Gitau, who graduated from the University of Cape Town (UCT) earlier this month, has devised a simple, yet revolutionary approach to using mobile technology to connect skilled workers with prospective employers.

The system, called Ummeli, now has 150,000 users, with the initial impact evaluation indicating that approximately 18 percent have found jobs and another 10 percent have secured interviews. The relatively inexpensive application, which matches unemployed workers with employers in urgent need of their skills, has enormous implications for the labour force in regions where unemployment is high. Ummeli has been rolled out in South Africa and will hopefully be made available in other African countries.

Gitau devised the technology solution in collaboration with staff at UCT’s Information and Communication Technologies for Development Centre (ICT4D). “I had experienced and seen so much poverty, and I knew deep inside me that I wanted to do something about it. I looked at various institutions for a graduate programme that would offer me both the social and the technology angles,” she says.

Gitau has since been appointed to Google’s User Experience Group in Africa. “Although I was initially hired for a position based in London, and then Zurich, I requested to be sent back home because I believe this is where I could have the most impact,” she says. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, her role is to explore the ICT needs of different groups throughout Africa and emerging markets, and design appropriate systems so that Google can meet those needs. The Praekelt Foundation, established by South African IT millionaire Gustav Praekelt, has also learned about the new software and is in the process of up-scaling the system to make it available countrywide, free of charge.

Gitau’s innovative way of using mobile technology to benefit the continent is just one example of the work done by the ICT4D Centre, launched by the UCT Department of Computer Science in 2009. The centre’s staff and students are dedicated to finding suitable mobile solutions that meet the societal needs of people living in Africa. They work closely with communities to create and evaluate technology that is best suited to local conditions. The centre has already produced an impressive portfolio of mobile apps and other innovations that provide solutions to health, education and labour sector issues.

The post Kenyan Female PhD Research Leads To Google Job appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

According to one of the twin programmers (Chika) who sealed the deal last month, they will redesign the look and feel of TagWorld from scratch and will be working with GROU.PS on TagWorld as it designers.

“[we] have completed the first round of design for TagWorld. Now everything looks just the way it should, and the exciting part is that more is coming because our fingers are itching.”

Mehmet Emek, an Engineer at GROU.PS said, the firm ”look forward to new designs and updates from the brothers.”

According to Chidi, “LAGbook was developed on the GROU.PS social groupware platform, and they say that we have built extensively on their platform, showcasing the full potential of what their platform can do.”

“I guess they love what we did with LAGbook, and want us to do the same with TagWorld,” says Chidi.

TagWorld is a social network created in 2005 by American serial entrepreneurs, Freud Krueger and Evan Rifkin as a rival to MySpace, another social network. TagWorld reached a million user in 2006 and received $7.5 million in funding before MTV acquired it in 2008 as the growth of the social network continued.

In 2010, American social groupware platform, GROU.PS acquired TagWorld and its users while MTV continue to own the firm’s social media technology.

The post Nigerian Programmers Contracted To Redesign MTV’s TagWorld appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

So says Phumzile Phike, the CEO at MTN Guinea Conakry. He made these comments at the 10^th annual Connecting West Africa conference in Dakar, Senegal, on Tuesday.

“Africa has seen a more than proportional share of this growth, nevertheless there are some challenges that are still holding back West Africa’s full integration into the digital age,” Phike said.

“These include inadequate terrestrial backhaul links to exploit opportunities presented by the tremendous growth in submarine cable infrastructure and demand for data.”

But prospects for connecting West Africa were great, including delivering submarine cable access to coastal and landlocked states.

Additionally, these prospects include increasing Africa’s internet market and starting global joint ventures for expanding their footmark.

MTN is launching an IP/MPLS network to boost the firm’s “new vision” across its geographies and beyond.

This is in keeping with the firm’s strategy of delivering a new digital world to its clients.

“Last year marked the commercial launch of the West Africa Cable System (WACS) in Cape Town, South Africa. The submarine cable links South Africa with the United Kingdom along the west coast of Africa,” Phike said.

