Our Digital Agenda for Kenya

Kenya has now become a true digital society. The digital agenda permeates the country's economy from retail (e-commerce) to  education , health , social interactions and personal relationships and many other areas. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become  integral to Kenya in terms of professional and personal life; individuals, businesses and government are increasingly inter-connected via a host of devices at home and at work, in public spaces and on the move. 

 As a Kenyan company we are  looking to partner in and to work with Kenyan counties in the implementation of strategic projects that will further and to sustain this digital agenda. For instance, we are looking into the installation of Municipal and Rural fiber-optics infrastructure for the purpose of providing local residents with quality access to services such as e-government, e-finance, e-health and smart education .  

More than this,  a county government  could be looking to  invest in platforms that support:

• Utilization of a networked infrastructure to improve and enable economic and political effi ciencies and social, cultural, and urban development.
• Utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to enhance prosperity and competitiveness for citizens and local businesses alike. 
• Utilization of ICT to increase effective governance.
• Development for the purpose of attracting new business.
• Collective community intelligence, based on effective planning for urban and regional development, and innovation management.
• A focus on social and environmental sustainability through the participation of citizens in processes and the balancing of growth initiatives with the protection of valuable natural resources.

We are looking to help develop the venture in  such a county to achieve these  outcomes that we believe could go a long way in taking the digital economy down to  local urban centers  as well as  spurring  great innovation within  rural villages.

How do these platforms support the digital economy? a brief outline is presented below:

1.BROADBAND

Networks are the backbone of  Smart technologies - they allow local governments to communicate more effectively among their various departments and divisions, as well as improving the transparency of the dialogue between and among those departments/divisions, vendors/service providers, the local business community, and citizens. Such networks increasingly enable citizen access and input into local government services, energy management, water management, local efforts related to intelligent transportation and traffic management, public safety and security, and educational services.

2. COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

The protection of citizenry requires enabling of reliable communications among police, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel that cannot be disrupted during crises. We are focusing on creating an opportunity for seamless communication between all stakeholders within the economy including the Police, educational institutions, hospitals, the public and the private sector.

3. INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Intelligent Transportation Systems must strive to address safety and efficiency issues, both in the transportation infrastructure and within vehicles themselves, through the use of advanced information and communications technologies. Traffic Information Systems provide useful data that allow drivers to be made aware of current traffic status, including real-time updates of actual traffic incidents and advisories, in order to save time and fuel by plotting the shortest/most direct routes to their destinations.

4. IDENTIFICATION CARDS/SYSTEMS

Smart identity documents such as e-ID cards, driver licenses, and e-passports, which permit wireless verification of the authenticity of these documents that also allow for virtual and e-payments. This will assist the development of traffic management systems, smart parking meters,and more. Our Smart Cities will provide residents with chip-based smart cards that will serve as a means of identification and also provide access to city services.

5. SMART GRIDS AND SMART METERS

Electrical power grids are being upgraded with communications capabilities, permitting utilities to monitor usage and end users to adjust their power consumption to take advantage of times when electrical rates are lowest. The consumer benefits of the smart grid are enabled by smart meters, which will wirelessly communicate with the utility, and permit consumers to control their energy usage in real-time, such as switching off energy-hungry appliances during peak billing hours.

We are currently developing a funding partnership to enable the development of the initial infrastructure outlay that will create business opportunities in these technologies that are set to improve services to citizens, business communities and government organizations.

 We believe that Kenya is now ready to join the global category called the emerging group of nations. These are developing countries that are neither least developed countries, nor of the newly industrialized nations. We are focused on supporting the  research and  on helping develop synergy between communities, governments and investors in the key sectors that are set to help our country raise its economic and social profile using technology and other means. Your support through funding, partnership and collaboration can help build the infrastructure and/or the required  platforms.

