Quick Hits for 04-10-2008
Tech elite use the internet to fight TB
“Nachtwey’s photos portraying victims of the increasingly drug-resistant deadly disease and dire conditions in Africa and elsewhere are spreading on the internet with help from tech firms including YouTube and Akamai.”
Social Media in Africa, Part 1
“Contrary to popular belief, Africa is not completely absent from the Internet. In fact, the continent at large is undergoing a connectivity revolution unlike anything it has ever seen. Mobile phones in particular are propagating at an incredible rate, with penetration ranging from 30% to 100%.”
Read more at Read Write Web
Appfrica launches Afridex, Crunchbase for Africa
“Afridex is an exercise in data portability, information sharing, data mining and aggregation. Right now it’s at version 0.1.1 so it’s very basic and too early to really call it a platform, but I thought I’d put it online as I continue to develop the engine while working out bugs and kinks as I go.”
Read more at Appfrica and visit Afridex
African Tech Events Calender
“I’ve finally gotten around to adding a simple calendar of African technology events that are upcoming focused around the continent and abroad.”
Read more at WhiteAfrican and view the calendar
Iphone resellers in South Africa charging higher prices
“Most independent retailers are selling the Apple iPhone 3G, on average, at R1 000 higher than Vodacom’s recommended resale price, as they claim that otherwise they would not be making a decent profit.”
Read more at ITWeb
Changing consumer behavior with mobile broadband?
Image via Wikipedia
Mybroadband reports on how the ratio of mobile broadband in the UK has exceeded that of even Wifi:
“Point Topic’s recent survey of mobile broadband users shows that the UK mobile phone companies have managed to grow their market share to 47% of users accessing the internet away from home or work. This compares to 42% who prefer WiFi hotspots. A year earlier the ratio was 40:30 in favour of WiFi.”
The advantages of mobile broadband are simple: It can used anywhere, the access is always the same no matter where you are and there is no need to worry about things like keys, different forms of billing and different rates. Point being, that users are willing to pay a a slight premium for ease of use.
Even though bandwidth prices are Higher here in South Africa then in other parts of the world, the cost of mobile data is by far some of the cheapest i have seen world wide.
Comparison of Mobile Broad Band Pricing (South Africa vs UAE)
South Africa(Vodacom/MTN):
A 2gb Bundle costs R389 which works out +-19c per MB
UAE(du):
The highest bundle is a 200mb data bundle at a cost of R543 (245 AED) which works out to +-R2.71, which is more then double that of the out of bundle rate in South Africa.
Now this clearly has changed the way people access the internet when mobile. For some people, using the mobile broad band connection is the primary means of access to the internet and they have no fixed broadband connection. The price point in South Africa making it somewhat competitive to the fixed broad band offerings.
Interestingly, we see MTN launching a mobile broadband wireless gateway as reported by ITWeb
“MTN is preparing to launch its HSDPA/HSUPA wireless gateway, aimed at the home business, or home entertainment markets.
The company’s new wireless router is its first foray into providing data services that are not mobile. “While the device is nomadic, the router is really meant to be a static routing and Internet service,” says MTN senior manager for data, roaming and reseller solutions Brian Seligmann.”
It seems MTN is moving to compete head on with Telkom & Neotel in the broadband market. Are they aiming to be a bit-pipe operator?
At the beginning of July 2008, i spoke at a Mobile Revenue Assurance conference in Dubai (My Twitter Coverage) on emerging threats to mobile operator revenues. The key points being that traditional operators (Mobile included) business models would come under pressure from new technology and lowering prices. Traditionally operators respond by keeping the walled gardens up and trying to control the customer and we all know this is not the best response. They also treat it as a threat rather then an opportunity. Operators should start thinking strategically about the changing value chain.
There was heated debate amongst operators in attendance and a separate panel was setup to discuss the issue.