“MTN is the largest investor in WACS, with commitments in excess of US$100 million, comprising $90 million system capital contribution and additional capital investments towards the construction of cable landing facilities in Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire.”

The post West Africa Lagging In Integrating Into Digital Age appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

VENTURES AFRICA – Lessons learnt from the digital revolution appear, on the surface, easy enough to catalogue, especially when writing about the successful disruptive strategies of entrepreneurs and startups in Silicon Valley and technology hubs across Europe. At this point, the world has heard so much about the market niches exploited that the resulting lessons seem obvious. Now that the digital revolution has advanced, creating complex business environments, I would assert that emerging markets also have numerous valuable lessons to teach the rest of the world.

As a restructuring consultant, reorganising underperforming companies back to profitability, I find myself working more and more with technology companies in mature markets, globally. Tech companies, online media, and software companies in particular, used to be the darlings of industry, somehow immune to the declining revenues experienced elsewhere during economic downturns. The industry was growing fast and, for many companies, profits were either abundantly present or on the visible horizon.

Today, this is no longer the case. Tech markets are crowded, and while profits accrue they are localised to a diminishing pool of major players. Many mature tech companies, once champions of flexible operating models, have now become rigid, believing that predictable processes (read overheads) help to contain order and deliver financial results.

As a consequence, overheads such as large management teams, excessive management pay, and large general administrative or finance functions, have outstripped the costs and financial benefits of research, development and innovation. These companies are now forced to restructure.

Cutting costs alone only buys limited time for companies needing to increase profits, and this is almost never the complete answer to performance improvement. An example comes to mind, which we will call “Company X” for the sake of anonymity.

Company X, an online technology company previously experiencing explosive growth, was now beginning to face heavy competition while the cost of customer acquisition increased, biting into profits. It had become clear that if nothing else prevailed, revenues and profits would continue to decline to a point that would precipitate further operating cuts and thus further headcount reductions.

While it is generally advised that tech companies focus 75 percent or more of their resources on the product and getting it to market, at Company X, 40 percent of the fixed costs came from overheads and non-core activities such as finance, admin, HR, IT and other management profligacy, due to an inability to work efficiently.

The bottom line: executives at Company X seemed more interested in building empires within their functions than on supporting the efficient release of top-notch products and services. This should never be allowed to happen.

Recently, I came across the jugaad principle – a simple concept bottled in India for world export. Colloquially, jugaad means “a creative idea, or a quick workaround to get through commercial, logistical, or law issues”. Its key principles include seeking opportunity in adversity; doing more with less; thinking and acting flexibly; and continuing to keep things simple and creative, even as companies mature.

This jugaad principle could have been coined in Africa, where entrepreneurs are increasingly finding ways to access and deliver services and products in the most creative and resourceful ways. Start-ups in Africa, such as Sproxil, which works to creatively eliminate the problem of counterfeit drugs, or Mobiashara, which provides an innovative mobile platform for commerce in areas with inadequate commercial infrastructure, are good examples of companies seeking opportunity in adversity. These entrepreneurs in Africa are sending out clear jugaad-principled messages: we can complain about a lack of commercial and financial vehicles or we can seize the opportunity in adversity and creatively service the landscape with a mobile platform; we can complain about poor health services and access to authentic drugs or we can help by reducing avenues for counterfeit drugs. This inspired approach can and should be extended into larger mature companies and industries globally.

While getting slow moving, monolithic companies to strip down their empires, go back to basics and embrace jugaad principles remains a challenge, here lies another opportunity for others to develop technology-enabled, competitively-priced services that entice the monoliths to exchange non-core services offered internally for superior outsourced ones. If the price and service is right, you could be killing two birds with one stone: creating the entrepreneur and simplifying the monoliths. Ideas anyone?

The post Musings On Creativity And Agility in Building A Business appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

Ventures Africa caught up with one of the twin co-founders, Chika to talk shop on the management of their new project, PicRate.Me.

