Management – ManagersMag

June 5, 2023June 5, 2023

Navigating the Gig Economy: The Rise of Managers in the Digital Age

Kenya Institute of Mass Communication

As a student of online journalism at the esteemed Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, I have witnessed firsthand the impact of the gig economy on the media industry. Journalists, content creators, and broadcasters are increasingly embracing gig work, with managers playing a pivotal role in ensuring seamless operations and the delivery of high-quality content.

The Gig Economy has revolutionized the way we work, transforming traditional employment structures and opening up new opportunities for millions of individuals worldwide. As freelance and remote work continue to gain momentum, a new breed of professionals has emerged – the managers of the gig economy. These individuals play a vital role in shaping the future of work, bridging the gap between freelancers and clients, and ensuring the smooth operation of this dynamic ecosystem.

In this article, we delve into the intricacies of the gig economy and shed light on the growing significance of managers in this ever-evolving landscape. As a junior management writer at Kenya Management and a student at the prestigious Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, I have had the privilege to explore this phenomenon in-depth, analyzing its impact on both the workforce and the business world.

The gig economy is characterized by its flexible, project-based nature, where independent workers offer their skills and services to clients on a temporary basis. This structure enables individuals to pursue diverse opportunities and achieve a healthy work-life balance. However, the gig economy also poses unique challenges. With a fragmented workforce and limited direct contact between freelancers and clients, efficient management becomes crucial for the success of projects and the satisfaction of all parties involved.

Enter the gig economy manager, a crucial link between freelancers and clients. These managers are adept at overseeing projects, coordinating resources, and maintaining effective communication channels. They possess a unique set of skills, including exceptional organization, negotiation, and interpersonal abilities. Their role extends beyond mere project management; they act as facilitators, ensuring that freelancers understand the client’s expectations while supporting clients in navigating the complexities of engaging with a remote workforce.

One of the primary responsibilities of gig economy managers is to match freelancers with suitable projects. They carefully analyze client requirements, evaluate freelancers’ skills, and determine the best fit for each assignment. By utilizing platforms and technologies designed for the gig economy, such as freelance marketplaces and talent management tools, these managers streamline the matchmaking process, maximizing efficiency and minimizing errors.

Moreover, gig economy managers play a vital role in fostering effective communication. They act as intermediaries, ensuring that freelancers and clients have a clear understanding of project objectives, deadlines, and deliverables. By nurturing strong lines of communication, they enhance collaboration and minimize misunderstandings that may arise due to the remote nature of gig work. Effective communication also plays a significant role in managing expectations and maintaining high-quality standards, ultimately leading to the success of the project.

The rise of gig economy managers also highlights the growing need for specialized knowledge in this field. With the gig economy rapidly expanding across various industries, managers must stay updated with the latest market trends, technological advancements, and regulatory frameworks. They should possess a deep understanding of the specific demands and challenges faced by freelancers and clients, enabling them to provide valuable insights and guidance throughout the project lifecycle.

In conclusion, the gig economy has ushered in a new era of work, offering unparalleled flexibility and opportunities for individuals worldwide. In this dynamic landscape, gig economy managers have emerged as vital facilitators, connecting freelancers and clients, and ensuring the smooth functioning of projects. With their specialized skills, they bridge the gap between remote workers and clients, enabling efficient project management and fostering collaboration.

April 23, 2023April 24, 2023

How SEO helps in Reputation Management

SEO is an important component to shape and regulate your brand portrayal in the SERPs.

All forms of marketing play a part in good brand management.

Using the same tone of voice throughout your ads and emails and choosing the same photo assets for your website as your billboards contribute to the picture painted when a customer considers your product or service. Sometimes, however, your brand might be in receipt of some negative press or reviews that can alter the way it is seen.

If a potential customer wants to know if your business is reputable, they will likely search for you online.

Visiting your website isn’t enough; they’ll want more objective feedback.

So, online reputation management, is critical.

It is the process of shaping and controlling the history around your brand online.

SEO is an important step to consider in that process. Reputation management in SEO is all about ensuring that wherever a searcher encounters their brand in the search engine results pages (SERPs), they take away a positive message about it.

This often means ensuring that the brand influences the front page of the SERPs and the articles pushed in Discover feeds, as well as the News results.

Online reputation management (ORM) is critical for SEO because, no matter how good a website ranks, if the perception of its brand is negative, it will struggle to get clicks.

SEO professionals must stay aware of how the brand they are working on is perceived elsewhere on the internet. .If there is negative sentiment about the brand, it is unlikely that a good call to action in a page title will be enough to get a click.

It’s also important to realize that organic traffic that doesn’t convert will not be very valuable.

A brand’s online reputation can have a huge impact on conversions.

Research into a brand, product, or service often begins online with a search.

Your website will likely only be one or two of the results brought up when someone searches for your brand.

All those other search results will potentially say something about your brand that might not be as favorable as you would like.

Unfavorable comparisons between your product and a competitor can be made by an objective third party.

Bad press can be high-ranking.

If you aren’t actively monitoring what appears at the top of the search results for your branded keywords then you could be missing out on the opportunity to spot potential reputation issues.

Once a news story starts circulating about your company, or even incorrect information is added to a third-party website, it can be hard to repair the damage to your brand.

