Day: March 16, 2022

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Pharmacy and Poisons Board to license online pharmacies

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TDPel Media

The Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) has proposed a set of rules and regulations that will govern the online pharmacy service. Pharmacy and Poisons Board Western Region Head, Onesmus Kilonzo, said that the previous rules do not capture the health services offered online and that they want to raise the standards of their rules by harmonizing with the international standards. “With the advancement in technology, we saw it necessary to come-up with new sets of rules and regulations, that will govern the sector,” said Onesmus. Kilonzo pointed out that online pharmacy is growing so fast and a good … Continue reading “Pharmacy and Poisons Board to license online pharmacies”

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Chargebee Launches Industry’s First E-Invoicing Service with Spring 2022 Product Release, Also Featuring Increased Automation Capabilities

Spring update to support tax, revenue recognition and regional compliance mandates to help customers expand globally

San Francisco, CA, March 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Fresh off its recent round of funding, Chargebee, the leading subscription management platform, today announced the industry’s first e-invoicing service for high-performing SaaS and subscription-model businesses as the centerpiece of its Spring 2022 Product Release. The release includes updates geared towards enabling growth and efficiency for Chargebee customers, including taxation and revenue recognition features and a new Marketplace to automate billing workflows through a library of customizable integrations.

E-Invoicing

Countries across the world, including Brazil, France, Finland, Germany and India, are already mandating e-invoicing for Business to Government (B2G) transactions as a way of modernizing and simplifying tax reporting and payment and several countries, including Poland and France, will join Italy, Mexico and Chile in mandating e-invoicing for B2B transactions as early as 2023. Chargebee’s e-invoicing service will allow businesses seeking to expand operations globally to easily comply with local e-invoicing mandates and serve B2G and B2B customers in new regions.

“Chargebee has solved a huge problem for us,” said Gabriele Proni, co-founder and CTO of Voxloud, an Italian-based communications company. “Italy has some of the strictest e-invoicing mandates in the entire world, and without Chargebee’s e-invoicing service, we would have had to spend countless hours sending them out manually. Chargebee came in and helped automate the process, saving our team from spending unnecessary time and power and allowed us to focus on doing what we do best.”

Marketplace 

Automation is key to ensuring that modern billing systems are able to remain flexible and adaptable for businesses to succeed, especially for SaaS and subscription models, and is taking on a large role in Chargebee’s 2022 Spring Product Release.

Chargebee’s Marketplace enables businesses to build their billing systems on top of Chargebee, allowing for more and better integrations by connecting merchants with a wide catalog of available integrations to choose from. Marketplace improves integrations with other apps end-to-end, from discovery to sign-up, automating billing workflows and use cases.

Taxation and Revenue Recognition 

In addition to e-invoicing and Marketplace, Chargebee adds taxation and revenue recognition capabilities to handle real-time changes based on customer demands. Through automation, Chargebee is providing subscription businesses with a new way to sync billing information and improve an organization’s financial efficiency and enabling them to meet the growing list of compliance requirements, including Value-Added Tax (“VAT” in Europe) and Tax Deduction at Source (“TDS” in India).

Compliance

As Chargebee continues to support expansion into new and different geographies, customers need not worry about the growing list of regional and local compliances they will face. Chargebee is now certified as HIPAA compliant with the “Privacy Rule”, “Security Rule” and “Breach Notification” as per the HIPAA Portability and Accountability Act to support customers in the healthcare industry. In addition, Chargebee is also compliant with PCI and GDPR standards and adheres to ISO, SOC1, SOC2 and MFA standards.

Global Growth 

“Global and product expansion is a big part of Chargebee’s 2022-and-beyond roadmap, and we know that our customers are always looking to scale up, increase capabilities and enter new territories,” said John Pearce, Vice President of Product Management at Chargebee.  “There are tons of constantly changing rules and regulations that could inhibit growth, and our new offerings are designed to help our customers offload these concerns and focus on building and maintaining business.”

The Chargebee Spring 2022 Product Release full list of features includes:

  • E-invoicing for India and the European Union
  • Tax Withholding (TDS)
  • Subscriptions Marketplace
  • New Salesforce Integration UX
  • GST Breakdown (Australia)
  • Revenue Recognition through acquisition of RevLock
  • Retention through acquisition of Brightback
  • Receivables through acquisition of numberz
  • HIPAA Compliance
  • SOC-2 Compliance

These latest product enhancements come on the heels of a $250 million funding round that valued the company at $3.5 billion and was geared towards Chargebee’s global expansion. Recent acquisitions of Brightback (customer retention), RevLock (revenue recognition) and numberz (receivables) will also strengthen Chargebee’s offerings to enable end-to-end management of subscriptions and revenue data.

