• Kenya has emerged as a leader at climate talks taking place this month in Durban, South Africa, arguing vigorously for a legally binding agreement to curb harmful emissions.
• As more established economic powers balk at efforts to forge a serious international treaty, Kenya continues to urge world leaders to “accelerate the process towards a new climate treaty” that will keep global temperatures at safe levels.
• Kenya’s efforts for a concerted global response to climate change follow the commitments made at the 2010 Cancun climate talks, where the international community pledged $100 billion per year to combat climate change. And when it comes to renewable energy, Kenya has led by example: the country plans to generate 3,000 megawatts of electricity from clean energy sources by 2018.

Source: China Daily
Source: Kenya Broadcasting Corporation
Source: Bloomberg

• Kenyan animators are now able to collaborate with production companies and other artists from around the world thanks to the arrival of fiber-optic cable in East Africa along with other technological advances.
• Nairobi-based “Homeboyz Animation” offers the most recent success story. The company worked with a U.K. production company and the BBC to produce the popular children’s cartoon “Tinga Tinga Tales” (pictured above).
• The future for Kenyan animators is bright. New opportunities for international collaboration, as well as rising demand for content from Kenya’s own broadcasters, means that entrepreneurs like Pete Mute, who launched  the animation company “African Sci-Fi Factory,” will be able to share their work with larger and larger audiences.

Source: Variety

• Africa is the world’s fastest-growing mobile market, and Kenya’s government is leading the charge. A recent report shows that Kenya is the second most ready African nation “to embrace mobile government services.”

• In keeping with its commitment to transparency and good governance, Kenya is leading the quest to deliver public information and services via cellular technology, such as offering agricultural advice to businesses and allowing citizens to pay utility bills remotely.

• A robust E-government is only part of Kenya’s broader effort to make its government more accessible. Earlier this year, Kenya launched its Open Data Project, a user-friendly database that includes national census data and government spending records, and even information of parliamentary proceedings.

Source: Associated Press
Source: Business Daily Africa

• Kenyan Military Spokesman, Major Emmanuel Chirchir (@MajorEChirchir) has been updating the public with information about “Operation Linda Nchi” (Protect the Nation) using the hashtag #operationlindanchi.
• Major Chirchir said that Twitter is a way to quickly and easily communicate the military’s message. He also asked his Twitter followers to pass the word on to those residents who do not possess the technology.
• In early November, Kenya’s military used Twitter to warn civilians about air raids near 10 Somali towns, affording them time to avoid danger.

Source: Huffington Post
Source: Mobiledia

• Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) will work with an international consortium to build a 280 megawatt geothermal plant named Olkaria IV, which is expected to be operational in 2014.
• The project, which enjoys international investment from the likes of The World Bank, Germany’s Development Bank KfW and the European Investment Bank, will help diversify Kenya’s energy base and reduce the country’s reliance on hydroelectric dams, whose output can drop during droughts.
• Already the first African country to drill for geothermal power, Kenya has set a goal of producing at least 5,000 megawatts of geothermal power by 2030.

Source: Reuters

• In its recently released annual index, Transparency International found that Kenya has improved governance and increased transparency – for the second consecutive year.
• According to the report, Kenya improved more than three percentage points from its 2010 rating and more than 16 percentage points since 2009. Several institutions, including the Kenya Ports Authority, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, improved so much that they were removed from the Index altogether.
• A participant in the Open Government Partnership, Kenya is also using technology to increase transparency by digitizing government records and the government’s procurement process.

Source: Transparency International

• YouTube announced the launch of YouTube Kenya (http://www.youtube.co.ke) in October 2011.
• The designated domain will  make it easier for Kenyan users to find and view the most informative and entertaining video content from around the world through a local interface that promotes the content most relevant to Kenyans.
• Speaking at the Nairobi launch event, Permanent Secretary of  Information and Communications Dr. Bitange Ndemo said, “Accessing relevant information and sharing helpful stories on the Internet is enabling people to learn, train and partner with each other to help better their lives.”

Source: IT News Africa

• Simba Technologies has created an app called MedKenya, which delivers heath information to Kenyans via mobile phone. The company plans to launch an expanded version, called MedAfrica, to bring similar content to other countries on the continent.
• Since 2007, Kenyans have used the mobile banking platform M-Pesa to transfer funds via text messaging. (“M” stands for mobile and “pesa” is Swahili for money).
• In partnership with the World Bank and Nokia, Kenya recently created an “m-lab” to incubate more mobile application startups. According to Dr. Bitange Ndemo, the country’s permanent secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications, thousands of young Kenyans are involved in app development.

Source: Mercury News

• Kenya is digitizing judicial records and land deeds, as well as the government procurement process, in an effort to increase transparency and eliminate opportunities for corruption.
• Dr. Bitange Ndemo, permanent secretary of Kenya’s information and communications ministry, said that Kenya plans to have e-procurement ready by early 2012. “If we automated [procurement], we’d find $500 million a year,” he said.
• In September 2011, Kenya became one of the founding countries to launch the Open Data Partnership, a multilateral initiative aimed at fighting corruption and increasing the transparency of governments around the world.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

• Makau finished the 26.2 mile Berlin Marathon in a record-setting two hours, three minutes and 38 seconds.
• His victory shaved 21 seconds off of the previous world record set by Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie in the 2008 Berlin race.
• Continuing Kenya’s tradition of marathon excellence, Kenya’s Florence Kiplagat also won the Berlin Marathon’s women’s race, clocking in at two hours, 19 minutes and 44 seconds.

