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23:59
From: assidous
Read This Entry & More At assidous
When former British Labour MP Tony Benn was asked what he understood democracy to be, he summarised the concept into 'Five Democratic Questions.'
What is your Power?
Who gave it to you?
What are you exercising it for?
To whom are you accountable?
How can we get rid of you?
I think that these questions are as relevant today as they were then.
The above excerpt is from 'On The Carpet', an article in DN 14.06.07 by Dr.Kibiwott Kurgat a lecturer at USIU.
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23:57
From: Kenya Imagine
Read This Entry & More At Kenya Imagine
L. Akitelek Papakemus battles with the idea of being a modern-day feminist. Having said that I think the feminist movement was, in retrospect, a grand waste of time. Even more so than the American civil rights movement - unless “African” is honestly a better label than “black” and “black” a step up from “negro” - if the intent remains. The hyper femininity that resulted from women’s OWN rejection of the feminist movement as a “carpet muncher’s” voice box, has left the modern woman with an absurdly unrealistic notion of who she should be.
Read more here.
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23:54
From: Kenya Imagine
Read This Entry & More At Kenya Imagine
Nekessa Opoti speaks to Nicole Khalani a teenage mother and the challenges she has faced. Without a social welfare system and a society where women still bear the brunt of society's responsibility to take care of children born out of wedlock,the challenges of a teenage girl raising a child are enormous.
Read the rest here.
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23:51
From: Kenya Imagine
Read This Entry & More At Kenya Imagine
Read as Al Kags congratulates Google's first employee, and his assessment of IT growth in Africa, and what he sees as an impediment to this growth. However, we need to accept, Africa, that the largest impediment to our development is our cultural outlook - not the traditions and customs but the way we do business and our openness to new concepts. I recently had a meeting with a government official with regard to accessing some of the records that they have, digitizing it at my own cost and sharing the digital data with them for them to develop its use by wider sharing it. Amazingly, his first reaction was "absolutely not." Why? Because it is not done in government. When we got over that, we found that there is a huge fear with regard to what the information will be used for.
Read more here.
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21:29
From: Kenyanentrepreneur.com
Read This Entry & More At Kenyanentrepreneur.com
What is going on with this fiber optic cable system? I need someone who is familiar with the semantics to explain it to me.
Kimunya says the undersea cable will cost about $110 million dollars (that’s really not a lot of money and I’m surprised the government hasn’t been able to just raise this amount on [...]
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21:22
From: White African
Read This Entry & More At White African
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eBay and World Artisans, originally uploaded by whiteafrican.
I’m at eBay Live!, the annual eBay conference, in Boston this week. I took the opportunity to attend a session titled, “Using eBay to Empower Artisans Around the World”.
In all fairness, I chose the title of this post due to my experiences with the “aid vs trade” debate at TEDGlobal last week. The general feeling around the session I was in though, was that people would only buy African products if they were sold with a story of “helping Africa’s poor and needy”.
Overview
The basic idea is that eBay is working with Fair Trade organizations to certify NGOs, aid organizations and a few for-profit companies to source and manage products coming from places like Africa, and some places in Asia and South America. Organizations that are certified as “Trust Providers” will be allowed to do business.
eBay, in coordination with World of Good, is setting up a specific marketplace for these third-world artisans to sell their inventory. The artisans don’t have direct access to this marketplace, instead they need to work through sellers in the US and UK to make the final sale - to complete the supply chain. This new marketplace is being marketed towards the LOHAS demographic (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability), who is willing to pay 20%+ premium on products.
There seems to be a great many supplier artisans around the world. What eBay is trying to do is increase the demand - an area where they see a gap in the chain - by providing a special place to “tell a story” about the goods.
This is all well and good. Noble even. However, I think they’re missing something - or at least only looking at the problem from one angle. From what I have experienced talking to Africans all over East Africa, they want to sell their goods on equal footing with everyone else. They will use another charity platform, if that’s all they’re given to work with, but it’s not what they really want.