It is important that your brand’s message is what’s seen on the first page of the SERPs. Proactively working on your online reputation management can put you in a strong position to correct misinformation or outrank unfavorable content.

April 21, 2023

WORK WIFE MODEL’ HELPING WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS BREAK NEW GROUNDS

By Steve Ireri.

The ‘Work wife’ concept emerged a long time ago, when workplaces were beginning see the importance of having secretaries, who helped managers be more effective in their chores. Since then, the concept has greatly mutated to infer to unique, platonic friendships, between female work colleagues characterized by close emotional bonds, high levels of disclosure and support, and mutual trust and honesty.

Women should lay aside the unnecessarily tumultuous pursuit for equality and positively engage their fellow female colleagues to build better versions of themselves.

The phrase ‘work wife’ emerged a long time ago hence the struggle with most people to accurately understand it. There before, it was used to refer to secretaries upon whom male bosses mainly depended on. However, even with much fluctuations that have significantly seen the workplace become modernized, the idea did not disappear, but evolved in some incredible ways, to now relegate to, alliances between female colleagues who due to their close ties, commit to help each other out, so they can become better workers. For this, while secretaries have become widely popular ‘work wives’ can only correlate to relationships between work colleagues, more specifically, females ones, as they are more inclined to building lasting relationships that are more likely to spur progress unlike with their male counterparts.

The ‘work wives’ idea can be of a considerably big implication in this century given the much battles that women have found themselves into in the midst of their pursuits to uncover equality. While even the highly heated campaigns by women to fight for equality, alongside the influence of already successful women to prove that women truly have what it takes have become popular in the recent days, the progress towards equality remains quite uneventful.

Hence the answer to this imbalance lies not in seeking an outright equality against men but rather on women seeking to achieve the most in their areas of work, by endorsing each other, through the understanding that each of them can act like a secretary to the other and easily tap into bigger heights of productivity, akin to their male counterparts. The work wife’ concept was for the very first time, highlighted in publications in a book called, Work Wife: The Power of Female Friendship to Drive Successful Businesses. Although the book to a big extent delved much on explaining the history of the concept, it partly elucidated that because the idea has gone out of existence, it can presently be remembered with the reintroduction of ‘work wife’ and “work husband” to refer to anyone who serves as your go-to, can’t-live-without partner, in the workplace. This work spouse relationship is not a real marriage, but a platonic partnership with powerful prospect for innovation.

So far the many challenges women are facing continue to necessitate the urge of reinventing the work wife concept. For instance one of the commonly known challenges is that of funding for their startups, where they get a lot less investor funding unlike with their male counterparts. Ever since the late year’s, problem has on several occasions given women a headache. Early-stage investors who have female executives has increased from 5% to 15% since 1999. Their constant woe however has been that these women aside doing other errands so well, struggle when it comes to securing funding. According to reports, even though women-led enterprises bring in approximately 12% more revenue than companies run by male CEOs, less than 3% of venture-backed companies are run by women.

To overcome the funding gap, some women, have committed to become spouses of their fellow women through the ‘work wife’ idea and launched their own VC firms so as to not be left out. This, unlike when they are manning these startups solo or when they are working freely without accepting the fact that they need to lo join hands instead of struggling with equality campaigns, easily empowers them to garner the much needed skills on how to win funding opportunities with big companies or by allowing them to learn how to effectively apply for business grants and loans from organizations committed specifically committed to furthering the advancement of female entrepreneurs.

However, the biggest disadvantage is that the existing traditional corporate culture promotes a dog-eat-dog atmosphere in which female coworkers see each other as rivals. In the past few decades, however, huge shifts in teamwork and leadership belief are signaling a new—and by some measure more feminine—approach. The work wife books writers say that slow but steady progress toward dismantling male dominance at the office has carved out space for women to collaborate instead of compete professionally which sets the stage for change. Among other things, work wife favors women and especially entrepreneurs to succeed with forming healthy partnerships, because it highlights how balancing responsibilities supports individual “superpowers.”

Because women have a bigger tendency of being cooperative unlike with men, the new business reality built through work wife collaboration has taught them the need of supporting individual strengths toward a common goal—on a professional and emotional level.

Role models challenge.

One other major challenge barring the success if the work wife idea, is the fact that women face the scarcity of female role models especially entrepreneurs who can easily bestow the advice ‘don’t be afraid to make mistakes’. Truly women don’t get to higher heights over fears that embarrassments might come their way, if they made mistakes. However, although mentors would easily instill this lesson to them, women need to follow their passions so possibly they can become their own mentors.

Entrepreneurship or running a business is risky and entails unforeseen circumstances. But because women have the advantage of building very deep connections with fellow women in the workplace, they are more edged to reap the most from the ‘work wife’ model. Possibly the messages they should pass around everyday should pertain how they should never fear failure; and that one will never try if they keep on fearing failing. The fact that each of them dreads failing eventually introduces toxicity creating workplaces of hatred and envy. As a result, they will fail in business even when they were meant to succeed.

