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Ghana’s Amazon Ahonya.com Raises Seed Funding From Dubai-based Rio Partners & Savannah Fund

Startups

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March 26, 2014

Ghana’s Amazon Ahonya.com Raises Seed Funding From Dubai-based Rio Partners & Savannah Fund

Ghana’s Amazon, Ahonya.com has raised an undisclosed seed funding round led by Rio Partners and their existing investors Nairobi-based Savannah Fund.

Rio, a Dubai-based investment firm which focuses on seed, early and growth stage investment opportunities in technology, media and telecommunications. Rio is led by Percy Grundy, formerly CEO of Tigo Ghana and Commercial Director for Africa at Millicom.

“We are thrilled to announce that we are now in a long term partnership with the leading e-commerce business in Ghana.” said Grundy. “We believe the combination of Rio’s hands-on approach to investment, expertise in West Africa and financial support, will allow Ahonya to successfully scale its operations in Ghana.”

Ahonya’s success can be traced back to Savannah Fund, a Nairobi-based Fund who accelerated Ahonya and were its first ever investors at the inaugural Savannah Fund Accelerator program last year.

In a statement Mbwana Alliy, Managing Partner at Savannah Fund said, “Ahonya was a standout startup in our first accelerator class last year. We are proud to see them raise their post-accelerator seed round and look forward to being part of their continued growth.”

Now with over 100,000 products Ahonya was launched over a year and a half ago by Gerard Yitamkey, Philip Adzanoukpe and Addo Kufuor Mensah at their hostel room in the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. Since then, Ahonya has grown and now provides an unmatched online shopping experience in Ghana. Ahonya sales tablets and laptops, to designer dresses and handbags.

Gerard Yitamkey, Co-founder and CEO of Ahonya told TechMoran the confidential round will help them hire additional talent and scale Ahonya’s growth. “The new funds will allow us to bring in additional talent and continue pushing towards our mission of transforming retail in Ghana. We are excited to partner with Rio and are delighted to have Mr. Grundy to join our board to deepen the wealth of experience and knowledge available to Ahonya.”

Dubbed Ghana’s Amazon, Ahonya.com offers a wide range of brand new electronics to the Ghanaian market and has partnered with suppliers all over the world to provide genuine products at reasonable prices and are also helping end the menace that is fake electronics in the country. If Ahonya expands out of Ghana, it is likely to launch in West Africa and East Africa where it both calls home, but it will have to battle Rocket Internet’s Jumia and Naspers’ Konga and some deals sites run by Ringier and some other players.

Political Risk will not affect development of ICT sector in Nigeria-Hon Omobola Johnson at Nigeria Summit

Ifeanyi Abraham

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March 25, 2014

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Political Risk will not affect development of ICT sector in Nigeria-Hon Omobola Johnson at Nigeria Summit

The Nigeria Summit 2014 which comes at the point Nigeria is celebrating 100 years since the amalgamation of the southern and northern protectorates by Lord Lugard is currently holding in Nigeria organised by the The Economist Magazine and supported by Oando, Accenture, P&G, Hangar 8, Etisalat, First Bank, GTBank, Siemens and Standard Chartered.

The summit which kicked off in grand style promises days of really impactful discussion with the summit theme being centered on how Nigeria can take steps towards a greater prosperity.

Day One had some very important panels planned with top government officials such as Hon Akinwumi Adeshina, Minister of Agriculture, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Hon Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communications Technology, Federal Republic of Nigeria; former government officials such as Muhammad Ali Pate, Visiting Professor, Duke Global Health Institute and former Minister of State for Health, Nigeria; and other business professionals such as George Oyebode, Chairman of Okomu Oil Palm Company, Acha Leke, Director, Mckinsey & Company, Sim Shagaya, CEO of Konga.com amongst other.

Hon Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communications Technology speaking on “Nigeria and the digital economy” gave a very good account of how much work her ministry had been able to achieve since she resumed office and how her ministry was working in collaboration with the private sector to fully make Nigeria the centre for ICT development in Africa, setting an example for other African countries to follow. She noted that even though Kenya is current revered as a top ICT destination in Africa, as a result of the activities of her ministry, Nigeria was beginning to turn the curve and noted some of the major conferences and meet ups that would hold in Nigeria this year.

A panel session moderated by Vladmir Duthiers, International CNN Correspondent, CNN involving the minister, Stephane Bacquaert, Managing director of Investments and Secretary of the Investment Committee, Wendell Group; Acha Leke, Director, Mckinsey & Company, and Sim Shagaya, Founder, Konga.com was held where questions from members of the audience were entertained.

One of the members of the audience noting the current political climate of the country, asking about the sustainability of some of the amazing reforms that have come under the minister to which the minister spoke about how the speed and the measures being put in place by her ministry will ensure that political risk would not affect the development of the ICT sector in Nigeria. The minister also went further to talk about the power of the private sector in helping meet some of the goals that the ministry has set up emphasizing that the government does not have the capacity to build some of the things that are necessary for the sector to grow. She also talked about the importance of investment in the sector by both local and foreign investors and her belief that the sector would only continue to grow bigger with their involvement.

TEAMtalk Media Launches a Sports Journalism Academy in Cape Town

Tech

Sam Wakoba

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March 25, 2014

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TEAMtalk Media Launches a Sports Journalism Academy in Cape Town

Ole! Media Group (OMG)’S TEAMtalk media, a sports content and syndication firm has launched a Sports Journalism Academy in collaboration in Cape Town in a move that will see the firm train interns interested in sport and digital media, in the art of capturing sport related data, interpreting it and using it across digital platforms to enhance content.

Launched in partnership with the Western Cape Government, the six-month long programme aims at helping youngsters get employable skills, some of whom might be absorbed by the firm.

“While the world of sport is in itself of growing interest to our audiences around the world, it is the data and statistics that support the disciplines that are garnering their own loyal following” commented OMG’s marketing director, Deseré Orrill. “Online content changes quickly and consumers relish being kept up to date with what is happening in their favourite sports. The high demand for apps that focus on this is evidence of the trend.”