What If…
What if eBay were to set up a micro-enterprise investment fund for companies to use and invest in building out eBay enterprises in Africa? What if they were to invest in for-profit companies as a real business move into the continent? There are more options than just those though…
That’s what I would like to see happen. Provide all of the tools that other international eBay regions get - like India. Treat Africa the same, instead of having special rules with watchdog “trust providers” to control the unruly and untrustworthy African.
Last Thoughts
I’m torn, because I like that eBay is paying attention and trying to do something, but I’m a little put out by the attitude that Africa needs special rules. I don’t think that’s the case, I believe that Africans can, and will, perform on the world stage with everyone else.
However, what the eBay team is trying to do is probably the right decision for them. In the end, they see Africa as a risk - and certain countries are hotbeds for fraud and eCommerce corruption. Maybe a more balanced approach would be to work in some type of direct investment play into Africans at the local level as well as these development groups.
 
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14:29
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
TED Global was an absolute whirlwind…so much so that I didn’t blog it (can’t believe that, though Ethan makes the whole exercise pointless doesn’t he?).
In between watching all the amazing speakers, I was busy catching up with real and virtual (not anymore) friends, freaking out about my talk on the last day, and more importantly [...]
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11:41
From: dkFactor
Read This Entry & More At dkFactor
 The South African government has launched a new website www.sa2010.gov.za to provide information on the country's preparations for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. The site focuses in particular on providing comprehensive information on government 2010-related programmes, including those related to economic opportunities.
It also acts as an entry point to other sources of information on the country - such as the South African Tourism and International Marketing Council portals, and provincial and host city websites.
Go to the website >>
2010, fifa world cup, south african tourism
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10:21
From: bankelele
Read This Entry & More At bankelele
6.5 to 7% economic growth expected in 2007/08 and the budget will focus on strengthening the financial sector, reducing the cost of doing business, enhanced productivity and fixing infrastructure.
Some measure mentioned in the budget speech today (only heard 1/2 of it) include:
alcoholduty up on spirits, wine and some beer
auto spares Reduce import duty 25 to 10% for oil filter, but with increased excise duty on imported used spares
Banks minimum share capital increased from 250 million to 1 billion (over the next 3 years) and benchmarks will be set up to be adhered to
battery to protect local battery companies, a duty imposed on imported recycled batteries
Cigarettes tax up
east African investors get the same treatment as Kenyans, - i.e. withholding tax of 5% on dividends and improved allocation chances (will be treated same as Kenyan in pool expanded form 25 to 40%)
energy rural electrification to be continued as mini grids will be set up in large towns. 8 billion has been allocated to deal with (anticipated?) energy shortages so they don’t hamper manufacturing processes and the government will also complete the oil pipeline to Uganda and refurbish the refinery at Mombasa (even though other shareholders have refused to chip in)
Educationincreased funding for free secondary education, implement increased teacher salary agreement and hire 7,000 new teachers
hawkers 400m to be spent to construct a market for them in Nairobi
ICT 1 billion ($15 million) for TEAMS which is expected to be completed in mid-2008. Also a national fibre optic network will be in place to reduce the cost of communications. In addition a 200m ($3m) endowment fund for innovation and research will be set up and the private sector invited to top it up.
insurance companies minimum share capital raised. For Long term (50m to 150m), general (100m to 300m) and composite from (150m to 450m) – within 3 years.
leasing: Zero rate leasing of some equipment and removal of withholding tax requirement
licenses for businesses - eliminate 205, reform 371 others
Medical equipment duty removed
milkZero rate milk powder to promote local processing and value addition
mineral water tax imposed
police 25,000 new officers to be hired
plastic bags tax imposed while thin plastic bags are banned to improve the environment.
