Monthly Archive for February, 2011

Kenya28Feb

Published on February 25, 2011 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Its almost the 28th of February 2011. This is a significant date based on some online discussions I have been following for the last month or so. On this date, which has been shortened to the acronym “Kenya28Feb“, the plan is for Kenyans nationwide to join together in unity. More specifically, according to the Kenya28Feb web site, at 1.00 pm, Kenyans will sing all three verses of the National Anthem. The event is quite unique in that its been largely formulated and driven through Internet media.

As of this writing though, the Kenya28Feb Facebook Page has 1,080 “likes” and the Kenya28 Twitter Account has 672 followers. These are pretty low numbers and I suspect that the awareness levels for Kenya28Feb are not high enough to make a big impact. However, it will be interesting to see how well this initiative performs as “flashmobs” of people sing the National Anthem all over the country.

For more information and details on Kenya28Feb, go to the web site at http://www.28feb.co.ke.

Making a case for better customer data use in Kenya.

Published on February 18, 2011 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments

What a week! Its been a busy week with lots of meetings and all sorts of other things happening. I am really looking forward to the weekend! But, before I get there, I want to share a couple of interesting incidents that happened to me this week, which form the basis for this post.

The first incident involved me going to an express courier to send a document to an International destination. I had not used the said courier for probably as long as 5 years in a personal capacity. At sometime in the past, I had registered for their loyalty program for cash customers. Now, I had long lost their loyalty card for the same so they asked me for my first and last names. So, 5 years later, my details were still preserved in their databases. They were able to tell me the last time I transacted and how many points I had. I was a little astounded that they still had all of my information even though it was well over 5 years since I last interacted with them – I was impressed. Indeed, customer data does live on, even in Kenya.

The second incident involved going to a building I have not visited in few years for dinner. In this same building is a video library where I used to borrow movies every weekend, for a good number of years. Now, once again, its probably over 5 years since I used my account there and likewise I had long lost my membership card. However, I asked them to check for my membership details using my first and last name – well, voila! The details we’re still in their databases and better yet my account was still considered to be “active” – I could have borrowed a movie right there and then. They were even able to tell me the last movies I borrowed as well as the dates, and the “late” fee I was charged when I returned the movies.

As these two incidents illustrate, customer data is very much an area where businesses are paying attention to in Kenya. Using this customer data, even without a fully fledged Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, businesses in Kenya can retain customers and generate new business. However, its ironic in my case that none of these businesses ever called me or emailed me to find out why I had stopped using their services, even though they had this crucial data on me. What happened?! Is this to say that the data is simply for filing purposes and is not being used to enhance sales and service? Well, it would seem so in these two incidents. So, certainly, data for the sake of data is not enough for businesses in Kenya. Data needs to be leveraged as a strategic asset that can sustain and grow business for the long term.

Its the eyeballs, not the content, duh! :)

Published on February 11, 2011 in Uncategorized. 5 Comments

One of the things about working in technology like I do is that you learn change is the only constant. As a result, paradigm shifts in what was once tried and proven way of doing things is indeed the norm. Therefore, it came as a surprise this week when someone I know pretty well and whom I used to work with some years ago “swatted” a Facebook status update I made about content being in its “golden age” after the Huffington Post was acquired by AOL for a staggering US$ 315 Million. He started an “argument” with me of sorts where he asserted that its not about the content but rather its about the audience. I took offense to his harsh remarks on the whole issue and the conversation kept going till just yesterday. It finally dawned on me that we we’re both saying the same thing, but in different ways, and from different perspectives.

Let me use this blog as an example. Why do you come here? Why do you read what I am writing about? I am guessing (and hoping?) that you like what I have to write about, which is more often than not all about technology in Kenya, and sometimes the rest of Africa. Right? Yes? OK, assuming that this is indeed the reason, and lets say I wanted to monetize this blog for a living, would I be able to do so? I hope so, based on the assumption there would be enough to traffic to this blog (read: your eyeballs) to make it work. Now, take another perspective. The Huffington Post being bought for US$ 315 million by AOL. Its an eye popping amount of cash for what is essentially a souped up and diverse blog. Yes. A blog! With good content that’s updated regularly. But. That’s not really it. Is it? Really?

So, here comes the punch line. AOL did not buy a blog. No. They bought the eyeballs that gaze lovingly at the Huffington Post. Those millions and millions of eyeballs that in January 2011 amounted to 28 million – that’s more than half the population of Kenya – that’s loads and loads of people. For AOL, those 28 million eyeballs amount to a massive opportunity to sell more advertising and to also “own” them for the offerings they may want to sell them, long term. So. Really. Its not the content. Really. Its the eyeballs. Duh!