Although the fascination with numbers is growing, it is the skills to log and interpret the information that require support. OMG has identified this need but has also recognised it is an ideal opportunity to pass on skills through the training and development of youth who are already digitally savvy but need some additional refinement.

“DEDAT are delighted to have been a part of the placement of young interns at a thriving media company like TEAMtalk media. We are confident that they will learn and grow during the six months, and possibly be afforded a full-time position eventually. Chief mentor at TEAMtalk, Jonhenry Wilson, seems more than capable of nurturing and guiding them throughout, helping consolidate their current talents and unearthing new ones,” said Caro Werner, who is assistant director for Workforce Development at the Department of Economic Development and Tourism.

TEAMtalk media’s collaboration with the Western Cape Government’s Work and Skills Programme affords the company the chance to ‘pay it forward’, per se, imparting its substantial knowledge of the world of sports content development and syndication to learners who otherwise would not be exposed to such a dynamic environment.

Rocket Internet’s Jovago Launches in Kenya & Senegal

Startups

Sam Wakoba

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March 25, 2014

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Rocket Internet’s Jovago Launches in Kenya & Senegal

Rocket Internet, Millicom and MTN’s Africa Internet Holding’s online hotel booking service Jovago has launched in Kenya and Senegal in a move the firm says will provide seamless hotel booking services to customers across Africa.

Speaking about the move, Marek Zmyslowski, Managing Director of jovago.com, said: “The hotel industry in Kenya and Senegal is currently presenting huge potential, just like it was in Nigeria when we first became operational there in 2013. The further expansion into the African markets makes us Africa’s no. 1 booking portal, providing more and more customers with the best hotel booking experience and Jovago’s fast, reliable and easy-to-use services.”

Launched in Nigeria in 2013, Jovago, facilitates the booking process for its users with an informative, reliable and user-friendly service, by listing travel destinations and providing hotel information online. The booking portal does not apply booking fees and customers have the option to choose between paying at the hotel and using the secure online payment option.

Last month, Jovago announced that they have exceeded 2000 hotels in Africa listed on their website, with the expansion to Kenya and Senegal, the listings keep growing even so does the competition. Kenya has SleepOut which has also expanded globally, Booking.com which has just launched local operations in Kenya and One Africa Media-backed StayNow.

With its wide range of African hotels and a list of over hundred thousand hotels listed worldwide, and Rocket Internet-backing, Jovago’s launch in Kenya might pause a threat to some of this firms already in operation in a bid to fight for the rapidly growing middle class African market, tourists and business travelers; who are all out to find the best deal for where to stay.

Jovago says its goal is to create a full transparency on hotels, its prices and services to guide every user through the different offers by several destinations. Recently, the firm started an affiliate program in Nigeria that lets travel agents and individuals earn revenue when they make bookings on the Jovago website.

Nigerian Stock Exchange Launches X-Whistle to Battle Fraud

Tech

Sam Wakoba

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March 25, 2014

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Nigerian Stock Exchange Launches X-Whistle to Battle Fraud

In a bid to become a world class market, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has launched X-Whistle, a secure, online portal through which suspicious information can be disclosed to the NSE to curtail fraud and ensure investors’ interests are protected.

According to Ms Tinu Awe, general manager, Legal and Regulation Division and head of Surveillance of NSE: “The portal will permit the person disclosing information i.e. whistle blower to perform a status check on the matters they have reported on XWhistle.”

The portal will lead to surveillance needed for market integrity, transparent and confidence for investors. The portal will help the exchange get information that will help it safeguard the interests of its investors and the whistleblowers would not be part of any investigations or affected in any way of they divulge information.

Investors are urged to provide useful information to the Exchange through its website such as violations that have occurred, presently occurring or yet to occur. The Exchange will then use the info to take appropriate action hence increasing investors’ confidence.

NSE recently joined the International Surveillance Group in a move to up its market security by leveraging the group’s global network.

Symantec Opens New Customer Management Centre to Deliver World Class Customer Experience

Tech

Caroline Vutagwa

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March 25, 2014

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Symantec Opens New Customer Management Centre to Deliver World Class Customer Experience

Symantec today announced that it has established and opened a new Customer Management Centre (CMC) to provide a world-class experience for its customers across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Symantec will make it easier for customers and partners to interact with the company by bringing together a multi-function, centralized customer centre for sales and support with a focus on helping small businesses, governments and enterprise organizations.

“Symantec makes the world a safer place by helping people, businesses, and countries protect and manage their information, so they can focus on achieving their goals. The ground-breaking initiative is a strategic investment that will extend the company’s scale to reach more customers than we have ever done before,” said Jason Ellis, vice president for EMEA Customer Management Centre, Symantec. “The launch of the CMC is another proof point to Symantec’s strategy of making it easier to do business with us, while also delivering a world-class customer experience solving more customer problems.”

The hub of the CMC activity is centered out of Dublin, Ireland with other strategic satellite operations located in UK, Lebanon, France and Russia to extend its reach across the broader Europe, Middle East and Africa region. The CMC currently supports multiple languages, including French, German, Spanish and Dutch among others.

The new centre will provide a Europe-wide sales and support function to provide customers and partners with a single place to call, making it easier for them to reach Symantec and solve their important challenges as well as having the responsibility of delivering an enhanced partner support function, demonstrating Symantec’s continued commitment to developing improved collaboration with its channel.

Travelstart Kenya Launches Cash-on-Delivery to Encourage Online Purchases

Startups

Sam Wakoba

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March 25, 2014

0

Travelstart Kenya Launches Cash-on-Delivery to Encourage Online Purchases

Online travel agency, Travelstart, has launched Cash-On-Delivery (COD) payment option in Kenya to help customers book and purchase flights online and make payments by cash once the tickets are delivered at their doorsteps.

Available for all domestic and international flight purchases made on the Travelstart.co.ke website as well as for phone-in clients, and soon coming on the mobile site, COD will help rake in more buyers who trust the traditional method of payment. Travelstart will not charge customers any fee for choosing the COD option when booking their flights.