With the value chain changing a shift in strategy may be required by operators. They could try and control more touch points with the customer and build competencies in other areas. examples would be
- providing mobile search
- Build their own social networks (which are closed Silo’s)
- Build their own Mobile Instant Messaging (Closed / Silo’s)
- Providing advertising services
- Provide aggregation services
- Provide content
Or, they could forget all of that and concentrate on being the bit-pipe while diversifying with non controlling investments in other companies such as Vodacom’s investment in Social Media. The mobile operator just becomes the carrier of the data traffic and let other companies worry about the services, customer relationships, support and innovation. The problem with the first option it is more often then not the solutions are closed silo’s / walled gardens, innovation is slow and ugly and it also leads to stifling of innovation.
What are your thoughts?
Private Equity Fund to Inject $125 Million in Africa
A PRIVATE equity fund plans to put money in risk capital investments and other business support to five African countries, a senior manager announced last week. The GroFin Africa fund has so far raised $125m at its fund’s first closing.
The fund said in a statement recently that it would invest between $100,000 and $1m in seven countries including Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and South Africa. It expects to raise $160m by November.
The article talks further about a fund that subsidizes laptops
Tropix Technology, an American-based company, has invested $150m (about sh248b) in a project that will enable students and public servants to get laptop computers at subsidised rates.
“As a country, we have been sleeping in the area of ICT. This is a very historic project. We have removed the intermediary costs and barriers that have been inflating the cost of laptops in Uganda. Let us take the challenge,” Nsambu said. (Emphasis Mine)
I think the last statement however “As a country, we have been sleeping” is not entirely correct, Due to the unique challenges faced you often find ingenious ideas coming to meet these challenges. This also means, that due to the challenges faced the skills that are learnt are usually unique and not found else where in the world.An apt quote from Ethan Zuckkerman at Picnic in Amsterdam
“If Africa is surprising, then you’re not paying enough attention”
Interesting Reads on Cellular … with some prerspective from Africa
Here are are few of the interesting articles i have read in the past week on mobile and some of my thoughts.
SMS to the rescue, Text Messaging bridges the digital divide
“Ken Banks and kiwanja.net have developed the FrontlineSMS text-messaging hub that allows two-way communication between NGOs and their field workers using the SMS functionality of mobile phones. SMS stands for “short message service” and is also referred to as text messaging.” Read More
Something similar to what ushahdi is doing as well, using SMS/Text messaging as the key means of communication or data sourcing. The main issue in Africa, is that a large portion of the population only have access to a mobile and it’s their primary means of communication. These are real solutions for Africa. Other solutions to explore would be, A simple auction system via SMS i.e fisherman can run it via their mobile to get the best/highest price for their catch.
Cell Phones Make head way in Education
“Abilene Christian University will hand out Apples Iphone 3G smartphone to two-thirds of this year’s entering class of 950 freshmen. Students will be expected to use the devices to brainstorm ideas and get virtual handouts and podcasts during class.” Read More
E-learning 2.0? Thou there are a few issues,
- Cost factors with high end devices (i.e IPhone) which costs more then a OLPC or even EEPC
- Some reports are not really convinced on the effect of OLPC on education
Visa to bring mobile payment services to Google Phone
“Visa said it would work to eventually make phones running on Google’s Android mobile operating system able to pay for items in lieu of a credit or debit card. The notion of a mobile wallet has attracted the industry for a while and has been popular overseas, but so far hasn’t gained much traction in the U.S.” Read more
Several years ago at a company i worked for i was part of the tender committee tasked with replacing a particular mobile community phone payment solution. There was quite an interesting payment solution that tendered which solved some the problems faced in Africa Though it suffered some drawbacks as well.
The system basically worked on a finger print + a smart card, you could use this to pay for your calls as well as at stores that had the equipment . The dealer was given a card as well, money was transferred electronically between cards. The dealer/merchant could also function as a bank of Sort’s i.e People could use their cards to withdraw cash. This solved the issue of having to go to a bank (Which can be a problem in some of the remote areas).
However the system faced a few issues, Cost of the transactions, Cost of the devices(bio metric+card readers) and cost of the smart cards which had to be passed on to the customer with the target market being very low income. We felt it was an unnecessary expense and it also faced issues with user education / merchant education, Service and Support.
