Beyond Zero campaign raises more than six figures in charity run

The First Lady Margaret Kenyatta's Beyond Zero campaign raised Sh46mn this Sunday attracting 15,000 participants. The initiative geared at improving maternal health has already managed to buy and deliver 21 fully equipped mobile clinics to 21 counties. The First Lady mentioned that the program was halfway through its journey and needed to raise additional funds to purchase more clinics so that each of our 47 counties has a mobile clinic to service the healthcare needs of mothers and children.

Besides the 21 kilometer competition, other races that were part of the event included a 10 kilometer race, a 2 kilometer race, a tricycle race and a wheelchair race. Mrs Kenyatta finished the 21 kilometer race with an improved time of 3:24.55 up from last year’s 3:55.05. Winners of the races were also presented with cash prizes with the winners of the 21 kilometre race receiving Sh750, 000 each. During the race, the First Lady was accompanied Kenyan athletics stars including 3000m steeple chase star Ezekiel Kemboi, former world marathon record holder Catherin Ndereba and former world half marathon champion Lonah Kiplagat. [...]

Set up innovation, incubation hubs in all counties

Kenya is ranked fourth in internet usage in Africa, only behind Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa according to The Internet World Statistics report. The ICT sector is thriving and thirsty for consistent innovation to leverage on the growth opportunities. There was commendable growth in the cellular mobile services, data and Internet service, broadcasting, electronic transactions and surprisingly postal and courier service.

These numbers indicate that almost half of Kenyan population is subscribed to the internet, more than those with access to clean and safe water and definitely more than those who have access reliable and sufficient power supply. County governments can create innovation and incubation hubs or centres within these zones where young entrepreneurial minds can meet to innovate and nurture technological business ideas. These hubs can be operated by a trustee team comprising mentors and sponsors who should mostly come from the private, NGO sectors and member’s committees.

Internet services companies like Safaricom and Google can come in handy in advising on the technologies, setup and running of these hubs. Google for instance started an ambitious project in 2013 of providing internet access to rural and remote areas, a project called Google Loon. It uses high altitude balloons placed in the stratosphere to form one large 3G communication network of up to 40km in diameter [...]