Source: The New York Times

• The Open Government Partnership, launched in September 2011 by 46 countries including the United States, Brazil and Kenya, is a multilateral initiative aimed at fighting corruption and increasing the transparency of governments around the world.
• At the launch, Kenya announced it will officially release its open government plan at the partnership’s next meeting in 2012. The plan is already publicly available.
• Kenya is the first African nation to make its government data available online. The Kenya Open Data Project makes a wealth of information easily accessible to the public, including data on the national census, government expenditure and parliamentary proceedings.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, Kenya Open Data Project

• The Getting Kenyan Businesses Online (GKBO) project provides information and an online template for small and medium scale enterprise businesses (SMEs) to create their own websites for free.
• With 10.2 million Internet users in Kenya, Google Kenya Country Manager Olga Arara-Kimani said the initiative will transform the online SME business landscape and make a positive impact on the economy.
• The GKBO website is mobile and desktop compatible, allowing SMEs to personally manage their sites and update business information in real time.

Source: IT News Africa

• Kenyans are using M-Pesa, a mobile phone banking service, to donate money to Kenyan drought-relief efforts.
• Originally developed as a mobile banking service to allow users to instantly transfer money between phones anywhere in Kenya, M-Pesa is now also being used as a means of fundraising during a time of crisis.
• Bob Collymore, head of Kenyan telecommunications company Safaricom, said that in the early stages of fundraising efforts, more than 86 percent of individual donations came through M-Pesa and totaled $1.7 million. The money is sent to the Red Cross and used to purchase food aid for Kenyans affected by the drought.

Source: USA Today

• In the 1900s, scientists found evidence of man’s earliest advanced tools near Kenya’s Lake Turkana. Originally estimated to be between 1.4 million and 1.6 million-years-old, in 2011 geologists discovered the stone tools were approximately 1.76 million years old, making them the oldest known advanced human tools.
• A skull excavated near the Turkana site in 2010 suggests that Homo erectus – one of modern man’s early ancestors – created these tools.
• In 2007, 1.44 million-year-old Homo habilis and 1.55 million-year-old Homo erectus skulls were also discovered near Lake Turkana.

Sources: The New York Times (1), The New York Times (2)

• As part of Kenya’s ongoing judicial reform efforts, Kenya appointed lawyer Githu Muigai as the new Attorney General. Muigai was sworn into office on August 29, 2011.
• Kenya’s Judicial Service Commission has also appointed 28 judges to the country’s newly established Supreme Court, including 13 women and two members of the Kenyan Diaspora.
• Chief Justice Willy Mutunga said the newly appointed judges will help ease the case load the Kenyan judiciary faces. In total, 120 judges will be appointed by the end of the year.

Sources: Capital FM News, Daily Nation, Reuters Africa

• The 31-mile Thika Road, expected to be commissioned early next year, will be Kenya’s first ultramodern superhighway, allowing for new business opportunities by reducing traffic and opening Nairobi up to increased investment. The highway is expected to make a positive impact on key sectors of the economy, including real estate, manufacturing, transport and the labor market.
• Thika Road will also help reduce congestion in Nairobi by allowing for the development of real estate outside of the city along the highway.
• The Kenyan government has invested more than Sh100 billion ($1.1 billion) in the construction and rehabilitation of key roads in the country, Permanent Secretary for Roads Michael Kamau recently said. In the past year, the government has repaired over 60 percent of Kenya’s major roads.

Sources: All Africa 1, All Africa 2

• Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) recently issued tough regulations aimed at curbing pollution and protecting the environment.
• NEMA Director General Ayub Macharia and Nairobi Provincial Commissioner Njoroge Ndirangu have announced that all buildings that discharge waste to the environment will be declared uninhabitable and forced to close down. Quarries operating without NEMA certification will also be shut within six months and car washes near bodies of water and those operating without a NEMA license have been ordered to shut down immediately.
• The Kenyan government has enacted many other measures in recent years to protect the environment, including clean energy and reforestation projects throughout the country.

Sources: All Africa, Global Energy Network Institute, Bloomberg, Daily Nation

Kenyan women are some of Africa’s most successful entrepreneurs.

• Forbes named Kenyan Njeri Rionge one of Africa’s “most successful and revered serial entrepreneurs.” Over the past 20 years, she has co-founded five multi-million dollar companies, including Wananchi Online, a leading Internet service provider that has become East Africa’s leading cable, broadband and Internet-based phone company.
• Rionge also founded Ignite Consulting, a thriving business consultancy; Business Lounge, Kenya’s leading startup incubator; Ignite Lifestyle, a health care consultancy; and Insite, one of Kenya’s most successful digital marketing outfits.
• Kenyan women are also committed to helping other African women succeed in business. The Kenya Women Holding offers business mentorship, leadership training and formal banking services to women to assist them in forming their own small businesses.

Sources: Forbes, All Africa

• In July 2011, Pfizer, the U.S.-based pharmaceutical company, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Posterscope, an outdoor advertising firm, all announced plans to establish a regional hub in Kenya’s capital city.
• General Electric, IBM, Google, LG and CocaCola have longstanding corporate bases in Kenya as well.
• Kenya’s vast talent pool, strong Internet connectivity and stable economic environment make the country an attractive destination for investors and have firmly established Nairobi as a center for business in East Africa.

