Leading phone manufacturing company, Nokia in partnership with foremost social innovation centre in Nigeria, Co-Creation Hub (CCHUB) has embarked on an academy program called ‘Nokia/CCHub Growth Academy’ aimed at accelerating top Nigerian mobile software companies in growing their companies on regional and international levels.
The academy program is the first of its kind business accelerator programme in Africa dedicated to providing intensive continuous hands-on support to help approximately thirty (30) early stage mobile technology start-ups grow into high growth businesses and build world class mobile applications for the Nokia platform regionally and globally.
Most Technology enthusiasts know about Mary Meeker and she always has some interesting stats/facts about Internet technology. Recent facts were revealed recently at D10 Conference, courtesy of Business Insider. Please note that most of the stats are skewed towards the US since it was for a US audience but some of the stats are global.
Alltel Limited’s flagship product, K-Pad tablet, which is said to becoming an African preferred device, is gaining worldwide attention due to its increased patronage, affordability and locally developed free web applications for users.
The product, which many believe have come to take away worries of many Ghanaians and Africans over high prices of tablet devices, is now a preferred product for many on the continent. It runs on Google’s Android operating system as well as Microsoft’s Windows 7 and 8.
The ‘K’ in ‘K-Pad’ is for Kludgeson. Kofi Kludgeson, the Executive Chairman of Alltel Limited, a Ghanaian IT company in an interview with journalists in Accra on Tuesday, said “After five years of technical development, we have come out with a product that is a major breakthrough in the world of technology.
I met Joachim for the first time in 2009 in Essex, UK. It was at a church service and he was one of the workers in the local community church. His humility belied the fact that he was and still is one of the leading authorities in promoting and implementing holistic performance-based Enterprise Risk Management across the UK.
As the Head of Risk Management at Essex Council, one of the largest UK organizations, Mr. Adenusi introduced and implemented effective risk management initiatives which earned the organisation the highly recommended European Strategic Risk Management Award.
Joachim Adenusi
He was nominated for implementing the ‘Best Risk Management Approach in the Public Sector’ in 2007, the ‘Best Risk Communication of the Year’ in 2008, and the UK Risk Manager of the Year Award in 2009. Mr. Adenusi has a degree in Actuarial Science and a postgraduate diploma in Actuarial Science from City University (Cass Business School), London, and an MSc in Risk Management from Glasgow Caledonian Business School, Scotland. He is a chartered insurance practitioner (ACII), a Fellow and former Director of the Institute of Risk Management (IRM), and he is currently advising major UK financial services and underwriters on the process of implementing and embedding Solvency II requirements
Joachim has come up with an innovative way of communicating the essence of Risk Management to company executives. He has created a cutting-edge training programme - MOREMI - to “inject life and inspiration” into the sometimes dull world of risk management.
Risk Edutainment - MOREMI is an innovative and interactive training workshop that employs a classical African folklore (performed by professional actors and actresses live or via interactive DVD) carefully designed to skilfully teach the core principles of risk management, corporate governance, leadership, and performance management in a training environment.
Joachim has used the story of a threatened city in ancient West Africa to parallel the characters' fight for survival with handling the risks involved in running a business.
Moremi is the heroine of the story who helps save her city, Ile-Ife, from a threat to its future. Her quest highlights dilemmas of strategy, risk, performance and reward.
"Moremi asks questions about how to deal with the threats and opportunities of life and death, existence and destruction - just the same issues faced by businesses right now in an economically threatening world" says Joachim
"I found in some of my previous roles as a risk professional, that it was a constant battle to find ways of getting staff engaged in thinking about how they handled threats and opportunities at work, which is what risk management is all about. It was in the process of looking for ways of engaging and enthusing staff that I first had the idea of using stories and plays. I'm delighted I've finally been able to make it happen."
MOREMI premiered at the BAFTA awards on the 23rd of February this year in London, UK and will be officially launching in May (Lagos) and June (Port Harcourt) 2012 at a grand business dinner/reception for Directors, CEOs, Senior Executives across various sectors of the economy.