Ken Gumbe
www.trd.co.ke

Revitalization of The Port of Kisumu

In 2017, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) began the project to re modernize the Port of Kisumu. We are excited by the prospects of having a modern, functional and efficient port in the lakeside city. However, the revitalization of the port of Kisumu will  require a sustainable development model including an adequate cargo and passenger generation plan  to ensure that the port system will operate at its optimum for the benefit of  East Africa. 

Firstly, the port will need to be strategically located and provide the required advantages for it to be considered as a preferred destination for passengers and for cargo import and export. According to the World Bank, The catchment area of Lake Victoria holds a population of more than 35 million people, and is responsible for an approximate Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of some US$30 billion, or around 40 percent of the total GDP from the East Africa Community Countries. With the right plan the port of Kisumu will offer a much needed strategic opportunity for Kenya to become a lake transport hub for the East African region. 

The Catchment Area

Significant economic potential exists around the lake, such as agriculture, irrigation, fishery and inland water transportation. The majority of the people who live around the lake depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Although its contribution to GDP has been declining due to the growth of other sectors (such as mining) agriculture remains crucial for inclusive growth, contributing to 20-30 percent of GDP and employing 60-70 percent of the total workforce. The region is estimated to have a potential theoretical maximum of US$63 billion of agricultural production per annum, assuming no constraints on land use. The region currently produces US$4.8 billion of agricultural commodities per annum, accounting for a significant share of total agricultural production in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

In the Mwanza region of Tanzania (the largest port on Lake Victoria) about 85 percent of the population rely on agriculture for their livelihood. In the Mara region (one of Tanzania’s 30 administrative regions situated on the south eastern shore of Lake Victoria) nearly 90 percent of population are engaged in agriculture, contributing to about 60 percent of its regional GDP. The ports in Mwanza are  currently being upgraded to provide an opportunity to reduce transport/trade cost with the use of least cost links for especially for Burundi, part of Eastern DRC and Uganda as well as to provide viable alternative trade routes including to and from Kisumu. The proposed infrastructure and port safety  projects to improve access to  the region west of Lake Victoria and to the eastern shore of Lake Victoria could  help spur regional economic growth.

Uganda is a landlocked country with an area of 236,040 square kilometers. With a population size of 34.1 million, the country has recorded high population growth rate of 3.2 percent per annum. Uganda’s Vision 2040 calls for a series of structural measures to accelerate economic growth. Uganda has committed to building the stock of physical capital, notably through investments in the country’s ports on Lake Victoria which are seen as essential for economic development, agricultural productivity, and poverty reduction. The World Bank’s Africa Strategy highlights that Africa’s infrastructure networks increasingly lag behind those of other developing countries and are especially characterized by missing regional links and limited access.  The strategy notes that regional integration within East Africa could contribute significantly to reducing infrastructure costs, by allowing the region’s countries to capture scale economies and manage regional public goods effectively. Such a prospect offers the port project some opportunity to gain from the World Bank  infrastructure funding considerations.

Kisumu’s Competitive Advantage

Secondly, The port of Kisumu fronts Kenya’s third largest city. For decades, the port registered robust business activity helped by a reliable railway system and maritime vessels that ferried cargo to Tanzania and  Uganda. The plans  to construct a new green port in Kisumu and to extend a branch of the standard gauge railway being built from Mombasa are expected to restore high economic activity in the city. The proposal to revitalize the current port facility could offer a cheaper complementary means of transporting goods to the regional markets than by road. From a demand and revenue potential perspective, the port could focus on cargo handling and become an important hub for East African Community (EAC) trade, as it is conveniently situated for cargo destined for certain regions of Uganda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Burundi.

Thirdly, the County Government of Kisumu is currently developing the Kisumu Lakefront City Project. The proposed project seeks to increase tourism activities within the western Kenya Tourism Circuit and to establish a Special Economic Zone. The Lakefront initiative aims to connect existing patterns and the Central Business District of Kisumu City; create a plot layout along the lakefront; optimize land use and land value; create investment opportunities; establish incremental growth opportunities; enhance public transport services; and harmoniously link the city and the lake including opening- up the lakefront to public access. There is  an opportunity to connect the port project as the special economic zone of the Kisumu Lakefront City.