If the same concept could be replaced rather with a “Prepaid balance” , so there are no additional costs with regards to smart cards/devices etc. This could then be used as a “Virtual bank” account of Sorts with your airtime becoming your “Virtual Currency”. It could be used to recharge customer accounts by accepting cash, and dispose of that by accepting transfers and providing cash in return. Payment could be made for items, with the simple form of and Airtime transfer(This is currently being done informally) At some point however, the merchant should be able transfer his airtime or credit his bank account.
A workable idea? I think so, it’s already being done informally.
Also read Erik’s Round of of his Presentation at Picnic in Amsterdam where he covers some mobile payment solutions.
Worldwide Cellular growth to reach 4 billion by late 2008 -
“Since the turn of the century, the growth of mobile cellular subscribers has been impressive, with year-on-year growth averaging 24 per cent between 2000 and 2008. While in 2000, mobile penetration stood at only 12 per cent, it surpassed the 50 per cent mark by early 2008. It is estimated to reach about 61 per cent by the end of 2008.” Read more
Usobomvu Youth Fund, Assisting young entrepreneurs
The Usobomvu Youth Fund is a South African goverment initiative setup in 2001, that aims to assist Youth Entrepreneurs with the setup of businesses, promoting entrepreneurship, job creation, skills development and skills transfer among South Africans between the ages of 18 and 35. The youth fund offers several programmes to meet these requirements.
Usobomvu offers training in Entrepreneurship, Life Skills , School to work training as well as mentorship programmes. They offer micro-loans as well as funding for businesses that meet the requirements. In addition they offer business consulting and business support services via the Business consulting Services Voucher programme, to help you to create a brand new business or improve and grow your existing business. The fund sponsors and picks up the costs of these services. Example of services offered:
- Accounting
- Branding & Design of business forms
- Business feasibility
- Business Plans
- Expansion Plans
- Business Improvement Plans
- Growth Plan
- Marketing Plans
- Web Based Marketing
Most major city centres have a regional office for registration. Visit the Usomomvu Products & Services page to download the neccessary forms
Insite 2008, Pictures
Some pictures from Insite 2008
Tank, Helping you build really simple websites
Tank, a web 2.0 startup out of South Africa is online web site creator and host which makes it really easy (and i mean really easy, like Grand Ma easy) to build simple websites. This is the second startup out of South Africa that is playing in the same market. Synthasite founded by Vinny Lingham received funding and have since moved the operation to Silicon Valley.
Having said that, Tank is by far the simplest and easiest web application i have seen to create really simple websites. Due to the simplicity and ease of use, it is not highly customizable however with the market they are catering for, i doubt that a ton of widgets or customizable themes are required. Registration is quick and simple and is completed in under a minute, creating a website is just as easy. Answer a few questions such as subdomain, sitename,Strap line, Time zone and description, then Choose a template and your site is ready to be filled in with info. It took me under under 10 minutes to create and quickly populate the StartupAfrica website at tank.
The site offers, a pre-existing gallery section, static pages and a news section which works like a stripped down version of a blog. There are also plans to launch a new ‘page type’ called pod’s which could be used for FAQ’s/Lists.
Filling in information is as simple as typing it in, there is no WYSIWG editor or buttons for that matter. To bold a text, you simply insert * on either side, very much like a wiki. The editor also accepts standard HTML if you are that way inclined. The only gripe i have is with inserting of images, images are uploaded and a unique image ID is generated. This then has to be copied and pasted into the post/page. On my Mac, the Command + C combination refused to copy the unique ID while manually selecting “Copy” from the menu bar worked just fine.
Tank follows a freemium business model, offering basic services free of charge and charging a small fee for additional services, support, webspace and traffic.
I caught up with Alan Aston, co-founder of tank for an interview, Alan kicked off his internet career at Armadillo Interactive, and was one of the original members of Ogilvy Interactive in Cape Town, he now is working on tank full time.
What motivates you?
Building stuff. Writing stuff. Playing with stuff. Even cooking stuff.
Back in the real world I’m reading Guy Kawasaki’s ‘The Art of the
Start’ (I think I might need that), Seth Godin’s ‘Small is the new
Big’ and I have a couple of Cormac McCarthy’s lined up too.