Work Wife was jotted down with the idea of such feminine dilemmas in mind. Avoiding burnout or even fearing that your startup won’t make it out alive and you will have to suffer the embarrassment of closing it down, will call for incompetency of women even in some skills they were built to handle way better than their male counterparts. Work wives are demonstrating that this is possible in myriad ways. Work Wife “is advocating for a reimagining of work.” If women in business can find their perfect business partner, it will not only help them realize their own career goals, but perhaps disrupt the greater business world for the better. Says the concept.

April 21, 2023

Under the umbrella’s veil : Effectiveness of National Health insurances is key to attaining universal health coverage

Under the umbrella’s veil.

Health insurance in Kenya has been strained for many years, due to the preeminence of factors like fraud, low income levels among the key consuming publics, cost of health care, lack of knowledge on medical insurance and a cumbersome claim settlement procedure. At a century when it’s need is so defined, medical insurance providers ought to develop affordable products to avoid locking out many would-be clients who cannot afford to pay costly premiums.

No one plans to get sick or hurt, but most people need medical care at some point. Because of the uncertainty in when one will get sick or hurt, the idea of health insurance was coined so it would help wrap these costs or offer one a variety of other benefits relating to someone’s pursuit for health.

Truly speaking, the idea of health insurance has despite the great advancements in healthcare not been we’ll adopted and has been secluded as a thing for people working in the formal sector. People who are not in any formal employment in Kenya don’t consider the incentives that spending on an health insurance scheme would bring. However, cumulatively, if a country is able to scale up its measures and have all people registered under such schemes it facilitates access to care for countless citizens, resulting in lower death rates and better health care outcomes. On a basic level, health insurance can mean the difference between sickness and health or even life and death.

Healthy people and young adults may feel they don’t need health insurance, believing it is an expense they can forgo because they are rarely sick and have never spent a day in the hospital. But accidents and illnesses can happen to any of us at any time. Without health insurance, we are responsible for covering all of our medical costs, putting us at severe financial risk.

Health insurance links people to a regular source of care, giving them access to an infrastructure and a network of providers who are able to work with patients in delivering comprehensive, continuous and coordinated health care services. Ultimately, people can live longer, healthier lives because of access to ongoing care. Most health care plans offer preventive services, providing many vaccinations and screenings at no cost, thus preventing illnesses and ensuing complications.

Unlike what many Kenya’s assume having an insurance covers preexisting conditions in the case that if you have a diagnosis before you enroll, you’ll still qualify for health benefits. With health insurance, it is much easier for both the patient and provider to focus on prevention and wellness as well as the management of acute and chronic illnesses, leading to better health outcomes and lower costs.

Universal health coverage.

Universal health coverage in Kenya is where the whole population has access to appropriate, promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health care when they need it and at an affordable cost. In the country it’s flagship which happened nearly a decade ago, was to attain two goals, the first being financial risk protection and the second, access to needed care. Yet it also includes objectives related to equity in access, quality services and broader social protection.

Health insurance has currently been utilized as a mechanism for promoting progress to universal health coverage (UHC) in Kenya. However the goal is still several inches away from it’s fruition, as some people still deem it as a new concept introduced by the government to swindle them and immerse them in deeper financial voids. However even the stakeholders are stupefied on how they modify the scheme so it can become more appealing to the Kenyans working in the informal sectors and who arguably form the biggest cohort of unregistered Kenyans. In this light, the government is seeking exclusivity to see how the scheme can cater for larger citizens. The efforts have yielded minimal results though it’s not wavering in it’s devotion to accomplish the UHC goal regardless of the slow pace.

Given that remote communities are now the priority of most insurance schemes, as insurance firms are working to see how they lure them in, Kenyans should understand the implications of health financing reforms and their preferred design features considered, to ensure acceptability and sustainability. For this, it will be of great value that communities are educated and engaged to ensure that the NHIS is acceptable to the population it serves mainly by eradicating the misleading perceptions and educating many Kenyans on it’s unseen value.

However the insurance problem is widespread and plagues many African countries alongside Kenya. But still, to sprout a first-paced African continent, the governments themselves should consider how they rehabilitate their health care systems to provide effective financial risk protection for all, as part of universal health coverage (UHC). The 75^th World Health Assembly which happened last year, urged member states to “ensure that health-financing systems introduce or develop prepayment of financial contributions for the health sector, with a view to sharing risk among the population and avoiding catastrophic health-care expenditure and impoverishment of individuals as a result of seeking care”. Following on this call, the World Health Report for 2019 focused on UHC and identified the important role played by health systems financing in making progress towards this goal. And in 2021, the World Health Assembly re-emphasized the urgency of implementing sustainable health financing structures and the need to monitor progress towards achieving UHC. Several other initiatives have been put forward to support progress towards UHC.

By collaborating with health care providers, medical insurance providers could negotiate cheaper health care costs for their members. Medical insurance providers should carry out marketing campaigns and should also open more branches in rural towns so as create more awareness on medical insurance and its benefits. Insurers should also introduce discounts for clients with few claims to encourage prudent usage of medical covers which are often misused resulting to increased costs.

April 21, 2023

SACCO MANAGER’S HASTENED MOVE TO JOIN NATIONAL PAYMENT SYSTEM, AIMED AT LOWERING CREDITS COST.

The move by the countries biggest lenders to stringently impose new requirements has greatly compelled credit cooperatives to join bank borrowers who they had earlier vetoed.

