Industry

imported 2024-03-17 17:43:06

Konza Technopolis: Kenya’s Smart City Leading the African Silicon Savannah

July 19, 2025

In this exclusive interview with John Paul Okwiri, CEO of Konza Technopolis, Kenya’s ambitious smart city project, we explore the transformative role Konza is playing in advancing Kenya’s digital economy and achieving Vision 2030. Dubbed the African Silicon Savannah, Konza is positioned as a leading innovation ecosystem and Special Economic Zone, designed to attract global investors in ICT-enabled services, life sciences, engineering, and digital infrastructure.

Konza has successfully completed Phase One infrastructure, including clean water systems, high-speed internet, energy distribution, stormwater drainage, and the establishment of a Tier III Uptime Certified National Data Center. With more than 100 out of 147 land parcels allocated, the city now offers a plug-and-play environment for investors looking to enter the African tech investment space.

Key anchors such as the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) are in place, supporting research and development (R&D) in STEM fields and strengthening ties between academia, industry, and government. Additionally, Konza’s model includes zones for light industry, device assembly, textiles, and biopharma, with future phases set to include Digital Media City and expanded public-private partnerships (PPP).

CEO John Paul Okwiri addresses common misconceptions about delays, reaffirming that Konza Technopolis is ready for investment and progressing on par with global smart cities like Cyberjaya in Malaysia. The government-backed initiative offers a range of physical and non-physical investment incentives, including tax reliefs, making it an attractive destination for those interested in tech hubs in Africa, smart city development, and long-term infrastructure projects in Kenya.

Konza is not just a project—it’s the foundation of Kenya’s Fourth Industrial Revolution, poised to create over 17,000 jobs, drive sustainable urban development, and serve as a model for digital transformation in Africa.

Typotech Kenya’s CEO Alfred Kandarah on Transforming Printing and Packaging in East Africa

July 17, 2025

Typotech Kenya Limited, formerly known as Imaging Solutions, has repositioned itself as a complete printing and packaging solutions provider in East Africa. Under the leadership of CEO Alfred Kandarah, the company has expanded beyond its original focus on pre-press solutions to offer end-to-end services including pre-press, press, and finishing equipment, along with workflow software, consumables, and training.

Now serving key sectors such as newspaper printing, commercial printing, book printing, and most importantly, packaging printing (including paper, board, metal, and textile packaging), Typotech aims to become the first point of contact for high-end printing and packaging solutions in Eastern Africa. The company is particularly targeting the fast-growing packaging industry in Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia, and plans to expand across the East African Community and later into Central and West Africa.

Kandarah highlights that the commercial printing industry in Africa is slowing, while packaging printing solutions — including metal packaging, corrugated packaging, and textile printing — continue to see sustained growth. This shift is driven by increased demand for labeling and product packaging across sectors, from home-based manufacturers to multinational FMCG brands.

Typotech also places a strong emphasis on sustainability in printing and packaging, ensuring all imported printing consumables meet environmental standards, especially for food-grade packaging. They supply eco-friendly inks, non-toxic print chemicals, and sustainable substrates tailored to local market regulations.

With ambitions to dominate the East African packaging market, Typotech partners with globally recognized equipment manufacturers to deliver state-of-the-art solutions. From computer-to-plate systems, digital workflow automation, to press and finishing machinery, the company supports the region’s shift toward modern, scalable, and sustainable packaging solutions.

How Storage Central is Expanding Secure Self-Storage Across Nairobi

July 15, 2025

Storage Central is a modern self-storage company in Nairobi focused on delivering secure, affordable, and flexible storage solutions to Kenya’s growing urban population and SME sector. In this in-depth interview, CEO Gerardo Segura and COO Nicholas Sadron shares the company’s vision, expansion strategy, and the unique advantages that make Storage Central Nairobi’s preferred provider of self-storage solutions.

Since its last funding round, the company has raised $700,000 to expand its Nairobi storage facility, adding 1,800 square meters and 180 new storage rooms. With occupancy averaging 75 percent, demand for secure storage units in Nairobi remains strong. This modern self-storage facility now offers nearly 7,900 sqm of leasable space with 860 individual storage units, reflecting Nairobi’s growing need for dedicated storage solutions tailored to both residential and SME storage needs.

