Come Witness the Launch of Bitpesa in Kenya!!

A revolution in Money Transfers to Kenya!

On May 24th, Nairobi-based company BitPesa began the pilot phase of a new, cheaper, faster way to send money to Kenya. BitPesa offers free money transfers with a highly competitive exchange rate. BitPesa allows people to send money from nearly anywhere in the world to any Kenyan mobile money wallet (M-PESA, Airtel Money, Orange Money and Yu Cash), within minutes.

BitPesa is inviting members of the Nairobi tech and business community to a World Cup Party at Nairobi Startup Garage (4th Floor of Piedmont Plaza on Ngong Road) on Thursday, June 26th from 5-9pm. They will be broadcasting what are sure to be two thrilling football matches at 7:00 pm: Ghana vs. Portugal and US vs. Germany. But to encourage people to come early, BitPesa will be providing beers, bitings, and bitcoins to the first 50 people to show up.

BitPesa is a Kenyan company, whose shareholders include Joe Mucheru, Google East Africa Lead, and Duncan Goldie-Scot, Chairman of Musoni. BitPesa developed the service to offer better value to the Kenyan diaspora who send billions of shillings to Kenya every year. Traditional remittance services currently apply a premium of between 6%-13%. BitPesa offers a much more competitive 3% premium, no additional fees, and transfer to any mobile money wallet within minutes. 

However, BitPesa is also designed to create value for Kenyans in Kenya - for example, if a software developer performs work for an international client, he could be paid in Bitcoin. Or, if a software developer wants to monetize a mobile app or web app, she could put her Bitcoin address on the app and receive payments from anywhere in the world, regardless of country or currency. Then using BitPesa’s online platform, the developer can convert his/her Bitcoins into Kenyan Shillings, which are deposited into any mobile money wallet within minutes. BitPesa is also developing an update to its site that will allow Kenyan NGOs to receive international donations via Bitcoin and convert these into Kenyan Shillings at zero cost. 

To learn more about BitPesa, visit their website, follow them on Twitter at @BitPesa and Like their Facebook Page.

To register for the World Cup Party on June 26th, RSVP HERE.

I hope you are keeping warm in this very cold weather! See you there!

Learn about The Nairobi Start Up Garage !!

Hey there!

Between learning how to paint, reading through Warsan Shire’s poetry and spending quality time with family and friends, I have been interning at the Nairobi Start up Garage. Heard of it? Cool name right? It is located at the Brew Bistro building, 4^th floor.

Nairobi Start up Garage is the home of 88mph and several other start ups that are making quite the waves in Kenya and Africa as a whole. It’s a co-working tech space that rents out working space to companies, start ups and holds the coolest events ever! It’s a beautiful space with an interesting interior concept, in some instances putting the reuse concept (which am a big fan of ). The open space environment, bean bags, telephone booth, the office bar, the couches are just some of the few things that make this one of the coolest working places.

A few pictures.

Nairobi Start up garage being the home of 88mph has lots of perks for those who are looking for seed fund for their start ups. If you haven’t heard of 88mph, it’s a seed fund and accelerator. They invest in early stage web/mobile companies with the ability to scale across Sub-Saharan Africa. Their main focus is attracting the best entrepreneurs, investing seed cash, and bringing them to a point where their businesses can grow independently, or be adequately evaluated by angels and VCs. They have been active in Africa since 2011 and are currently operating out of hubs in Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria. Their accelerators are supported by Google, Samsung, and Microsoft, get help. During the three-month program, the start ups receive mentoring, access to networks, technical infrastructure and work space, in exchange for an equity stake.

It’s actually a proven fact that for anyone wishing to dive into entrepreneurship or actively run a Start up, co-working spaces are more likely to be the best environment for budding and bringing your idea into something solid. Some of the advantages include having a chance to create a large network with the people you work with, the great ideas that you can exchange informally during simple conversation and a nice environment to meet your clients.