According to Bryan Kariuki, Country Manager of Travelstart Kenya, “With the launch of our COD services, we expect to reach out to the growing numbers of Kenyan travellers who do not have credit cards or make use of EFT for online payments.”

Karuiki said the firm will offer same day delivery for flight bookings made before or by 12pm and added that the COD service is currently available in Nairobi only but will be extended to other Kenyan cities in the near future.

Cash-on-delivery is a typical payment method that most Kenyan e-commerce websites use to encourage shoppers online, and has helped ecommerce websites reach a wider audience. Kenya’s top eCommerce sites including Jumia, Rupu among others are using COD payment option to drive consumers to shop online.

Launched in 2012, Travelstart says it has witnessed significant growth in terms of website traffic and online sales. Online sales increased by 65% between 2012 and 2013, while traffic to the website increased by 42%. In line with this growth, Travelstart is responding to the increasing demand of Kenyan travellers by introducing the new payment option – Cash on Delivery – to cater for customers’ needs.

Kenya Hosts The First ‘Cards & Mobile Africa 2014’ Conference

Tech

Caroline Vutagwa

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March 25, 2014

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Kenya Hosts The First ‘Cards & Mobile Africa 2014’ Conference

X-INFOTECH, a company with Global Head Quarters in Latvia and Africa business headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya is hosting a two day ‘Cards and Mobile Africa 2014’ conference which begun today and will end tomorrow.

The conference highlight the importance of African banks to change their debits cards from the traditional magnetic strip to the chip.

This, Vadims Teresko, the Co-Founder of X-Infotech said that the migration should be done by the end of this years as it is the most secure way of making paper transactions.

This is the first time the conference has been held in Africa, and according to Wanjiku Mwangi, MasterCard’s Director, Acceptance Development East Africa, Kenya is in its inception stage in administering this cards yet it is way ahead not only in East Africa but also ahead of Nigeria, Peru and Egypt.

The Principle Secretary, Ministry of ICT, Joseph Tiampati who was in the conference, welcomed the conference saying that it was in line with the country’s mission of migrating from digital to analogue. As a first step, he added, the government is switching the manual payment of taxes and making it online; he said with the inclusion of the magnetic chip it will help in reducing fraudulent activities from taking place.

The government official added that the banking sector have met to upgrade the ATM’s as well as the cards into functioning under the chip.

The conference will end tomorrow and will be covering Secure Identification Africa 2014 and will present cutting-edge developments and proven solutions surrounding the security document industry, and their successful usage in many projects and countries.

This Event has brought together industry professionals and experts from around the world who areengaged in ID document security, Identification data security, Document verification, Biometric solutions on Governmental and Nation-wide level.

Helios Towers Gets Recognized For Great Service in DRC

Tech

Sam Wakoba

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March 25, 2014

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Helios Towers Gets Recognized For Great Service in DRC

Telecoms tower company, Helios Towers Africa (HTA), has achieved the internationally recognised OSHAS 18001 standard in the DRC making it the first and only OSHAS 18001 certified tower company in each of its existing markets. The firm says the milestone demonstrates HTA’s commitment to customer service and quality in delivery.

Chuck Green, CEO of Helios Towers Africa said,“We are particularly pleased to have achieved the OSHAS 18001 certification in all of our existing markets as it underlines our commitment to our customers and our focus on quality of service. We are the first and only OSHAS 18001 certified company in each of our markets.”

Apart from enhanced status, the benefits of registration to the OSHAS 18001 standard include demonstrating that a risk based approach is taken to the management of Health and Safety, streamlining an organisation’s procedures, bringing consistency to an organisation’s service delivery, reducing cost and rework, improving an organisation’s management practices, competitive advantage and lower insurance premiums.

With operations Ghana, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”) has earned itself the coveted OSHAS 18001 certification mark to demonstrate its conformance to the standard following the certification of both Helios Towers Tanzania and Helios Towers Ghana by SGS as well as Bureau Veritas’ certification of Helios Towers DRC.

OHSAS 18001 was first introduced in 1999 and requires organisations to assess their risk and implement an effective occupational health and safety management system to promote a safe and healthy working environment. Certified organisations are committed to continuous improvement and are assessed annually to ensure progress is being maintained.

Vodafone to Invest $1.3 Into Vodafone Egypt’s Network Upgrade

Telcos

Caroline Vutagwa

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March 25, 2014

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Vodafone to Invest $1.3 Into Vodafone Egypt’s Network Upgrade

There will be an upgrade in the Pharaonic Network as Vodafone Egypt is planning to spend about $1.3 on the upgrade in the next two years.

The main focus of the upgrade should be improving both the network speed and reliability and is expected to be complete by 2017.

Egypt’s ICT Minister reportedly met with Vodafone’s regional CEO, Serpil Timuray and Vodafone Egypt’s CEO Hatem Dowidar to discuss the industry issues in general.

The three were also said to have discussed the threat by Vodafone to take the government to international arbitration over the handling of the granting of a MVNO license to Telecom Egypt.

Vodafone has previously said that the rules as planned would give the state-owned telco an unfair market advantage over the mobile networks.

Facebook Opens Office In Indonesia

Tech

Caroline Vutagwa

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March 25, 2014

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Facebook’s Vice President of Asia Pacific Dan Neary was in Jakarta to announce the opening of Facebook’s new office at Pacific Place just a day after Twitter’s head of content for Asia Pacific Christel Quek said that the company may open an office in the city one day.

“It’s very exciting because when we look at Indonesia, it’s one of our priority market for expansion, so it’s exciting to think about how we’re going to grow that business over time”, Neary said.

With 65 million accounts from Indonesia, the country is Facebook’s fourth largest market and it has turned Facebook into the country’s top e-commerce site, despite being primarily a social network.

“When we look at the economic impact, the number one e-commerce website in all of Indonesia is actually Facebook. And so SME’s are inextricably linked to the digital economy and we think we’re a good way to help promote that. It’s good for the economy, it’s good for continuing to connect with the rest of the country” added Neary.

