NAIROBI, Kenya | Xinhua | Under Washington’s “America First Global Health Strategy,” seven American aid workers entered a U.S. isolation facility in central Kenya in mid-July, defying weeks of local protests and Kenyan High Court orders to halt the work. The strategy aims to rebuild U.S. global health assistance around …
Read More »Safaricom acquisition turns fintech into Vodacom’s biggest growth engine
Taking control of Safaricom is accelerating Vodacom’s shift from a traditional telecommunications operator into a digital financial services business powered by M-PESA. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | South Africa-headquartered Vodacom is entering its biggest strategic reset in decades after taking control of Safaricom, the Kenyan telecommunications …
Read More »From stopover to gateway: How Kenya’s SGR is reshaping Voi
NAIROBI, KENYA | Xinhua | Ali Khan, 17, adjusted his backpack and stepped aboard the afternoon Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) train at Voi Station. Three days earlier, the Indian teenager and 74 fellow campers had arrived here from the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa on the morning train. After exploring …
Read More »Kenya’s SGR freight volume surpasses 50 million tonnes
NAIROBI, KENYA | Xinhua | The cumulative freight volume transported along Kenya’s Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation, has exceeded 50 million tonnes as of July 26, the operator said on Monday. Since commencing operations on May 31, 2017, the …
Read More »How EAC Central Banks are responding to geopolitical tensions
Kampala, Uganda | URN | The effects of the conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe have dominated the 29th Ordinary Meeting of the Monetary Affairs Committee of the East African Community, which just ended in Uganda. All seven governors of the central banks (minus DRC) decried the …
Read More »Dangote’s proposed Kenya refinery tests a new blueprint for African industrialisation
The proposed refinery in Lamu is the company’s first effort to export the industrial model behind its Lagos refinery, potentially providing a blueprint for replicating large-scale African industrial projects across multiple countries. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | Dangote Industries is attempting to replicate the industrial model behind its …
Read More »Can AI stop mass fish deaths on Lake Victoria?
DUNGA BEACH, Kenya | DAVIS J WEDDI – SciDev.Net | For years, fish farmers at Dunga Beach, along Kenya’s stretch of Lake Victoria, lived with a dread that never really left them. They could end one day looking out at cages packed with healthy tilapia and begin the next …
Read More »Martha Karua, Dr Kizza Besigye and the case that crossed borders
Kenyan constitutional lawyer and veteran politician Martha Karua embraced the brief to defend Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye after his abduction from Nairobi in November 2024. Nearly two years later, she finds herself barred from entering Uganda, in a legal and political saga that is testing the boundaries of justice, …
Read More »Kenya’s dual certification push revives questions over Uganda’s stalled reform
Nairobi, Uganda | URN | As Kenya advances toward issuing students both academic and skills certificates under its new education system, Ugandan teachers, parents, and educationists are calling on the Ministry of Education and Sports to revive the country’s stalled dual certification programme. Parents who initially welcomed the initiative have …
Read More »Teen Cranes reach CECAFA final after defeating Kenya
Kampala, Uganda | URN | Uganda’s U17 Women’s National Football Team, the Teen Cranes, have booked a place in the final of the 2026 CECAFA U17 Women’s Championship after defeating Kenya 3-0 in a one-sided semifinal played on Sunday. The Teen Cranes delivered an impressive performance to eliminate their regional …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price