E-Business
d.light Joins Drive to Expand Off-grid Solar in Rural Kenya

d.light, the global provider of transformational household products and affordable finance for low-income households, has been chosen to take part in the latest Kenyan Government initiative to expand the uptake of off-grid solar home systems and clean cookstoves in underserved rural counties in the country.
d.light has been selected to take part in the latest round of the Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project (KOSAP), a program set up by the Government of Kenya and funded by the World Bank with the aim of closing the energy access gap in Kenya by providing electricity and clean cooking solutions to remote and traditionally underserved areas of the country not covered by the national energy grid.
d.light will provide solar power and clean cooking solutions to over 150,000 people who currently lack access to electricity and clean cooking. To address affordability, d.light’s solar products will be sold on an instalment plan via d.light’s “PayGo” service.
The program covers 14 counties in total – 13 counties in the north, east and south-east of the country, including West Pokot, Turkana, Marsabit, Samburu, Isiolo, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Lamu, Kilifi, Kwale, Taita Taveta: plus the southwestern county of Narok.
According to 2022 data from the World Bank, 24 percent of Kenya’s population of 54 million people still lack access to electricity, with more than 34 percent of Kenya’s rural population without access.
In addition, only 30 percent of the entire population currently have access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking. The majority still use harmful and polluting fuels like unprocessed biomass, charcoal, coal, and kerosene.
Commenting on the news, d.light’s Managing Director for Kenya, Karanja Njoroge, said, “Kenya has achieved sustained economic growth and social development in the last decade or so, and its economy is the largest and most developed in eastern and central Africa.
“However, many of its citizens still live without access to electricity, especially in rural areas outside the major towns and cities. These areas are also vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including droughts and desertification.”
Njoroge continued, “Kenya was one of the first African countries in which d.light launched operations back in 2008, and our headquarters for Africa is in Nairobi.
With our combination of tried-and-tested, market-leading products, established distribution channels, and our secure “PayGo” payment system, d.light is ideally placed to participate in this latest drive to extend clean, safe, renewable energy to the people and communities in rural Kenya who need it.
“Thanks to the KOSAP initiative, a better quality of life is within reach for many Kenyans.”
The Government of Kenya launched the KOSAP program in November 2018. The program consists of four components with a total budget of USD$150M provided as a grant from the World Bank:
Component 1: Mini-grids for community facilities, businesses, and households
Component 2: Standalone Solar Home Systems and clean cooking solutions for households
Component 3: Standalone systems and solar water pumps for community facilities
Component 4: Capacity building for development, planning and regulation of power and renewable energy at a county government level
d.light is participating in Component 2, which has been allocated USD$15.7M of the total budget. Of this amount, USD$9.3M is earmarked for off-grid solar solutions and USD$6.4M for clean cookstoves.
The KOSAP program is part of Kenya Vision 2030, the long-term development blueprint for the country first launched in 2008 by then President Mwai Kibaki. Vision 2030’s aim is to transform Kenya by 2030 into an industrialized, prosperous, competitive middle-income country that provides a high quality of life to all its citizens in a clean and secure environment.
This news follows d.light’s nomination in September as a finalist for this year’s Earthshot Prize, the prestigious annual international environmental award founded by the UK’s Prince William that showcases groundbreaking sustainable solutions for repairing and regenerating the planet.d.light is one of 15 finalists. The winners will be announced at the Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa, on Wednesday 6 November.
E-Business
African Startups Raised $345m in Funding in May