LAGbook recently changed its name to PicRate.Me, Why?

When we started LAGbook some three years ago, our mission was to provide a platform that helps students of University of Lagos to unwind, connect with one another, and share their daily experience on campus, and the name ‘Lagbook’ was just perfect. Subsequently, we started expanding beyond the walls of the University, and our mission changed. We expanded to the Nigerian market, and the name ‘Lagbook’ was found wanting, and unable to depict our new mission. We didn’t want to change the name because of our previous success and growing popularity. We believed it’s like starting all over again, so we decided to reinvent the name ‘Lagbook’. The reinvention was simple; we capitalized the letters; l, a, and g, giving us ‘LAGbook’. LAGbook was a backronym for the words ‘Ladies And Gentlemen book’, and it matched our mission to expand the social experience of the youth demographic (18-30) around the world. Since domain names do not permit uppercase, there was no need for a reflection in our domain name. We didn’t have a problem in growing virally since ‘LAGbook’ and ‘Lagbook’ are verbally communicated in the same exact way.

Recently, we wanted to add ‘picture rating’ to our mission. This made us a social network for meeting new people and rating pictures. After reaching the milestone of a million registered members, we wanted to cover more grounds internationally, and penetrate a wider area. This could lead to a possible lawsuit from Facebook, so we decided it was time to change the name, and ‘PicRate’ was a good option. Unfortunately, to realise the mission of PicRate, we had to move to a new hosting service, and an instant migration of all data on LAGbook to the new host wasn’t feasible, so we had to send a message to all our registered members about the name change, and that they should all register to the new site. The signup has been encouraging, and PicRate is fast growing than we imagined.

Is there still a correlation between LAGbook’s mission and PickRate.Me?

LAGbook was born out of our curiosity to know what faculty a girl we (the founders) saw on the campus of University of Lagos. Then, we were freshers. My twin and I argued on what faculty a girl we saw on campus may belong to. I (Chika) said she was a science student because she was standing next to a hall of residence close to the Faculty of Science. My twin (Chidi) said she wasn’t because she was way too fashionable and beautiful to have any interest in Science. My twin proposed we create a social platform like MySpace, Facebook, and the rest, where students of our University will sign up for with a valid matriculation number. The idea was to grow a popular campus social network where all students with an active social life will sign up to, and we hoped the girl will sign up for an account too, and that way, she could tell us what faculty she belonged to, since the answer was required upon signup. Fortunately, she did sign up after eight weeks of run, and I was right about her being a science student.

So yes, there’s a correlation between the mission of both brands. PicRate still nurtures the mission we had at LAGbook, which is to create a virtual community for meeting new people everyday. Social discovery is still a part of PicRate’s mission. The difference between both brands is that PicRate has an additional mission, which is rating the picture of your friends, and tell them how hot you think they’re. At LAGbook, the largest activity our members engaged in is the sharing of pictures, liking and commenting on pictures shared by friends. PicRate is just taking this activity to the next level, which is giving them the best from what they like the most.

Does your Mimiboard deal with Umutu continue with PicRate.Me?

The Mimiboard deal doesn’t continue with PicRate but it will with our newest brand Available.fm After the change of LAGbook to PicRate, and the change of web host as well, we received a lot of mails from registered members especially via other social networks expressing how much they do not find the change pleasing. Many said they missed their LAGbook friends, photos, videos, and other contents on the social network, and they want it back. So, my twin and I are working in partnership with an American social groupware platform GROU.PS to restore and revive the old LAGbook under a new brand name called Available.fm. Available.fm is LAGbook; same content, same registered members, same everything. The only difference is the brand name. When we are through with the restoration, LAGbook users can login without signing up for a new account since it is the same social network. They will find their friend circle intact, and their photos, videos, and other share contents available on the network just as they did on LAGbook, and so will they find the contents of their friends too. This means that our partnership with Mimiboard will continue with the brand Available.fm Available.fm will be a social network for people available for friendship or a relationship, which is the same as LAGbook’s mission, but with an online dating fusion.