President William Rutos financial inclusion agenda is seemingly taking shape, after the countries sacccos and cooperatives joined hands with the national payment system (NPS) in sustained efforts to lower the cost of credits.

Erstwhile, while saccos overly depended on banks to get funding together with other commercial services such as cheque processing and issuance the move might affect, to a big extent, the countries banks which have relied on these saccos for third party business like issuing of cheques.

Furthermore if the agenda goes on to succeed, banks will stand to loose as saccos will now have the capability and clearance to lend money to fellow saccos through the central liquidity facility (CLF) which is an equivalent of the interbank market.

The process to have these saccos sheltered under mainstream financial services has for a period of over seven years been made elusive by the sheer absence of the industries players to join hands and get to consensus on the matter.

Now, it’s a hot button issue in the country amid the soaring cost of living which has in turn increased the cost of borrowing including with saccos.

According to SASRA Sacco societies regulatory authority which has for a time now been helplessly watching the hiccups facing the sector, externally borrowed funds are in most instances expensive and often owe to changes in interest rates.

Now President Rutos administration has moved to prioritize the admission of saccos into the National Payment system as part of the governments financial inclusion agenda.

April 21, 2023

To save future elections from apathy, let leaders commit to deliver on their work

Political Management Opinion

Crowds cheer at a campaign team during the 2022/general elections in South B. Leaders should aim at fulfilling their promises in bid to save future elections from an even more worse apathy. **Photos by Ireri Steve on assignment for Agence France Press. AFP**

Chogoria, Mountain region –“Wake up Steve, leli (not his real name) has won the election,” my mother roused me from my sleep on the night of August 10, after the announcement of the 2017 general elections. Those were the words I vividly remember that my mum let out as jubilation rented the markets’ air outside. The words I later on wished I hadn’t heard.

Leli, a leader with the excellence the people had been scouring for throughout the 2017 campaign period, had finally managed to secure the position albeit through thick and thin in a highly contested race. The people were glad that because of electing dishonorable people in previous elections, they had fallen culprit to the bonds of misery through abandonment and misuse of their money. The new leader was the ‘anointed one, a selfless, consecrated individual who wouldn’t buy to the appetites of a corrupt regime, -they believed and even confessed it.

Supporters of ODMs Polycarp Igathe jubilating in the streets of south B. Photo by Steve Ireri.

They expected happiness, but unfortunately their came suffering, accompanied by a brutal exchange of blames when the leader they had even called their ‘son, vanished deep inside the regime’s hidden chambers. He had forsaken them. No one ever believed he was capable of that. But he did it right at the front of their eyes.

The blame game tossed the country into chaos and into a war of words- and even worst, of weapons. The unforeseen neglect by an individual known as one with a gentle face, ‘who couldn’t even snatch a one shilling coin’ validated that the people had for sure mistaken on the best candidate for the position, the second or even third or fourth time in a row. His turnaround challenged the validity of the decisions most Kenyans made at the ballot. Hence most ended up convinced they made a blunder in their selections. Kenyans thereby proclaim the root of corruption and underdevelopment to the chronic culture of electing inappropriate aspirants. But is it?

In 2017, when Leli defeated some other bigwigs in the top seat he had been contesting for, he had exemplified himself as a helper, and a compassionate figure who even before vying for the seat had engaged in several acts of benevolence. And this made him a go-for, for many people as he had what they yearned for. Even his demeanor and his vows asserted he was eligible for the position. So, did the voters fail to elect a good leader?

They didn’t. Days later, while already in office, something mysterious happened and he changed. Although his sudden changeover might have been caused by some external factors of his new workplace, the fact remains that he changed and the citizens are not blame for it. Whether this transformation comes willingly or unwillingly, leaders must come into terms with one thing. They fail us. His appearances to the public became minimal just like the funds, and desperation begun to strike the people. Hence, while some would point their fingers to the election of unfit leaders, I disown it and point at the leaders susceptibility to the wave of transformation.

I believe my people had done everything to reign in a leader who would not have forsaken them. Given there is no means to accurately gauge whether a leader will stick to his vows once elected, the major task for voters is to cast the ballot and set a leader forward whether he is truly good or he is a hyena camouflaged in a sheep’s skin. Thereafter whether the chosen leader was good or bad, it should be the responsibility of the leader to rise to the demands and deliver. But that is afar none of their distressing concerns. Hence their grievous failure upon their most fundamental obligations.

Leaders in elective positions all this while are the rightful owners to the blames. They should feel the guilt for disappointing their people and their supporters, and think twice on the toll, their covetousness has fetched for Kenya as an East African powerhouse. When they allow history to keep repeating itself, Kenyans loose hope in not just an election, but one of the most important things in a democratic nation and proceed to deem their leaders as useless people drunk down by their greed. Presently, with apathy having donned the 2022 general elections people are losing hope in it at a fast rate and unless leaders bear the failure things might get worse.

Future of work as a Kenyan ruler.

Seemingly, it is so that aspirants who join the political elite with a pure attitude are recruited into the money laundering missions, purposely to create a safe haven for older and senior perpetrators. This is seen to by the circumstances of a workplace governed through dishonesty, which gradually gains victory over these submissive employees hence blindfolding them from noticing and getting bothered by the needs of their people.