To learn more about Chargebee’s Spring 2022 Product Release, please visit https://www.chargebee.com/blog/spring-release-2022.

Penny Desatnik
Chargebee
penny@chargebee.com
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Shufti Pro Announces $20 Million Series A Funding to Accelerate Growth

Globally acclaimed IDV solution provider, Shufti Pro, announced that it has raised $20 million in Series A Funding led by Updata Partners to accelerate global expansion and enhance product development.

LONDON, March 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — A global market leader in AI-powered IDV solutions, Shufti Pro, has announced that it has raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Updata Partners, a tech-focused growth equity firm.

The investment will be used to accelerate Shufti Pro’s global expansion providing additional resources to push their completely automated solution to new markets to help solve organisation’s unsatisfactory IDV process, enhance its IDV solutions and extend the company’s compliance suite.

Shufti Pro’s mantra is to provide a seamless digital customer experience when it comes to KYC, and as such the organisation provides a diverse range of solutions with identity verification at its core. With the World changing and digital transformation accelerating, digital identity services have become the cornerstone of any organisation looking to verify the identity of customers.

As businesses continue to undergo digital transformation, relying on trusted IDV partners has become more important than ever. As stated by Victor Fredung, the CEO of Shufti Pro, “Our configurable and fully automated platform allows customers to incorporate a frictionless verification process specific to their business objectives and provides the flexibility to address data privacy and security requirements, including the ability to deploy an on-premise solution. We strive to provide the global coverage demanded by borderless organisations.“

There is a global need for a flexible and compliant solution for onboarding, background checks and management that operates across borders without the prejudice of regions, business types and languages. The World is calling for a broader solution to its digital crisis and Shufti Pro answers these questions with unique capabilities:

Automation – the most advanced fully automated solution.

Global coverage on various reading capabilities in all major languages including Arabic.

Configurable and highly customisable while specialising in unique requirements. Our solution can be installed on-premise which is a highly unique advantage in the market. We comply with even the most stringent regulatory requirements such as VideoKYC in Germany or data retention in UAE.

The company is already serving 500+ clients globally as per Founder and CTO of Shufti Pro, Shahid Hanif. He further said, “The funding round was about finding a strategic partner that has the relevant experience and knowledge, which we truly believe we have found. We can now develop more exciting products and solve onboarding and compliance issues faced all over the World.”

For more than 20 years, Updata, a firm that believes in creating exceptional outcomes for customers, employees, and shareholders, has supported entrepreneurs in B2B software that have a growth mindset and acknowledge capital efficiency.

“We were impressed by the technology and commercial progress achieved by a bootstrapped business. Shufti Pro is poised to build on this strong foundation and accelerate growth.” – said Braden Snyder, Partner at Updata Partners.

About Shufti Pro

Shufti Pro is an identity verification service provider offering KYC, KYB, and AML services to help global businesses onboard and manage risk of legitimate customers. The UK-based company has 5 regional offices and launched 17 different IDV products since its inception in 2017. With the ability to verify ID documents globally in 150+ languages, Shufti Pro is serving customers in 230+ countries and territories.

For more information,
Graeme Rowe
Chief Marketing Officer | Shufti Pro
Graeme.r@shuftipro.com
+44 1225290329

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1766856/Series_A_funding__1.jpg

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Hope For Turkana Saline Water As Researchers Intervene