Privatization 36.1b shillings ($0.5 billion) expected from privatization: Telkom Kenya (get a strategic partner this month), Safaricom IPO on the NSE, more shares sold of Kengen (when price corrects) and National bank [these shares could be offloaded to 3rd parties and not through the exchange]
Pyrethrumextracts are zero rated to promote local insecticide production
real estate duty exemption for developed of low cost housing (but not in slums). Also pension savings can now be used as security for home loans (not just as down payment)
retirees monthly pension benefits will be exempt from tax. Also social security will accept voluntary contributions from those whose employers don’t take part
sugar development levy removed from imported industrial sugar
textiles removed import duty
trade import duty reduced from 2.75% to 2.25% for all goods from all outside east Africa and none from within east Africa
transportation removed TLB from non passenger commercial vehicles,
Tourism 2 million visitors expected this year and as benefited the local air and hotel sectors. Will develop eco and lake tourism and will create resorts in Mombasa, Turkana and Isiolo.
universities (private) duty removed on goods and services supplied to them
VAT refunds to speed up refunds (which business community has complained about), will become automatic for those companies with a proven track record
women a 2 billion shilling ($30 million) women enterprise fund to be set up – starting with 1 billion this coming year, and call on corporates to assist the fund.
youth fund allocation increase by 250m to 1.25 billion with a goal of taking it to 2 billion
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9:56
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
archiveBefore you move on to today’s juicy post about Kanu’s secret presidential candidate, I have something very important to say. I will not bore you with the details but one of the major realizations by top thinkers about the web is that the real untapped power of the Internet is in getting thousands or even tens of thousands of people to work on the same project at the same time, giving in their input. So instead of having one person doing all the thinking you get thousands of intelligent experts working on the same thing. Many people do not realize it, but that is exactly what we have been able to achieve here in Kumekucha. Although I have some sort of track record in political analysis as some of you readers claim, the truth is that I am NO authority. However when you get dozens (and the number is rapidly rising daily) of different contributions from other “experts” out there, a keen reader is able to read through it all and arrive at a very accurate analysis of politics in Kenya. Naturally this sort of thing cannot be done on a newspaper page. If you look through recent posts you will see many instances where the really valuable information has come in through comments from our regular readers rather than the main post. We as Kenyans are at a very dangerous cross roads in our history. But this time we have something going for us. In the past, it has been impossible to read between the lines and see what our leaders are really up to. But thanks to the web, that will change this time round. It is my hope that this strategy will be enhanced here especially as we enter the discussion in the next post which I believe is an area where the next president of Kenya will be decided. How you can make a fortune from online conference calls to anywhere in the world Term life insurance and one-man-show online enterprises that make $500,000 monthly.Vote for a fellow Kenyan today because when he wins, Kenya wins
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9:49
From: You Missed This
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archiveTo tell you all the truth, I was very shocked to receive the news about the new alliances taking shape within Kanu and ODM-Kenya. Had I not verified certain facts within the story with at least two separate sources, I would have left out the story altogether like I have done with so many other hot tips I usually receive on a daily basis. I am not afraid of being proved wrong and there are certain facts that have emerged that are contrary to what I previously thought and even wrote about here. I was wrong about the following; Kalonzo Musyoka’s popularity:My impeccable information shows that Mr Musyoka for a reason I still do not understand (Kenyans probably just love fence-seaters) has sizeable support countrywide. When that support is combined with the Kanu network and its’ bulging purse strings, it will make Kalonzo a formidable presidential candidate for Kanu. Please note carefully (especially those who rush to make comments without reading through posts) I have not said he is a good presidential candidate or good presidential material. I am simply reporting on his support on the ground as of this moment. Yes, it is Kalonzo Musyoka I was referring to yesterday. There is yet another assumption that many Kenyans are making. And that is the fact that if we were to get two opposition presidential candidates to stand against Kibaki, the incumbent would easily romp back into Sate house. Thois is an assumption carried over from the Moi days. Kibaki is NOT Moi. Let me remind you why Baba Giddy is such a formidable opponent. For 24 years he received daily briefings from the intelligence service. And that is after serving for almost half a century as an MP with many of the earlier years covering the entire Rift Valley province. I do not need to remind readers of this blog that information is power, especially in the current information age. All this makes Baba Giddy a walking encyclopedia on Kenya. It also means that his calculations are bound to be correct. They were also very accurate in 2002, the only problem that happened was the unexpected where Raila led other leading and ambitious Kanu politicians in giving up their personal ambition to back Mwai Kibaki. Since most of us agree on the fact that Baba Giddy is the chief architect behind the re-birth of Kanu, you can be sure that he has double checked his arithmetic this time and chances that Kalonzo may just wrest the presidency from Raila are very high. (What I like most about Raila supporters is that you will never see them using abusive language in this blog. They will always quietly and soberly debate their point of view without losing their