VENTURES AFRICA – The GSMA has opened an African headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, as the organisation seeks more cooperation with the sector stakeholders in the continent.

The association says the decision to open a point of presence in the African continent was informed by the fact the region is now more vibrant than other regions and a critical market for the mobile industry.

According to the director general Anne Bouverot the sector also holds huge potential in tackling unemployment in the region and boost regional economies.

“The rapid pace of mobile adoption has delivered an explosion of innovation and huge economic benefits in the region, directly contributing US$ 32 billion to the Sub-Saharan African economy, or 4.4 per cent of GDP. With necessary spectrum allocations and transparent regulation, the mobile industry could also fuel the creation of 14.9 million new jobs in the region between 2015 and 2020,” she said in a statement.

The region has also amongst the highest growths in mobile connections, with the association’s statistics projecting a 50 per cent growth in the next five years, with connections reaching 750 million from the current 500 million mark surpassed in Q1 2013.

The GSMA warns this growth will require more harmonised spectrum for mobile or the continent risks undermining its broadband and development goals as the amounts of allocated spectrum among the lowest in the world.

It says the delivery of mobile broadband to rural populations should be a priority.

“A positive and supportive regulatory environment and sufficient spectrum allocation is critical to the further growth of mobile in Africa. I am confident that now that we have a physical presence in Africa, we will be able to work together with our members to put the conditions in place that will facilitate the expansion of mobile, bringing important connectivity and services to all in the region,” said Bouverot.

In Africa the GSMA mostly focuses on regulatory, environmental, and roaming issues, with the GSMA Africa secretariat overseeing research on taxation, spectrum and other issues of particular relevance to the African mobile industry.

The office will be located at the iHub.

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Fitt scouted for locations and employees in South Africa in March.

Speaking on the reason for expansion, Founder and CEO of Velsoft, Jim Fitt, said “South Africa has become our fourth largest market and it continues to grow. The country is experiencing great demand for education, and the market in neighbouring countries is booming. Opening an office there, to expand our presence with feet on the ground, made perfect sense.”

“It turns out that in South Africa, we ’ve got a very large population who haven’t really traditionally had access to education the way they do now, so they are major consumers of education. So when you have a large population wanting to consume training, then you need the materials to do that,” the CEO said.

Velsoft’s South African office is its first independent location, a move that is paying immediate dividends.

“Already we’ve felt that the business increased from having a presence in South Africa, that we have people on the street there,” Fitt said.

“We have a fine partnership with Young & Able, a dynamic and up-and-coming professional development team in Johannesburg that shares our vision. On my last visit to South Africa, I was reminded of some of the shared values with our office in rural Nova Scotia. The passion for education, the determination to succeed and the pride in the place that we live, strongly influences everything we do as an organization,” he added.

A finalist for exporter of the year at the Nova Scotia Export Achievement Awards, Velsoft, has more than 10,000 customers including giants like Microsoft, Pfizer and NASA in 162 countries while developing software and materials for training.

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Known as Intel EASY STEPS, the training will be conducted on a ‘Train-the-Trainer’ basis is part of Intel’s educational content designed to improve quality of lives through extensive use of digital technology.

Intel’s West Africa Corporate Affairs Manager, Osagie Ogunbor, said the initiative would enhance the ability of the women to run more efficient businesses; adding that the training which will be provided free of charge, is part of Intel’s “women friendly” corporate social responsibility initiatives.

According to Ogunbor, digital literacy is pivotal to the improvement of the quality of lives of any individual in today’s contemporary world.

“You cannot be effective and efficient in the running of any enterprise without digital literacy. This has become a necessity in this digital age and we are proud to lead in global efforts at digital literacy,” he said.

President of AWEP Nigeria, Yemisi Iranloye said she was delighted that Intel was providing the free training for its members and promised that those who receive the training will in turn ensure that they train others.

She added that despite the large number of women running very small informal businesses in Ghana, “a number of them are unable to expand the scope and profile of their businesses because they are unable to take advantage of the opportunities that abound in this digital world.”

AWEP is an initiative launched by the United States (US) Department of State in July 2010 that identifies and builds networks of women entrepreneurs across sub-Saharan Africa with the purpose of transforming their societies by owning, running, and operating small and medium businesses, and by becoming voices for social advocacy in their communities.

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500 startups was founded in 2007 as a seed accelerator and investment fund by former Mint.com executive, Dave McClure. According to Cp-Africa, the company has invested in over 400 companies globally, including Wildfire Interactive which was acquired by Google for $250 million in 2012.

Dropifi is a smart customer service widget that helps users better analyse, visualize, and respond to to incoming messages and also tells when sent emails are opened.

“Most web sites have a contact for which is dumb, just sending an email. Dropifi is a smart contact form which extracts the right data. Very much aimed at small business,” TechCrunch said.

