A new opportunity for real estate ANALYSIS | AGENCIES | Retail is emerging among the most vibrant sectors of the East African economy. Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, has not only become an important retail market in its own right but a stepping stone into the rest of the country and wider …
Read More »Retail startup Wasoko expands into Southern African market
The company is investing US$1millon in its first year of operation Zambia – which will be used a hub for regional expansion Lusaka, Zambia | THE INDEPENDENT | Kenya’s B2B retail and e-commerce company, Wasoko, has expanded into the Southern African market, with Zambia as the first investment destination. The company …
Read More »Absa regional operations tops retail banking in Africa
ABSA wins big at 2020 Global Retail Banking Innovation Awards Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The role of Absa Group Limited’s Regional Operations (ARO) in using technology and coming up with strategic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, have earned them a top Global Retail Banking Innovation Award. Absa Group …
Read More »Buckwheat and condoms: 5 things Russians are buying in pandemic
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russians, long used to financial and political crises, are reacting to the coronavirus pandemic by bulk-buying the essentials for life in isolation — including condoms. Here are five things they are stocking up on: – Buckwheat – Buckwheat — or grechka as it is …
Read More »E-Commerce eats into Black Friday, now a shadow of its former self in US
‘Black Friday’ becoming a shadow of its former self in US New York, United States | AFP | The US holiday shopping season officially opened with a deluge of “Black Friday” promotions but the frenzied crowds of the past have thinned out with the rise of e-commerce. Companies in the …
Read More »New retail tools aim to solve e-commerce profit dilemma
New York, United States | AFP | Conventional wisdom in the Amazon era holds that the lowest price wins the battle of the retailers, leading many to just about give away items to make a sale. Yet some data suggest a more nuanced reality: while 76 percent of retailers aim …
Read More »Lango MPs want foreigner investors to stop operating retail businesses
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Foreign investors should be stopped from operating retail businesses. The call was made by Lango Parliamentary Group, a loose coalition of legislators from Lango sub region following a public meeting held at Uganda Technical College in Lira town on Monday. The MPs say that the …
Read More »Amazon says some customer email addresses exposed
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Amazon on Wednesday said that a website glitch accidentally exposed names and email addresses of some of the e-commerce giant’s customers. Amazon declined to disclose the extent of the software slip-up. “We have fixed the issue and informed customers who may have been …
Read More »Shoprite eye Kenya’s retail market
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | South Africa’s retail chain, Shoprite Holdings, plans to take advantage of disarray in Kenya’s grocery sector to open its first stores in the major East African market this year. Two of Kenya’s three top retailers – Uchumi Supermarkets and former regional giant, Nakumatt – …
Read More »Jeff Bezos rockets to richest person on the planet
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Jeff Bezos is officially the richest person on the planet thanks to the success of Amazon — but his bold vision extends to space and even time itself. With Amazon’s share price up nearly 60 percent during the past year, the personal wealth …
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