Monthly Archive for February, 2010

Kenya’s Top Ten (Local) Web Sites: January 2010

Published on February 28, 2010 in Uncategorized. 21 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

A couple of years ago I did an article on Kenya’s top ten web sites and other notable ones. At the time, to be quite honest, the list read like a who’s who of Internet giants like Google, Yahoo and Facebook. However, since then, so much has changed. It may be that Google or Yahoo still dominate the top ten listing for Kenya but what is more interesting is the much improved presence of wholly local Kenyan web sites in the top one hundred. This trend is obviously being driven by the over 4 million internet users and over 18 million mobile subscribers in Kenya to-date. So, going by the latest Kenya Alexa rankings for January 2010, these are Kenya’s top ten (local) web sites:

1. The Daily Nation: www.nation.co.ke (Alexa Kenya Rank: 9).

The online edition of the Daily Nation is not wholly unexpected. The Daily Nation is Kenya’s leading newspaper which has a global following as well. They redesigned their web site a few years ago and re-did the content style substantively which has obviously improved their online ranking over the years. The Daily Nation is also available as a mobile web edition which could also be contributing to their very high ranking.

2. The East African Standard: www.standardmedia.co.ke (Kenya Alexa Rank: 13).

The East African Standard is Kenya’s second most popular newspaper after the Daily Nation. Its commendable to see that they have managed a ranking almost as good as the Daily Nation. I suspect this is largely due to the enhanced content and web site redesign that was done a few years ago. To note is that like the Daily Nation, the East African Standard also has a mobile edition of its web site.

3. Kenyan Lyrics: www.kenyanlyrics.com (Kenya Alexa Rank: 16)

I have to say that Kenyan Lyrics shocked me. This is a web site that is focused on lyrics for kenyan music as well as musician biographies and links to online content such as music videos on YouTube. To be the third most popular site in Kenya is no mean feat for this niche web site after the Daily Nation and the East African Standard is eye-popping! I’m guessing the bulk of their traffic is from Kenyan teenagers and young adults who are into local music. Amazingly, Kenyan Lyrics do not (yet) seem to be monetizing their web site with ads – quite shocking to be honest!

4. Kenyan Jobs: www.kenyanjobs.blogspot.com (Kenya Alexa Rank: 23)

Once again, like Kenyan Lyrics, the Kenyan Jobs Blog stunned me with their high local ranking. This is a Blog that is dedicated to listing and re-listing job opportunities in Kenya from the mainstream media as well as direct listings, for free! Now, this is interesting because there are a fair number of job sites in Kenya nowadays but most charge employers to list. Kenyan Jobs on the other hand does not charge employers or job seekers for listings which obviously is a big pull for local traffic. Kenyan Jobs are monetizing their high ranking through Google AdSense mostly.

5. Home (by AccessKenya): www.home.co.ke (Kenya Alexa Rank: 25).

Home is a portal from AccessKenya, one of Kenya’s leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Home touts itself as Kenya’s home on the Internet and they do regularly update their content online and send out a weekly e-newsletter. Home seems to be making a major run to become the default homepage for Kenyan content due to its diversity. Its going to a long shot but they are definitely making some money online due to the fact that have lots of credible and paid-up advertisers.

6. Kenya Revenue Authority: www.kra.go.ke (Kenya Alexa Rank: 35).

Kenya Revenue Authority, or, KRA as they are popularly known have an impressive ranking of six. The tax body clearly has this much traffic due to the many online services they have launched over the past few years. Considering that Kenya has millions of businesses and individuals who have to pay taxes and more recently file returns online, this web site was able to leap from obscurity to the highest echelons of Kenya’s most popular web sites.

7. Nyeri Online: www.nyerionline.com (Kenya Alexa Rank: 36).

Nyeri Online surprised me with their high ranking in Kenya considering the limited focus of their content. Nyeri Online, as its name suggests, is focused on content on Nyeri Town. Now, if Nyeri Online can achieve such a high ranking does it not go to show that there is a gap (and presumably unmet demand?) for local content that is town or city specific ALL over Kenya. I’ll end this one by saying the writing is on the wall – “build it, and they will come”.

8. Capital FM: www.capitalfm.co.ke (Kenya Alexa Rank: 38).

Capital FM is one of Kenya’s leading radio stations with a diverse range of innovative programming that has made them successful for over a decade. Therefore, its good to see that they have managed to extend this leadership to the Internet by cracking the top ten, even if just so barely. Seeing that the Daily Nation and the East African are leading by a substantial gap Capital FM could definitely rise a lot higher in the months to come. However, where are the other leading radio stations in Kenya in this ranking? Maybe they don’t see the Internet as being a key content and business channel yet? Its worrying!