Not many may have heard about Worldreader in Africa but as of April 2012, it has distributed 100,000 digital books in Sub-Saharan Africa through its projects in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda. Worldreader gives kids in the developing world access to digital books. Using e‑readers loaded with thousands of local and international e-books, we provide children the books they want and need, so they can improve their lives.
Now Worldreader has teamed up FC Barcelona to surpass the 100,000 mark and send 1 million books to Africa.
Google has launched itself in the card payment space by launching a Near Field Communications (NFC) prepaid card in Kenya. It is called the "Beba Card".
The Beba card is currently being used to pay for transport fares on the local City Hoppas buses in Nairobi. You can get a new Beba card or top up your card by visiting a Beba agent at Kenya Commercial Bank (Kencom) and other major bus stops in Nairobi. The Beba card is free. There are no fees for getting a new card and there are no fees for using the card to make payments. However the entity or service that funds the Beba Card (for example, a mobile money company or service) may charge a fee in connection with storing value on the Beba Card.
"Kasuwa" means market in Hausa, one of the three main languages in Nigeria. This is the name of Rocket Internet's Amazon clone due to launch soon in Nigeria.
As mentioned in my last blog about the Samwer brothers' Rocket Internet, they are set to invade Nigeria. The site is already up and the Facebook page has already been created. It promises to provide "online shopping for electronics, cosmetics, computers, DVDs, books and much more". It also promises "free shipping" as a promotion upon launch.
The date of the launch has not been officially announced but it seems it will launch within the next 6 weeks.
Will we have fanfare or a silent launch? Just wait and see. But as I have said before these are exciting times fo e-commerce in Nigeria. It definitely is going to change the face of retailing in Nigeria.
Last week was just another week in the life of Mark Zuckerberg. Let's take a look at his public diary....
Monday, 14th May 2012: It was Mark's birthday and he turned 28. His long-time friend and now wife, Priscilla Chan, graduated from Medical School this same day.
Thursday, 17th May 2012: Mark gave his weekly address to Facebook engineers and opened its "hackathon" jamboree of computer code, caffeine and Chinese food.
OLX, one of the world’s fastest growing online classified platforms and a Naspers property, has extended its online presence in South Africa with the launch of South Africa’s first classifieds app for the iPad, enabling consumers to advertise and buy or sell almost anything in one place, from the convenience of their iPad or mobile phone.
According to Simon Berger-Perrin, vice president of mobile at OLX, the free application, which can be downloaded from the Apple App Store, offers classifieds for properties, jobs, second hand goods, pets, and more.
He reports that globally there are over 55-million iPads out there, with a 150% growth rate over last year, with 60% of the tablets market, and the App Store has reached 25-billion downloads as of March. "We are excited to release this new universal app to address the booming iPad market,” he says. “Now iPad owners have a great free app to buy and sell everything with OLX."
Globally there is a growing awareness on corporate sustainability i.e. organizations conducting their business in ways that will guarantee their long term operations and this seldom can be achieved without consciously creating value for the environment and community where they operate. In Nigeria business circles, there is little talk about this topic but mounting global influence especially for multinational organizations is creating a shift.
Take for instance Guinness Nigeria a Diageo Company, to which the Business Innovation Facility (BIF) is providing support to for the development of a sustainable local sourcing strategy of its raw materials such as Sorghum. One of the drivers of this project is pressure from institutional investors and government requesting the company to show its social investment credentials. Hence the idea of inclusive business was very attractive to the company, as it provided the platform for mutual value for both the company and the community.
Is this true? This was reported by Gigaom yesterday. What do you think? It has to do with the upcoming Sabunta site
Check out the details below......
Now you see it, now you don’t.
In recent days, Berlin clone factory Rocket Internet has had a register-your-interest page up for its new Nigerian site, Sabunta. It’s a clothing store and, once launched, it will probably look like Rocket’s many other Zappos clones.
I know it was there – I looked at it this morning, along with the still-up Facebook page. But then I looked again later and it was gone. And then I realised why.