The debate over the quality of water at Lotikipi in Turkana took a new twist after a renowned climate change and water resource expert differed with earlier reports that the entire aquifer was saline and unfit for human consumption.
The University of Nairobi Don Prof Gilbert Ouma says that the water quality index map for the Napuu aquifer in Lodwar recently developed by a team of researchers pointed to the possibility that pockets of non-saline water were evident given the shared characteristics of the two aquifers which he said had sufficient water to serve the nation for 70 years.
“There is reason to believe that we have pockets of non-saline existing at the Lotikipi aquifer and this can be proven by a thorough water quality analysis of different sections of the aquifer,” the don explained.
Prof. Ouma was speaking in Lodwar during an engagement forum with the County Steering Group when he presented a paper aimed at informing policy decisions on water harvesting, land use control, diversification of livelihoods, and use of early warning systems to improve the adaptive capacities of communities in Loima, Turkana South and Turkana Central sub counties.
The announcement comes at a time when Turkanas’ hope of exploiting the water resource for its use and supplying the entire nation with the same had been dimmed by reports from various sources indicating that the entire system was unusable.
Last month, Water Principal Secretary Samuel Alima announced that the Ministry had abandoned the exploration of the Lotikipi aquifer due to high cost in desalination.
Alima said the water could not even be used for oil exploration due to high levels of salinity.
County CEC for Water Services Vincent Palor said that the use of an evidence-based approach to inform policy and practice in revamping the water sector in Turkana was already paying off good results.
The County Water Chief Officer Moses Natome said that the news had come at such a time when the County was preparing to mark World Water in recognition of the important role of groundwater in sustaining livelihoods.
Natome added that the County’s commitment towards attaining a lasting solution to the water problem was greatly hindered by water quality concerns hence a reason to welcome the news.

Source: Kenya News Agency

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Religious Leaders, IEBC Meet On Matters Election

Religious leaders from various faith held an engagement meeting to review and discuss the State of the Nation on polls ahead of the August 9th General Elections.
Speaking during a press briefing held at Ufungamano House, Nairobi, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson, Wafula Chebukati, said that the Commission is ready and set to carry out the forthcoming General Elections successfully.
“We are prepared up to the level of the election operations plan. We have procured all the service providers including ICT support, ballot papers among others,” he added.
Chebukati stated that the Commission is cleaning-up the Voters Register including removing multiple registrations, after which it will subject the register to an audit, through an audit firm that the Commission has identified and already procured.
The Chairman added that civic education is being carried out at ward level, with each ward having two civic educators and appealed to all the stakeholders, to support the IEBC on the same.
Meanwhile, IEBC Commissioner, Boya Molu, warned leaders who politic in the churches and other religious centers to stop such practices as it violates the freedom of worship and could be derogatory for individuals who belong to different political parties.
“We urge our religious leaders and Kenyans across the country, to stop leaders and politicians from engaging negatively within our holy places,” said Molu.
Molu challenged the media by urging them to help the Commission in raising voter confidence in order to raise the voting numbers and assure them that their votes will count.
The General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), Canon Chris Kinyanjui, stated that the Council is ready to assist the IEBC in ensuring that the Commission’s mission of having a free and fair election is met.
“We as the religious leaders shall roll out nationwide prayers at both National and Sub-National level dedicated to peaceful, free, fair and transparent elections,” he pledged.
Kinyanjui assured Kenyans that the Council will continue its outreach and follow-up engagements with IEBC and also partner with them in conducting voter education.
“We shall strengthen civic education, community resilience, and pastoral letters addressing important national issues,” he added.

Source: Kenya News Agency

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Artists Collaborate To Showcase Culture Through Music

A team of five artists among them four from Turkana have teamed up to showcase their rich cultural heritage through music.
In a project dubbed ‘Turkana Sessions’ that brings together five artists: Jackson Nakuwa, Mourine Apuu, Jackson Ekori and Elizabeth Korikel from Turkana alongside Eddie Grey from Nairobi, have embarked on a musical journey through the astounding culture and landscape of Turkana.
It is an exploration of the region’s musical heritage fused with soulful guitar rhythms for a sound that is rich, authentic and captivating.
“It is time to change the narrative on Northern Kenya, show the world its artforms and inspire Kenyans to look to their roots for inspiration,” the team says.
It seeks to display what is possible in the traditional artforms and showcase them with high production values.
Turkana Sessions is the third project from The Artists Xchange, following The Flyest Wedding in Africa and Floating. The Artists Xchange is an undertaking that brings together artists from Turkana and Nairobi to produce work that responds to the issues facing the region.
The artists’ work involves various disciplines including music, video art, film, fashion, visual art and photography. The Artists Xchange is a companion project of the feature documentary; Turkana: Races for Resources which will be released in 2023.
While Northern Kenya has historically been in the news for conflict and poverty, the region is also endowed with great beauty and cultural heritage.
Its stark, arid landscape is home to Lake Turkana, the largest desert lake in the world. The lake’s distinctive green waters led it to be named the Jade Sea and its craters and crocodile-filled islands make it one of the most unique places to visit in the world.
“This is a time of transformation in Turkana and there is an opportunity for artists from the region and beyond to be part of the discussion and bring art to the forefront of the most urgent issues of the region. With all the valuable minerals being found in the region, communities need to be treated as equal partners. They are the custodians of a rich heritage that can inform a uniquely African thinking for what these natural resource finds mean to us,” they opine.
Nairobi based songwriter, composer, producer and arranger Eddie Grey is a self-taught musician whose work mirrors issues in society through the fusion of both local and western music.
He is heavily influenced by jazz harmony, classical engagement, African rhythm and electronic grooves, but can playfully cross over from one genre to the next. He has shared the stage with numerous local and international artists like Gerald Albright, Jonathan Butler, Sven Kacirek, Thaniswa Mazwai and Nduduzo Makathini.

