GOVERNMENT
Technopolis Authority puts KES 1 million behind a new logo
Konza Technopolis Development Authority is now the Technopolis Development Authority, its remit widened from one flagship city to technopolises across all 47 counties — and it wants a Kenyan aged 18 to 35 to design the identity. KES 1 million is on the table, KES 300,000 to the winner and the rest shared among the shortlist, with mentorship in brand development attached. Entries need primary and monochrome marks, light and dark versions, a 150-word concept note and three applications.
Techweez
FINTECH
NBK half-year profit jumps 61% to KSh 1.72 billion
National Bank of Kenya lifted H1 profit from KSh 1.07 billion to KSh 1.72 billion, though the swing owes most to a 92% collapse in loan loss provisions — from roughly KSh 1 billion to KSh 80.9 million — on better recoveries and credit quality. Net interest income rose 11% to KSh 5.40 billion, assets reached KSh 157 billion and net loans grew almost 20% to KSh 61 billion. Acting MD John Ojalla ties the next phase to the Access Bank integration and its digital and efficiency pillars.
TechTrends KE
STARTUPS
Uber leaves Nigeria after twelve years — Kenya unaffected
Uber ended Nigerian operations on 2 September, twelve years after launching in Lagos, citing fuel costs, inflation, currency volatility and competition, alongside a strategic pivot toward autonomous vehicles and robotaxis. Bolt and inDrive are positioned to absorb the displaced riders and drivers. Kenya is explicitly not affected — Uber continues to ship local products here — but the pattern (out of Tanzania and Côte d'Ivoire, still in Ghana and South Africa) shows how selective the company has become.
TechTrends KE
FINTECH
Instarc bets $1.45m that tougher KYC is a business
The compliance platform is targeting South Africa's tightened KYC and FICA requirements, reading stricter onboarding rules not as friction to endure but as a product category — the same wager DigiTax made on mandated e-invoicing. For Kenyan founders it is a useful signal: regulation arriving on a fixed date creates a buyer with a deadline.
TechTrends KE
STARTUPS
WIT Awards 2026 shift the lens to jobs created
The Innovator Trust's Women in Tech Awards return with a criterion worth noting: recognition goes to women whose technology ventures have produced employment and sustainable growth, not just funding rounds or launches. It is a measure Kenya's own ecosystem could use more of, in a year when the headline funding number went the wrong way.
TechTrends KE