Source: All Africa

• Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp – the world’s largest – houses over 400,000 refugees who have fled instability and famine in Somalia.
• In July 2011, the Kenyan government announced that it would open a fourth settlement within the Dadaab camp to cope with the influx of refugees. Recent estimates place refugee arrivals between 4,000 and 5,000 people every week.
• To help fight the famine plaguing Somalia and deal with the growing refugee crisis, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has proposed setting up feeding programs on the Kenya-Somalia border.

Sources: AFP, CNN, Voice of America

• The Kenyan government recently announced it is partnering with IBM to develop a framework to support the development of an electronic voting system.
• In July 2011, a delegation of IBM officials visited Kenya to help draw up the master plan that will aid the soon-to-be-formed Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in implementing the new voting system. Many hope the country could begin using the electronic voting system as soon as the 2012 election.
• Kenya is steadily working to increase government transparency and public access to information. The recent launch of the Open Government Initiative has made thousands of official records available online to the public and is the first of its kind in Africa.

Sources: All Africa, Business Daily, The Voting News

• In July 2011, President Kibaki launched the Open Government Data Portal, which for the first time makes several large government data sets, including national census data, available online to researchers and the general public. Through the Portal, users can compare different data sets, create maps and other graphics and directly download data for their own use.
• Kenya recently partnered with Google to develop an online database of more than 2,000 copies of the Hansard, a record of parliamentary debates from the past 40 years. The database will enable Kenyans to see if their MP was present in Parliament on a given date, his or her contributions to the day’s debate, as well as his or her voting patterns, all at the click of a button.
• These initiatives represent “a fulfillment of the citizen’s right to access public information, a right introduced by the new Constitution. This right places an obligation on the Government to provide public information in a time and form that is reliable and accessible to the citizen,” said Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza.

Source: Business Daily

• Fort Jesus – constructed by the Portuguese in the late 1500s – and the Kenya Lake System in Kenya’s Rift Valley were both added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in June 2011.
• Kenya is also home to four other World Heritage Sites – the Lake Turkana National Parks, Mount Kenya National Park and Natural Forest, Lamu Old Town and the Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests.
• UNESCO’s World Heritage List includes 936 properties around the world that form “part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee regards as having outstanding universal value.”

Sources: AFP 1, AFP 2, UNESCO

• Following a stringent nomination, vetting and approval process, Kenya in June 2011 appointed Willy Mutunga, a former Ford Foundation officer, as chief justice of the country’s newly established Supreme Court, forging ahead with the judicial reforms enshrined in the country’s new Constitution. The country also appointed Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza and Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko.
• The justices were sworn into office June 20, 2011 and President Kibaki signed a bill officially operationalizing the Supreme Court on June 22, 2011.
• As outlined in the new Constitution, the Supreme Court will be charged with the interpretation of the Constitution and will hear appeals from the Court of Appeal and other lower courts.

Sources: Daily Nation, Capital FM 1, Capital FM 2, Capital FM 3

• Modeled on the United States’ Silicon Valley, Kenya’s plans to revolutionize the country’s dominance in the global information technology market include the development of a university, science park, offices and housing in the Konza Technology City, a 5,000-acre site.
• The development, to be ready by 2030, aims to have all the ingredients for entrepreneurial success in the same place in order to give local companies the opportunity to do business with multinational companies like General Electric and Microsoft, who have already established East African hubs in Kenya.
• Kenya’s existing IT initiatives have already propelled the country to the forefront of the industry. In Nairobi’s iHub technological center, 3,000 innovators collaborate daily to share their tech knowledge and develop new web applications. Home to four undersea fiber-optic cables, Kenya’s technology sector is growing by 20 percent a year, outstripping all of the nation’s other industries.

Source: The Financial Times

• Tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2011 increased 15 percent compared to the same period last year, with more than 300,000 visitors entering the country between January and March.
• In 2010, Kenya hosted a record 1.1 million visitors and hopes to see two million by 2012, said Tourism Minister Najib Balala.
• To tap into the flourishing market, international hotel companies, including Radisson and Crown Plaza, have invested in the construction of 17 new hotels in the country.

Sources: All Africa, All Africa, Ministry of Tourism

• Kenyan runner Patrick Makau was named the 2011 Association of International Marathons and Distance Races’ (AIMS) World Athlete of the Year, one of the most highly coveted awards in running.
• Makau had an outstanding year in 2010, winning the 36th annual City-Pier-City Half Marathon in The Hague, the Rotterdam Marathon and the Berlin Marathon.
• In winning the prestigious award, Makau joins the ranks of past Kenyan winners Benson Masya, Paul Tergat, Josephat Kiprono and Sammy Wanjiru.
• “This is my first AIMS/ASICS Athlete of the Year Award and I hope it will be the first of many,” Makau said. “I am truly honored for my name to be listed among some of the greatest athletes and distance runners of all time.”

Sources: Afrique Jet, Daily Nation, International Association of Athletics Federations

• Dr. George Njoroge, the Kenyan-born director of medicinal chemistry at the Merck Research Laboratories, was at the center of the development of Victrelis, which was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
• The development of Victrelis is the biggest breakthrough in the treatment of the Hepatitis C virus in the last decade. The first-of-its-kind pill has been shown to cure more patients in less time than other drugs presently used.
• “Victrelis is an important new advance for patients with hepatitis C,” said Dr. Edward Cox, director of the FDA’s office of antimicrobial products. “This new medication provides an effective treatment for a serious disease, and offers a greater chance of cure for some patients’ Hepatitis C infection compared to currently available therapy.”