Source: Kenya News Agency

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Multi-Sectoral Forum To Spearhead Peace Constituted In Kisumu

State and non-State institutions in Kisumu in partnership with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) have jointly launched a drive to promote a conducive environment at the grassroots levels during the electioneering period.
The stakeholders based in Kisumu Central Sub County have formed a committee where they would tackle issues concerning the election and find solutions with regards to the upcoming August 9th 2022 polls.
The committee includes people from different sectors such as the IEBC, security and intelligence sector, the NGOs, County Government officers, media personnel, inter-faith groups, civil servants, Community Based Organizations (CBOs), matatu, tuktuk and boda boda operators, youths and other relevant stakeholders in peace promotion.
According to Kisumu Central Deputy County Commissioner Hussein Alanson Hussein, the Ministry Of Interior and Coordination of National Government has directed that such fora should be established in all the counties and sub-counties in the country.
While reading a speech on behalf of the Principal Secretary Dr. Eng. Karanja Kibicho during the official launch of the initiative on Tuesday, Hussein said its objectives were to enhance the projection of the agendas to the grassroots levels to ensure the election period is a success and peaceful.
He said it would emphasize on promoting and enhancing regular consultations, coordination in preparation for the General Election, facilitating sustained information sharing among the relevant stakeholders, facilitating public education campaigns initiatives, identifying elections security-related threats, risks and proposing recommendations to mitigate them.
In addition, it would focus on the implementation of peace and national building programmes and strategies through mainstreaming of conflict-sensitive approach to election preparedness and enhancing conflict early warning and response in order to facilitate conflict resolution and dispute settlement.
“Being a moment of transition we need to focus on all these agendas to ensure we embrace one community, one Nation, a united Kenya and also enhance peaceful co-existence among everyone in Kisumu and the nation at large,” Hussein emphasized.
The multi-sectorial committee will conduct their meetings every month and also have special sittings as planned before the coming election.
In his remarks, Hussein pointed out that Kisumu Central Sub County has been regarded as a hot spot area during the election period and urged the members to work in unity to make the forum a success.

Source: Kenya News Agency

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KNCHR Deploys 100 Election Monitors

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), has put in place strategies to monitor the upcoming General Elections, the Commissions Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Bernard Mogesa says.
KNCHR CEO made the revelation in Kitale town where the commission’s top ranking officials, including commissioners, paid a courtesy call at the Trans Nzoia County Commissioner Mr Samson Ojwang.
The County Commissioner accompanied by County Police Commander, Ms Jacinta Wesonga, and County Criminal Investigations Officer, Mr Francis Kihara, received the team.
As the campaigns for the 9th August national polls gather momentum across the country, Mogesa assured members of the public that the Commission was working closely with all relevant stakeholders to ensure maximum protection and promotion of human rights throughout the electioneering period.
Mogesa singled out the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Office of Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP), the Judiciary and all political parties, as the key stakeholders KNCHR was working with, to ensure human rights are not violated.
With political parties geared toward holding their primaries, the CEO disclosed the Commission had already deployed 100 election monitors to 24 counties.
According to the official, the 24 counties were among areas considered by the Commission to be hotspots and prone to human rights violations, during election cycles.
“We have already dispatched 100 officers to at least 24 counties, who will be in charge of monitoring and flashing-out any political incidents that border on human rights protection,” said Mogesa, adding the Commission will deploy monitors to the remaining counties soon.
KNCHR Vice Chairperson, Dr Raymond Nyeris, said the team was visiting all the 47 counties on a familiarization tour as well as checking on August elections preparedness.
“We are still new in office having been appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta in December, 2021, thus need for familiarizing ourselves with team players across the country,” stated Nyeris who represented Mrs Roseline Odede Odhiambo, the Commission’s Chairperson.
Dr Nyeris urged politicians to avoid putting lives of jobless youths on the risky line, by engaging them in election malpractices.
KNCHR Commissioners present included Prof Marion Wanjiku Mutugi, Mrs Sarah Talaso Bonaya and Dr Dennis Nyongesa Wamalwa.
Ojwang assured the Commission of the government’s support to enable it to boost human rights.

