More global suitors board Kenya’s cashless train

The popularity of Kenya’s cashless systems is attracting multi-billion shilling businesses with Swedish audio streaming service, Spotify and Norwegian technology firm Opera being the latest to set up shop last week.

The lure has been driven by tech-savvy Kenyans who have turned existing social media platforms, Whatsapp, Telegram, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram as well as email services into cash-minting machines for their ‘hustles’.

Secure and free platforms have provided ready e-shops where Kenyans post videos and pictures of the various items they sell with payments made via mobile money wallets followed by door-to-door deliveries for Nairobi residents or through a 24-hour courier delivery for upcountry customers.

Interestingly, Kenyans use the platforms to also influence sales of various products and services that has seen the emergence of a new crop of social media entrepreneurs.

Social media marketer Kamarichi Mbarani whose Promo.KE platform attracted Sh8.5 million in investments for its establishment, has since signed 13 celebrities who allow product manufacturers and distributors to directly market their wares to their fans.

Driving sales

“TV, radio, comedy, music, and fashion celebrities endorse products on their social media fan pages and has to be a viable avenue for driving sales for beauty and wellness products, clothing and footwear, electronics, event tickets and travel products,” said Mr Mbarani.

Hype chat is also a new product being piloted in Kenya two years after Opera launched OKash, a micro-loan service in Kenya.

Secure member-operated chat platforms have become a major boon for businesses who encourage customers including retail operators to order for products directly using the chat platforms that offer secure end-to-end encryption.

Popularity of e-commerce platforms have also attracted the taxman who last January introduced a digital tax, a form of income levy in Kenya that seeks to tax all income derived through online transactions at the rate of 1.5 percent for persons with permanent residence in Kenya.

While it remains to be seen how Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will rope in all online platform sellers into the tax net, direct interaction between buyers and sellers of goods and services through electronic means continues to thrive with mobile software apps being mooted daily to facilitate trade.

On itspart, IT giant, Google revealed helping 15,000 businesses to gain an online presence and offered a further Sh1.2 billion towards supporting small and medium enterprises, tech startups and grants for underserved communities.

“To support the economic recovery in Kenya, we are committing an additional Sh1.2 billion towards funding loans for small businesses, support for tech startups, and grants for underserved communities, said Google chief executive Sundar Pichai.

Mr Pichai who is also Google's parent company Alphabet CEO said Sh220 million will be used for helping underserved communities hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, SMES (Sh330 million) and Sh550 million supporting tech startups.

In last week’s release, Opera said chat services and browsers are apps people use every day and feel very personal about.

“With the integration of Hype in Opera Mini, we are not only rethinking what a chat service should be like in 2021, but also changing the very definition of what a mobile browser should be,” noted product lead for Hype Charles Hamel.

Local entrepreneurs

Stanbic Kenya Foundation and Microsoft Kenya also announced a partnership that will see them create 50,000 links riding on Google’s Android for local entrepreneurs across Kenya.

Some 1,000 civil servants who work across the counties have since been selected for IT training as leads for the e-business programme.

Kenya-based global custom software application development conglomerate, TechnoBrain chief executive Manoj Shanker says security for transactions has been strengthened further by availability of one time passwords for e-government services atop direct linkages to password operated online platforms that ride on apps downloaded onto an individual’s smartphone.

“We have provided governments with transformational mobile apps and web-based portals for tax management, budgeting, project management, electronic border control, electronic visa, biometric solutions, driving licence and healthcare management systems,” he said.

Speaking during the partnership launch, Industrialisation, Trade and Enterprise Development secretary Betty Maina said having an online presence was a must-have for any business.

“The digital landscape is transforming rapidly and Kenya must adapt to the new changes to keep the citizens employable. This partnership will enhance the government’s investments in the capacity building and adoption of digital technologies giving Kenyans a competitive advantage,” she said.

Mr Hamel said Kenya’s young, savvy population had immense potential for early adopters of tech-linked products that are easily monetised via the cashless systems.

Mobile phone apps

In Kenya one can trade on anything via mobile phone apps from loans, insurance, goods, services, r-ticketing, offertory, tithing, fundraisings, pre-weddings and funeral meeting contributions.

“Today, 40 percent of the Kenyan population has access to smartphones, with younger generations dominating and with 75 percent of the 47 million Kenyans aged below 30, this is the right market for this product,” he said.

To entrench its foothold in the market, Opera has partnered with Kenyan artists Brian Omolo and Lulu Kitolo to design original sticker packs for Hype where Hype users will be able to use expressions unique to Kenyans in their chats.

The service also incorporates WebSnap, a feature that allows users to easily take and share snapshots from the web.

For Spotify, streaming popular music and podcasts on the platform for free is a ready hit among locals as it has uploaded local music giving local content creators a platform to market their wares.

“African creators have always pushed boundaries, innovating and creating incredible sounds.We are giving them access and the opportunity to connect with a global audience of fans,” said Spotify head of music for Sub-Saharan Africa Phiona Okumu.

The platform offers music and podcasts with algorithmic recommendations personalised to each listener’s preferences.

Spotify’s Afro genre hub brings African music, including AmaPiano Grooves, Afropop, African Heat, Phenomenal Woman as well as popular Bongo Flava tunes.

Its podcast range, boosts of 2.2 million podcast titles, including “The Michelle Obama Podcast” and one by Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan.

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