LAGbook prides itself as Africa’s fastest growing social network; with the name-change at this stage of the business, don’t you think it could affect the business?

No, it will not affect the business. This is because we made sure that all our registered members received a message about the name change, and the change has been widely communicated verbally to others. Everybody who used LAGbook should have heard of the name change thus making the new brand name PicRate as popular as LAGbook. It’s more like a musician who changes name; it wouldn’t affect his popularity. The domain name of LAGbook points to PicRate so the growth was unaffected. PicRate will grow as fast as LAGbook.

What has been the challenges posed by these new development and how has the activity on the site grown since the launch?

The challenge posed was the migration of all users login data so that they will not have to register for a new account on PicRate, and unfortunately, that wasn’t feasible. So users have to re-register, which is uncool in an ideal situation. Though, a wonderful percentage of users have re-registered for an account on the new site, which is encouraging. The activity has grown by over 200%. People find picture rating fun just as they find playing video games fun. Girls share loads of pictures just to get rated by boys, and receive lovely comments too, and it’s fun watching people use and appreciate something you built.

What is the deal with Baazar Media Pte Ltd?

That’s the name of the new company that is in charge of PicRate.

Users pay to get themselves featured on Lagbook, is it also the same on the new platform?

No, they do not. On PicRate, there is currently no feature that suggest friends, but if that feature is introducing in the future, there’s a possibility that users will have to pay to get their profiles featured. It has been a wonderful source of monetization in the past.

What are the challenges experienced since the inception (with LAGbook) and how have you been able to tackle these challenges?

My twin and I are not only good programmers but we are better marketers. We’re more of businessmen than programmers, so growing LAGbook virally didn’t pose a challenge. The only challenge we had was turning our fast growing social network into lots of money. We had a popular social network but we didn’t have much profit. Though we reached profitability after two years of run, the profit margin was just narrow. Currently, we’re looking at not only growing a popular social network but also growing a popular social business.

What have you learnt since you created the business?

We’ve learnt a lot, and the leading lesson is that passion is a greater fuel to success than the love for money.

Critics have said that you model your site after Facebook, what have you got to say about that?

The basic idea was to create a Facebook for Africa, and we wanted a social network that is easy-to-use, and not difficult to understand like Twitter. We figured out that if we positioned everything at the same position they are on Facebook, people will not find it hard to access, and that helped increase our user activity by a great deal.

You created this business during your first year in school; how do you combine schooling and management of the site?

Being a student entrepreneur was uneasy for my twin and I. We often missed classes in order to have time to sit in front of our laptops and grow LAGbook. Thanks to our excellent performance at self- education, my twin and I will often photocopy our colleague’s notebook, read it up, sit for exams, and excel. That’s how we got through University.

What chance(s) does your business have to grow as big as Facebook?

We’re over a million now, and we add thousands of new members everyday. Facebook is a billion. Growing as big as Facebook isn’t impossible, but it will be challenging; definitely will be.

What is that unique attribute that stands Lagbook out of all other social network?

We are a social network without boundaries. We want to expand the online social experience of our growing users without limits. We give them the power to meet new people everyday, forge a great friendship which may last for life and lead to positive synergy.

What major deal has your company snagged in recent time?

We’ve worked with multinational companies like Etisalat and Blackberry, to mention a few.

Source of income for the website?

Advertising.

What’s your staff strength presently?

At LAGbook, we had a staff strength of just 5 after downsizing from 25. The new company has a larger staff strength, but at Available.fm, it’s just my twin and I, and some techies at GROU.PS

What motivates you?

We were born motivated. We’re the type of people that wants to try out something every-time.

Who are your mentors and how have they motivated you?

Mentor? We don’t have any mentors at the moment. We simply learn from our mistakes. Experience has been our mentor.

Advise to upcoming Techpreneurs. What should they look out for and hold on to?

My advice is simple; dream like a beast, and chase your dream like a possessed demon. When you come across obstacles, crush them down, and if they prove difficult, bend around them. Make sure you’re always on the move.