As everyone races for the content honeypot in Kenya and the rest of Africa, what they should really be thinking is do they have the ability to scale the way that the Huffington Post did to make a significant dent on the status quo? In this case, the Huffington Post grew organically (more or less with the occasional funding) to where it is today and they made US$ 30 million last year. They have an exceptionally good editorial approach that has endeared the eyeballs to them. When old school media is falling away they are only getting bigger and bigger (African media can you see whats coming? Change!). Good content always counts but its the eyeballs that matter most – that’s the value – that’s what AOL bought – Its a sweet deal for 28 million eyeballs!

Note: Thanks for stretching my thinking Ath – I needed that “content” reality check! :)

Dealfish.com, Africa’s online marketplace.

Published on February 10, 2011 in Uncategorized. 3 Comments Tags: , .

Dealfish Senior Management Team: Moses Kemibaro (Regional Manager, East Africa), Neil Schwartzman (General Manager, East and West Africa) Francis Ebuehi (Regional Manager, West Africa) and Jason Wilmans (Product Manager, East and West Africa)

Africa has a serious problem when it comes to e-commerce. Globally, e-commerce has been a reality for many businesses and of all sizes for over 15 years but in Africa we lag far behind. In many cases the reasons for this range from a lack of adequate credit card penetration, lacking (local) online payment processing gateways, inadequate e-legislation and poor e-literacy.

However, what is very apparent is that the shape and form that e-commerce will take in Africa will be quite different from what has happened globally. For one thing, its increasingly obvious that the rapid and massive uptake of mobile technology on the continent makes it the probable channel for e-commerce. In addition, mobile money, which has been remarkably successful in Kenya via Safaricom’s M-Pesa looks like it will be key for e-commerce to happen. Indeed, just yesterday, both Safaricom and Airtel launched VISA and Mastercard Debit Cards that both enable online transactions using mobile money.

So, here lies the caveat. Even as we move Africa towards an e-commerce society, the bigger question is are we ready for it? Its one thing to buy a book from Amazon.com but quite another to buy local goods and services over the Internet. In fact, even in Kenya where there are only a handful of web sites that let you pay online via mobile money or credit cards, users are usually quite reluctant to transact online due to fraud and security concerns – which ultimately defeats the whole purpose of e-commerce.

This brings me to the point of this blog post. At the end of day, even as we work furiously to make e-commerce a reality in Africa, the truth is at a larger level e-commerce has to go through stages before it is viable on a large scale. Trust has to be achieved, legislation has to be in place, consumers and businesses have to be educated. In its simplest form, having products and services online either on a basic web site or even a Facebook Page is a start. Considering that many individuals and businesses in Africa are NOT able to afford building their own web sites (especially those classified as small or micro enterprises), online marketplaces will serve as the entry point to e-commerce in Africa.

By definition, an online marketplace is simply a web site that brings buyers and sellers together to achieve transactions, either as individuals or businesses. Online marketplaces come in all shapes and sizes – from simple online variants of your classified listings in Newspapers to sophisticated and highly secure online platforms that handle millions of dollars worth of transactions daily (think eBay.com). Ultimately, the bottom-line is that a small hair salon or restaurant marketing their offerings on the Internet through an online marketplace is a compelling proposition.

This brings me to what I have been working on for the past 4 months or so, Dealfish.com. Dealfish is essentially what I have been describing above as online marketplace. I have been busy setting up and managing the East African aspect of what is essentially a Pan-African online marketplace. We are currently fully operational in Kenya and Nigeria, planning to expand gradually over the next few years. In Dealfish, what we are trying to achieve is a long-term solution that helps buyers and sellers of all sizes in Africa achieve trusted transactions online.

Dealfish is a brand of MIH Internet of South Africa, which in turn is owned by Naspers, the fifth largest media business in the world, as of this writing (you may know Naspers as the company behind Multichoice and DSTV). What are we doing at Dealfish is truly groundbreaking stuff. Our online marketplace has been designed to work on mobile phones, as well as computers. In Kenya, we have already achieved market leadership by having the largest number of classifieds listings. In addition, we have hired a team that is ensuring we have the most current listings for jobs, cars, real estate and everything else in between. In a nutshell, we are aiming to revolutionize trade on an Africa-wide level – for businesses and individuals – via the Internet. Its a grand vision! Its one we plan to achieve. Watch this space.

PodCast Interview with Symantec’s Kara Rawden & Nadia Hufkie.

Published on February 10, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Kara Rawden and Nadia Hufkie of Symantec Corporation in Emerging Middle East and Africa (EMEA)

This is a PodCast of an interview I had during my lunch break today with Kara Rawden who is Symantec’s Senior Marketing Manager for Consumers in Middle East & Africa as well as Nadia Hufkie who is Director of Consumer Marketing for Symantec in Emerging Middle East & Africa.