Sources: Daily Nation, Cox News

• Maruge, a freedom fighter who helped Kenya gain independence from Britain, attended school for the first time in his life at the age of 84, alongside his grandchildren.
• Maruge’s education was made possible when the Kenyan government in 2003 made primary education free for all Kenyans. Until his death in 2009, Maruge was the Guinness World Record holder for being the oldest person to begin primary school.
• The film has received critical acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival and the Palm Beach International Film Festival, where it was named Best Feature Film. The film premieres in selected U.S. cities starting this month. For more info, visit www.thefirstgrader-movie.com.

Sources: Indie Wire, The Seattle Times, Zenit

• Kenya recently hosted Connected Kenya, a three-day ICT conference to discuss the newest technology developments in the sector, how to improve connectivity across the country and how the government and private sector can adopt technology to improve services and reduce costs.
• Equity Bank announced at the Connected Kenya summit that it will launch a technology incubation and innovation center in Nairobi. The center will bring academia and technology together in the hopes of cultivating new application developers and helping them commercialize their innovations.
• Kenyan ICT companies and entrepreneurial developers have created a wide range of innovative technologies enabling Kenyans to use their mobile phones to do everything from accessing banking services and receiving medical test results to tracking their vehicles.

Sources: The Standard, IT News Africa, Business Daily Africa

• At the launch of the Paris-Nairobi Climate Initiative in April 2011, Prime Minister Odembo promised Kenya will assist other African countries in achieving the United Nations’ goal of universal access to energy by 2030. The Initiative will facilitate interactions between government ministries, development partners and energy experts to expand access to clean energy throughout the world.
• The Prime Minister told reporters at the Initiative’s opening conference that the idea dates back to the December 2010 United Nations Convention on Climate Change. “France and Kenya saw the need to launch an initiative on access to clean energy in Africa and other countries vulnerable to climate change,” he said.
• A secretariat for the Initiative will be set up in Nairobi and its head will be appointed soon, assured the Prime Minister, underscoring the Initiative’s importance. “This is not just about talk, we want to ensure that the whole exercise is fast-tracked,” he said.

Source: Africa Review

• Shipments climbed 10 percent to 22,000 metric tons in the first two months of 2011, signaling the beginning of a positive trend for the year. Earnings also climbed 10 percent from the same period last year to Sh7.7 billion ($91.6 million).
• Better economic growth projections in Europe, the Kenyan flower industry’s key market, bodes well for continued increased exports. Kenya accounts for 35 percent of all flower sales in Europe.
• The industry is expecting a “very good” performance for the year as a whole, said Kenya Flower Council CEO Jane Ngige. “Most of the sales are secured in the euro, which means that returns have been favorable.”

Sources: Bloomberg, Business Daily Africa

• Kenyan Catherine Ndereba holds the record for the most victories in the women’s division after winning the race four times in six years.
• In 2010, Kenyan runner Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot won the men’s race for the fifth time and set a new course record of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 52 seconds. Kenyan Margaret Okayo set the course record for the women’s race in 2002 after completing the 26.2 mile course in 2 hours, 20 minutes and 43 seconds.
• Kenyan Ambassador to the United States Elkanah Odembo ran the marathon in 1979.

Sources: Wikipedia, Adventure-Marathon.com, RunWithKenyans.com

• On a recent visit, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon praised Kenya for its ground-breaking use of volcanic heat from the Great Rift Valley to generate electricity. The Secretary-General said Kenya is well on its way towards powering a “green economy.”
• Kenya recently opened Africa’s first carbon exchange for the trade of carbon credits resulting from green energy and afforestation projects. The Nairobi Climate Exchange offers a revolutionary method of financing new generations of renewable energy projects and will encourage investment in those efforts.
• Kenya is home to the United Nations Environmental Programme’s (UNEP) Africa headquarters, which recently completed construction on the agency’s new “green” offices. The building is entirely powered by solar power and has water collection and recycling facilities.

Sources: Spero News, The Citizen, Africa Review

• In June 2011, Kenya will debut a new computer-enabled tuberculosis (TB) test that confirms results 600 times faster than current technology. Instead of waiting six weeks for test results, patients can find out if they are TB-positive in less than two hours.
• Endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the test can also detect Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB), helping to ensure that patients receive proper treatment.
• The first testing kits will be available at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) clinics in Kibera, Homa Bay and Mathare. The government plans to bring in more testing machines before the end of the year.

Source: Daily Nation

• Rupu launched in December 2010 and offers discounts of 50 to 90 percent at over 150 restaurants in Nairobi, Mombasa, Malindi and Diani. Soon, Rupu will expand to offer discounts at restaurants in Zanzibar.
• Rupu benefits Kenyan consumers and businesses alike. Customers enjoy sharp price discounts while member restaurants benefit from free marketing and publicity, new customers and increased profits. The money from the sale of each deal is split 50-50 between the restaurant and Rupu.
• Transactions can be completed online or by mobile phone through the consumer’s M-Pesa account. Customers will also be able to purchase deals with credit cards later this year.