The future of work for a Kenyan ruler despite being at loggerheads with the citizens at par, will get more tough and shadowy if it’s not rectified. Both the county and the National governments have been turned into a system where trustable leaders are intimidated to backslide and where the already-corrupt normalize duping peoples needs, to bloom their selfish ambitions. The future then will dock at a serious juncture where possibly citizens will never have a glimpse of the national cake, leave alone getting to lick a piece of it. And instead of growing to higher levels by day, the regime will jeep shrinking and through the leaders downfalls, end up costing the country a lot. Aspiring and incoming leaders should watch out on it’s corrupted climate even before they are in and prepare to withstand and rise over it.

The absence of trust with the countries calcified political elite, who are famous for their shifting alliances and endemic corruption, also is largely persuading many Kenyans to shun participating in election. And if elections will remain relevant in the future, leaders ought to commit to deliver in their duties.

Steve Ireri is a junior writer at the Kenya Management magazine . My focus is mainly on management and how well organisations are able to deal with the much changing workplace reforms.

April 21, 2023

MANAGERS INVESTMENT IN DATA CENTRES, CRUCIAL FOR GROWTH OF AFRICAS DIGITAL ECONOMY

Recently, the United States injected $30 million into African data centers [ADC] to expand its facilities in Nairobi, which provides digital data storage services across east, central, and southern Africa, to support the African continent’s journey towards digital transformation and economic growth. As the world moves increasingly to the web, users and businesses demand quick information. The closer a business is to a data center, the higher the performance of the service. So far, the steps by most firms to eliminate their on-site infrastructure and in turn replace it with hybrid, public and private cloud infrastructure has to a huge extent defined how well data centers are thriving in Africa.

In 2019, only 28% of the population of Africa had access to the internet, according to the international telecommunication Union research. The continent had 34 mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants compared with 97 in Europe and 104 in America. It also lagged significantly in terms of international bandwidth usage per internet user.

A server room in one of the data centres in Africa. Photo| Pool

However, figures from 2021 show that there has been measurable growth, relative to that of the developing countries: where the continent moved from 28% to 33%. But still, with the developing countries financing for the upgrade of their broadbands willingly and very handsomely, the continent remains a hugely underserved market when it comes to internet connectivity and hyper-scale-ready tier 3 data centers. With the population of Africa expected to double by 2050 and again by the end of the century, and the internet driving economic growth and digitalization, there’s a growing need to host enormous volumes of data. Africa has 17% of the world’s population, 13% of the world’s mobile connections, and only 5% of the world’s broadband connections, and connections, and accounts for only 1% of the world’s data center space, according to cisco’s annual international report [2018-2023]. So certainly, the bolstering of data centers in this continent would significantly transform this continent

Even though Africa has been lagging four to seven years behind developed-world economies, the explosion in the number of data centers is now hitting the continent’s shores. There has never been a better time to provide organizations and countries with access to the speed, storage, and scale that these centers deliver and the United States is conversant with this gap. Through financial aid totaling $30 million, the United States through its ambassador to Kenya meg Whitman flagged the disbursement of the funds to the Africa data center ADC as part of a $300 million commitment by the US government to help ADC expand in the continent. The commitment whose part of the money was disbursed ate last year, is earmarked to aid the finalization of the construction of an additional facility to triple the previous facilities from 4.5MW to 15MW. According to Africa Data Center Market Report 2022: Africa is Attracting Significant Investments in Recent Years, Led by South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, and Ethiopia – Forecast to 2027

Although ADC is one of the leading data centers in Africa, the continent has more than 9 data centers that have added a white floor area of around 30,000 square feet area or more each in 2021. Several country governments including Kenya are taking initiatives by developing special economic zones, and industrial parks, which provide tax exemptions for data center development. A data center’s main task is to centralize an organization’s shared IT operations and equipment to store, process, and disseminate data and applications. Because they house an organization’s most critical and proprietary assets, data centers are vital to the continuity of daily operations within organizations

While Africa’s biggest constraint from an effective transition to the digital economy mainly emanated from the usage of outmoded data storage methods and facilities even on the internet, data centers will provide the reliability of storage by eliminating these glitches of using portable technology. For example, some experts believe the U.S. economy loses between $200 billion and $570 billion a year due to power outages and other disturbances, a loss that would have otherwise been averted if there existed a more upright culture of adoption of data centers. In turn, this suggested that Africa’s loss was colossal as its financial capabilities can’t directly support the creation of several data centers. Components of setting up a data center include routers, switches, firewalls, storage systems, servers, and application-delivery controllers, and often are egregiously expensive to the extent that African governments would have to desperately rely on foreign aid to successfully launch and maintain data centers.

SIGNIFICANCE

As the world moves increasingly to the web, users and businesses demand quick information. The closer a business is to a data center, the higher the performance of the service, as the data centers provide the stable foundations required to drive the delivery of data services on the continent. Around the world, the elimination of on-site infrastructures by firms to invest in hybrid, public and private cloud infrastructure has led the majority of data centers to thrive.

Technologies such as the cloud, big data, and IoT generate more data through high-end applications and need more efficient systems for data processing. These technologies are growing the demand for advanced IT infrastructure in the African data center market.