Future plans concerning the business?

Keeping growing and expanding.

Any other information you did like to share with us?

Failure is in the head; if you don’t think it, you don’t see it, and if you don’t see it, you don’t feel it. Make sure you think positive at all times. Don’t think about what can possibly go wrong. Think about what can possibly go right. Make mistakes and learn, take adventures and experience. Never live your life in a box because the only time a man should live in a box is when he’s dead, and since you’re reading this, you aren’t, so live a little. That’s the philosophy that keeps us going.

Thank you for your time, Chika!

The post Talking Shop With The Twin Behind Nigerian Social Network, Picrate.me appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

Mara Online is an online and mobile eco-system that allows users to communicate, interact and collaborate with each other via social portals, while building communities that are centered around common interests and information needs.

The platform is a convergence of web and mobile technology that creates user-driven experiences spanning from educational tools for entrepreneurs to highly interactive mobile applications that provide connectivity to people across the globe.

In a official statement, Mara Group explained that the vision of the new online and mobile platform is to “become the first most inspirational choice for connecting African youth across the continent and to the world.”

This year Mara Online will launch 3 mobile applications – Mara Messenger, BuzzMe, and Mara Connect, a free mobile VoIP, will allow smartphone and tablet users across Africa to call and text for free, both domestically and internationally.

“Launching today, I am confident that Mara Connect will shake up the market and become the premier choice for connecting people in Africa and beyond, while reducing consumers’ costs for mobile communication”, Ashish said.

31 year old, Ashish J. Thakkar has a personal net worth of around $260 million, or R2.2 billion, making him a billionaire by South African Rand values. His business has operations in several countries including Uganda, Kenya, Cameroon, Angola and Botswana.

The post Ashish J. Thakkar Launches Mara Online appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

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.

The post Yookos Unveil New API For Africa developers And Techpreneurs appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

VENTURES AFRICA – By breaking down the demographics and behaviour of its users, a survey by an African social network, 2go, has declared Nigerians are more social than South Africans.

Marc Herson, director at 2go, revealed this while speaking at the Focus Day at Mobile Web West Africa 2013 holding in Lagos.

Herson said in Nigeria 36 percent of respondents to the 2go survey do not have a bank account, 17 per cent spend at least four hours travelling between work or study, 39 percent watch video on their phone and around 60 per cent spend a minimum of two hours a day on their mobile.

He added that more Nigerian users of 2go (90 percent) use feature phones than South Africans (75 percent).

In terms of gender distribution, he said more males in Nigeria (65 percent) use the chat app than in South Africa where only 51 percent of its users are males.

He also disclosed that Nigerian users of 2go are more social than their counterparts from South Africa.

This he said could be deduced from the relative ease with which more Nigerian social media users share personal information such as phone numbers with people they have never seen before.

Furthermore, he added that Nigerians use colours to express themselves on the app, and they easily and freely use the slang “Naija”.

Concerning commercialisation of 2go, he said in addition to the sale of credits, it has introduced goEngage brand platforms, carries out research polls for companies, and is now offering advertisers full screen splash adverts that currently have an average engagement rate of 30 per cent.

He said brands such as Amstel Malta and Supersports are some of the popular brands that have made use of the full screen advert that is displayed for five seconds each time a 2go user opens the app.

2go is a mobile social network targeting users in emerging markets, particularly in Africa. The company has over 21 million registered users with more than 10 million active users in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. The network is also due for an Android launch later this month.

The post Nigerians Are More Social Than South Africans – 2go appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

By Marie-Soleil Frere

Better and wider access to Internet and mobile is changing how journalists work in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), bringing more access but also sometimes greater risk. Internet and mobile devices allow journalists to contact multiple sources on a single day, something that was difficult until now in a country where fixed phone lines are almost non-existent. Internet and mobile also mean citizens are better able to contribute to media content and make their voices heard interactively. But they also create new opportunities for intimidating or silencing journalists. There are many in positions of authority and power whose status is shaken by the greater circulation of information made possible by connectivity. At the same time, alerting others when a journalist is under threat and rallying support has never been quicker. More information also means increased requirements for verification and fact checking—procedures that Congolese journalists have not always been inclined and trained to do. The annual report of Journalist in Danger, a Congolese non-governmental organization, offers insight on how ICTs have changed journalists’ practices and challenges in the country.