Source: Christian Science Monitor

• If passed, the legislation will help decentralize cancer treatment facilities so that Kenyans throughout the country can access proper care. Early diagnosis could save thousands of lives each year.
• The Cancer Bill will also provide funding for measures to improve Kenya’s cancer treatment technology and to train more oncologists.
• Medical Services Minister Anyang Nyong’o has been instrumental in bringing attention to Kenya’s need for improved healthcare. The Minister went public with his recent battle with prostate cancer and has helped raise awareness of the issues impacting diagnosis and care.

Source: Business Daily

• Nairobi’s Kiriri Women’s University of Science and Technology opens doors for women in the traditionally male-dominated fields of math and science.
• The university engages its students in special seminars on women’s ability to excel and manage in the workplace, says Deputy Vice Chancellor Njeri Gikonyo. “When they graduate, they end up being very special and in that way, they make a name for themselves in the market,” she explained.
• Educators say girls’ and women’s access to education is improving in Kenya as the country strives to reach its UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Vision 2030 economic goals. Last year, girls made up 45 percent of Kenya’s secondary school enrollment.

Source: Voice of America

• Kenya plans to build a major financial center in its capital to help establish Nairobi as an international finance hub, Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta recently announced. This endeavor will support the economic pillar of Kenya’s Vision 2030 plan to help the country become a middle income economy within the next two decades.
• Financial incentives will encourage investment groups, stock brokerages, pension funds, banks and insurance companies to set up offices at the Nairobi International Financial Center, said Alex Owino, a project manager at the ministry.
• The financial center will help Kenya gain a stronger presence in sub-Saharan Africa’s growing financial services market. The finance industry accounts for 5.4 percent of Kenya’s gross domestic product and has the potential to expand to as much as 15 percent of GDP, Minister Kenyatta said.

Sources: Bloomberg, Kenya Broadcasting Company

• Environment ministers from more than 100 countries, including U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, met in Nairobi to discuss the environmental impact of armed conflicts and natural disasters, new research on climate change, and how by adopting “green economies,” countries can ensure sustainable increased capital gains.
• President Kibaki reaffirmed that the Kenyan government is seeking ways to utilize the country’s abundance of renewable energy to secure a future that is based on a sustainable green economy.”Kenya is committed to playing its role as host of UNEP and the entire UN fraternity,” President Kibaki said as he officially opened the meeting.
• During his opening remarks, United Nations Environment Programme Executive Director Achim Steiner commended Kenya’s new constitution, which provides for investment in geothermal and other renewable energy to increase electricity connectivity in the country.

Sources: United Nations Environment Programme, Capital FM, Philippine Star

• Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) says the successful referendum in South Sudan will provide an improved investment climate, and that the country’s “political stability and security in the south are likely to attract international investors.”
• KCB is the largest bank in Kenya, ranked by assets, and hopes to serve nearly 100,000 customers across 30 new branches in South Sudan by 2015.
• KCB CEO Martin Oduor-Otieno said South Sudan has “the potential to be the biggest economy in the region in the next 10 to 20 years.”

Source: Reuters Africa

• In July, the Kenya AIDS Control Project began sending a test group of nearly 100 HIV positive pregnant women messages to help guide them through a safe pregnancy.
• The messages include reminders of weekly prenatal visits, medication reminders and diet recommendations.
• The program, which is expected to continue through 2013, may begin using voice messages to further increase access to medical advice.

Source: HIV/AIDS Resource Center for Women

• The Kenya Women Finance Trust Limited (KWFT) was established to help women entrepreneurs develop their business models through microfinancing.
• In 2010 KWFT, planned to increase its clients to 600,000 and disburse Sh20 billion (nearly $250 million USD) countrywide.
• The small to medium size business loans not only spur companies, but also create employment opportunities, especially in rural areas. Other personal loans allow women to access money for their children’s education so they needn’t siphon off money from their businesses to support their families.

Sources: The Standard, KWFT (1), KWFT (2)

• Dr. Collins Ouma received nearly $1 million to study how the immune system responds to malarial anemia. The research has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives each year in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Upon presenting the award to Dr. Ouma in December 2010, the Royal Society said, “The work that African scientists do is hugely important in helping to relieve suffering on the continent…It is also very exciting that the prize will enable him to pass his expertise on and encourage other young African scientists.”
• A portion of this funding will be used to establish a teaching and research laboratory at Maseno University in Kenya.

Source: All Africa

• The government of Kenya has pledged over $2 million to train civil servants in South Sudan following the January 9th referendum. Kenya has already trained thousands of teachers in the region.
• The government of Kenya has set up eight polling stations to accommodate the more than 15,000 dispersed Sudanese living in Kenya.
• The Kenyan government served as a mediator and guarantor of South Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended decades of war in Sudan in 2005 and paved the way for the 2011 referendum.

Source: The Standard

• The ground-breaking M-Pesa money transfer service was launched in Kenya by Safaricom in March 2007.
• “M-Pesa is the first product in the world that allows the unbanked, with no banking details, no registration, no bank account, no credit card, to do banking,” said former Safaricom CEO, Michael Joseph, last year.
• By giving any M-Pesa customer the ability to start saving with as little as $1 and earn interest on the principal, mobile phone banking services have drawn in the country’s unbanked and enabled users to access and manage their bank accounts, make interbank cash transfers, pay their bills and apply for loans of up to Sh1 million (12, 410 USD).