9. BrighterMonday: www.brightermonday.com (Kenya Alexa Rank: 41).

BrigterMonday is a web site and online business that I have long admired. They are an online jobs web site for not only Kenya but Uganda and Tanzania which makes them a truly East African online business. They have been advertising online over the years quite aggressively and I’m guessing that apart from having great content this has led them to being one of the top web sites in Kenya. Unlike the Kenyan Jobs Blog, BrigtherMonday does charge employers for listings and they do also monetize their content through ads on their web site.

10. The Business Daily: www.businessdailyafrica.com (Kenya Alexa Rank: 47).

The Business Daily is yet another publication of the Nation Media Group that has managed to crack the top ten local Kenyan web sites. The Business Daily has been around for just a few years but it has firmly established as a leading business-focussed newspaper targeting a segment that wants to be on top of important business news in Kenya. The Business Daily, I suspect, has the potential to rise much higher if they invest in original online content and services beyond repurposing what comes out in the print edition.

11 and beyond….

Well, that rounds off the top ten local Kenyan web sites for January 2010. The other sites to look at are as follows:

11. Mambo: www.mambo.co.ke (Kenya Alex Rank: 50).
12. Webaraza: www.webaraza.com (Kenya Alexa Rank: 53).
13. Best Jobs Kenya: www.bestjobskenya.com (Kenya Alexa Rank: 61)
14. PataUza: www.patauza.com (Kenya Alexa Rank: 66).
15. Haiya: www.haiya.co.ke (Kenya Alexa Rank: 68).
16. Orange Kenya: www.orange.co.ke (Kenya Alexa Rank: 69).
17. CareerPoint Kenya: www.careerpointkenya.com (Kenya Alexa Rank: 73).
18. Nation Media Group: www.nationmedia.com (Kenya Alexa Rank: 77).
19. Kenya Network Information Center (KeNIC): www.kenic.or.ke (Kenya Alexa Rank 78).
20. Jumuika: www.jumuika.co.ke (Kenya Alexa Rank: 79).
21. Mashada: www.mashada.com (Kenya Alexa Rank: 80).
22. Safaricom: www.safaricom.co.ke (Kenya Alexa Rank: 83).
23. JengaWeb: www.jengaweb.com (Kenya Alexa Rank: 87).
24. Uza Nunua: www.uzanunua.com (Kenya Alexa Rank: 94).
25. Higher Education Loans Board (HELB): www.helb.co.ke (Kenya Alexa Rank: 95).

We have the demand for local content, why not upload it?

Published on February 28, 2010 in Uncategorized. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

This is an article on the rise of (digital) local content in East Africa that I wrote and was published in this week’s edition of the East African Newspaper. You can read it here>. Below is the full unedited version:

It seems that lately everyone has been talking about digital “local content” and the massive opportunity it represents. It seems only logical that this should be the case as the convergence of increasingly ubiquitous broadband internet, digital television and mobile telephony in East Africa all create the right factors for local content to thrive. But what exactly is local content and where does it come from? I tend to think that local content is all around us. In fact, it already exists hitherto in many analogue formats such as books and video tapes. But local content is so much more than media  – its also our cultures, software, government services and educational materials. In a nutshell, its everywhere, but largely either not (yet) in a digital formats that are universally accessible to all, or has yet to be developed from scratch.

East Africa is at the very cusp of a local content gold rush which has all the underpinnings of the much hyped “dotcom” boom of the 1990s. At the time, anyone with even a smattering of an internet idea could be rewarded with millions of dollars in venture funding without so much as a viable business plan – all that mattered was the “big idea” and flipping the business for a tidy profit during an Initial Public Offering (IPO). True to form, many of  these dotcom businesses did eventually crash, even as their founders naively shouted at the top of their lungs that the “new economy” had arrived and this had changed business rules forever. “Bricks and mortar” was the term used to refer to “old economy” businesses that didn’t “get it” and we’re doomed to failure. Therefore, could it be that we are about to see an East African dotcom boom driven by local content? I certainly think so.

