly easier to hold. Slightly less demanding in daily use. A device shaped by years of watching people hesitate before …
The post Galaxy Z Fold 7 Faces a Bigger Question After Samsung’s Tri-Fold appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 18, 2025 at 02:50PM
For most of its life, PayPal has operated as a layer that sat on top of other people’s financial systems. Cards, banks, local wallets. The company connected them, took a fee, and stayed largely out of the plumbing. That posture is changing, and the timing is not accidental. PayPal’s plan to bring its global wallet …
The post PayPal’s next act is about building financial infrastructure, not just moving money appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 18, 2025 at 10:53AM
Imagine this, It is 7:00 a.m. The operations team walks in, coffee cups in hand, ready to start the day. But something feels off. The production system is not loading. Orders that were confirmed the night before have disappeared from the dashboard. Emails keep bouncing back, drivers are waiting in the yard because their digital …
The post Frankline Okata | How Safaricom is helping enterprises build cyber resilience appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 18, 2025 at 10:08AM
Microsoft says Windows 11 AI agents will ask before accessing files, but doubts about control remain
Microsoft has moved to calm one of the loudest fears around its upcoming AI agents in Windows 11. After concerns spread that enabling agent features would quietly open the door to personal files, the company updated its support documentation to clarify how access will actually work. The short version is simple. AI agents do not …
The post Microsoft says Windows 11 AI agents will ask before accessing files, but doubts about control remain appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 18, 2025 at 08:56AM
Kenya’s night-time mobility patterns are shifting, with new data showing that women and young people are increasingly relying on ride-hailing platforms for safer movement after dark. According to the recently released Ipsos Ride-Hailing Safety Index Survey (2025), 94% of users in Kenya feel safer using ride-hailing apps at night compared to traditional transport modes. Women …
The post Women and youth lead shift to safer night-time mobility in Kenya appeared first on TechTrendsKE.
Dec 18, 2025 at 08:46AM
Japanese brewing giant Asahi Group Holdings has agreed to acquire Diageo PLC’s majority stake in East African Breweries PLC (EABL) and its Kenyan spirits subsidiary, UDV (Kenya) Limited. The transaction, valued at a net proceeds of approximately $2.3 billion (Kshs 296.5 billion), marks the first time a Japanese brewing major has made an investment of …
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