TechRift Africa — Tech, AI & Blockchain News in Kenya

Microsoft's Nairobi engineering centre faces closure amid global restructuring

Microsoft employees in Nairobi were informed of plans to close the company's engineering centre on October 12. Microsoft says its wider Kenyan operations will continue as it restructures globally.

Nairobi Tech Events: What's Happening This Week (October 12–19, 2026)

Nairobi's tech calendar this week features cybersecurity hackathons, AI workshops, blockchain events, and developer meetups from October 14 to 17.

How Kenyans can invest in Dangote's refinery through the Nairobi Securities Exchange

Kenya has approved a new way for investors to participate in the Nigerian refinery's $1.6 billion IPO. But the KES 107,000 minimum investment is only one of several differences between buying shares in Nigeria and investing through Nairobi.

FlexPay sues Naivas and DCI over KES 31.2 million dispute that led to founders' arrests

Flexpay says Naivas used police to pursue a disputed payment after their five-year partnership collapsed. It also claims the supermarket owes it more than KES 24 million in loyalty rewards.

Kenya clears M-Gas’s parent to apply for carbon credit sales abroad

Kenya's letter lets Circle Gas apply to sell carbon credits abroad, but its cash forecast counts none of the upside.

Why developers may still need AI training

Andela’s study shows AI training helped Kenyan developers improve their Codex assessment scores from 69% to 81% in two weeks.

If a face on a video call can be generated, what proves who you are?

Tavus says 26 of 54 testers took its new AI for a human on a live video call. It is a vendor study with a small sample, but if you accept video as ID, read this.

Google's Gemini 4 Argon tops most benchmarks, but only vetted cyber teams can use it

Google released Gemini 4 Argon and says it leads its rivals on most benchmarks. The strongest part, its ability to find and fix software vulnerabilities, is not available to the public. It goes to vetted cybersecurity teams through a programme called Fairwind, which Google says has more than 650 partners.

Nairobi Tech Events: What's Happening This Week (Oct 5 – 12, 2026)

Nairobi’s tech calendar this week spans startup funding, AI, cybersecurity, databases, game development, climate tech and community meetups.

Airtel Money is worth USD 7 billion at its IPO price, and starts trading in London on 14th October

The $7 billion valuation sits below the $8–9 billion reported before pricing, and the retail offer is open only to people physically in the UK

Seven Kenyan women-led startups receive KES 9 million in grants

Seven Kenyan women-led startups receive KES 9 million in grants after Strathmore's Women in Tech Accelerator. Meet all seven winners.

Safaricom, Pesapal Expand M-PESA QR And Tap-to-Pay Services

Safaricom and Pesapal are expanding M-PESA payment options at physical merchant outlets in Kenya through new QR code and contactless... Source

Meta’s AI Academy Kenya applications close today, with KSh1 million in funding for two startups

Meta opened AI Academy Kenya with This Is Digital. Two startups win about KES 650,000 each. Applications close 30th September.

Patrick Njoroge says M-Pesa and Airtel Money should pay users interest on wallets

Former CBK governor Patrick Njoroge wants Kenya's law to pay M-Pesa users interest on wallets. Comments close 9th October 2026.

Google Warns of Hackers Hijacking Cloud Accounts for AI

Google says LLM-jacking is spreading. One April case shows how far an attacker can get from a single leaked GitHub token.

Africa Tech Festival 2026 to Spotlight AI, Infrastructure and Africa’s Digital Future

Africa Tech Festival 2026 returns to Cape Town in November, putting AI, data centres, cloud infrastructure and connectivity high on the agenda for its 29th edition.

Meta Starts Charging Kenyan Businesses for WhatsApp Service Messages From October 1

Kenyan businesses running customer care on the WhatsApp Business Platform will begin paying for service messages from October 1st, with Meta set to charge roughly Sh0.52 per delivered message after the first 1,000 free service messages each month.

Kenya Recorded 72 Million DDoS Threats in a Year, Up 114%

Kenya detected 72.16 million DDoS threats in the year to June 2026, more than double the previous year's figure, according to the Communications Authority.

Nairobi Tech Events: What's Happening This Week (Sept 28– Oct 5, 2026)

This week's events cover AI, startups, quantum computing, Python, and tech communities across Nairobi. Founder sessions, hackathons, conferences, and hands-on workshops are happening between September 30 and October 4.

Starlink Passes 27,000 Subscribers in Kenya as Parts of the Country Hit Capacity

Starlink had 27,616 Kenyan subscribers in June, up 58.5% in a year, just days before pausing sign-ups in seven counties.