VENTURES AFRICA – In December 2012, Journalist in Danger (Journaliste en Danger), a Congolese NGO that defends media freedom, issued its latest annual report. As well as describing many attacks on journalists over the previous year, the report shows how much mobile phones and the Internet have transformed the daily work of Congolese journalists. Journalists now are more connected to people, places, facts and opinions that were often closed off to them before this new technology became more widespread. The DRC remains one of the least connected countries in the world, but even the small foothold made by this technology is having a significant impact. This greater access also brings greater risk for the DRC’s journalists and most cases examined by Journaliste en Danger involve these new communication tools.

The astonishing impact of mobile phones was seen, for instance, in March 2012, during an open-mike radio program on Radio Television Kindu Maniema, in eastern DRC. The show hosted by Mira Dipenge and called “Voice to the People” (“Parole au Peuple”), allowed callers, many using mobile phones, a forum to discuss and often criticize life under the Governor of Maniema Province, Tutu Salumu. These open mike programs and talk shows have benefited hugely from the spread of mobile phones, making it possible for people in areas without fixed lines to join in the programs. The free and open exchange the progam allowed did not go unnoticed and now Dipenge, the program’s host, has been forced into hiding after receiving threats.

Mobile phones have also facilitated access to information, allowing local journalists to reach sources they would never have been able to connect to a few years ago. On August 4 2012 Radio Soleil (Sun Radio), in Butembo, was suspended by the mayor after broadcasting a telephone interview with the spokesperson for the M23 rebels. The mayor claimed this interview violated the broadcasting regulator’s ban on radio stations in DRC from taking any calls about the war in Eastern Congo.

Mobile devices are not the only tools that are changing journalists’ daily work; social media plays a role as well and not always a positive one. On July 26 2012, a threatening message was posted on the Facebook wall of Tuver Wundi, a correspondent for National Congolese Radio and Television (RTNC), based in Goma. Also posted on the rebels’ website, the message accused Wundi of being “anti-M23” and warned him not to be around if and when they captured Goma. Journaliste en Danger evacuated Wundi to Kinshasa before the M23 took Goma in November 2012. After the rebels withdrew, he returned to Goma, where is now working normally.

Better Information and Communications Technology is providing a voice and a platform to once unheard DRC citizens. The audience becomes the news provider. In September 2012, a member of parliament (MP) directly threatened a television journalist, Roland Isso, who had broadcast mobile-phone video—sent in anonymously—that showed the MP openly calling his supporters to attack policemen who were guarding the property of a businessman with whom the MP had a dispute over property. (Isso works for Molière TV, which specializes in unedited video of eye-catching events around Kinshasa, caught by its roaming journalists or members of the public, and broadcast with little concern for privacy or professional ethics.) The MP subsequently denied any involvement in the death threats and announced that he would bring a libel action against Isso.

While they facilitate journalists’ access to information, these new tools also expose them to other dangers such as manipulation. “Journalists are now forced into doing the job of verifying, cross-checking and analyzing information,” explains Thsivis Tshivuadi, the secretary general of Journaliste en Danger. “Before, their job was mainly to provide information, but now that any citizen can access such a huge number of sources and even produce data, the role of the journalist is to discriminate between reliable and unreliable stories.”

These new tools also help to improve the journalists’ security, by speeding up the circulation of information when one of them is in trouble. Ten years ago, Journaliste en Danger had to transmit its alerts and reports about journalists’ rights abuses by fax, and the information could only be sent to a very limited number of targets because of the high cost of fax transmission.