Moreso, enterprises prefer servers that can reduce space in the data center environment without affecting performance. The competition between branded and ODM [original device manufacturer] server suppliers will continue because multiple enterprises opt for server infrastructure based on open community designs (OCP). The increasing demand for server shipments will continue to grow moderately as enterprises move to the cloud or colocation platforms for their IT infrastructure operations. Global cloud services providers such as AWS, Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle are expanding their presence with new cloud regions. So, there is an opportunity for vendors to grow in suburban areas and fuel the demand for hyper-scale data centers in Africa. In December 2021, Equinix announced its plan to acquire the Main One data center with a sum of around USD 320 million to expand operations in Africa. The new entrants have a strong opportunity with new innovative technologies of infrastructure in the African cloud data center. In addition, the threat of acquisitions is to be also high since global data center operators acquire existing data centers in the region.

Key growth factors for data centers include growing of Smart City Initiatives, Government Support for Data Centers, growing Artificial Intelligence Adoption, migration from On-premise to Colocation & Managed Services, and adoption of Advance IT Infrastructure. The increase in submarine cable investment and fiber connectivity is likely to attract more data center investments in the region. South Africa has the highest number of submarine cable deployments, followed by Nigeria and Kenya.

April 21, 2023

Intellectual Health. Minding The Welfare Of Your Intelligence.

“My brain is my garden. If I feed it – it will grow; if I nurture it – it will thrive; if it thrives – so will I.” – Jen Chastre.

Many people think the key to being well is focusing on physical wellness – that you need to eat right and exercise to be healthy. While that is true, there are actually multiple factors that affect your overall well-being.

Intellectual Health defines the quality of your mind at a particular time of your life, be it while you are young, during old age, or at any other age. It includes the ability of your brain to change, adapt, learn and grow with time. Intellectual health emphasizes the importance of having regular intellectual activity, taking care of your mental fitness, and practicing life-long learning

Intellectual health is essential for overall good health and life. Diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are the result of changes in brain chemistry and function. Taking care of your intellectual health can keep your brain functioning well for longer. This is also why it’s so important it is to be well-informed about education and intellectual wellness overall

The International Wellness Institute defines wellness as an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence. This aligns with the six dimensions of wellness model, which includes physical, social, emotional, spiritual, occupational, and intellectual wellness. Though unlike with others like spiritual or emotional intellectual wellness mostly concerns with being open to new ideas, thinking critically, and seeking out new learning opportunities and challenges. It’s being creative and promoting mental stimulation, and involves commitment to lifelong learning.

Mostly activities like the learning of a foreign language, reading for fun, working out puzzles such as jigsaws, crosswords, or Sudoku, Playing a board or card game, writing a journal or even playing a musical instrument are very core to keeping someone’s intelligence in good shape. In some other ways, participating in these activities has been shown to stimulate the brain and increase the connections between brain cells. According to the latest findings in Neuroscience, your brain reaches its peak performance at age 16-25 years, and thereafter, cognitive functioning declines. Exercising your mind gives you faster thinking and reaction time, increased focus and concentration, better memory, less stress, sharper vision and hearing, and a more positive mood.

However the activities that involve building someone’s intelligence like working out puzzles or reading books are deemed by far as hobbies hence the negligence by most people who argue that their hobbies are elsewhere. However given the much benefits the habits have on someone’s intellectual Wellness one can’t keep on avoiding them. To clearly gauge that you have greatly began to chart a good path towards intellectual wellness you should be able to a discern a development of good study skills and time management, an ability to challenge yourself to see all sides of an issue or even when you notice yourself becoming a critical thinker.

Others signs that mark good progress with development of intelligence include an advancement of your own ideas, views, and opinions and more appearance of situations where you are exposing yourself to new ideas, people, and beliefs that are different from your own

How To Improve Your Intellectual Health

However because it’s not a walk to develop intelligence through habits that hinge on innate factors like passion here are some ways to improve one’s intellectual health. The listed notes underpin how one can maintain Healthy Levels Of IQ And Intellectual Function.

For example, boosting your Intellectual Health By Learning a new Language, bonding with your family, keeping good track of time and ensuring that your physical health is okay can really come in handy in maintaining healthy levels of IQ and a human being’s intellectual function. Nonetheless, someone who is up to improving their intelligence will more often practice curiosity and will try to engage In discoveries if not proposing to safeguard all the aspects of their health for the entire days they live on earth.

April 21, 2023

Workplace in the Age of Gen Z: The rip off.

Gen Z Remaking of the workplace through silent revolt.

In a normal setting and context, the office is a place of utmost reverence where jokes and unserious business is highly shunned. It has distinguished itself as a strict structure through it’s set of standards and codes which throughout history have been exercised fully giving the office what is now labeled an official look. Until now the ideal workplace is where employees have a regulated dressing pattern, a strict operating schedule, a summoned technique of behavior alongside other many regulated laws. It has with time become customary and has helped firms yield good results through observance of mannerism and limiting one from acting against the codes. . It is the sole duty of the employee to not only present himself in a decent way but also act modestly to bring up the impression that he is a worker in a certain organisation without the telling it out verbally.. The positive observance of the customary rules by all the outgoing generations has successfully achieved a durable and traditionally-run workplace that through less questioning the involved organizations have been able to trace credible results. Transgressions like lateness, improper dressing and passivity therefore beg for punishments like summons, suspensions or expulsions.