heads or getting emotional. Congratulations guys on being “Ancient Greeks”. In a three-horse race of say Kibaki, Raila And Kalonzo, the biggest loser will be the incumbent. Raila already has his power base which is Luo Nyanza (almost 100%) and then very strong support in parts of the populous Western Province, North Eastern, Coast, Nairobi and even a respectable following in Rift Valley. Kalonzo’s power base is Ukambani in Eastern, followed by sizeable pockets of support in virtually all provinces in the country. It is unlikely that any Raila support will end up with Kalonzo, however Kalonzo’s candidatire will take plenty of votes that would have gone to President Kibaki had he not stood. This is what Kalonzo supporters have been saying for months and based on evidence that I have received, I now admit that they are right. Remember that the presidential election is a numbers game. The big problem with President Kibaki’s votes at the moment has to do with the recent Mungiki issue which has done him irreparable damage in the populous Kiambu district and environs, including Nairobi. That leaves him badly bleeding within his own power base of Central province. And although he still has the majority of the support from this, his home province, any political analyst will tell you that what has happened is a very bad omen for any candidate. You don’t lose support in your power base that is just too dangerous. The problem with other parts of the country is that I do not see any influential tribal chiefs on his side. Meaning that if elections were to be held today the two front-runners would be Raila and Kalonzo, assuming Raila is the ODM-Kenya candidate and Kalonzo the Kanu candidate. One thing I must add is that there are certain parts of Kenya which will not vote for President Kibaki but will also NOT vote for Raila, thanks to years of anti-Luo propaganda. Those votes will also go to Kalonzo. In brief folks, my research on the ground reveals something that I have been reluctant to accept all this time. The fact that Kalonzo Musyoka in Kanu will be a formidable opponent. I dare say he will be the man to beat (and not the incumbent as we have all been convinced for a long time.) Raila Odinga too is an experienced campaigner and has almost the same chance of winning the presidency as his archrival Kalonzo has. I thgink it will be a very close race, but one of these two gentlemen will be the next president of Kenya. Notice that both these two candidates have succeeded in winning serious funding for their campaigns. Most of Raila’s cash is coming in from South Africa and Kalonzo’s recent windfall is from a mysterious local financier that is yet to be identified although my strong suspicions are that it is Baba Giddy and probably Giddy also. Ladies and Gentlemen I am convinced that barring something very unexpected happening that is how we are going to go into the general elections. How you can make a fortune from online conference calls to anywhere in the world Term life insurance and one-man-show online enterprises that make $500,000 monthly.Vote for a fellow Kenyan today because when he wins, Kenya wins
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7:55
From: The Benin Epilogue Part I: Africa-Ready for Business
Read This Entry & More At The Benin Epilogue Part I: Africa-Ready for Business
 A new baby has been born in Africa and is changing the way Business is being done in Kenya, the baby is Known as Smartbiz Africa can be reached through www.smartbizafrica.com I extracted some of the information in the editorial to give you a lead but you can read more Kenya "Apart from trading blocs, the other way of increasing trade among countries is through bilateral ties. Each African Union member belongs to at least a trading bloc or a grouping that seeks to promote cross-border exchange of goods and services. Many such outfits always have problems and bilateral ties have in the past come in handy to save collapsing blocs. A good example is the East African Community, which collapsed in 1977 but was revived in the late 1990’s after bilateral ties between Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda solidified, making its leaders to see the sense of working as one. This is the context in which we see the new-found love between Kenya and Libya. This is a good development. While Libya has had a fair share of international relations problems with the West, such as the 1987 Lockerbie bombing that locked it in a drawn-out spat with the US for years, working with other African countries to boost trade is the best thing that a country with high oil resources can do. Kenya appears to be among the countries set to benefit from trade with Libya, which could provide a new market for its tea and coffee and cushion it from the volatile international markets and retaliatory partners like Pakistan. The latter always threatens Kenya with freezing tea imports if it imposes restrictions on its rice, as it did in early 2005 when the East African Community Customs Union came into force. This nascent relationship with Libya should be nurtured to maturity, as the north African country has promised to boost investments in East Africa’s oil industry, through Tamoil Africa. Already, reports indicate that the oil company has won a $300 million (Kshs21 billion) tender to upgrade the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd, which supplies Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi with refined oil products - barely a week after Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki held talks with Muammar Kadaffi in Tripoli. Tamoil has been increasing its presence in East Africa through acquisition of ExxonMobil’s service stations as well as supply distribution facilities. With such determination, Kenya is right to lure Tripoli to its side, as this could guarantee cheaper oil and thus reduce energy costs for producers. Africa has substantial oil reserves, with Nigeria producing nearly 4 per cent of global supplies. Exploration efforts are ongoing in other African countries and the prospects look great. Collaboration between the oil producers and non-producers will help the continent move forward and have a bigger say in world economic matters." Of course, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook
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7:28
From: Afromusing
Read This Entry & More At Afromusing
Joseph Lekuton M.P speaking at TED Global.