David Osei, Effah Mensah and Kamil Nabong founded the startup in November 2011 after joining the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) program in Accra, Ghana in August of the same year.

Dropifi won the Global Startup Open Competition and was named the World’s best startup in 2012 by Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

At the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Rio De Janeiro, the founders pitched to David McClure of 500 Startups and was eventually picked.

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VENTURES AFRICA – The International Finance Corporation (IFC), in partnership with the MasterCard Foundation, has assembled financial players to build further momentum for mobile financial services in Ivory Coast.

Considering mobile access to financial services a key element in the fight against poverty, the IFC held a seminar yesterday in Abidjan to discuss the eradication of poverty amongst citizens.

Though Ivory Coast has more than 90 percent mobile penetration, only 14 percent of the population have access to financial services.

Cassandra Colbert, IFC resident representative in Ivory Coast, said: “IFC and the MasterCard Foundation want to help local financial institutions realize the opportunity in Cote d’Ivoire for the development of agent banking and mobile financial services that will accelerate the reach of financial services to those currently without banking services.”

During the event the market potential for financial increases to small scale businesses in rural areas and low income households were emphasised.

Through a four year plan the collaboration will work on the improvement of the Ivorian financial situation through mobility.

“Improving access to finance is important for supporting shared prosperity in Cote d’Ivoire,” Colbert added.

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Yookos, a social network site which focuses on providing users the platform to connect, share and interact unveiled the new app at the recently concluded World Mobile Web West Africa 2013 Conference in Lagos.

“We are particularly pleased that as a company, we have reached yet another momentous milestone in the development of our platform. What makes this remarkable is that it facilitates the ‘crowd-sourcing’ of innovative ideas and solutions that will not only expand the functionality of the platform but also make its usage an exhilarating experience,” Group Chief Executive Officer for Yookos, Tomisin Fashina, said.

Yookos will also be hosting a free Developer’s Workshop in Lagos today to reinforce the company’s commitment to the empowerment of developers in the region while using it as a platform to launch its newly released APIs to the global developer community.

“ Our focus is not just about getting something from developers but we also plan to give back through our multifaceted approach that will see the launch of programmes focused on university students, community engagement sessions aimed at attracting young people to the profession, as well as educational peer engagement sessions just to mention a few,” said Mr Fashina in conclusion.

Launched in Nigeria in 2011, Yookos currently boasts over 13 million registered users worldwide with Nigeria accounting for more than 60 percent of that base.

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VENTURES AFRICA – Vytas Paukstys, founder of the largest social network in Nigeria Eskimi, has put its success down to the application’s functionality on a wide range of devices and the size of the Nigerian market.

Speaking to HumanIPO, Paukstys said prior to the launch of the app in Nigeria three years ago, a technology drive was carried out to determine its workability on older devices.

“When we launched the product we did a technology drive. Three years ago, we actually built a product that was working on older devices. When we launched it, we already had the technology developed in Europe that was working on the various devices,” Paukstys said.

He added that being the largest telecoms market gives Nigeria an edge over other countries where the citizens are also using Eskimi.

“Nigeria is the largest market in Africa so I believe that would be a strong reason,” he said.

The Eskimi boss stated the company chose Nigeria as the focus of its business operations, which is now helping the growth of the product.

“We chose Nigeria to focus on our business operations, in other words, that helped the product grow also. We want to prove all the revenue models here in the biggest market, then we can replicate them in other countries,” Paukstys added.

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VENTURES AFRICA – African accelerator 88mph is accepting applications for its next three month programme in Nairobi, Kenya, with investments of up to $100,000 available.

88mph concluded its first Cape Town programme last month and its return to Kenya will be its second time running the Nairobi accelerator.

Successful applicants to the programme will receive an investment offer, access to a wide range of domestic and international mentors and introductions to potential follow-on investors.

Nikolai Barnwell, 88mph Nairobi programme director, said: “Unfortunately, the natural course of a startup is to die before succeeding. But we provide the funding and the infrastructure to boost the odds of survival and we now want to look for the next batch of future successful entrepreneurs.”

Six startups completed 88mph’s first programme in Nairboi, including mobile music applicationMdundo, which recently launched a subscription service and is now paying royalties to artists.

Barnwell added: “There’s an immense opportunity to build mobile/web startups in Nairobi right now.

“African mobile/web is hands down one of the fastest growing markets in the world and we want to reach out to entrepreneurs who build products and services for hundreds of million mobile/web users that are rapidly popping up on the continent.”

Startups on the programme also receive support from expert entrepreneurs-in-residence and have the opportunity to pitch their startup at the end of the three months at Demo Day, where a host of potential investors will be watching.

88mph, a privately backed investment fund, has to date invested in 23 startups and is open to taking on between eight and 15 teams for the next programme.