Fourthly, another opportunity could be to position the new port  as a local cargo port focusing on the export of regional products and the import of local products from Uganda and Tanzania in and out of the interior piers in Homa Bay, Kendu Bay, Kowuor, Asembo Bay, Mbita, Muhuru Bay, Mfangano, and Port Victoria. The port could act primarily as a transit port, focusing on transit cargo from Mombasa to the EAC region as well as offer port related services from the Kisumu port shipyard to the inland piers under KPA. The 450KM Lake Victoria Ring Road Project is also currently being developed by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) to connect the port system with five counties by road. The counties are Busia, Siaya, Kisumu, Homa Bay and Migori.

Sustainable Development 

Lastly, a sustainable development model will need to be considered for the port facility, implying that the design will need to meet international standards but  also reflect the need to balance the environmental, social and economic needs of the location. Some   factors that could be considered  could include but not be limited to the operational efficiency and appropriateness of the various  technological requirements. The port layout and the design options would have to reflect  the projected traffic demands and other parameters influencing the financial and operational viability for the development, operations and maintenance requirements of the new port. 

We look forward to participating in some way in this exciting project.

Kennedy Gumbe 

www.trd.co.ke 

(UKs) National Health Service (NHS) - Some Lessons for Kenya

Today (July 5), the UKs National Health Service (NHS) turns 70 years old. The much loved system is often reffered to as the 'mother of the nation' for the kind of care it has managed to deliver over the 7 decades of its existence. The UK has achieved quite some milestones that Kenya could learn from.

The  key indicators show  what is possible with publicly funded universal healthcare that Kenya hopes to achieve in the next few years.

Infant mortality in UK has dramatically decreased in England and Wales since the NHS system was introduced (Source : NHS (England and Wales)

The life expectancy of a male in England and Wales has also jumped from 65.86 to 79.46, while that of a female has jumped from 70.29 to 83.08. (Source : NHS (England and Wales)

In terms of employment creation the NHS is one of the world's largest employers with the number of people working in the NHS is just under 1.6 million, including thousands of staff supplied by agencies. There were approximately 381m GP consultations in England alone in 2015, according to estimates by Deloitte for the Royal College of GPs (there are no official figures).Of those who saw their GP, 59% were women. The number of practising GPs is 43,605 – with about 36,000 of them in England, meaning that each GP on average deals with approximately 10,000 appointments a year
The NHS is able to spend more than £24,000 to treat a patient with the most severe level of multiple trauma (physical injuries occurring simultaneously in several parts of the body). This is the most expensive of the 1,300 different types of treatment covered by NHS “tariffs”. (Source the Guardian).

However, one of the biggest benefits  of UKs universal health care system is the fact that information on patients is shared between medical establishments. This comes in the form of electronic health care records. Even though  not every medical center in the UK has completely digitized their records at the moment,  it will most likely happen within the next couple of years.

In 2011 we began an attempt to help develop a medical records initiative in Kenya within the context of Kenya's resource constraints. Our goal was that in any hospital encounter, especially an inpatient visit, dozens of individuals—billing clerks, blood lab technicians, consulting physicians, shift nurses would enter the patient medical records and make those records securely available to other facilities in the country. The purpose of this is to make it considerably easier to diagnose and treat patients. However, as the experience in the UK's NHS system shows, there are two key objectives that can be met by developing  a secure and efficient medical records system.

The first is to build the system for meaningful use.  Electronic Health Records and health information exchange systems are primarily meant to give clinicians relevant information about a patient at the point of care. The secondary use is to provide recommendations from medical literature and reliable access to those recommendations. In other words, to give clinicians information on what treatments have the best chance of working and how they apply to the patient in question. Third is to use  those recommendations based on computer based algorithms and reminders specific to the patient. 

 We are  studying the experiences of agencies like the NHS closely to come up with a technical outline of all our local  needs in Kenya. 

Kennedy Gumbe 

www.trd.co.ke