One of the great things today unlike the original dotcom boom is that we have lots of content platforms through which local content can be published for free, or nearly free. This is especially ideal considering the large amounts of investment that are normally required to build a content platform, instead of simply utilizing one. Consider the investment it would take to build a Facebook or YouTube where millions of users can upload video and audio content for free? Its staggering! Facebook is currently the content platform of choice for over 400 million users and counting – its no longer a fad, its clearly a defining moment in Internet history. Recent statistics also confirm that Facebook is one of the most popular web sites in many parts of Africa. The East African blogosphere has hundreds if not thousands of active bloggers who cover almost every conceivable topic within a local content context. To cap it off, East Africa has over 30 million mobile subscribers and each of their mobile phones is potentially a platform for the distribution of a myriad of local content.

Going forward, the big issue for local content is not how or where it will be published but rather if market appetite can be adequately met. Content has to be of high quality, context and relevance if it is to succeed, let alone it being local. If these three factors work then there will be an almost insatiable appetite for local content, in all its forms. We have already seen how local content on  East African television already has a massive following across our collective borders. On mobile content, ringtones of the local variety already outpace international ones in total downloads – the truth is we do love our local stuff! These emerging trends go to show that the more local content is re-purposed or generated, the more the demand will be. The local content gold rush is only just getting started.

Mobile marketing in Africa is an idea whose time has truly come

Published on February 22, 2010 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

This is an article I wrote on the growth of mobile marketing in Africa that was published in this week’s edition of the East African Newspaper. You can read it here>

What’s with the “me too” mobile offers?

Published on February 19, 2010 in Uncategorized. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Its always interesting to see how ALL of Kenya’s four mobile networks regularly seem to adopt a “me too” strategy for their various special services. Often, these are price-driven offers that generally serve to grow customer base or service utilization for a limited period of time before reverting to regular pricing. This was definitely the case over the past couple of years when we even saw free (or near free) voice calls on some the mobile networks for a limited period of time as they competed. However, these strategies tend to be unsustainable as they erode revenues and raise marketing costs.

In the latest version of the “me too” mobile offers, Safaricom is currently running a 7 day unlimited internet offer. The way it works is that you top-up Kes. 1,000.00 for 7 days of unlimited internet access on their network. This is a really good offer since Safaricom is more or less regarded as having the fastest and most widespread internet access in Kenya via their 3G broadband service. However, on their standard prepaid bundles, Safaricom is actually one of the most expensive internet services in the marketplace. Sadly the Safaricom 7 day unlimited offer will come to an end and some friends of mine will stop relentlessly downloading gigabytes of movies and music!

So, here comes the kicker. In the news this week, Orange has also just launched a “me too” 7 day unlimited internet service for the slightly lower rate of Kes. 990.00 to compete with Safaricom’s offer. The only aspect of creativity to the Orange offer is that its Kes. 10.00 cheaper. Now, I have been using Orange’s 3G+ service for the last couple of weeks and its pretty fast but I am a little upset that I just topped up Kes. 1,000.00 just before the offer was announced. This means I get 550MB of data maximum compared to potentially gigabytes of data over the next week or so.

Quite honestly, I am little surprised that Orange would go almost exactly the same route as Safaricom! I think they could have done things a little differently and strategically to their advantage. Its time for them to look at alternative and more creative ways of differentiation instead of copying the “next guy”. I, for instance, would have suggested an offer such as double or triple data for the same price which would reach ALL their subscribers including those who cannot afford Kes. 1,000.00 for 7 days unlimited internet. They could add extras that could be converted to voice minutes or sms. Whatever the case, there is definitely room for more experimentation, creativity and innovation where mobile network offers are concerned.

Nokia passes key milestones as services business continues strong momentum.

Published on February 16, 2010 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Barcelona, Spain – With a great user experience, an aggressive global
rollout plan and a focus on local relevance, Nokia truly put its services
on the map and the strong momentum continues.

Our recipe for success has some pretty simple ingredients: delighting
consumers. Yes, we are in more places, serving more people, with more
great content and services. True, more than a million apps are being
downloaded a day from our store; Comes with Music is now available in over
25 markets; and every second of the day, 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, another person downloads our new Ovi Maps app. These are great
achievements, but our goal is to delight hundreds of millions of consumers
around the world and we are well on our way, says Niklas Savander, head
of Nokia’s services business.

Our global footprint means we have scaled fast, reaching a really
significant number of people using a variety of different phones and
smartphones. We started the year with a bang with our free Ovi Maps
navigation launch and we have just announced the pilot of Nokia Money
running in one of India’s largest metropolitan areas. Going forward, we
are increasing the speed and concentrating on developing a magic
experience for the people that use our services.