However, with the emergence of gen Z (people born between 1995-2010) – the right age of technology, the ideal workplace that for decades helped companies get the top is bound to transform for good. With all the existing generations having persevered the regulations, this one specifically finds it hard to pull the strings and operate in such authoritarian environs. While research affirms that previous pairs of offspring’s held a decisive anticipation for work, the current gen z feels pessimisti about work, c made wearyt by the unlike work procedure, and given shivers by the fact that their conditioning is weaker upon pressure. Their upbringing has been a concord of pampering which added up to the technological effects has enveloped them in a modest culture of unruliness, laziness and social queerness. For the generation, status is not rewarded for obedience but rather for rebelliousness. And this has added to their in capability to fit in to the present world.

“I find office life hard and I would prefer it to self employment, where I can work with zero supervision and with no regulations”. Says Eddy Mwenda a student at Meru university of science and technology. Eddy 21, a data science practitioner who is in his final year, believes that their parents who grew up with minimal distractions in the social sphere are agreeably fitted for the current rigorous office system. In it, there exists numerous constraints like time, dressing behavioral which have a regulated protocol that bars their creativity and fantasy to fully deliver upon tasks. “ like it or not our programming is exotic, and of all the generations we not comparable to any other”. Adds eddy.

Generation Z which the worlds youngest set of adults, is charting a different approach to work, where they deliver the results but in more self-reliant space. Their call for breaking the stereotypical yokes of the existing workplace being fashioned by natural factors like their growing-up environment, manner and how they were handled it, fully contrast that of the previous generations begging the dire change of the system.

The generation is informally referred to as zoomers and is the demographic cohort succeeding millennials and preceding generation alpha. It is famous for erratic stunts of unruly behaviours, irrational laziness, less worry some about their future and it’s the cohort nicknamed media zombies for their addiction towards tv and social media. Born between 1995/and 2010, the oldest of the generation has already graduated from university and have have already tasted the bitterness of the workplace. Previously, focus on how incoming generations manage the workplace had been on millenials, who seemed unusually underprepared, but now the utmost of it is on the generation Z who for quite some time have shocked the local workplace scene. Their conduct and their pleasure-pursuing reaction, will in many ways reshape the conventional workplace.

How the civilized manner of the Gen Z will reshape the workplace.

a recent Gen Z survey proved how challenging it is for the two generations to navigate work at turbulent and difficult times.

According to Deloitte, its latest global 2022 survey across 46 countries revealed a clear picture of how this generations rede

fine working behaviors and “strive to balance their desire to drive change with the challenges of their everyday lives.”

Aside from financial concerns, the Deloitte survey also revealed that four in 10 Gen Zs and almost a quarter of Millennials like to leave their jobs within two years, and approximately a third would resign without having another job lined up, indicating “significant dissatisfaction levelsI in a trend known as ‘quet quitting th youngsters gradually start retiring without a notification by declining to work slowly until they are out of the door.

The youngsters are all-day vibrant, unrestricted, blissful and are sticklers for the finest things of life. They look for pleasure in every single activity of their life hence developing an indifference towards work which is lesser activating and more of draining. Reports indicate that they burn out quite fast upon work. Their level of commitment towards tasks and their capability to handle pressure is minimal compared to that of millennials, alphas and the previously arisen generations. In a report conducted by Asana, a work, -management platform in 2021, showed that the GenZ showed more signs of burnout easily than all other generations and age groups. It is therefore apparent that while millennials (generation born right before gen z) portrayed lesser endurance to long working hours, gen zers went overboard to wear out faster upon even deficient tasks. It is more upsetting gen zers have reporte the burnout signs mainly at the wee stages of their careers. This aspect of gen zers thereby will alter the 8:00-5:00 working schedule to a more relaxed roster if they have to deliver top+notch work. Although although the Kenyan government has not fully flagged in the four day working schedule, it was intended in the USA in a bid to save the millennials and gen zers from dying at work. “46% of Gen Zs and 45% of millennials feel burned out due to the intensity/demands of their working environments,” the organization said, citing its research. “44% of Gen Zs and 43% of millennials say many people have recently left their organization due to workload pressure.”

Also while surveys present these youngsters as lovers of booze, their management will be difficult, and their allegiance upon pleasures will overtake that of work. The toll of their laxity will rip off an important chunk from the additional prosperity that organizations used to garner from the hard work of previous generations who through their devotion- working extra hours to see the goals are attained, pu their respective organisations at the top To the detriment of the workplace, their alarming quest for pleasure will cost the workplace momentous time for meaningful office work.

Therefore studies place their alcoholism at the center of the workplace suggesting that reternchment will act futile as the numbers will will be huge. With most of generation zers being ardent lovers of enjoyment, alcoholism mentioned in place of other substances is one major problem challenging their concentration to tasks.. Most of them through peer pressure, desire to engage in unruly vices and rebelliousness begin the habits in high school and college and right when their career begins the majority are in an addiction crisis which they have to relive by either drinking at work or taking a day off. Although some employees in the prevailing employment scene are alcoholics the high number of college and high school alcoholics suggest that the number will definitely surge by the time the workplace is fully flocked by generation Z. Unlike previous generations, gen zers commence their drinking career in high schools largely and partly in primary schools. By the time they get to college, the bondage of an addiction has easily slipped into their lives unlike other generations who start drunkenness later in their lives.