Nicholas Sadron highlights that self-storage in Nairobi is not only about warehouse alternatives but about enabling flexible storage options that support Kenya’s micro-SMEs, NGOs, and entrepreneurs. Affordable and secure self-storage Nairobi solutions allow businesses to scale up during busy seasons and downsize in slow periods without long-term commitments, supporting economic resilience and sustainable growth. Examples include Matumba dealers in Nairobi who use pay-as-you-use storage units for sorting and distributing secondhand clothing, and medical supply companies like Field Technologies, which grew from 20 to 325 square meters within Storage Central’s facility.

Storage Central’s strategic expansion plan aims to develop 15 to 20 new storage facilities in East Africa, including key markets such as Kampala, Dar es Salaam, and Mauritius, over the next decade. The company is currently looking to raise $20 million to build five additional storage facilities in Nairobi, emphasizing the investment opportunity in East Africa’s self-storage industry. The CEO notes that self-storage investment East Africa represents a rare, untapped market, given the region’s urban density, growing SME sector, and lack of modern self-storage facilities.

Gerardo Segura explains their financing strategy, preferring debt over equity to reduce shareholder dilution while balancing foreign exchange risk with a currency buying program. He describes Storage Central’s lean business model as inherently resilient, with low operational costs, month-to-month rental flexibility, and highly atomized customer base that diversifies risk and ensures financial stability.

Beyond offering secure rental storage units, Storage Central provides value-added services such as insurance-included storage units (with standard coverage of KES 50,000), locks, and transport assistance. Its digital experience includes an online space calculator and reservation system, with plans to scale CRM systems and localize services in Swahili and English to support expansion across East African markets. However, the CEO emphasizes that despite AI and automation trends in global self-storage markets, human-centered customer service remains a competitive advantage in Africa, where face-to-face engagement and trust-building are essential for converting customers.

Gerardo Segura’s message to investors is clear: Storage Central is unlocking opportunity in Africa’s overlooked markets by offering modern, accessible, and flexible storage solutions. It’s not about creating a new need but improving an existing one with purpose-built self-storage facilities that are safe, convenient, and tailored to local realities.

Stephen Yeboah on Green Mining, Mercury-Free Gold, and Ghana’s Commodity Future

June 16, 2025

In this interview, Stephen Yeboah, CEO and co-founder of Commodity Monitor Ghana, shares the company’s journey, vision, and impact in transforming Africa’s commodity value chain through engineering solutions, sustainable mining technology, and strategic trade networks.

Founded in 2017, Commodity Monitor operates at the intersection of commodity trading, logistics, and research, bridging producers and consumers across global markets. The company deals in both soft commodities like maize, wheat, cocoa, and soya, and hard commodities such as gold, oil and gas, and renewable energy technologies.

A core focus of the company is its commitment to green mining practices. In Ghana’s small-scale mining sector—which employs over two million people—Commodity Monitor introduced a mercury-free gold processing technology to replace outdated Chinese machinery. This innovation aligns with Ghana’s commitment to the Minamata Convention and addresses the environmental and health hazards of mercury use in gold mining. Their eco-friendly gold recovery system has delivered up to 87% gold recovery, a major improvement over traditional methods.

Stephen Yeboah emphasizes that formalizing small-scale mining through equipment financing, mining cooperatives, and government partnerships is critical for curbing illegal mining (galamsey) and boosting rural economic development in Ghana. The company’s model has even been replicated in Zambia, proving its scalability and impact.

Commodity Monitor is also positioning itself as a mine support services provider, registered with Ghana’s Minerals Commission, and extending its services to large-scale mining operations. With support from partners in South Africa, Canada, and China, the company continues to fine-tune its technology, adapting machines to local geological conditions—from Obuasi to Tarkwa, Wa, and the Upper East.

Beyond mining, Yeboah highlights the importance of value addition in agriculture, advocating for local processing in cocoa and cereals. He stresses that Africa’s arable land and smart agriculture technologies, such as AI in farming, should be harnessed to shift from import dependency to export leadership.

Looking ahead, Commodity Monitor’s vision is to become a pan-African engineering company that delivers customized solutions across agriculture, mining, energy, and oil and gas—all while promoting environmental sustainability, local beneficiation, and inclusive growth.

“دهانات الجزيرة” تُحدث نقلة نوعية بتشطيبات الأرضيات في المشاعر المقدسة باستخدام منتج ” الجزيرة سبورتكس”

June 16, 2025

ابتكار سعودي بتقنية تبريد للأسطح الإسفلتية لتجربة حجٍ أكثر راحةً وأماناً أسهمت “دهانات الجزيرة“، الشركة الرائدة في صناعة الدهانات والألوان والحلول الإنشائية في المملكة العربية …

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