I wanted to solve my own problem: building a dead-simple site without
getting a ton of people involved. A blank canvas on which to hang
ideas. Something that grows with you, and you with it. Flexible, lean,
easy websites that you enjoy building. An app that puts you in touch
with your website.
Is the project bootstrapped/self funded?
The project is bootstrapped: I’ve been working on it after-hours for
the past couple of years while my partner has been on it full-time.
Only recently have I been able to move on to it on a full-time basis:
that said, the credit cards have been maxed on (and back in every now
and then) ever since this we started this project.
As a developer one tends to think of only certain aspects: development
and design of a certain product. A startup has many more aspects that
one needs to keep in mind: running a tight ship internally, branding,
marketing, sales, legal and of course systems and support. You either
need to master a lot of new skills, or get people to help.
Stick with your guns.
Build something people are willing to pay for.
Build your business one client at a time: even if you are aiming for
the mass market.
Think change. And then roll with it.
Think bottom-up, not top-down.
Think cashflow, not sales projections.
Think relationships: strangers to friends, friends to customers,
customers to salespeople (thanks for that Seth.)
Edit, edit, edit. Everything: your words, your thoughts, your business
idea, everything.
Get it in black-and-white.
Zoopy rolls out changes, Local hosting & New Video player
After our coverage of the Investment in zoopy by vodacom and the Interview with CEO of Zoopy Jason Elk. The company has been pretty busy.
The most recent announcement on their blog is the launch of a new video player, which features a new Info button which shows:
- Information about the video currently being viewed, including title, description, view count and uploader
- A list of related videos, including their titles, descriptions, uploaders and preview thumbnails
The player also gives you more detailed feedback about loading and buffering.
The Zoopy team is also currently attending the Web 2.0 expo in New York, And have also recently announced they have moved to local hosting and are allowing bigger file sizes.
“The downside to hosting outside of the country, however, is reduced loading speed of websites and, in Zoopy’s case, media files like videos and photos.
Local hosting. Amazing speed.
We’re happy to say that this is now a thing of the past for Zoopy visitors. As of today, we have servers in South Africa that will deliver Zoopy content using local bandwidth for South Africans. The significantly slower international speeds and low bandwidth caps in SA (many users only budget for the 3gb they receive per month) have left us as frustrated as any other internet user in the country. So
we’re prepared to do what it takes to deliver our media at amazing speeds, whether viewed on Zoopy.com or embedded on other sites or blogs. And for our members, an increase in upload speeds when adding media to your Zoopy profile will make things quicker and more
convenient too.”
And
“Bigger file sizes. More expression.
We’ve also now increased our upload file size limit from 100mb to 200mb. If we’re giving visitors a quicker and more comfortable experience over local bandwidth, we wanted to add to the enjoyment by giving them more space to express themselves as well.”
Google launches search for Mozambique
Google have announced on Google africa blog they have launched a search page for Mozambique.
“We are excited to announce the launch of our homepage for Mozambique: www.google.co.mz. This launch marks our 26th country home page in Sub-Saharan Africa, and our third for Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa - the others being Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe.”
This announcement comes hot on the heals of Algeria’s launch, i Wonder how long it will be before every single country in Africa is represented with a Google Startpage?
Mozambique is clearly not the fastest growing intternet population and has an Internet penetration of under 1% according to internet world statistics. In most countries in Africa, mobile penetration far exceeds internet penetration so should Google be following a slightly different strategy to have the biggest impact. Maybe they should be launching mobile services first.
What are your thoughts?
Goog - al - Jazaer, Google launches Algerian search
Google Africa Blog is reporting the launch of Google Algeria.
“In launching google.dz, we had to comply with local rules governing top level domains in Algeria. Working with our friends at the registrar, and coordinating between Algiers, Dublin and Zürich, we were able to come up with a solution that worked for everyone. We were really pleased about this, as Algeria has one of the fastest-growing internet populations in the world, and this launch will really enable us to offer the best Google service to this group. A distributed team in Zürich, London and Mountain View are working to support the growth in Algeria and the rest of North Africa and the Middle East; watch out for more launches to come!” (Emphasis is mine)