In today’s democratized Indonesia, politicians who don’t have a presence on Facebook, or any other social network, are less known, not to mention less trusted.

Facebook’s communications platforms, through Messenger and Whatsapp, are the in thing in Indonesia’s mobile carriers as they contribute to their dwindling revenue. At the same time they enable people to communicate over long distance far more economically than over traditional voice and SMS methods thanks to affordable data packages and Facebook specific packages, so there’s clearly a lot to be discussed between Facebook and the carriers.

Neary admitted that there are currently various regulations regarding communications that are being prepared by the Indonesians government and that Facebook’s physical presence should come a long way to allow for easier discussions and feedback on that matter.

Facebook currently has a handful of employees based in Jakarta and the current office set up at Pacific Place is most certainly a shared office, similar to when Yahoo and Google first established their local presence.

Airtel Announces leadership transitions In Kenya & Seychelles

Telcos

Caroline Vutagwa

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March 25, 2014

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Airtel Announces leadership transitions In Kenya & Seychelles

Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), a leading telecommunications services provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, has announced the appointments of Adil El Youssefi as Managing Director for Airtel Kenya and Amadou Dina as Managing Director for Seychelles. Both appointments are effective from the 15^th of April 2014.

Youssefi joins Airtel from the Millicom group in Ghana where he has been the General Manager since June 2012. He joined the Millicom Group in 2008 as Senior Advisor to the Chief Officer Asia in Sri Lanka. In 2009, he joined the Group’s operations in Chad as deputy general manager and was appointed general manager one year later. Prior to joining Millicom, Youssefi worked for British Telecommunications and Philips Consumer Electronics. He holds an MBA from INSEAD in France and an M. Sc. in Engineering from ENSEIRB in Bordeaux, France.

Adil takes over from Shivan Bhargava, who has turned around the Kenya operation into a profitable business over the last three years. He will be continuing in the role until he hands over to Youssefi.

Amadou Dina has been with Airtel for the last eight years. He has been the Finance Director of Airtel Malawi and most recently the acting Managing Director for Malawi. Dina has had successful stints in Tanzania and the DRC, before becoming Finance Director in Airtel Madagascar then moving to Malawi as Finance Director for Airtel Malawi. He holds a Masters in Financial Management and Higher Degree in accounting from the University of Pierre Mendes Grenoble in France.

Amadou takes over from Vikram Sinha, who has been appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Airtel in Congo Brazzaville.

Airtel’s CEO for Africa Christian de Faria, welcomed El Youssefi and Dina on board, saying: “We have every confidence that both Adil and Amadou are the right people to lead the Company’s quest for further growth in Kenya and the Seychelles at this juncture. Adil has the experience gained in both emerging and developed markets, coupled with the technical background that will help steer the operation in Kenya through the rapidly evolving telecom landscape. Amadou will leverage his deep financial skills as well as strong commercial acumen to fast-track Seychelles’ profitable growth, whilst building the team’s capabilities. I would like to congratulate both Adil and Amadou on these appointments and would like to sincerely thank Shivan for his contribution and dedication to our business in Africa.”

Research output from Africa increased by over 300% between 1996 and 2012

Tech

Partner Content

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March 25, 2014

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Research output from Africa increased by over 300% between 1996 and 2012

Africa’s drive towards a knowledge based economy is gradually becoming a reality. The number of research papers published in scientific journals with at least one author at an African institution increased by 316% between 1996 and 2012. Within the same period, Africa’s share of the world’s articles almost doubled from 1.2% to around 2.3%. In 2011, the developing world, including Africa accounted for 40% of the world’s scholarly papers. Read more here…

Wonder PL On A Mission To Beat YouTube

Tech

Caroline Vutagwa

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March 25, 2014

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A new video platform for lifestyle content, Wonder PL, that was launched on the 13^th of this month wants to make a name for itself through online video as well as to beat YouTube and Vimeo.

Wonder PL has the likes of Universal Music Group, Qualcomm Ventures, former Apple executive Pascal Cagni and a personal investment by Vice Media President Andrew Creighton supporting it.

This video platform will cover things to do with wellness, food, entertainment and the like all targeting women.

The difference between YouTube and this platform is that it is targeting professional content makers who will use Wonder PL for an annual fee, well of course YouTube is free for all.

“We want to be the Whole Foods of video,” said Sofia Fenichell, Wonder founder and CEO. “YouTube is Walmart.”

Wonder is going after brands and content creators such as the National Film Board of China and chef Tom Aikens. Wonder will charge an annual fee of $300 for its members to upload video.

Google’s YouTube, which is ad-supported, has more than 1 billion unique users per month who watch more than 6 billion hours of video.

Another platform isIAC/Interactive Corp.’s Vimeo which provides a platform for professional users too. Anyone can post video to the Vimeo platform for free, but it charges up to $199 for more comprehensive features like additional storage, support and the ability to sell video on demand. (Vimeo takes a 10 percent cut.) Vimeo has over 22 million registered members and reaches a global monthly audience of about 150 million.

Fenichell said Wonder will depend on subscription revenue for now but could eventually start providing opportunities for sponsored content. People view videos on Wonder in an ad-free environment.

ToLet Celebrates 1st Year Anniversary With 3000+ Properties | Set to be Nigeria’s Top Letting Agency

Startups

Sam Wakoba

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March 24, 2014

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ToLet Celebrates 1st Year Anniversary With 3000+ Properties | Set to be Nigeria’s Top Letting Agency

Ten yeas ago at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; thousands of undergraduate students had found their new joy, freedom. They were away from parents, had little to do and apart from their course-works and tests, everything was fun. As undergrads, students could attend some lectures, skive the tough ones and meet cool new friends and hang out talking about the future and every nice thing you can dream of while on campus.

However, three fresh undergraduates were thinking different.