The deadline for applications is midnight on July 15. Startups can expect a decision on whether they qualify by August 1 and the programme starts on August 26.

For more information and to apply click here.

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“Our desire is to flood the Nigerian and African mobile phone markets with Tecno smartphones.” Boukali Mounir is the Director, Brands and Marketing, Tecno Telecomssaid in an interview early this month.

Etisalat and Tecno had previously introduced a co-branded Dual SIM phone, the T341 alongside a 12-month free data bundle for a range of Tecno smartphones and internet phones which include the N7, Q1, P3, T756, T736 & T608.

Tecno’s partnership with Etisalat will allow consumers who buy the Tecno P3 get 100MB free data monthly for a period of twelve month. powered by Easyblaze on the Etisalat 3.75G network.

The Tecno P3 which comes with 3G internet access is an entry-level smartphone that runs on Android 2.3Gingerbread operating system, and powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM7225A processor to offer users 3G smartphone experience, good battery life, and easy access to the Internet and multiple social networks.

Speaking on the partnership, Tecno Group Vice President, Arif Chowdhury, said, “We realised that Internet savvy Nigerians are in dire need of a fast, innovative and seamless Internet experience. These experiences are what Tecno P3 smartphone brings, and that also informs why we partnered with Etisalat.”

However, customers are left with the choice to choose either the Etisalat customised version available at Etisalat experience centres and its partner retailers, or buy the un-customised version from Tecno’s partner retailers nationwide, as it comes with the same data bundle offer as the customised version.

The Chief Commercial Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Wael Ammar, said, “The telecommunications industry has seen an increased demand for data and smartphones in recent times, and it is important for network providers and phone manufacturers to continue to collaborate and initiate products and services to satisfy these needs.

“Etisalat’s most advanced 3.75G, HSPA+ Network and its easyblaze broadband service with speed up to 42 mbps combined with these Tecno phones is yet another example of our continuous effort to bring our customers easy, affordable and reliable access to the Internet.”

Also speaking at the event, the Director of Business Development for Qualcomm West Africa, Mr. Alex Dadson, said, “Our partnership with Tecno in manufacturing smartphones according to the Qualcomm Reference Design continues to offer the Nigerian market the best 3G smartphone experience.

“QRD is the only program of its kind that brings together the value of the mobile industry leader with specific products, features and programmes for emerging markets. Tecno’s P3 leverages the power of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor to give consumers an affordable smartphone that delivers a superior user experience.”

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The Child Online Protection initiative aims to identify risks and vulnerabilities to children in cyberspace, create awareness, develop practical tools to help minimize risk, and share knowledge and experience.

As the new leader of ITU’s COP, Jonathan will work toward creating a safe environment for children while they are on the internet, as well as push for reforms not only in the Africa region but across the globe.

ITU said it believes in the first lady’s ability to spread the cyber security message and push for necessary reforms not only in the Africa region, but across the globe.

A statement released by the union confirmed that Jonathan received her letter of appointment from the Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU, Brahima Sanou who was accompanied by the Chairman of the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (ITU’s executing arm for cyber security), Datuk Amin and ITU’s Regional Director for Africa, Andrew Rugege; at the state house in Abuja on Friday where they discussed issues related to cyber threats and cyber security in the Africa region.

ITU’s union’s Secretary-General, Dr. Hamadoun Touré says: “In this new digital world, we all have a special responsibility to ensure the safety and security of young people in the online world, just as we do offline.”

“It is a great honour for ITU to have the support of Nigeria’s First Lady. Her commitment is a further confirmation of the key role that ITU is playing as a global catalyst and facilitator in international dialogue and cooperation in the area of cyber security,” Touré said.

Sanou, “COP framework has become a crucial means of creating a safe environment for our children, while they are on the net. Both ITU and IMPACT have faith in her ability to spread this message and push for reforms not only in the Africa region but across the globe.”

Aside the COP initiative, ITU and IMPACT are looking at the possibility of setting up a Cybersecurity Regional Centre in Nigeria, which will play an essential role in supporting the expansion of their network globally, by localising cyber security services to meet the unique needs of the region.

The proposed regional centre will become a vital hub of expertise and constitute an important component of the multi-stakeholder network that must be built to support government, industry and citizens so that the full benefits of information and communications technology can be assured for all citizens.

“While acting as a catalyst for greater regional collaboration to address escalating cyber threats, this centre would also help promote Nigeria as an advanced cyber security hub for the region,” Sanou said.

Jonathan on her part commended the ITU-IMPACT on their course to protect innocent children and youths around the world from exposure to various forms of online abuses, such as pornography, radicalisation, trafficking and bullying.

She expressed willingness to partner with ITU-IMPACT and address the safety and security of children and youth around the world who, according to her, are among the top users of the internet globally.

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