Sources: Business Daily, Daily Nation

• Kiplagat finished the grueling 26-mile race at 2 hours, 28 minutes and 40 seconds, 20 seconds ahead of second place women’s division winner American Shalane Flanagan.
• Kiplagat, 31, is the first Kenyan woman to win the New York City Marathon since Margaret Okayo set the course record of 2 hours, 22 minutes and 31 seconds in 2003.
• “This year has gone very well with me,” Kiplagat said, also referencing her victory in the Los Angeles Marathon earlier this year. “I am happy that I have closed the year with New York success.”

Source: Kenya Broadcasting Corporation

• Prince William proposed while on holiday at the Lew Downs Safari Lodge, a 55,000-acre game reserve.
• He proposed with his late mother’s 18-carat oval sapphire and diamond ring. Prince William said of the ring, “it’s very special to me. As Kate’s very special to me now, it was right to put the two together.”
• Prince William’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, was in Kenya on a tour of the Commonwealth when her succession to the throne was declared in 1952.

Sources: Suite101.com, NYT Europe, BBC

• Kenya has about 270 companies operating in Tanzania and many Kenyan firms have investments in Uganda and Rwanda.
• Kenya’s dedication to investing in the region has boosted tax revenues and created jobs in many neighboring countries.
• Kenyan companies like Kenya Airways have cross-listed their stock shares on the Kampala and Dar es Salaam stock exchanges, and the Kenya Commercial Bank has operations around the region.

Source: Reuters

• The 1986 Academy Award-winning film Out of Africa, starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, was filmed in Kenya.
• World-acclaimed films like The Constant Gardener and the 2003 Academy Award winner Nowhere in Africa were also filmed in Kenya.
• The 1966 movie Born Free, based on the true story of an orphaned lion cub raised by Joy and George Adamson and released into the wild as an adult, was filmed entirely on location in Kenya. The film’s stars, Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, went on to form The Born Free Foundation – a charity that continues to support conservation work in Kenya.

Source: Kenya Film Commission, Kenya High Commission

• Approximately 5,500 NGOs are national organizations and the remainder are international NGOs.
• Kenya has a National Council of NGOs that supervises and coordinates the affairs and functions of NGOs in Kenya.
• Kenya’s National Council of NGOs carried out civic education projects ahead of the August 4 Constitutional referendum to ensure its peaceful passage.

Source: National Council of NGOs

• Kenya plans to produce 3,000 megawatts of cleaner electricity by 2018, mostly through geothermal and wind projects.
• This is equivalent to almost 50 percent of the country’s total electricity consumption at present rates.
• The Kenyan government has set up a $2 billion energy fund that will lend to those investing in climate-friendly green electricity-generating projects.

Source: Bloomberg, Daily Nation

• The Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) is the fourth largest exchange in Africa in terms of total daily trades and the fifth largest in terms of nationalGDP. Trading in the NSE is done through the Electronic Trading System, which was commissioned in 2006.
• The 55-member Nairobi All-Share Index (NASI), has risen 43 percent this year, making it Africa’s second best performing market.
• By September 2010, the value of stock traded in Kenya was more than double that for the whole of 2009.

Source: Africa Business Source, Bloomberg Businessweek

• Mount Kenya, from which Kenya derives its name, is a dormant volcano that last erupted 2.6 million years ago.
• At 17,021 feet, Mount Kenya is second only to Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro as the tallest mountain in Africa.
• The mountain has 11 melting glaciers, which provide a steady water source for over two million people.

Sources: Kenya Tourism Board, Earth Policy, UNESCO, Mt. Kenya.org

• John-Allan Namu is an anchor, reporter, and features editor for Kenya’s Nation TV.
• Previously, Namu anchored the Kenya Television Network’s “Business Today” program, the daily business segment of KTN Prime, and KTNWeekend Prime.
• As the winner of the Television Bulletin, Television Features, and MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Awards, Namu traveled to CNNoffices in Atlanta and met with 12 other international journalists to share their field experiences.

Source: CNN

• In 2004, Kimani Nganga Maruge started primary school at the age of 84.
• Kenya’s introduction of free primary school in 2003 made it possible for Maruge to join two of his grandchildren at Kapkenduiywa School.
• The great-grandfather held a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the oldest person in the world to start primary school from 2004 to 2010. His story inspired the 2010 film The First Grader.
• In September 2005, Maruge boarded a plane for the first time in his life to address the United Nations Millennium Development Summit on the importance of free primary education.

Source: BBC News, Hollywood Reporter

• It is estimated that the coffee industry directly or indirectly employs 6 million Kenyans, including 700,000 growers.
• The small-scale farmers are members of cooperative societies which process their own coffee.
• The major coffee growing regions in Kenya are the High Plateaus around Mt. Kenya, the Aberdare Range, Kisii, Nyanza, Bungoma, Nakuru and Kericho.

Source: BBC News, Hollywood Reporter

• Paul Kibbi Tergat held the world record in the marathon from 2003 to 2007.
• During his career, he won a long list of gold, silver and bronze medals in running competitions around the world.
• Since 2004, Tergat has been an ambassador for the UN World Food Program, which provided him with school lunch as a child, since his parents were too poor to send him to school with food. Tergat says he could not have finished school without this program.