The interview focused on what Symantec is doing in Kenya and the broader African Region – especially in the area of Cyber Threats facing consumers. Symantec was founded in 1982 and today is one of the undisputed global leaders for digital security, storage and systems management in all kinds of technologies. Symantec is operational in over 40 countries and has a workforce of 17,500. You can listen to the entire PodCast below:

PodCast Interview with Symantec’s Kara Rawden and Nadia Hufkie by Moses Kemibaro

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Safaricom launches M-Pesa Prepay VISA Safari Card.

Published on February 9, 2011 in Uncategorized. 15 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

This is probably the best news in Kenya’s Internet space since the arrival of broadband! For the longest time, it has been largely a cumbersome and expensive process for Kenyan Internet users to buy products and services online. Usually, the process of doing so required you to have a bank account and a credit card which is out of the reach of many Kenyan’s, and not just the so called “unbanked”.

So, its come as a breath fresh air for many including me in the news today that Safaricom has launched an M-Pesa backed VISA debit card in Kenya. The Safaricom M-Pesa Prepay Visa Safari Card (that’s quite a mouthful by the way!) enables one to use their M-Pesa account to make purchases online as well as access over 28 million VISA outlets globally.

The new VISA card is available from Safaricom outlets nationwide and is being supported through a strategic partnership with I&M Bank. More information on the new Safari Card can be found on both the Safaricom and I&M Bank web sites.

InMobi appoints Isis Nyong’o as Africa Vice President and Managing Director

Published on February 7, 2011 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .

Press Release.

Nairobi, February 7, 2011

InMobi, the world’s largest independent mobile advertising network, today announced the appointment of Isis Nyong’o as Vice President and Managing Director, Africa. Isis  has come on board to drive InMobi’s African business strategy, facilitating the  expansion of  the Company’s continental base. She takes over from Stephen Newton who recently left the Company to pursue other opportunities. Isis was previously leading Google’s business development initiatives in Africa, where she specialised in mobile partnerships and was responsible for the development of Google’s Africa content strategy .

“We are thrilled to have Isis join our team, especially at a time when InMobi is seeing such a huge increase in ad-impressions across its African businesses. With her wide sector and regional experience, Isis makes a valuable addition to the InMobi family and we look forward to having her on board during what we believe will be one of the most exciting periods in the history of Africa’s telecoms sector,” said Naveen Tewari, Founder & CEO, InMobi.

“We thank Stephen for his contribution to InMobi’s regional success and wish him the best in his future endeavours,” Newaari added.

Speaking on her appointment Isis said, “A move to InMobi seemed a natural ‘next step’ for me.  Firstly, because of the confidence I have in the organisation’s leadership team and secondly for the opportunity to build a scalable mobile business in Africa.  This continent has the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world.  If you combine this with the fact that more Africans access the Internet from mobiles than any other platform, it means the market for mobile advertising is set for strong levels of growth.”

Isis continued “The availability of local content for use on mobile platforms is still a challenge, but I am confident that we, in the mobile advertising industry, can and will succeed in fostering a stronger content development focus on the continent.”

Prior to her role at Google, Isis gained extensive media and tech experience while driving the launch of MTV Networks in Africa where she was responsible for commercial relationships including distribution and sales. She also developed the marketing strategy for Kenya’s first online recruitment service, MyJobsEye and holds degrees from Stanford University and Harvard Business School.

Isis has been named as one of the ‘Top 40 Women under 40′ in Kenya, where she will be based.

About InMobi

InMobi is the world’s largest independent global mobile advertising network. InMobi provides advertisers, developers, and publishers with a uniquely global mobile advertising solution. InMobi, which more than doubled its network in the first 6 months of 2010, delivers the unprecedented ability to reach 185 million consumers in over 115 countries through more than 21.2 billion mobile ad impressions monthly. Recently InMobi was selected to the 2010 AlwaysOn 250 as a company to watch in the global Silicon Valley.

Nairobi’s Urban Digital Divide, or, NUDD for short.

Published on February 4, 2011 in Uncategorized. 4 Comments

A large and dimly lit Cyber Cafe in downtown Nairobi

If your like me, and live and work in the largely nicer parts of Nairobi, its very easy to assume that your digital world is the same, or similar, to others in the city.

If your like me, chances are you hardly ever go into the more populated areas of Nairobi or “downtown” in the Central Business District (CBD) for that matter where a good number of people live, and work.

Well, to put it mildly, I had an eyeopener earlier this week to what I could only describe as Nairobi’s Urban Digital Divide, or, NUDD for short.