Nokia highlighted landmark achievements for its key service areas:

Location: Launched in late January, the new Ovi Maps features drive and
walk navigation in 74 countries and 46 languages, as well as traffic
information in many. All new Nokia GPS-enabled smartphones will include
this great service at no extra cost.
- More than 3 million Ovi Maps downloaded to date
- More than one download per second, 24 hours a day; around 100,000
downloads a day
- Rich functionality and the best mobile maps coverage in the world

Music: Last week, Comes With Music grew to 27 markets with its arrival in
the Middle East. People that own a Comes With Music device can download as
much free music as they want from Ovi Music and, unlike other online music
services, can keep them on their device forever. Music downloaded from the
Ovi Music à la carte menu is also DRM-free.
- Ovi Music is in 33 markets, making Nokia the world’s most scaled global
digital music provider
- The average person using Comes With Music downloads 500 free songs in
the first few weeks of using the service, which would cost about EUR 450
from iTunes
- More than nine million tracks in the Ovi Music catalogue

Store: Launched in May 2009, multiple upgrades and experience improvements have improved the browsing and search experience, leading to a significant increase in the number of downloads. In 2010, Ovi Store will have more languages, billing support, improvements and of course, lots more apps.
- More than one million downloads a day
- The number of people shopping on the store doubles every month
- Fully localized store in 18 countries supporting 30 languages, and
serving 90 percent of Store visitors with their local language
- Integrated mobile billing from 60 operators in 18 countries

Messaging: A million people a month open an Ovi Mail account, often their
first online identity, bringing the total number of accounts created to
more than six million in just over a year. Working closely with operators,
Nokia Messaging, Nokia’s push email service, is now signed up with over 70
operators.

Nokia Money: Global financial services initiative starts in India
In partnership with YES BANK, a commercial pilot of the global mobile
financial services initiative has started in Pune, one of the largest
metropolitan areas in India. The service in Pune, called Mobile Money
Services by YES BANK, brings financial services to the consumers mobile
devices.

The Nokia Money initiative based on Obopay’s platform is initially
targeted at growth markets and designed to work in partnership with
multiple network operators and banks, involving distributors and merchants
in a dynamic open ecosystem to seamlessly provide the new services. YES
BANK is our first partner in India to bring this service to market,” said
Teppo Paavola, VP and general manager of Mobile Financial Services at
Nokia.
- Initial phase: consumers will be able to transfer money to another
person just by using the persons mobile phone number, pay utility bills
as well as recharge their prepaid SIM cards (SIM top-up).
- Later, consumers will also be able to pay merchants for goods and
services.

Nokia Life Tools: Nokia Life Tools is providing rural subscribers with livelihood and life improvement services, including agriculture and education services. Subscribers primarily depend on the agriculture trade and live around the poverty threshold which makes parting with one or two dollars each month for a mobile service a substantial investment. Since its launch in
mid-2009, around one million people have already subscribed to the service. Nokia Life Tools is available in India and Indonesia, and will roll out to more markets this year.

For more information on Nokia in Barcelona, please visit:
http://events.nokia.com/mwc/

About Nokia

Nokia is a pioneer in mobile telecommunications and the world’s leading
maker of mobile devices. Today, we are connecting people in new and
different ways – fusing advanced mobile technology with personalized
services to enable people to stay close to what matters to them. We also
provide comprehensive digital map information through NAVTEQ; and
equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through
Nokia Siemens Networks.

Synovate’s research on Internet usage in Kenya.

Published on February 12, 2010 in Uncategorized. 14 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

For anyone who follows this blog, you will know that I am passionate about technology and more specifically trends in Internet and mobile marketing in Kenya and the African continent. Therefore, it came as something of a pleasant surprise a couple of days back when I read an article in the Business Daily based on research findings done by Synovate Kenya (formerly known as the Steadman Group). Synovate’s research aimed to establish Internet usage trends in Kenya. The outcome, the “Digital Drive” report which is probably the first of its kind in Kenya identified the following key trends:

  • Kenya now has over 2 million registered users on Facebook.
  • Email is being discarded in favour of social networks like Facebook and Twitter by new Internet users in Kenya. One quarter of Kenyans who are online do not have email addresses.
  • 79% of Kenya’s Internet users are members of Facebook.
  • Daily and weekly internet usage in Kenya have both doubled in the last two years whereas monthly usage grew by over 80% in the same period.
  • Kenyan Internet users spend approximately 70 minutes online during each visit. This utilization is comparable to the average amount of time spent on television.