For a brief run down of his talk at TED, please click here.
While in Arusha for TED I got the chance to speak briefly with Hon. Joseph Lekuton, M.P of Laisamis constituency; about renewable energy and specifically what is going on in his constituency. Hon. Lekuton stated that there is a wind power turbine power plant being constructed between Mt. Nyiru and Mt.Marsabit. The corridor between these two mountains has very powerful winds that are going to be harnessed for energy generation. He informed us that the project is currently underway and is slated to be tied to the electricity grid, specifically through the Turkwel gorge hydro power plant.
The opportunity to build and operate the turbine was posted by Bankelele back in Dec 2005, and incidentally, he introduces me to the man who is making it happen today. TED brought together the ‘Cheetahs’ like Mr. Lekuton and Mr. Simon Mwacharo, and I am glad to report here that following their meeting at TED Mr. Lekuton ordered several wind turbines for schools in his constituency from Simon Mwacharo’s Craftskills company.
Business Daily Africa reported today on the wind turbine power plant in Marsabit which is in Mr. Lekuton’s constituency, read more here.
Other News - “Dealers in solar panels have urged Kenya’s standards body to intensify quality assurance measures against imports and false labelling of poor-performing panels.”
**Energy transformation is happening as we speak, with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar having a greater role to play in Africa’s energy future!
PS: White African’s site is back up, see “Thinking About Africa 2.0″ for thoughts on the tech future of Africa.
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7:22
From: Walk of Kings:
Read This Entry & More At Walk of Kings:
Not long ago, I traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo to lead a Bible conference. I took in the beauty of the Nyungwe Forest and Ruzizi River, which separates Congo from Rwanda. I experienced the amazing hospitality of the Congolese people, and I was moved by their sincere faith in God’s provision. Because unemployment, poverty, and malnutrition are serious problems there, the people often don’t know where their next meal will come from. So each time they sit down to eat, they thank God and ask Him to provide the next meal. Their prayer sounds a lot like Jesus’ prayer in Matthew 6:11, “Give us this day our daily bread.” The word bread refers to any food. The phrase “this day” indicates provision that came to them one day at a time. Many first-century workers were paid one day at a time, so a few days’ illness could spell tragedy. “Daily” could be translated “for the coming day.” The prayer would read: “Give us today our bread for the coming day.” It was an urgent prayer to those who lived from hand to mouth. This prayer calls Jesus’ followers everywhere to recognize that our ability to work and earn our food comes from God’s hand. — Marvin Williams— Marvin Williams--> Lord, thank You for our daily breadAnd everything that You provide;Increase our faith and help us seeThat Your supply is deep and wide. —Sper Our problems are never a strain on God’s provision.ODB RADIO: Listen Now DownloadREAD: Matthew 6:9-13Give us this day our daily bread. —Matthew 6:11
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6:16
From: bankelele
Read This Entry & More At bankelele
Uchumi Supermarkets (in receivership) has now formally asked shareholders to subscribe to a bond to raise Kshs 650 million ($9.85 million). These bondholders will rank alongside the government who lent Kshs. 675 million to Uchumi last year, but subordinate to (paid after) to bank ‘s debt The bond offers 10% per annum, (which is more than any bank savings account in the country) and is allocated at a rate of 5 shillings for each share held (minimum subscription is 5,000 shillings, in 1,000 increments thereafter) D/L is 31/7 While the solicitation for the bond mentions the company’s’ very successful and impressive turnaround in receivership, there are no numbers to back this up. I remain a faithful shopper (for groceries & other household items) at Uchumi, but as a shareholder, it is prudent to ask some questions before considering reinvesting: - What is the performance of the company in receivership? Is it profitable on a monthly basis? Is it generating or consuming cash? Putting together a bond prospectus is expensive and a receiver manager is under no obligation to disclose financial performance to shareholders – but Uchumi was is a public company and disclosing such information to potential investors and the public should not coats more than 100,000 by way of a newspaper advertisement - What is the level of bank debt and has it gone down? How much is still owed to the banks i.e. KCB and PTA? This is the 4th or 5th time the company is raising money in 3 years (after the 1.2 billion rights issue, 300 million suppliers assistance, 657 million from the government, 300 million attempted from shareholders - If company is doing so well (media have reported 50% improvement over Uchumi’s best ever recent year), what was so wrong that the company collapsed? I have written before on how receiver managers can sometimes be better managers than the owners of a company and would like to see if this is a textbook example.