Source: Kenya Advisor.com

• In October 2009, Kenya and Uganda agreed to build and manage a railway between Mombasa, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda.
• The railway will eventually link Uganda and Kenya to Rwanda and Southern Sudan, creating a much needed transportation network in the region.
• Kenya currently has 1,654 miles of railroad connecting Nairobi to Kenya’s major ports and Lake Victoria.

Source: Daily Nation, Expogroup

• In 2008, more than 89,400 American tourists visited the country, experiencing the culture and taking in the natural beauty firsthand.
• More than 9,000 American citizens are currently living in Kenya.
• To cater to the American audience, the Kenyan Ministry of Tourism is developing an Obama Route that will take tourists from Nairobi through the picturesque Rift Valley to Kogelo, the village where President Obama?s father grew up.

Source: U.S. Department of State, GlobalAtlanta.com

• Africa Investor awarded the Kenyan Communications Commission the best infrastructure regulator award for creating an excellent and stable investment climate.
• The Kenyan Communications Commission was also recognized for promoting public-private initiatives to eradicate poverty and grow the country’s economy.
• The country’s broadband infrastructure and international fiber optics link are expected to drive more investment in all facets of the economy.

Source: Business Daily Africa

• The new “Harmonized Constitution” will replace Kenya’s original Constitution created at the time of independence in 1963.
• For the first time in Kenyan history, Kenyans will now be allowed to hold dual citizenship.
• The Constitution creates Kenya’s first ever Supreme Court, establishes separation of powers, sets up a system of checks and balances and devolves power closer to the people.
• Kenya will now have a Bill of Rights that ensures equality and freedom from discrimination, religious freedoms, a free press and the right to a fair and speedy trial.

Source: Reuters, University of Wisconsin Law School, Daily Nation, The Standard

• The International Young Eco-Hero Award recognizes young people for their environmental achievements.
• Winne Owade, a 14-year-old girl from Kenya, was awarded third place in the 2005 International Eco-Hero awards for organizing a feeding program to sustain local monkeys that were damaging crops in the surrounding areas as they searched for food.

Source: Free Press.com

• The Kenyan flower sector grows at an average of 20% per year.
• The floriculture industry is estimated to employ over 60,000 Kenyans in rural areas.
• In 2008, Kenya exported 93,000 tons of flowers around the world.
• The main markets for Kenyan flowers are the Netherlands, UK, Germany and France.

Source: Kenya Flower Council

• The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organization of five countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.
• The EAC will launch its Common Market on July 1, 2010, allowing the free movement of labor, goods, services and capital between member countries.
• The EAC aims to widen and deepen cooperation between member states by implementing a Monetary Union by 2012, and ultimately creating a Political Federation of East African States.

Source: BBC, East African Community Portal

• The Times Tower is located in Nairobi and stands 38 stories high
• This magnificent facility took four years to construct and was completed in 2000
• The Times Tower is home to the Kenya Revenue Authority

Sources: Howard Humphreys Consulting Engineers, Kenya Revenue Authority

• The Lake Turkana Wind Power Project is being developed in the hope of decreasing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and developing alternative energy sources.
• Work has already begun on the $891 million project, funded by KenGen and KBC Bank NV of Belgium.

Source: Global Energy Network Institute

• The Swahili language is derived from several globally spoken languages, including the local Bantu dialect and Arabic.
• Swahili also incorporates German, Portuguese, English and French words into its vocabulary.

Source: University of Toronto

• Coca Cola, General Electric, and Google are among the many organizations that have their African headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.
• These companies have brought in over $200 million in investment.

Source: Kenya Advisor, University of Pennsylvania African Studies Department

• Inaugurated in 1997, Lake Turkana, Africa’s most saline lake, is commonly used as a laboratory for the study of plant and animal communities.
• The national parks serve as a stopover for migrant waterfowl and are major breeding grounds for the Nile crocodile, hippopotamus and a variety of venomous snakes.
• The deposits from Lake Koobi Fora are rich in mammalian and molluscan fossils, and have contributed to the understanding of paleo-environments more than any other site on the continent.

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

• Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot is the four-time winner of the Boston Marathon, having taken the top prize in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2008.
• He also won the first ever Marathon Majors series, with three wins and a fourth-place finish in the most prestigious races in the world.

Source: World Marathon Majors

• In 2008 alone, 25 international investment projects started in Kenya.
• The highest numbers of investment projects were in the communications sector, which brought in $82.8 million worth of investment in 2008.

Source: FDI Magazine

• The Coast Causerie column ran uninterrupted for 58 years, between 1943 and 2001.
• Columnist Edward Rodwell, who was still writing the column when he died at the age of 95, started the column as a “personal hobby” telling the “off-beat story of strange occasions and the people involved.”

Source: Kenya Coast Week

• President Obama’s father started life in a rural village in western Kenya. After winning a college scholarship, he enrolled in the University of Hawaii, where he met and married President Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham.
• President Obama’s father went back to Kenya where he worked in the oil industry and eventually became an economist in the government of Jomo Kenyatta, the first Kenyan President after independence.

Source: Kenya Advisor

• Straddling it almost exactly, with 5 degrees of latitude north and 4.40 degrees south, Kenya, as a result, is divided climatically.
• The region north of the Equator is hot and receives comparatively little rain, while the southern region falls into three meteorological zones: the coast is humid, the highlands are relatively temperate and the Lake Victoria region is tropical.
• The rainy seasons occur from October to December and April to June, although the weather phenomenon, El Niño, recently complicated this pattern.