The findings confirm what I have been expecting for sometime now. With over 4 million internet users in Kenya, as well as 18 million mobile subscribers, we are about to enter an era of digital marketing like never before. The fact that consumers are spending so much time online and that half of the internet users get online via their mobile phone will lead to a whole new chapter in marketing in Kenya. Media spending WILL change. Brands will DEMAND a better Return On Investment (ROI). Advertisers who do not evolve to ride the digital wave will be rendered IRRELEVANT. Obviously, its not (yet) all doom and gloom. It won’t happen overnight but the writing is undeniably on the wall – “its time to get digital marketing MOJO”. Meanwhile, I can’t wait to get my hands on the complete Synovate Digital Drive Report for Kenya and do a more detailed summary here.

KDN sets up mobile and internet payments gateway with MobiPay.

Published on February 12, 2010 in Uncategorized. 13 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Everyone it seems is trying to get in on the opportunity to become a major player in the fast growing mobile and internet payments space in the greater East African region. Over the better part of the last six months, a variety of different businesses spanning start-ups to a well established regional bank have announced their own unique offerings. In many of these cases, each offering is either based on more traditional payment channels like credit and debit cards or more market relevant mobile payment systems that work online. In the case of the latter, the big draw is that in Kenya alone there are over eight million M-Pesa customers moving millions of dollars in transactions every month. A small slice of this market alone would make big business sense.

In the course of this week, Kenya Data Networks (KDN) is the latest company that announced it was entering the mobile and internet payments business. Their offering to be known as “MobiPay” goes a step further by consolidating a variety of stakeholders and channels including internet, mobile, proximity, credit cards, banks, merchants and consumers. This basically means that MobiPay will act as an ecosystem that takes care of all the complex integrations and interfaces for mobile and internet based payments. KDN has also confirmed that MobiPay will work with both Safaricom’s M-Pesa and Zain’s Zap mobile money services from inception in around two months time. KDN’s ambition is that MobiPay will become the defacto internet and mobile payments gateway not only in Kenya or East Africa, but across Africa.

Is your modem painfully slow? Here is why.

Published on February 12, 2010 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

This is an article I was quoted on that was featured in this week’s edition of Money Magazine in the Daily Nation. You can read it here>.

iPhone 3GS goes on sale with Orange Kenya.

Published on February 12, 2010 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

In the news earlier this week, Orange has launched the iPhone 3GS in Kenya. This is the third generation iPhone after it was first unveiled in 2007. Globally, the iPhone 3GS was launched as far back as June 2009 so its quite late in coming to Kenya. Unfortunately, as of this writing, the link containing information on iPhones on the Orange web site is broken so I cannot confirm the actual pricing for the phone. However, as per the Business Daily I read yesterday, its expected to retail with a contract for Kes. 45,000.00 which is still somewhat pricey by international standards.

KDN launches low cost BOX Broadband Internet for Kenya’s SoHo Market.

Published on February 10, 2010 in Uncategorized. 37 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Kenya Data Network (KDN) has this week launched a new low cost and unlimited broadband internet service for Kenya’s small office home office (SoHo) market to be known as Butterfly Optic Xpress or “BOX” for short. The service has been aggressively priced lower than any other comparable product in the marketplace including  Zuku which until BOX had the lowest price for unlimited broadband internet in the country.

The BOX service uses fibre optic connections that KDN has already deployed in over 400 buildings thus far. However, if one does not (yet) have fibre optic connectivity, KDN can use wireless connectivity such as Wimax instead. In order to get connected to BOX, a refundable deposit of Kes. 15,000.00 is required although there are no equipment or set-up charges (the deposit is forfeited if a subscriber discontinues the service in under 2 years). KDN has also thrown in a free VOIP line on their Izzytalk offering for all BOX subscribers. The bundles for BOX and their rates are as follows:

Monthly BOX Rates

  • 256Kbps: Kes.999.00
  • 512Kbps:  Kes.1,999.00
  • 1Mbps:  Kes.3,999.00
  • 2Mbps:  Kes.5,999.00
  • 5Mbps:  Kes.7,999.00

More information on BOX and how to get connected can be found at the KDN web site at http://www.kdn.co.ke