Sulaiman Balogun, a Lawyer, Fikayo Ogundipe and Seyi Ayeni, both Electrical Engineers and Oladapo Eludire an Estate Surveyor were thinking of changing the future. Amidst the busy schedules they had, the three were thinking on how to help make life easier.

Now, campus done and out in the heat, the three reunited to revive their dream and co-founded ToLet.com.ng to help everyone search for new rental property easily. Their site allows users to search for properties based on style, location and budget and then book a site inspection on the website or call their customer care line to visit those properties of interest. To visit properties, users go along with a ToLet.com.ng Area specialist who will show them as many available properties that fit their search criteria until the user finds the right property.

“Since search is the first step in the rental process, we have partnered with a vast majority of property agents thus ensuring that our site now has the largest inventory of available rentals in Lagos,” Sulaiman Balogun, co-founder ToLet told TechMoran. “Landlords also come to us directly so this helps stay ahead as the best and only location (online or offline) to search for available rental listings.”

The also help with the physical inspection part of the business, and have recruited Area Specialists for the different zones in Lagos to take their users for inspections and also help them through the negotiation, payment and contract signing aspects of the transaction.

With over 3000 properties, a seed fund from Jason Njoku’s Spark and celebrating one year its 2013 March launch ToLet.com.ng wants to become Nigeria 1st Online Lettings Agency.

“It’s our mission to provide easy and hassle free access of available property rentals in the city of Lagos. Over the last one year, we have grown from just about 40 listings to over 3000, and have the largest inventory of available rental properties in Lagos; this has thus made us the dominant web platform for property rentals in Lagos. We have also gone from a workforce of four to over thirty full time staff,” Sulaiman Balogun said.

ToLet has a different model unlike mushrooming property listing sites, being onlne letting agency, the startup helps prospective tenants search for properties; helps them negotiate with Landlords and Property Agents while for Property Agents, the firm helps them market their listings faster since they have control majority of rental search online.

All the property owners do is pay ToLet a percentage of their commissions upon the properties being rented out to users of ToLet.com.ng.Property owners also get direct marketing of their properties on the portal.

“ToLet.com.ng is the only Online Rental Agency in Nigeria and unlike them, Period. Unlike our website, every other property website just has listings and as such from our point of view, there is really not much added value to their users,” Balogun tells TechMoran. “Their users still run the risk of being defrauded due to fictitious listings/fraudulent posters, their users still have to hop from one property agent to the next.”

Users of ToLet.com.ng search for properties on the site free and only have to pay a basic service fee to access use to the site’s Area Specialists and never have to pay any dime afterwards to anyone else. The site eliminates agents who charge fees to tenants at every property or inspection.

Balogun says the startup is about to break even from the commission fees generated through direct brief properties from landlords and other property agents. However, they are looking at another round of funding from other venture capital firms. He adds that their rapid growth especially over the last six months has attracted quite some interest from a couple of International VC firms but ToLet is taking its time to ensure they have the right partners before signing anything then eventually roll-out to other major Nigeria cities over the next 18 months.

Even with over 3000 properties listed on the site, ToLet’s Balogun says the firm has not done a lot of marketing but their userbase has been generated via a very small online marketing budget and thousands of referrals from satisfied users of the service. The firm hasplans for a full blown marketing campaign from Q2 to help them be the number one property lettings agency not only in Lagos but reach to the rest of the country and possibly start out in one or two other African states.

Free Classifieds Site Locanto Launches in Africa to take on OLX

Startups

Sam Wakoba

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March 24, 2014

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Free Classifieds Site Locanto Launches in Africa to take on OLX

Free classifieds website for users to sell and buy just about anything in over 50 countries has launched in several African countries and other emerging markets to help everyone sell or buy online with ease.

Developed by Yalwa, a German business directory, Locanto provides local classified sites worldwide allowing users to sell something, find a job or offer an apartment for rent online.

Now available in Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana, Locanto is also available in 50 other countries around the world apart from Europe where it was originally founded in 2006. Later the same year, the site expanded to US and then into all major English-speaking countries. Its now available in over 50 countries around the world.

Why Locanto might be a competition to Junkmail, Gumtree, OLX, TradeStable, Tonaton and others is because Locanto says it’s ads will always be cost and spam free but every other classifieds says so, and after some traction starts to charge commercial users.

The firm says posting on its site is as easy as posting ads to a local newspaper and the ad remains live for 60 days. It’s available as a web platform, an iPhone app and as an Android app on the Google Play Store.

The apps just like Locanto’s web version allow one to search items, post ads, contact users, upload their ads and pictures quickly, communicate anonymously with the integrated messaging system, edit their ads and simply stay in touch with the marketplace for best offers.

For it to be made known, Locanto might need a huge digital advertising budget to pop up everywhere online if it has to have significant visitors to the site. At the moment, Naspers is hiring more and advertising allover to further push OLX to make it a household name.

Naspers Injects $75 Million into Dubai’s E-Commerce Site Souq.com

Startups

Sam Wakoba

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March 24, 2014

0

Naspers Injects $75 Million into Dubai’s E-Commerce Site Souq.com

South African Media giant Naspers has injected $75 million into Souq.com a Middle East and North Africa e-commerce site, adding the value of the site to over $500 million and the biggest in the history of the Arab world internet ecosystem since Yahoo’s 2009 Maktoob deal for $165 million.

Though the details of the deal were not revealed, earlier Naspers had a 35.8% stake in Souq but the latest round forms part of Nasper’s broader strategy to build ecommerce businesses in developing countries around the world according to a Naspers spokesperson who spoke to WSJ.

Souq has six million users and records 10 million unique visitors on monthly, the firm has also launched its own logistics branch dubbed QExpress, an online payment system PayFort and also launched its own tablet computer to be the Arab world’s leading version of Amazon.com.

Souq, says it aims to reach $1 billion in sales within the next two years and is banking on the clear e-commerce opportunity due to the increasing use of Internet, and mobile penetration. This new round will help the firm to improve its offerings and hire more people.

With investors such as New York-based hedge fund Tiger Global Management, Jabbar Internet Group, Souq has raised $150 million to date and belivies the ecommerce opportunity is enormous in the country and is expecting to see more deals come up as they continue to create value.