The Samwer brothers’ favourite sources of, ahem, “inspiration” include not only Zappos and Amazon but also Fab.com. And wouldn’t you know it, today the German publication Gruenderszene outed the fact that the Sabunta landing page actually contained Fab.com code.
In a recent press release of the first quarter of 2012, Inmobi claims that Nigeria is the largest (8 billion ad impressions) and fastest (37%) growing mobile ad market in Africa. According to Isis Nyong’o – VP & MD, for InMobi Africa, the consistent month-on-month growth in mobile advertising impressions is evidence of the rising importance of mobile technology as a marketing medium in the country.
Only a couple of years ago (1993), he formed Vodacom South Africa. Now he is waging a price war against it - as the CEO of Cell C, the third mobile operator. He joined the board on the 1st of April, 2012 after the announcement which was made on the 19th of January 2012.
Cell C recently slashed its data prices, halving them in some cases. And now it has followed up with a new voice deal for its prepaid customers. The company is releasing a new prepaid voice product and tariff plan called “99 Cents For Real” that cuts off-network tariffs to 99c/minute with per-second billing from the first second. The rate applies at any time of the day, including peak hours, and will be available from Sunday, 20 May, as part of a new starter pack. Existing prepaid customers can port to the 99c plan.
I saw this piece from Murphy Okpala and I thought it would be instructive to share it with you...Murphy regularly writes for the Business Innovation Facility. He is based in Lagos Nigeria.
The Business Innovation Facility helps the development and uptake of inclusive business models by companies in developing countries. The term inclusive business refers to profitable core business activity that also expands opportunities for the poor and disadvantaged. The Business Innovation Facility is managed for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) in alliance with International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP), Imani Development, Intellecap, Renaissance Consultants Ltd. and The Convention for Business Integrity. Click here to learn more about the Business Innovation Facility.
Traditionally the idea behind going into business is profitability/profit making. The universal strategy to achieve this (in the most simplistic nuance) is ‘minimize your cost and profit will be maximized’. That is the traditional mindset of the average entrepreneur and company in Nigeria and considering the dearth of infrastructure which gives rise to rising cost of production there is little wonder why this mindset prevails. Businesses need to create shareholders value (the primary objective) hence the drive of the executives is to develop strategies that will ensure the organization remains profitable over the long term.
Vodacom Tanzania Corporate Communications Manager, Rukia Mtingwa (left), M-PESA Expert Ms, Reenu Verma and the representative of the Gaming Board of Tanzania, Mr Abdallah Hemed follow proceedings during the draw to pick monthly winner of TShs 10 million of the M-PESA Transfer & Win promotion whereby a Geita resident, Mr Denis Kaesha emerged the winner.
Tanzania’s leading mobile phone company, Vodacom has presented a cash prize of TShs 10 million to the winner of the ongoing MPESA promotion which targets users of the service during a brief ceremony at the company Headquarters at Mlimani City in Dar es Salaam.
Dennis Kaesha, an accountant from Geita was all smiles as he received news of winning the prize from Vodacom Corporate Communications Manager, Rukia Mtingwa, bringing to a close the M-Pesa Transfer and Win campaign which kicked off in March.
In an obvious move to partake of the growing appetite for discounts and deals in Nigeria, Mocality Nigeria has launched Mocality Deals. It was expected because its sister company in Kenya launched the deals feature some months ago.
It is kicking off its deals feature with a 60% discount to enjoy a day or night at the Ozone Cinemas, Yaba with popcorn and a softdrink for only N950!
The Groupon concept of discounted deals has taken the world by storm and Nigeria is not left out. The conspicuous leader in Nigeria seems to be Dealdey which took the market by storm last year. Some of the other players include Qluqlu which has just lost its founder to Rocket Internet.
Well I wish this Naspers' initiative the best in this venture. What will the terrain be like next year? Will it still be DealDey or will it be Mocality? Who knows? It may be a totally new player. These are exciting times.
Africa’s first major contest designed to promote the development of digital media products and innovations is now accepting applications.