Today, every attack on media freedom in the DRC is immediately relayed to thousands of subscribers who receive Journaliste en Danger alerts. Any journalist who is arrested or physically attacked makes his last phone call to Journaliste en Danger before their phone is confiscated. “This has changed our job too,” says Tshivuadi. “More and more we have to interact directly, by mobile phone, with the people who are detaining or threatening journalists. We can talk to the policemen or army men and try to convince them to release a colleague who was arrested while taking pictures or shooting video. We have become long-distance mediators.”

While the email alerts mainly go to foreign recipients, Journaliste en Danger has also developed a mobile service which is received by some 700 individuals inside the country, including diplomats, senior officials and major NGOs. On March 11 2013, when the Ministry of Post, Telecommunications and ICTs announced that nine broadcasters were suspended for not paying their annual broadcasting fees, Journaliste en Danger sounded the alarm. “The first SMS recipient to call me back was the Minister himself,” explains Tshivuadi. “He is on our distribution list and felt embarrassed, and he wanted to justify his decision.”

For Congolese journalists, Information and Communication Technologies have become a source of empowerment, helping them to open up and connect to the world, while they reshape their working practices. Organizations like Journaliste en Danger can provide support and protection for journalists as they navigate this new and challenging environment.

The post Internet Brings Unprecedented Access, Reach And Threats To Journalists In Congo appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

The South African Social Media Landscape 2012 study by World Wide Worx and Fuseware, reveals that 95 percent of major brands surveyed have some form of social media strategy aimed at consumers. However, only 51 percent rate their efforts on Facebook as effective – and only 33 percent believe they are effective on Twitter.

‘Still trying to figure out how to use it’

“The survey shows that corporate South Africa has woken up to social media, but it hasn’t yet figured out how to dress for the role,” World Wide Worx managing director Arthur Goldstuck said in a statement. “Most large companies are still neutral on the impact of social media, and are still feeling their way.”

The report includes analysis of South African consumers’ use of Facebook, Twitter, Mxit, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Foursquare, as well as a survey conducted among corporate brand owners.

“We interviewed representatives of 61 major brands, and found that corporate use of social networks tended to be a case of responding to media hype,” said Fuseware managing director Mike Wronski. “The most popular social media platform in South Africa, Mxit, is used as a marketing tool by only one out of five large brands. This compares to Facebook, with nine out 10 using it, and Youtube, with two out of three.”

First National Bank

First National Bank (FNB) has taken cognisance of Mxit’s value, announcing a partnership between its eWallet solution and the social network’s MXit Money offering. Dubbed FNB Moola+, the new service will allow Mxit users to buy moola, Mxit’s online currency, at discounted rates.

Banking has always been a popular activity for South Africans online. FNB offers its online clients first rate online banking (although every bank has a pretty decent Internet banking service) and the big plus (which caused me to change my banking to FNB) was the iPhone app and easy connection to PayPal. FNB has done a fantastic job at identifying the needs of South Africans and offering services that appeal to them. FNB has 357,552 likes on its face book page and over 6,245 followers on its twitter account. The social network between FBN and its customers on its social media platform is superb.

Standard Bank

In 2010, Standard Bank Group was regarded as the bank of choice but over the last few years FNB has comfortably claimed the first position at the online bank of choice.

Standard bank Group has 14, 523 Twitter followers on its account and 15, 048 likes on its face book, page. Standard bank has a 150-year history in South Africa and started building a franchise in the rest of Africa in the early 1990s. It currently operates in 18 countries in the rest of the African continent, including South Africa, as well as in other selected emerging markets. The bank employs 52,000 people and has about 1,200 branches including loan centres and some 7,945 ATMs on the African continent. The bank updates its customers on these platforms (Facebook & Twitter) on new products and services and responds to their requests as well.

ABSA bank

The Group is listed on the JSE Limited and is one of South Africa’s largest financial services group. It is a subsidiary of Barclays Bank PLC (Barclays) which owns 55.5 percent. It offers a complete range of retail, business, corporate and investment banking insurance and wealth management products and services. ABSA has 6, 520 followers on its twitter account and 100,756 like its face book page.