Airtel Kenya Replaces its MD With Tigo Ghana’s

Sam Wakoba

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March 24, 2014

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Airtel Kenya Replaces its MD With Tigo Ghana’s

Shivan Bhargava is no longer Airtel Kenya MD and his place has been taken over by Tigo Ghana’s Adil El Yousseffi in a second executive shuffle at the firm after Manoj Kohli, Bharti Airtel the former co-CEO and MD of the International business.
TechMoran has not established the fate of Shivan, but CIO East Africa is reporting that Shivan will be staying with his family in India meaning he has not taken any new job at the expansive Bharti Empire.

Bhargava was the Managing Director at Airtel Kenya Limited and had served as the Chief Operating Officer of Airtel Kenya Ltd. since September 2011. Earlier he was Senior Vice President of Bharti Airtel Ltd and also served as Regional Logistics & Planning Manager at Coca – Cola India.

With an MBA from INSEAD, in France and Singapore and an M. Sc. in Engineering from ENSEIRB in Bordeaux, France Adil El Youssefi joined the Millicom Group in 2008 as Senior Advisor to the Chief Officer Asia in Sri Lanka. In 2009, he was appointed as Tigo Chad’s Deputy General Manager and a year later was appointed as a General Manager Tigo Ghana and in June 2012 became the GM Millicom Ghana. Mr. Youssefi worked for British Telecommunications and Philips Consumer Electronics prior to joining the Millicon Group.

Jobberman CEO to speak at 2014 MIT Africa Innovate Conference

Startups

Sam Wakoba

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March 24, 2014

0

Jobberman CEO to speak at 2014 MIT Africa Innovate Conference

Jobberman CEO and President, Ayodeji Adewunmi will speak at the 4th annual MIT: Africa Innovate Conference to be held on the 11th and 12th April 2014 at the MIT Media Lab.

Adewunmi founded Jobberman.com in August 2009 which has grown to become the biggest job site in Sub-Saharan Africa with strategic partnerships with key media companies and in strong financial position with backing from SEEK (most profitable job site in the world) and New York Hedge Fund, Tiger Global. Over 1 million professionals and circa 25,000 companies make use of the job portal.

At 2014 MIT Africa Innovate Conference, Adewunmi will join a panel discussion focusing on how Technology is disrupting industries in Africa and touching fundamental aspects of our lives on the continent. Fellow panelists include Joost Bonsen(Moderator) Lecturer, MIT Media Lab; Dr. Bitange Ndemo,Former Permanent Secretary, Government of Kenya; Anne Githuku-Shongwe, Founder/CEO, AFROES Interactive and Consulting; and Sangu Delle, CEO, Golden Palm Investments.

MIT:Africa Innovate is an intimate showcase of the latest ideas and innovations in entrepreneurship, finance, healthcare, energy and education.

Other speakers slated for the Boston event in April include Folorunso Alakija, Entrepreneur/Philanthropist; Bola Ahmed Tinubi, Leader, All Progressive Congress; Ashish Thakkar, CEO, Mara Group; Alex Cummings, Chief Administrative Officer, The Coca-Cola Company; Tonye Cole, Co-Founder/Group Executive Director, Sahara Energy; and dozens more industry leaders and innovators shaping the future of Africa.

To register for 2014 MIT Africa Innovate conference, visit the registration page at http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate/registration/

Tanzania’s New Traffic Monitoring System to Generate Over TZS 20 Bilion Annually

Telcos

Sam Wakoba

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March 24, 2014

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Tanzania’s New Traffic Monitoring System to Generate Over TZS 20 Bilion Annually

Tanzania has launched a Telecommunications Traffic Monitoring System (TTMS) which is expected to help the telco regulator collect taxes and up revenues from international calls made to the country and also measure to the quality of service from telcos.

The country also added that the system could be used to measure revenue or carrier access, billing information and mobile money transactions. It can also be used to track, detect and block fraud traffic and identify one’s SIM card profile or the careers terminal equipment.

The system will also ensure telco’s comply with the law apart from just collecting levies.

Established by

SGS-Société Générale de Surveillance and Global Voice Group for the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority and implemented by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), the TTMS will track volumetry and the billing of the international traffic entering Tanzania and detect and eliminate international communications by-pass fraud.

TTMS will also provide the capabilities to fight against mobile devices theft and counterfeiting, as well as the monitoring of mobile money transactions.

According to Prof. John Nkoma, Director General of the TCRA, speaking on the public launch, “Before the installation of this system, it was very difficult to know the exact traffic and unscrupulous people were using illegal and unlicensed international networks [in order to route calls to Tanzania] that led to the government and legal service providers losing revenue.”

The system will help monitor and end illegal traffic into and out of the country to its over 28 million SIM Cards holders, the Tanzanian Minister of Communication, Science and Technology, His Excellency Prof. Makame Mbarawa also highlighted the positive impact of the project by stating, “The TTMS will not only facilitate the government to collect its taxes but also enable mobile operators to increase their revenues.”

The government estimated that the project would generate additional revenue of 20 billion TZS per year, solely through the monitoring of international incoming calls. According to President Kikwete, “It is a commendable move, making almost 20 billion per annum from zero is a very promising step.”

YouTube Is The New Teacher In South Africa

Tech

Caroline Vutagwa

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March 24, 2014

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In these times one can learn anything through the internet and YouTube has been a great source; for this reason South Africa has recorded that YouTube views have increased by more than 90 percent in 2013.

“We call the YouTube generation ‘Generation C’, with 70 percent of local YouTube users being between the ages of 18 and 34,” said Jared Molko, of Google SA. “According to a recent survey, young South Africans are constantly connected and if they need answers they are more likely to consult their smartphones than another person. This same group moves back and forth between different devices, and 88% of them are online daily.”

The Google Executive said that entertainment and comedy are the content most consumed by South Africans on YouTube and that is something local content creators understand. Adding that the YouTube’s South Africa earnings increased by 60 percent in 2012.