African News Innovation Challenge (ANIC) will provide grants from $12,500 to $100,000 for the best projects aimed at strengthening and transforming African news media. The contest is modeled on the highly successful Knight News Challenge in the United States. Grantees will also receive technical advice, startup support and one-on-one mentoring from the world’s top media experts.
The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, yesterday, slammed four major Nigerian telecommunications operators, MTN Nigeria, Etisalat, Airtel and Globacom with a cumulative fine of about One billion, one hundred and seventy million Naira ( N1,170,000,000) as penalty for the poor quality of services they rendered to their different subscribers in the months of March and April 2012.
The commission’s Head Media and public relations, Mr Reuben Muoka said that details of the penalties have already been communicated to the different operators. However, details of the penalties made available to Saturday Vanguard, shows that MTN Nigeria and its counterpart, Etisalat Nigeria, will pay Three Hundred and Sixty Million naira ) each.
Until a few months ago, not many people in Nigeria had heard of Rocket Internet. But this may soon change as the company run by Germany's infamous Samwer brothers has finally made a move, having skirted about the idea of entering into Sub-Saharan Africa for quite a while. They started the incursion into Africa by moving into South Africa with Zando, which offers the most comprehensive international and local fashion brands for sale online in South Africa. Now they are about to launch Sabunta, a one-stop shop for all things shoes, fashion and clothing in Nigeria. It is also rumoured that Rocket Internet might be launching another e-commerce site apart from Sabunta in Nigeria.
Even in a country that seems to be saturated with entrepreneurs, people are still starting new businesses. Africa is still a virgin continent and there are a lot of companies that can be birthed. I saw this piece and believe it can make some people's grey cells tingle with excitement at the idea of trying to re-create this here in Africa. This is part of innovation. But please don't just copy, adapt to your local environment. Make it local.
Read on.......
From a Brooklyn craft brewer, a scrap metal recycler, to an event tent designer, America's urban core is home to a host of novel, fast-growing small businesses. Here's the top 100, as ranked by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.
Mobile phones are transforming the way HIV test results are being transmitted to AIDS patients in Africa, a study has shown. AIDS is one of the biggest diseases affecting the continent due to limited access to antiretroviral treatment and heath care.
AIDS related deaths account for close to 60% of all total deaths annually and mobile phone penetration has doubled over the last 10 years.
It is for these reasons that the World Health Organisation (WHO) embarked on an investigation to determine whether mobile phone technology could be used to transform the delivery of health care services to AIDS patients in Africa.
A WHO backed study published in the agency’s Bulletin, said the time it took to relay HIV test results to patients’ health facilities could be “dramatically” reduced by using mobile phone text messaging.
An initiative called “Treasury Mobile Direct” by World Bank and Central Bank will enable Kenyans to purchase bonds using their mobile handsets. The project follows the rise and adoption of mobile handsets in Kenya.
In an apparent bid to increase the number of apps for Android Samsung tablets, Samsung is offering cash incentives to application developers to come up with award winning apps that would be showcased in company's Galaxy Tab and Note devices. This is the 2012 Samsung Smart App Challenge. It is designed to motivate and reward those entering the Challenge who develop innovative, creative, functional and original applications for Samsung Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Note.
This contest offers $4.08 million in cash prizes and mega marketing support for app promotion to the top 80 apps including 60 Samsung Apps Super Apps and 20 Best S Pen Apps featuring the most creative GALAXY Note Stylus Pen (S Pen) functions.
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has received approval of about US$7m from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the implementation of the second phase of the Commercial Products (COMPRO-II) project, says IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga on the 30th of April 2012.
Tagged as ‘Institutionalization of quality assurance mechanism and dissemination of top quality commercial products to increase crop yields and improve food security of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa,’ the COMPRO-II project aims to institutionalize quality assurance mechanisms and facilitate the rapid dissemination of top quality commercial products to increase yields and improve the food security of smallholder farmers in the region.
