The two leading telecommunication service providers Safaricom, cash transfer service M-Pesa and Airtel emerged the three top brands most loved by women, closely followed by Equity Bank in fourth position.
This is according to the released study of the second edition by IPSOS and BSD Group, an insight-led tool that will aid Kenyan businesses to tap into women markets.
This is according to the leading research firms IPSOS and Branding advisory consultancy BSD Group.
This comes as an indication of role that telecommunications and financial services play in the lives of Kenya’s women, who are majority owners of small and micro enterprises.
Petroleum jelly, Arimis, that has gained popularity among women as a hand and skin moisturizer took position five in the ranking of the “Top Most loved Brands by Women” in Kenya’s that was carried out by market.
Hon Rachel Shebesh, Cabinet Administrative Secretary, Public Service & Gender Affairs, with Eva Muraya ,CEO & Founder BSD Group, and Chris Githiaga, Country Manager, Ipsos Ltd during the release of the Top 100 Most Loved Brands by Women in Kenya 2022 Study Rankings.The study is an insight-led tool for Kenyan businesses to tap into the power of women markets
‘Always’, a sanitary towel brand took position six, followed by Coca Cola in seven, Naivas, the largest supermarket chain in Kenya came in at position eight, pay tv channel Gotv took position nine, while KCB Bank was number ten in the ranking of most loved brands by women.
This is the second edition of The Top 100 Most Loved Brands By Women In Kenya study, an insight-led tool aimed at providing Kenyan businesses with scientific insights on women’s preferences and how they drive purchasing habits of consumer goods and services.
Research shows that 80% of consumer decisions are made by women.
Speaking at the event BSD Group CEO Eva Muraya said, “The study on the top most loved brands by women speaks directly to the economic empowerment of women from a purchasing ability and the need for corporates to engage and give opportunities in the development of products and services that address women’s needs because today women account for over 65% of businesses although mainly in the SME sector.”
The study is hinged on a robust, nationally representative sample of women covering all regions from Coast, North Eastern, Eastern, Central, Rift Valley, Western, Nyanza and Nairobi and covered women across age groups and socio-economic backgrounds.
Speaking at the launch event, the Cabinet Administrative Secretary, Public Service & Gender Affairs, Rachel Shebesh said the ministry would rely on the research and data gathered to help address the various issues captured.
“We are pleased that the insights collected in this study bring out issues affecting women in Kenya which will inform development of evidence based policies by the government,” she said.
Chris Githaiga, CEO IPSOS said, “The demographic and value of women consumers in Kenya has often remained understated, misunderstood, and ignored and that in the past it has been difficult to attach a number to the holistic value of a brand and worse to communicate that number in a way that makes most CEOs, investors, policy makers etc. confident enough to use it as a guide to decision making.”
He added that the top 100 most loved brands by women used the best of science, technology, and know-how to enable clients act faster, smarter, and bolder with surety in the women markets space.
It is important to explore this emerging demographic as studies globally have proven that women’s economic empowerment has more impact globally in poverty reduction.
In the ranking of the one hundred brands, smaller neighbourhood supermarkets, hospitals, milk brands, personal care, hair and body care products, flour and mobile phone lending services made a strong showing.
The study launch event was one of the side events of the 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66) that took place in New York, USA.
The Kenyan diplomatic office was closed on Sunday, leaving Kenyan residents left in the civil war-torn Sudan with an unknown future.
The return of warfare in Sudan, which has been specifically targeting diplomatic posts, was blamed for the closure, which was announced by Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’Oei.
“The safety of our diplomatic officials is paramount, and we have been receiving disturbing reports of armed groups targeting diplomatic personnel in Khartoum, Sudan. As a result, the Kenya Mission in Khartoum, which had previously remained open to facilitate the evacuation of Kenyans, is now closed,” stated Sing’Oei
Alfred Mutua, the cabinet secretary for foreign affairs, had already told the country in April that plans were in place to evacuate Kenyans if the situation in Sudan worsened. At the time, it was thought that there were around 3,000 Kenyans living in Sudan.
Over 900 Kenyans were flown out of Sudan by the government in coordination with national airlines.
But now that the diplomatic post has been shut down, it’s unclear what will happen to the remaining Kenyans who are still in Sudan. The number of Kenyans still living in the war-torn nation and the arrangements for their departure have not yet been disclosed by the government in a statement.