Nedbank

Is a bank holding company and one of the four largest banking groups in South Africa measured by assets with a strong deposit franchise. Its principal banking subsidiary is Nedbank Limited. The group provides retail banking services, insurance and asset management. Its headquarters are in Sandton and it has a 1,000-strong regional branch network. Nedbank has 17,408 likes on its face book page some of its 10, 998 twitter followers want information on housing. The bank states on its facebook page: “If you’re a first-time home buyer, get a feel for the property costs in the areas you like so you can score a better deal and avoid paying too much. Once you’ve found that dream home, don’t delay, apply online for Nedbank Home Loan.

Vodacom South Africa

Vodacom SA is an African mobile communications company providing voice message, data and converged services to about 50 million active customers. From its roots in South Africa, the company has grown its operations to include networks in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Lesotho. It is owned by Vodafone and has its headquarters in Johannesburg. Vodacom South Africa 274,835 likes, 6,512 are talking about the telecommunications giant and 58 379 followers on it twitter account.

MTN South Africa

MTN has topped the list as the Most Valuable South African Brand with a global value of R43.3 billion ($4.7 billion) and is also the only South African brand in the Brand Finance Global 500. MTN South Africa is part of MTN group, a multi-national telecommunications that boasts over 152 million subscribers across its company with operations in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Launched in South Africa in 1994, and provides voice data and telemetry offerings and solutions to its 20 million customers. The company is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and has the largest primary listing on the exchange. The company enjoys 37 percent of market share in South Africa and continues to expand its presence and brand across the African continent and now has a firm footing in the Middle East.

President and CEO Sifiso Dabengwa said: “Our key focus areas are improving our market position and enhancing our customer experience by driving innovation and efficiency.”

With 115,595 likes, 5,116 talking about this and 16 893 twitter followers, was named Africa’s biggest brand, MTNuses a proactive model to identify high performers within the company, called ‘Leadership Talent Management’ to ensure achievement is recognised. It also offers MyMTN Emergency – home medical and roadside emergency assistance for workers to its has

Netcare

The group provides innovative, quality healthcare in South Africa and the UK. Netcare has presence on social media. It has paltry 1,700 likes on Facebook and over 14 436 followers on Twitter.

It operates the largest private hospital group, primary care network and emergency service in South Africa. It is also the biggest private trainer of emergency medical personnel and healthcare workers.

Investec

Investec is a distinctive Specialist Bank and Asset Manager providing a diverse range of financial products and services to its niche client base. The company also has a good social media presence. It has over 33,612 likes on Facebook and over 5, 611 followers on Twitter.

It operates in three principal markets, South Africa, the UK and Australia as well as certain other countries. In July 2002, the Investec group implemented a dual listed company with listings on the London and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges.

SASOL

Sasol has over 5,800 likes and over 868 followers on Twitter. Based in South Africa, Sasol is an international integrated energy and chemical company that leverages the talent and expertise of its more than 34,000 people working in 38 countries. It develops and commercialises technologies, and builds and operates world-scale facilities to produce a range of product streams including liquid fuels, chemicals and electricity.

According to SocialBakers, (a social analytics website aimed at marketers, hosts lists of the most “liked” Facebook pages, dividing them into four categories: pages, brands, media, and services) the number of South African Facebook users was at 4,858,280 in April 2012, ranking SA as the 31st largest population in the world on the social network.

Based on estimates of South Africa’s population and Internet user base, SocialBakers puts SA Facebook penetration of the overall population at 9.89 percent, while Facebook usage among online South Africans is said to be 91.67 percent.

The table below shows the top 10 South African Facebook pages, along with the number of fans (or “likes”) the page had at the time of writing.

Another study titled “South African Social Media Landscape 2011” by World Wide Worx, one of South Africa’s technology research companies showed the following:

• MXit is South Africa’s most popular social network with 10 million users

• Twitter has 1.1 million

• Facebook has 3.2 million

• LinkedIn has 1.1 million.

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