Some other advantages of renting out office space include the flexibility that comes along with it. For people who are always on the move, renting a space would prove beneficial since you do not have to get into legal contracts, all you have to do is pay for the months you will be in town and get your space reserved for you. Also, you can be able to easily expand your team or shrink it out without much of a hustle.

And this is why the Nairobi Start up Garage is perfect for any Start Up. Tones of networking opportunities and valuable resources are easily available . As the space offers several events in line with tech and other entrepreneurial related forums, it would be a wise idea to follow them on Facebook and twitter for any relevant information in regards to this. For instance, this Thursday we are hosting Start Up Grind Nairobi. Get the tickets here. Trust me, we would love to have you around. For inquiries about checking the place out or renting it out for an event or office space, feel free to email info@nairobistartupgarage.com

So, when in Nairobi and you are thinking of office space, think Nairobi Start Up garage. Karibu!

THE ROLE OF POLITICS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF KONZA CITY

Last week, the president launched the Konza Technopolis during the ground breaking ceremony that was held at Malili, Machakos. This was a significant step in the launching of the project since it made it cease from being just but a mere proposal and actually brought it to life. The phenomenal goal behind it is to ensure that this ICT Park buds an industrialized economy that makes Kenya the ultimate technical hub for many investors who want to bring in local intelligence and a bit of physical presence to the local African market. The project being a private and public partnership, a lot of international investment is necessary because the government will majorly handle matters to do with infrastructure and land allocation (the 5000 acre piece of land). Politics play a huge role on deciding the manner in which the project will sail through.

There are several benefits that come along with this project. Kenya is at a strategic time where its economic liberalization offers opportunity for such commendable growth. Not to forget other key factors such as the revolutionary Mpesa that offers its users the opportunity to spend, transfer, save and most recently get loans just by using their cell phones. The rise of incubation centers has also offered a conducive environment for innovation in the ICT sector with ample research resources and venues of discussion and interactivity among technology enthusiasts.

This project aims at creating at least 200,000 jobs; 80,000 of which will be created in the first phase of development. Most of the beneficiaries are in ICT, transporting and real estate whereby suppliers of building materials such as cement and steel will be essential. Having the idea of spending 850 billion to eventually set up 200,000 jobs through a period of 17 years putting in mind how sluggish government funding can be may not prove to be such an appealing and cost effective venture. This is why international investments are trivial for this idea to bear fruit.

An impressive 250 applications for investments have already been received ranging from multimillion companies such as Safaricom and Huawei, to entities such as banking and financial institutions, shopping malls and international education institutions. With the ground breaking, 18 investors had already wished to start whereas 30 planned to do so after the elections scheduled for March, one of the major reasons Kenyans should anticipate to take part in fair elections void of any form of corruption, biasness and violence.

The choice of leaders we choose is important as well. Countries such as Zimbabwe and Iran suffered from huge losses due to sanctions that were laid upon them. A conscious voter should not put the future of their country in shambles by heading to the ballot box and appointing an individual who faces charges of crime against humanity whether falsely accused or not. It just doesn’t make any sense. While some may argue that the West no longer has a hold on us, consider that pure gibberish. Another school of thought may argue that America and Europe investments are not crucial as compared to those from the Middle East such as China. However, realizing that China will take part more in the construction bit while the States and European countries  will deal with data processing will shade more light on the issue.

Relying on the Middle East as the only source of international investment does not make sense, even without having to do the math. All their transactions are done with the American dollar currency because of the connections with the international banking and wiring systems. Nowhere to run baby!! And what makes us so sure that China will risk the chance of appearing to show no recognition to the ICC authority just to stay in business with us after sanctions have been declared upon us?

Never before have we had the chance to carve our own future so blatantly. We should choose our leaders with a lot of insight. I would like to see Konza grow, and maybe let my kid know that I was there when it was all but a dream. Wouldn’t you? Take charge and practice good judgment and peace. Someone wise once said that the eyes are usually the windows to the soul, and personally, I would not trust a bloodshot eyed president to handle the affairs of this country. Would you?