Home fitness expert Peter Cilliers says he earns more than R50,000 a month by uploading videos to his channel, which has more than 93.5m views and over 260 subscribers.

Last year the most-watched video in South Africa was the Pinetown truck crash, posted by the eNews Channel.

Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball music video took top honours globally. The top ad on YouTube SA was “Dove real beauty”.

Kenyan Government Pace Up 4G Internet

Tech

Caroline Vutagwa

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March 24, 2014

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Kenya’s ministry of ICT has confirmed that the country will soon be swimming in the four generation Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) pretty soon.

The Cabinet Secretary for ICT, Fred Matiang’I confirmed that the government has completed the process of developing a new spectrum policy which will soon be available for public comment.

“After receiving the memoranda with various comments on the policy, we will hold a stakeholders’ meeting and then present the policy to the cabinet for approval,” he said.

Matiang’i said that the consultation is going to take about three to five months adding that the public should present their views on how the spectrum should be managed because it is a national resource.

“We have proposed we go by the public private partnerships ownership model so as to avail the broadband in wholesale basis but there are actors who think we should auction licenses after grouping the spectrum into two or three bands,” said that Cabinet Secretary

Currently the Communication Authority of Kenya gives operators licenses for either 2G or 3G networks.

Last year the National Treasury had approved the proposed ownership model that required the government to provide frequencies and the interested stakeholders to invest Sh10 billion in order to begin the development of the 4G LTE.

The operators were Safaricom, Airtel, Orange, Yu, Liquid Telecoms, and MTN Business.

However, the roll out failed as Safaricom pulled out citing that the government was sluggish in getting shareholders to agree.

LG & Google Team Up To Develop An Android Powered LG G Watch

Tech

Caroline Vutagwa

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March 24, 2014

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LG & Google Team Up To Develop An Android Powered LG G Watch

The partnership between Google and LG is looking into creating the LG G Android wear. The Google Android wear has extended its Android platform to wearables.

LG G Watch will be compatible with a wide range of Android™ smartphones and will present relevant information to users just when they need it or whenever they say “OK Google” to ask questions or get stuff done. As one of Google’s lead partners in this effort, LG is planning to introduce its first watch powered by Android Wear in the second quarter of 2014.

The LG G Watch powered by Android Wear will present a low barrier to entry for developers and offer the best Google experience for users. LG and Google worked together from the initial stages of development to ensure that the LG G Watch worked perfectly with Android Wear. This is LG’s fourth device developed in close collaboration with Google following the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, and the LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition.

“The opportunity to work with Google on LG G Watch was the perfect chance for LG to really pull out all stops in both design and engineering,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “With the LG G Watch, LG is continuing the milestones we’ve set in wearables following in the footsteps of the world’s first 3G Touch Watch Phone in 2009 and the Prada Link in 2008. We’re confident that a well-designed device has the potential to take the smart wearable market by storm.”

The Biggest Power Energy Project In Africa Has Signed A $870 Million Financing Agreement

Tech

Caroline Vutagwa

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March 24, 2014

0

The Biggest Power Energy Project In Africa Has Signed A $870 Million Financing Agreement

The Lake Turkana Wind Power Project meant to add an existing 300MW of reliable, low cost wind energy to the national grid of Kenya reached a critical milestone following the signing of the financial agreements in Nairobi, Kenya.

The signing of the over $870m financing agreements represents a major breakthrough to actualizing the biggest clean power energy project in Africa, spanning years of negotiations and fundraising, says Tshepo Mahloele, CEO of Harith General Partners.

The project will be financed with a mixture of equity, mezzanine debt and senior debt.LTWP has signed a 20 year Power Purchase Agreement with the government of Kenya through its electricity entity, Kenya Power.

The parties at the signing ceremony were represented by lead developer and independent power producer, Aldwych, which is majority owned by the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF). LTWP is primarily responsible for the financing, construction and operation of the wind farm and comprise a grouping of investors and lenders with extensive financial and technical capabilities and experience on the African continent. They include FMO, Vestas, Finnfund, IFU and a strong local sponsor KP&P on the equity side. The syndicate of banks is led by the African Development Bank and comprises Standard Bank, Nedbank, EIB, DEG and Proparco.

The project site is situated on the southeast border of Lake Turkana between two high ranging mountains in the Turkana Corridor where a low level jet stream originating in the Indian Ocean creates favourable wind conditions.

The Kenya government will save millions per year on importing fuel. The LTWP tax contribution to Kenya alone will be approximately $27m annually and $548m over the life of the investment.

This project also forms part of Harith’s commitment to the United States backed Power Plan announced last year by the US President Barack Obama to bring more than 10 000 MW of electricity to sub Saharan Africa. Through Power Africa, Harith has committed $70m for wind energy in Kenya and $500m across the African power sector through a new fund.

Mahloele says the investment is the result of the forward thinking and planning on the part of the Kenyan leadership who had undertaken comprehensive power sector reforms over the past decade.

In Kenya, electricity is mainly generated from hydro, thermal and geothermal sources. Wind generation accounts for less than six megawatts of the installed capacity. Currently, hydro power comprises over 52 percent of the installed capacity in Kenya and is sourced from various stations managed by the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen).

The African diaspora remitted 650% more money to Sub-Saharan Africa in 2012 than the World Bank and IMF combined

Business

Partner Content

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March 24, 2014

0

The African diaspora remitted 650% more money to Sub-Saharan Africa in 2012 than the World Bank and IMF combined

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) alone, remittances in 2012 totaled US$31 billion, which is 650% more than the combined World Bank and IMF capital inflow. Remittances to the whole of Africa in 2012 totaled US$60 billion (excluding remittances via unofficial channels). The value is more than total Foreign Direct Investment valued at US$50 billion and more than the total 2011 foreign aid, valued at US$51 billion. Read more here…

LG to Disrupt Home Entertainment with Hi-Tec TV Sets

Tech

Sam Wakoba

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March 24, 2014

0

LG to Disrupt Home Entertainment with Hi-Tec TV Sets

LG plans to change the dynamics of the current TV market, capitalizing on LG’s early leadership in OLED TV technology and manufacturing.