Street view, downtown Nairobi.

So, what exactly is NUDD? Well, its the idea I got in my head that we live in a city of digital “haves” and “have nots”. Basically, there are those who are digitally affluent and those who are not. Those who are affluent buy brand new smartphones and have “always on” Internet access at home and at work, plus a dongle for mobile Internet access. On the opposite end there are those for whom a grey market feature mobile handset and Cyber Cafes are the only way for them to be digital citizens in Nairobi.

In the context of this post, I want to illustrate the disparity that exists between Nairobi’s urban digital elite and urban digital constrained(?). There are two areas that come to mind for me, based on my excursion to downtown Nairobi – the mobile phone and Internet access.

Grey market mobile handsets in downtown Nairobi stalls.

Let me start off with the mobile phones. My trip showed me that although we keep talking about the massive numbers of mobile subscribers in Kenya, not all mobile subscribers are equal. I was surprised at the number of “grey market” mobiles being sold there under well-known brand names for prices that would only shock you. Cheap. Dirt cheap!

Most of these phones are cheap knock-offs from Asia that have features like analogue television and twin SIM cards (which have become more or less “de facto” for the middle class as they use different mobile networks based on their competitive rates for different services at different times of the day or month). These are the phones that a huge number of Wananchi (i.e. People) in Kenya actually buy and use. How good they are and whether they are durable is a question I cannot answer but they are selling like hot cakes.

Kes. 0.50 cents per minute for Cyber Cafe Internet time.

The second aspect of NUDD is that of Internet access where PC-based usage is concerned. In spite of the fact that there are now lots of inexpensive computers, new and used available in Kenya, as well as liberal “deals” on mobile internet dongles and financing, there are those who cannot afford them.

Therefore, what surprised me is how well the Cyber Cafes are doing in Nairobi’s downtown area of the CBD. I went to one that had over 220 terminals and it was quite busy when we got there. The set-up was fairly simple and the furniture truly basic but they charged only Kes. 0.50 per minute – that translates to Kes. 30.00 per hour. What?! Kes. 30.00 for a full hour of internet time? What?! I could not believe how cheap Internet access was in downtown Nairobi. Clearly, I was getting an education.

In concluding, even as we talk enthusiastically about how far Kenya has come digitally with broadband and mobile technologies, the truth is there definitely a divide as to how you live digitally in the same city, such as is the case with Nairobi. NUDD is very real and I am glad I got a chance to see how the other side of Nairobi gets online, and on mobile, everyday, and possibly, in the only way they can.

Google Insights for Search in Kenya show January 2011 a month of educational searches.

Published on February 2, 2011 in Uncategorized. 4 Comments

Press Release

New Form One selection policy springs “KCPE” to top list of fastest rising searches in Kenya.

The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) account for seven out of the 10 fastest rising searches made by Kenyan internet users, as revealed by Google Insights for Search in the month of January 2011.

Google has released its monthly search results using Google Insights, a tool that provides insights into Internet search trends, showing that exam-related searches were by far the most prominent in the list of fastest rising searches over the last 30 days.

The results reflect the concern over the new students selection policy recently introduced by the Ministry of Education, where the government secured more places in National schools for pupils from public primary schools. The new policy has seen 206,000 of the 746,107 pupils miss out on placement in High School.

Fastest Rising searches: Kenya  last 30 days

  1. kcpe 2010
  2. kcpe 2010 results
  3. knec results
  4. www.knec.ac.ke
  5. kcpe results
  6. kcpe
  7. knec
  8. uniplus
  9. helb
  10. kenyan jobs

Featuring at the bottom of the list are searches for jobs and financial aid. ‘helb’, coming in ninth position, offers loans for higher education students, suggesting that the internet is increasingly used for financial aid applications, scholarship searches, and other activities.

Web Search Interest: Kenya Police.

Around the globe, there was an upsurge in the search term ‘Kenya Police’ after news broke out that their website had been hacked and then, a few weeks later, media reports that Kenyan Police had killed suspected robbers at point blank range. In the latter incident, the Internal Security Minister came to the defence of the robbers, provoking a public debate led by civil society.

Zeitgeist Explained

Google reveals the internet “Zeitgeist” (German for “the spirit of the times”) through an exploration of the billions of search queries we receive each year. We also have several tools that give insight into global, regional, past and present search trends. Google Zeitgeist tools can never be used to identify individual users because we rely on anonymized, aggregated counts of how often certain search queries occur over time. These tools are available year-round for you to play with, explore, and learn from.  You can create your own lists and rankings on www.google.com/zeitgeist

About Google.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.google.com/africa and our Google Africa Blog. You can also follow Google’s Africa team on Twitter: twitter.com/googleafrica