African startups raised more than $345 million across 65 deals in May, more than double the amount raised in the same period of last year, according to a report by Briter, a research and business intelligence firm.
The report disclosed that both the number of deals and participating companies declined, confirming a growing trend of fewer companies raising funds in larger sizes.
It said fintech attracted the highest share of funding in May, accounting for 34 percent of the total, while cleantech followed closely, driven by a debt deal from Sun King. The company raised $80 million (in local currency) to expand clean energy access in Nigeria.
“Equity remains the primary instrument in terms of total value. There’s no doubt about it; in fact, equity deals with disclosed amounts captured more than half of the total funding volume in May.
“However, debt financing is increasingly proving its weight. Although it accounted for only 8 percent of all deals, it represented 32 percent of the total funding, highlighting the typically larger size of debt transactions. With the rise of specialised vehicles targeting early-stage businesses, debt is becoming an increasingly important part of Africa’s innovation funding landscape,” it said.
Briter’s report added that grants continued to play a vital role in early-stage support, especially in the education technology (EdTech) sector. The Mastercard Foundation led the pack in grant activity, funding a new cohort of EdTech innovators in Nigeria and Kenya. Each selected startup is set to receive $100,000 in grant funding, in addition to mentorship and business development support.
Multilaterals also made a strong showing in May, it said. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a World Bank Group member, issued a $179.6 million guarantee to CleanTech firm KOKO Networks. The support will help scale its clean energy solutions across Kenya.
“This deal not only demonstrates growing international confidence in African climate ventures but also signals a promising pathway for other asset-intensive startups in clean cooking, agriculture, and renewable energy,” the report said.
From a geographic perspective, Egypt emerged as the continent’s fundraising powerhouse for the month, contributing 51 percent of all funding raised. The country recorded 12 deals across equity, debt, and bond instruments. Notably, FinTech platform MNT-Halan raised $50 million through a bond issuance, further illustrating the diversification of capital-raising mechanisms in the region.
Outside Egypt, funding was distributed across Africa’s three other key markets, which are Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya, with limited activity recorded in countries such as Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco, and Uganda, each registering between one and three deals.
In terms of exits, the African tech landscape continues to mature. Three companies—Baobab+, Qardy, and Shopa—were acquired in May, bringing the total number of exits this year to 22. This already surpasses last year’s count for the same period. Qardy was acquired by Catalyst Partners Middle East (CPME) in a disclosed deal valued at $23 million, the report added.
E-Business
Human Hacking: When Cyber Criminals Target You

By Nancy Werteen
When you get anti-hacking advice, you’ve probably heard “Don’t use a simple password,” or “Don’t plug in that USB you found on the ground.”
But there’s one form of hacking that doesn’t always require a computer, and it costs businesses about 4.88 million dollars a year.
Modern hackers aren’t trying to get into your computer; they’re trying to get into you.
“They’ll try to learn about you a little bit, and they’ll try to use that information against you to try to get you to complete some action, maybe to send somebody some money,” said Kevin Moran, PhD, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Cyber Security and Privacy Cluster, University of Central Florida.
IBM calls this human hacking, because it exploits human error instead of system error.
“With people just being busy and maybe not very carefully checking some of the emails or the phone calls that they get, can be something unfortunately that people can fall victim to,” said Moran.
Also known as social engineering, this often takes the form of phishing, where the hacker tries to “fish” the information out of you by impersonating family, friends, or even your bank.
There’s also baiting, where the hacker baits you with something of value. Remember the Nigerian prince scam?
That’s a famous example of baiting. There’s also pretexting, where the hacker will claim the victim has already been hacked, and that the hacker can fix it if you just send over your passwords. So, what can you do?
“Just as a rule of thumb, instead of clicking on links and emails, just go to the website yourself. And that will prevent, a lot of these types of attacks from happening,” explained Moran.
Phishing can take many forms.
Spear phishing targets people with access to confidential information, often to get access into an entire business, and whale phishing targets CEOs or political figures.
Search engine phishing is when hackers create fake websites promising services or goods you’ll never receive.
Angler phishing is when hackers create fake social media accounts impersonating famous people or companies.
Finally, vishing and smishing is phishing done through phone calls and texts respectively.
E-Business
FG Enrolls 59,786 Inmates on NIN Platform

Federal government has said that it has successfully captured 59,786 inmates, representing approximately 74 percent of the total prison population into the National Identity Number (NIN) database.
This figure is based on a total of 80,879 inmates across 256 custodial centres across the country.
Abubakar Umar, spokesman, Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Deputy Controller of Corrections, who made this disclosure in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, dismissed recent media reports alleging that the NIN registration had yet to begin in custodial centres.
Umar described such report as misleading, inaccurate, and not representative of the current situation.
According to Umar, the NIN registration exercise within the correctional facilities was ongoing and has achieved substantial progress.
He credited the achievement to collaboration between the NCoS and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), which has enabled successful enrollment of majority of inmates into the national identity database.
According to him, “As of June 7, 2025, a total of 59,786 inmates, roughly 74 percent cent of the total inmate population have been captured on the NIMC platform,” Umar said.
“Efforts are ongoing to register the remaining inmates, and necessary mechanisms have been established to ensure the seamless completion of the process.”
He emphasised that the assertion that NIN registration has not started in custodial centres was factually incorrect and overlooks the extensive work already carried out.
The Service reaffirmed its commitment to integrating all inmates into national data systems, including NIN registration, as part of broader efforts to support rehabilitation, reintegration, and digital inclusion for individuals in custody.
Umar also urged media outlets to confirm their information with appropriate authorities before publication to prevent the spread of misinformation that could undermine the Service’s progress and public understanding.
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