Source: Kenya News Agency

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CS Magoha Commissions CBC Classes In Kiambu

Education Cabinet Secretary (CS), Prof George Magoha, commissioned two CBC classes in Kiambu County.
The two new block ones at Kiuu River Secondary School in Kiambu Sub-County and the other at Kibichiku Secondary School in Kabete Sub-County are ready for use.
The two secondary schools with a capacity of 380 and 391 students, each respectively and with two streams per class are the latest to benefit from the CBC project from the Ministry of Education.
A total of 11,000 new classrooms are set to be delivered by the end of the year, ahead of the Junior secondary school rollout.
2000 classrooms have already been completed and 350 of those have already been commissioned. About 70 percent of the classrooms are completed.
Speaking at the Kiuu River Secondary School, CS Prof George Magoha, said that the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination that is ongoing is running smoothly.
“I would like to thank all the teachers, stakeholders and security personnel for doing an excellent job in ensuring that the national examinations are being carried out extremely well, without any hitches,” said Magoha.
The CS said that only a few people have been arrested with regards to examination cheating in the ongoing KCSE examination.
“One case was caught in Airport View School in Garissa, where Mary Muthui, a teacher, was caught taking a picture of an examination paper. Another case was in Garbatula in Isiolo.
The two are already in police custody and will serve as an example to any other with such intentions,” said the Education CS.
“In volatile areas such as Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet, where there have been issues of insecurity recently, two helicopters have been put in place to ensure students are evacuated to safe centers in case of any hitches,” said the CS.
“Two helicopters are on standby to transfer students in troubled areas like Baringo to safe examination centers in case there is a need to do so,” said Magoha.
CS Magoha said marking of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) was ongoing and in some other counties, the marking has already been completed.
“Marking of KCPE in Nairobi, Kiambu, Eastern and Western Counties has been completed. In the remaining counties, completion of the examination marking is almost over,” said Magoha.

Source: Kenya News Agency

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Nyamira Coffee Farmers Urged To Embrace Reforms

Coffee farmers in Nyamira have been urged to embrace the farm input stimulus package E-subsidy programme in order to boost their cherry production in the region.
This advice was given by Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) for Agriculture livestock fisheries, cooperatives and blue economy, Lawrence Omuhaka while addressing coffee farmers in Nyamira observing that the sector has for a long time been dominated by private millers who exploit peasant farmers by underpaying them.
“Coffee farmers have continually incurred losses because they have been serving the interest of few private millers and brokers are gaining and making huge profits at the expense of innocently peasant coffee farmers a situation that government has put modalities to turn around.” The CAS observed.
“The high cost of production shouldered by farmers has discouraged most of them who have opted to try alternatives ways of sustaining their livelihoods which in turn hurts the country’s economy because the country has gradually lost her position as the top producer of top-quality premium grade coffee berries,” stated Omuhaka.
He explained that the government has decided to intervene and save the coffee farmer from perennial losses by introducing a farm input stimulus package E-subsidy programme which will enable them access inputs at affordable prices to boost the production.
The CAS also pointed out that the ministry will be rolling out the training of farmers in the coming days to enable them improve on their coffee farming methods and use of better fertilizers to boost their production hinting that Nyamira County produces an average of 2.5 kg of coffee per coffee tree against the national grid that is averagely at 2 kg per coffee tree.
The New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (New KPCU) Managing Director, Timothy Mirugi explained to farmers that the stimulus package will expect farmers to pay 60 per cent of the coffee input cost and a 40 per cent subsidy will be given by the national government.
The MD confirmed to Nyamira Coffee farmers that government has also put aside Sh. 2.7 billion that will help coffee farmers take loans at a rate of 3% interest rate to help them meet their pressing financial needs in an effort to sustain their livelihoods and encouraged them to access funds from the revolving kitty.
Commissioner of Cooperatives Mr. David Obonyo asked leaders of cooperatives to work on means of reducing costs and expenses to ensure farmers reap more from their coffee produce.

Source: Kenya News Agency