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6:15
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
Special Opportunity Feature From Kumekucha
Now, why in the world should online conference calls interest you? Good question. My suggestion is that you stick around and hear me out. This article based on this ordinary sounding topic could change your life forever in the next few minutes.
Conference calls have been around for a long time but now online conference calls have opened up brand new opportunities that are already turning the world, as we know it upside down.
A conference call is simply a call where more than two people can converse with each other on the same connection. Conventional conference calls have always had a number of disadvantages. High on the list has been the cost. Now the Internet has not only brought that crashing down but has also made a number of other brand new features available. Like Video and IM (instant messaging) capabilities amongst many others.
There are a number of websites and online companies that provide Internet conference call services, but let us for a moment consider the exciting new opportunities that this technological development has opened up.
Firstly many businesses that were previously unviable have suddenly become very hot. For instance many types of consulting services have always been a very difficult business to turn a good profit from. The great distances that separate potential clients around the world limited options. The best most experts could do was to try and write and publish a book. Now suddenly you can organize regular conference calls on the Internet with dozens of potential clients scattered all over the world and the options you have are now so numerous that you'll get dizzy just thinking about them. They range from charging a small fee for people across continents and scattered all over the world to participate in the conference, to using a free conference to sell one-on-one consulting or to promote books and even special reports that you can easily sell online.
But even old traditional businesses have been made easier and much more profitable by conference calling on the web. A real estate agent can get on a conference call online with video capability from the beautiful garden of the house they are selling and take his audience through a tour of the house while fielding questions. The session can end with bids and offers being placed for the property. So instead of taking the time to show 50 different people around the property, an innovative real estate agent can now do it once and reach all 50 while they are in the comfort of their offices and at the same time. WOW!!
Motivational speakers no longer have to wait for the big event to rake in their money. A daily web conference call with 200 paying clients can have quite an impact on the profits of the companies those clients represent and on the motivational speakers' bank account as well. Dare I add that they don't need to stop at 200 and can easily accommodate 2,000 or more in a few hours every morning.
Dating services are already cashing in on conference calls online, which they now use to hold virtual meetings online where people can meet and explore the possibilities of a more serious liaison while still in the safety and comfort of their homes.
Those who make their money from holding specialized conferences and charging participants can now reduce their rates substantially while increasing their profits in leaps and bounds. Gone is the intricate planning and hundreds of small details involved in booking hotels and flights and then confirming and re-confirming them. Not to mention juggling the most convenient dates for all those who need to attend. Now the conferences can be held more frequently and those interested can enjoy it from the comfort of their offices or homes.
These are just four examples but the truth is that virtually every business you can think of can find a very profitable application of online conference calls. One just needs to be a little creative to open the floodgates of opportunity and profit using this wonderful new feature that has been made possible by technology.