There are no indicators that the violence in Sudan will end. Only a few days earlier, rockets in Khartoum struck a market, killing 18 people and injuring hundreds more leaving more than 100 injured.
The continued fighting between military troops has prevented the US and Saudi Arabia from mediating peace talks and humanitarian assistance.
Thabo Bester’s mother, Maria Mabaso, recently admitted that she didn’t spend much time with her son while he was growing up. Thabo Bester is also referred to as the “Facebook rapist” and is the most sought criminal in South Africa.
Mabaso claimed in an interview with South Africa’s Eye Witness News that she had to leave her son in the care of his grandmother when he was just a year old since she was a single parent who worked nonstop.
Over time, this caused the bond between Mabaso and her mother to deteriorate.
“He was entrusted into the care of his grandmother at the age of one due to her being a single parent and having to constantly work,” Ms Mabaso told South Africa’s Eye Witness News.
She said this resulted in the relationship between her and her mother worsening over the years.
“At the end of the day, my mother shouted at me every day. She pushed me away. When she pushed me away, I said ‘No, I will sit by my place and I am not going there ever again,” she was quoted as saying.
Ms. Mabaso disclosed that the mother’s illness and subsequent death occurred when the son was in his teen years, at which point she made fruitless attempts to move and establish contact with her son.
Speaking to reporters about the arrest of the couple, who have been on the run since it was discovered that Mr. Bester had escaped from a privately run prison in Bloemfontein in March 2023, Mr. Cele said they had also been detained along with a Mozambican man named Mr. Zakaria Alberto.
“They were arrested with multiple passports in their possession. None of the passports were stamped,” he said in the press conference.
Mr Bester was found with documents that identified him as Mr Tommy William Kelly, an American citizen while Dr Magudumana had documentation that identified her as Martha Patience Mmerika Nitshini.
The passports, according to the South African government, which had received details from Tanzania, where the trio was nabbed, also showed that Mr Bester had more pseudonyms, further adding to the case’s complexity.
United States (US) social networking giant, Twitter, has removed the blue verification badge from Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s account.
Gachagua who has over 500,000 followers on Twitter lost his blue tick on Sunday.
The blue verification badge is notably found on senior government officials, journalists or public figures.
He is the first high-ranking government official in Kenya to lose his verification badge in the wake of changes on the Social media platform.
The badge usually indicates that an account holder is a notable person in society, for instance, a senior government official, a journalist or a public figure. It was immediately established why the second in command lost the badge, but it is suspected due to the ongoing policy update, which among others, requires a monthly subscription.
Twitter announced that it will start facing out its legacy blue badges on April 1, 2023.
This follows the platform’s announcement last year, that users will now pay a monthly fee under Twitter Blue to have the badge (blue checkmark).
“On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks,” Twitter said on Friday.
Going forward, Twitter users who want the verification mark will now have to reapply under Twitter Blue.
The changes came about after Elon Musk bought the company.
Under Twitter Blue, subscribers will enjoy priorities in replies, mentions and searches, which Musk said was essential to defeat spam/scams.
They will also be able to post long videos and audio and get half as many adverts.
“There will also be a secondary tag below the name for someone who is a public figure, which is already the case for politicians,” Musk said.
Twitter’s verification which is denoted by a blue check next to the name of the user’s handle, was launched in 2009. This was three years after the launch of the site.
According to the Independent, it was first introduced after baseball legend Tony La Russa filed a lawsuit against Twitter in 2009 over an impersonator.
The idea of verification was that it could prove the identity of a user.
Musk announced a subscription fee of Sh972 ($8) per month for one to get the verification.
The announcement came after the world’s second wealthiest man took sole control of the social media giant in a contentious $44 billion deal (KSh 5.8 trillion). Power to the people! Blue for $8/month,” he tweeted, in reference to the platform’s famous blue checkmark that signals a verified, authentic account.
The new plan’s pricing would be adjusted by country “proportionate to purchasing power parity,” Musk added in the replies to his original tweet, and would also include “priority” in replying to and searching posts, which he called “essential to defeat spam/scam.”
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s Twitter account without the verification blue badge. Image:SCREEN GRAB