John Mwara, MD faulu Kenya with Shivan Bhargava, MD Airtel Kenya at the launch of ‘Kopa Chapaa’.
Airtel Kenya has launched a revolutionary service to avail Kenyans of short term loans with seconds. It is called "Kopa Chapaa". Kenyans can now get loans of up to Sh10,000 repayable over 10days by simply dialing *305# for a USSD menu on their cell phones. The only requirement is that you should have been on the Airtel network for over 6 months and have done more than 2 transactions on the service.
I came across this recent interview about Michelle Atagana's interview with Koos Bekker of Naspers.
Michelle Atagana is the Managing Editor of Memeburn, an award-winning site that tracks emerging technologies primarily in emerging markets, which include the BRICs* countries. Koos Bekker is the CEO of the quiet but gigantic Naspers. Naspers is one of the top five media companies in the world operating in 129 countries globally. Some of its properties in Sub-Saharan Africa include Multichoice, Mocality, Dealfish; and in South Africa - many more properties like OLX, Kalahari, News24, Media24 and many more. This company has managed to grow without being noticed for a long time by focusing mainly in emerging economies.
Earlier this year, we reported that Google invited creative young minds to apply to be part Zeitgeist Young Minds, an opportunity for young people to showcase how they are making a positive impact in our world. This year’s winners have now been named and out of the 10 inspiring young people selected from around the world 5 are from Africa.
See Ada Umeofia's (one of the winners from Nigeria) entry in the video below.
The young Africans selected were:
Ada Umeofia, 19 from Nigeria WeBuilt: Africa is a design-centered social enterprise that redesigns and constructs market stalls for poverty-stricken Africans by recycling found building materials in slums. View the video:
Joel Mwale, 19 from Kenya Skydrop Enterprise Inc has brought safe drinking water to a community of 5,000 and has become a profitable enterprise from selling bottled water across Kenya and Uganda. View the video:
Jordan Ridge, 23 from South Africa Made by Mosaic is a job creation project for women in South Africa addressing the challenges of economic development in the townships. View the video:
Sibusiso Tshabalala, 20 from South Africa Developed reading clubs and a library renovation programme in South Africa to encourage critical thinking and thoughtful debate within local high schools. View the video:
Simeon Oriko, 23 from Kenya The Kuyu Project trains school children on how to use social media for social change and promotes digital literacy. View the video:
After 3 long years, Glo finally launches its service in Ghana. This came only after the National Communication Authority of Ghana (NCA) had fined Glo USD 200,000 for failure to launch and cover at least six regions in the country within two years of receiving its licence, which was issued in 2008.
Already, about 1.5 million subscribers have reserved their lines on the Glo network, which has capacity to handle over 10 million lines.
Reports say the company is starting with 85 percent coverage of Ghana, providing services in 974 cities and 10,000 villages. Glo Mobile Ghana is kicking off its services with an amazing product called ‘Good Day Ghana’ which enables all Glo subscribers to enjoy mouth-watering offerings such as Free Unconditional 20Gp airtime daily for 100 days; Free Calls From Midnight to 5:00am; Bonus on In-coming Calls; Up to 100% Bonus on Recharges; and Sweet Number which enables subscribers to call one special person at 2Gp per minute.
Nigerian-born songwriter and music producer, Ikwano, emerged as one of the winners in the recently concluded Nokia Middle East and Africa Regional Ringtone competition. As reported in an earlier blogpost, Nokia: Create a ringtone and win $1,500, Nokia put up a prize of $1,500 each for 5 people for creating creative ringtones. The ringtones had to reflect and celebrate local music culture and styles and should be suitable for use throughout the whole of Middle East and Africa region.
There were 1,500 entrants for the five separate contests to create regional ringtones. The crowd-sourced competition ran for four weeks.
THE Ministry of Communication Technology has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nokia, a multinational communications corporation, in order to stimulate growth of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Nigeria.
At the signing ceremony in Abuja at the weekend, the Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, said that government would continue to partner with the private sector and industry players to stimulate socio-economic development and bridge the digital divide in the country.