In fact the whole world is truly your marketplace now and you certainly don't have to be a Fortune 500 business, thanks to cheap conference calls now possible on the Internet.
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5:44
From: You Missed This
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Kumekucha has a weakness for helping out fellow Kenyans in a worthy cause. Guys, I think we should get behind our horse here. His fitness program is great. If Kenyans don't support him who will?  Kenn Kihiu Dear fellow Kenyans and Friends This little Simba is up against some big giants and it's so easy to help him. All it takes is a mouse click to vote for my fitness video. I’m competing to have my fitness workout featured at a national fitness conference called IDEA which is world's largest association for health and fitness professionals. If I gather enough votes and win, the exposure will be invaluable, open incredible doors and be huge for my career. I’m currently in 2nd place and up against industry giants who have millions of marketing dollars but underestimate the support of the wanainchi. I have a legitimate shot at the #1 spot with your help. It takes about 10 seconds to visit the link below and click "Vote Now" [www.danceXfitness.com] you can vote every 24 hours, so vote today…tomorrow…until June 20th when the contest ends. You can also receive great fitness tips by signing up via the link [www.dancexfitness.com] it’s a great way to be reminded to vote again. For the next 30 days, I will send you FREE health and fitness tips and strategies that will guarantee you will achieve the body of your dreams. Even if you do half of what I will tell you over the next 30 days, you will loose the belly fat, tone up, be healthy and have an abundance of energy. Every click helps. Please forward this to fellow Kenyans, friends and family I would really love their support and also through my tips I will get a chance to help achieve the body of their dreams. Click [www.danceXfitness.com] to Vote Asante and Thanks for your support Kenn Kihiu
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3:00
From: tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Read This Entry & More At tHiNkEr'S rOoM
Ignorance, it is said is bliss. And if that be so, when it comes to the issue of women, many of my lads can be described as being in a perpetual state of catatonic joy. When I say, for instance, that few things are as formidable as the woman they laugh ...
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0:24
From: assidous
Read This Entry & More At assidous
| Is Africa ready for Google? |  |  |  |
| Written by Al Kags | | Wednesday, 13 June 2007 | | In a groundbreaking move, Google has employed its first African, Joseph Mucheru to help set up its Africa operations in Kenya.
Clearly serious about setting up shop in Kenya, Google aims to achieve three things with the move: First, to optimise the use of its applications in Africa, to make Google maps (and earth, I believe) more useful in Africa and to work on Google advertising further to ensure that Google ads are better monetized in Africa. Mucheru: "Google understands that bandwith is an impediment and will purchase international bandwidth so that locals don't have to pay the current considerable premium they are." I should like to hear more about this for sure. Coupled with the fact that my favorite ministry, the Ministry of Information and Communications, headed by the indomitable duo, Mutahi Kagwe and Dr. Bitange Ndemo is working extra hard to get fribre optic connection in East Africa through Kenya by mid 2008, we are in for interesting times. However, we need to accept, Africa, that the largest impediment to our development is our cultural outlook - not the traditions and customs but the way we do business and our openness to new concepts. I recently had a meeting with a government official with regard to accessing some of the records that they have, digitizing it at my own cost and sharing the digital data with them for them to develop its use by wider sharing it. Amazingly, his first reaction was "absolutely not." Why? Because it is not done in government. When we got over that, we found that there is a huge fear with regard to what the information will be used for. The same is true for business leaders in Africa. Fears such as "if I have a blog and allow people a free hand to comment on my views, how can I protect myself?" My position is that you only need to protect yourself from obsene and crude remarks but not as a recent executive asked me, from critisism. In fact, if your staff thinks that you are afraid of critisism, then you need to actively change that. Of course information can be misused and so can the free use of applications such as the comments section of your blog. Of course a nicely elaborate Google Maps and Google Earth can be misused by say, terrorists. But then, that cannot stop us from developing. Cars can be used as getaway cars in bank robberies and the like, but that does not stop us from developing them? If your business is to develop, then sharing information and interacting with a wide community is the way to build it in the new era. Its the only way to be ready for the likes of Google and Multiple Choices. This post was Originally blogged by Kenyaimagine and reblogged here by assidous.
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