Source: Kenya Project

• The decline in AIDS prevalence has been attributed to various factors including reduction in high-risk behaviors and education programs.
• Kenya has integrated HIV/AIDS education into many subjects at school, and introduced a weekly lesson on AIDS into all primary and secondary curricula.
• The Kenyan Government will increase direct budget support for the fight against HIV/AIDS by a minimum of 10 percent annually.

Source: ABC News, Avert

• The Department of Mines and Geology estimates that the Western Kenya belt that borders Tanzania (dubbed Migori belt) could produce up to 34 tons of gold per year.
• The government is currently working with mining companies to develop a mining strategy.

Source: Business Daily Africa

• When translated from Swahili, “safari” means journey and a trip through Kenya will take you through some of the world’s most breathtaking views.
• Kenya boasts more than 65 national parks and wildlife preserves, each populated with distinct wildlife.

Source: Kenya Tourist Board, Interpol, Peace Corps

• The government works with local tribes to develop innovative ways to protect the environment and local culture.
• Kenya has won several eco-lodge awards and is planning to be the first African country to develop and use international criteria to rate eco-lodges and tour operators.

Source: Kenya Tourist Board

• The Business Alliance Against Chronic Hunger is coordinated by a Kenyan-based secretariat and has over 30 companies and organizations working to develop business-led solutions to hunger.
• Alliance members have created 150 small-scale businesses and initiatives in a Kenyan pilot program.

Source: World Food Program, All Africa

• Several hominid fossils found in Kenya, including a homo habilis skull, which dates back 1.4 million years, and a homo erectus skull, dated at 1.5 million years old, have tagged Kenya the “cradle of mankind”.
• These fossils have contributed greatly to scientists being able to trace the history of the human species.

Source: New York Times

• Dadaab, the largest refugee camp in Kenya, provides shelter to 280,000 refugees.
• Kenya is home to 320,605 refugees. In 2008 alone, 60,000 refugees crossed the border into Kenya seeking asylum.
• Kenya is building even more camps to take on the increasing numbers of refugees escaping the instability in Somalia.
• The recent forced shutdown of food aid operations in southern Somalia by Al Shabab, may push 20,000 Somali refugees into Kenyan camps.

Source: UNHCR, Associated Press, Christian Science Monitor

• M-PESA customers can deposit and withdraw money from a network of agents that includes airtime resellers and retail outlets acting as banking agents.
• The service enables its users to deposit and withdraw money, transfer money to other users and non-users, pay bills, and purchase cell minutes.

Source: Safaricom, BBC, Guardian

• The United States, Britain and the European Union have signed agreements allowing for piracy suspects to be tried in Kenya.
• In 2006, Kenya established the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in the port city of Mombasa, designed to provide a rapid response to acts of piracy.

Source: The Times, Law.com, IMO

• Many Kenyans are multilingual, speaking several African languages and English.
• Kenya has a rich multilingual history and Kenyan languages come from the Middle-East, Asia and Africa.
• Swahili is spreading in popularity outside Kenya and is now widely spoken in parts of Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia and the Sudan.
• The African languages of Kenya come from three different language families – Bantu languages spoken in the center and southeast, Nilotic languages spoken in the west and Cushitic languages spoken in the northeast.

Source: University of Toronto; Ethnologue, Languages of the World

• Kenya has one of the largest geothermal energy programs in the world and the largest in Africa.
• The largest geothermal power plant in Africa, the Olkaria II, is located near Nairobi and is operated by the Kenya Electricity Generating Company.
• Kenya has other renewable energy programs ranging from wind to hydroelectric.

Source: International Geothermal Association; United Nations

• The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) became the first UN agency to be headquartered in Kenya in 1970.
• Kenya has 26 UN Agencies comprising a total of 75 semi-autonomous UN offices employing some 3,000 local and international staff – the third largest concentration after New York and Geneva.
• These agencies include:

1. World Bank (WB)
2. International Monetary Fund (IMF)
3. United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
4. United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
5. United Nations Funds for Women (UNIFEM)
6. Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
7. World Health Organization (WHO)

Source: United Nations

• In 2008, the port of Mombasa handled about 16.42 million tons of freight.
• The port is equipped to recieve a wide range of cargoes, from dry bulks such as grain to liquid bulks such as crude oil.
• 10 million people in Africa rely on food aid that comes through Mombasa. Last year, the port handled 670,000 tons of food aid.

Source: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; Kenya Port Authority; Voice of America

• Kenya shares a 423 mile border with Somalia and is on the frontline against the growth of Islamic terrorism in the region.
• The Kenyan Army worked with the U.S. to develop a Ranger Strike Force, to prevent the infiltration of terrorist groups into Kenya.
• The Kenyan Air Force has procured F-5 fighter aircrafts to conduct counterterrorism surveillance and strike operations.
• The Kenyan Navy has received training and equipment from the United States for maritime interdiction operations in territorial waters.

Source: U.S. Department of State

• Professor Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist, was awarded the prize in 2004 for her dedication to women’s rights, ecology and democracy.
• Professor Maathai was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. She obtained a degree in Biological Sciences from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas (1964).
• A role model for world, Prof. Maathai travels the world addressing the critical issue of climate change.

Source: Nobel Prize Biographies