Asides all other troubles, breaking of the customary office dressing code the ‘official wear’ will be first to be discontinued. Generation zers confidently believe in some dressing codes like suits to being archaic and not adding up to their favorable levels in dressing. While ancient suits pertained extremely baggy trousers, prospective generations reduced the sizes to skinny pants. So far current standards emphasize slimmed pants raised a level over the ankle donned with a tight shirt and a bow tie. Some of generation zers have seemed to like this code while others still perceive it as outmoded, and levels in This modification can be explained clearly by the example of the luxurious sneakers

April 21, 2023

In Hospitality Scotland Is King, Here Is What To Learn From Their Award-winning Hospitality Industry.

Scotland is the worlds leading country with best hospitality services, beating other countries like the United states whose number of lavish hotels and inns is bigger and more refined. This clearly tells you that hospitality does not depend so much on how lavish or modernized the firm is but rather how reasonable and composed the clientele is. While hospitality demands a lot of concentration on things like etiquette, most countries just like most individuals here in the country assume it’s a small thing – contributing to the lag in Kenya’s hospitality achievement. Although the majority of African countries grapple with this area, foreign countries like the united states as well struggle to achieve the full range degree of hospitality. In Scotland however, the people practice it firsthand and the Scottish culture since the colonial era, revolves around being courteous hence their enviable triumph. The countries’ people’s natural command of discipline and etiquette has significantly translated to its success, producing very popular figures like Alex Ferguson who later on became the most successful British football manager.

While Ferguson was leaving the football career as a longstanding manager, he asserted that many things had contributed to his success but etiquette he said saw to it that he remained at the top. Alex who started his career at the age of 16 as a mere footballer worked hard like many other budding footballers but his extraordinary sense of discipline, brought him this coveted niche the majority of footballers never got to. The countries codes of parenthood which apply even in their schools strictly emphasizes that children learn the tricks of having a good command of etiquette not mainly for the sake of their prosperity but for their own good and satisfaction.

Listening.

Being able to listen to someone not just for the sake of hearing because you have to but for the sake of trying to help, is one of the top-tier virtues that have made Scotland a hospitality powerhouse. Whenever someone loses their way, he wouldn’t feel afraid to ask any person for directions as people aren’t used to misleading others or responding in harsh words. This should be the point to benchmark as the case in most African countries is very different. biggest problem that prevents this bit of hospitality from succeeding in the country is crime. Employees who fashion their rude demeanor always keeps guests away and locks the firm from making a step forward. Employees in the sector should at least learn how to listen actively which helps one build rapport and confidence with client’s.

Oral communication.

The prowess of most Kenyans in the hospitality industry is put into test in occasions when they face clients who can only speak foreign languages. Both written and spoken communication is very crucial in the process of charting a proficient hospitality business. Scotland has successfully achieved in this spectrum as most of its residents can speak more than five foreign languages leave alone the employees in the hospitality industry. The country in general boasts a language diversity of over 170 dialects which due to the welcoming nature of the people have been experimented with and can be spoken efficiently. Using body language and showing willingness to speak as they ensure their eyes are directly poked on the other persons eyes are some of the communication tricks that have up to date kept them at the peak.

Customer orientation.

Employees in a hotel or organization structures its image through their dealings with the hotels clients who mainly after their stay, will sit down and write a rating comment. This goes a long way in determining whether the firm makes progress or doesn’t. How they carry themselves and how they talk greatly infers the reviews your firm gets and whether that celebrity you hosted will want to book your hotel once again. It is therefore the duty of the employees to ensure they do everything that is within their power to see to it that customers are pleased. Great hospitality employees have a natural longing to please others, regardless of the time or day it is. They encounter fulfillment in making sure their guests have everything they need.

Stress tolerance.

Employees in the hospitality industry ought to have the resilience to withstand rude, impatient and unresponsive customers, as well as the rigors of working long shifts, often on their feet, and at the moment, probably in an understaffed establishment. When AA hospitality awards crowned several of Scottish restaurants for their exceptionality in the hospitality industry its obvious they were attracted by the talents of the hotels employees to maintain cool heads even after encountering several heated situations. Employees should be able to defuse a troublesome situation and remain calm and composed while they do it.

Quality orientation.

“I think Scottish people are driven by what we can do better, we’re driven by a pride in producing products of a very, very high caliber and it’s not just about what happened in the past and the heritage, it’s about what we are doing now and how we can do it better “says mark Hogarth the creative director of Harris tweed Hebrides a luxury fashion brand. Mark is at the forefront of the blossoming textile business in the country and opines that although in most occasion designers are compelled by their desire for profits, quality should always be a necessity with or without the profits. According to Mark, production of quality goods and services never ends in bad way as people will always prefer your services or products if you pledge to stick to quality.

Creativity.

Staff should be able to think fast and in a unique way until they catch the attention of their clients for the same if their employers. Creativity from employees is what in most cases places a certain hotel at the very top of the market as the management can think out of the box and offer something that the clients have never experienced elsewhere.