Al-Khair Foundation were delighted to be the chief sponsors of this year’s Aidex Nairobi 2018 — a conference bringing together NGOs and key players in the world of aid and development.

This year’s Aidex explored how technological innovations can harnessed to transform the Aid sector and help us to deliver developmental programmes which are more efficient, effective and sustainable.

The conference provided a platform for some of the major players in global development and economic fields, from UN Agencies to major companies such as Toyota, to collaborate, network and extend each other’s mutual reach – so that we can collectively meet the needs of the world’s most deprived.

Various emerging and established technologies are driving fundamental change in the Aid sector – from Virtual Reality placing donors directly ‘in the shoes’ of people suffering in destitution and living with minimal resources, to new phone-based payments and technologies which have had widespread economic impacts.

In Kenya for example, research has shown mobile payments system M-PESA’s use in day-to-day financial transactions has empowered small businesses and enabled an estimated 186,000 families, or as many as 2% of Kenyan households, to move out of poverty.

Over 30 countries have also already witnessed the benefits of advancements such as the Last Mile Mobile Solutions (LMMS), demonstrated by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta. LMMS improves remote data collection capabilities, helps manage aid recipients, enables faster and fairer aid distributions and delivers rapid reporting to aid workers. This technology has proved outstanding in its ability to function offline in a remote location, even with limited or no internet connection, telephone access or electricity.

Speaking at the conference, Almas Yamin, AKF Programmes Officer, spoke about how “Technology is inevitably transforming the aid and development sector, which is why it is imperative for the community to come together to discuss how best we can cooperate – together, we can ensure that no one is left behind.”

From our natural Biogas-harvesting energy reactors powering Kenya’s DREAM orphanage, to our upcoming Solar-powered Water Wells Project in Kenya – AKF remain committed to championing the aid programmes of the modern technological age.