This month LG Electronics introduced its 2014 TV lineup in Korea, unveiling a total of 68 new models including ULTRA HD TVs in sizes ranging from 49 to 105 inches, its largest collection to date. Among its new models is LG’s groundbreaking 105-inch Curved ULTRA HD TV in addition to its smaller 65-, 55- and 49-inch curved 4K units. As the first manufacturer to introduce an 84-inch ULTRA HD TV to the world in 2012, LG has consistently upped the ante with first-to-market ULTRA HD and OLED units.
According to Josep Kim, the Managing Director of LG East Africa, “The overall strategy is to expand the company’s ULTRA HD TV and Smart TV offerings with a wider range of products that push the boundaries of innovation.”

Rather than using a new or different display technology, Ultra HDTVs are LED LCD models that “cram” more pixels onto the screen. With more pixels in a given area, images are sharper and more detailed than on regular HD TVs. Also known as 4K TVs, consumer Ultra HD sets have four times the resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels) of traditional HD TVs (1920 x 1080 pixels).

Promised for several years and now finally making an appearance in the large-screen TV market are OLED sets. Using organic light-emitting diodes, OLED sets can light up each picture element individually, without the need for the separate light source that LCDs require.

This translates into a much brighter, more colorful picture. Because OLED TVs don’t require backlighting, they can be made much thinner, as well. OLED TVs are still significantly more expensive compared to regular LED LCD TVs but prices are falling as the technology matures.

Besides size, the common features of the premium TV sets are their ability to convert normal television pictures into 3D pin-sharp images and Ultra-HD picture quality. With the introduction of its Flexible OLED TV, LG has now achieved a major grand slam, having introduced its share of world firsts in the OLED TV space― flat, curved and now flexible.

Using the accompanying remote, the curvature of the Flexible OLED TV display can be altered to suit the viewing situation and environment, such as number of viewers and viewing distance. Since the curvature is adjustable, audiences can enjoy the best TV viewing experience possible. Complementing the company’s existing 55-inch CURVED OLED TV are two new products measuring 65 inches and 77 inches, measured diagonally with Ultra HD high resolution.

New for 2014 is LG’s webOS Smart TV platform, first unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January, which the company expects to set a new standard in the smart TV market for its openness and ease-of-use. “With our strong competitiveness in display technology including ULTRA IPS, CINEMA 3D and the unrivalled simplicity of the webOS Smart TV platform, we are optimistic that in 2014, LG will be the one to watch in the TV industry” says Mr Kim.

As announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, the simple and intuitive webOS platform will be featured in more than half of TVs including of LG’s ULTRA HD, OLED and CINMEA 3D Smart TVs this year. Its ease-of-use makes content searching and viewing, connecting with other devices, and even the initial setup process incredibly smooth.

The first time the user turns on a webOS Smart TV, an inviting, animated character, BeanBird, appears onscreen to help get connected and walk the user through the setup process. And the new, open platform makes it extremely easy for developers to create applications and enhances the compatibility of LG’s Smart TVs with other devices.

Apple Wants To Go Android

Tech

Caroline Vutagwa

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March 24, 2014

0

Looks like everyone is shifting from their comfort zone, first it was Nokia going Android from their traditional windows; now it is Apple, though different it still applies. There has been a report that the company has been working on an Android app to expand its iTunes music service to the rival platform as it also looks to develop a music streaming service to rival Spotify.

The reports claim that Apple is looking to deal with a double-digit decrease in download sales at Apple’s iTunes Music Store. The decline having come from the double impact of faster Android sales and increased use of music streaming services.

With this advancements, of course it will start with the west then trickle down to Africa, Google Android is too attractive to ignore.

Apple already has a streaming service with iTunes Radio, but it is significantly more restricted in what it offers compared to rival services.

With this in consideration, is believed that Apple is in talks with record labels to get more exclusive music offers to help stem the decline, though it may not have a great impact on the chances of a customer buying an iPhone over and Android or other device.

What Apple’s iTunes is looking to do is to expand its reach into the fast growing music streaming market where it is weak, and finally making its music catalogue available to the much larger Android customer base.

To appease the music labels, Apple is also working on cleaning up the iTunes platform to remove confusing duplicates of tracks and improving its catalogue control to ensure that content that is out of copyright in one country is not offered for free download in another.

Nigeria’s Paga Scoops 1.3 Subscribers Through Mobile Money

Tech

Caroline Vutagwa

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March 24, 2014

0

Nigeria’s Paga Scoops 1.3 Subscribers Through Mobile Money

Nigeria’s biggest mobile money schemes, Paga has managed to scoop 1.3 users. With this amount of subscribers the schem e has managed to record a transaction volume of 587,035 with value of N6.16 million in the month f February 2014.

The scheme enables its users to pay for goods and services with mobile money.

Paga launched a new mobile money transfer (MMT) service to Nigeria, which increases the reach of Western Union payout options in the country. The new service integrates directly with Paga users.

Using Paga’s multi-channel platform, customers can withdraw the money by sending it to a bank account, withdrawing from an ATM or through Paga’s network of over 4,000 agents in Nigeria.

Tayo Oviosu, CEO, Paga, said that with this number of transactions and value Paga is now the largest mobile money operator in the country.

“We are the largest mobile money operator. Mobile banking business is different from mobile money, which confuses some Nigeria into believing that banks in the mobile money ecosystem are doing better than us. We have 4,000 agents in 25 states of the country, which today is the largest. We are now positioned to collaborate with banks to use our agent network for cash in and cash out services,” he said.

Oviosu recommend Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to heed to the call by some operators that are seeking for reduction in the cost of USSD platform that Mobile money operators’ use which is provided by telecommunications operators.

“No regulator should control price in the market, we are in a free market, let forces of demand and supply determine price. If you are one of the telecom operators, you would want your service to be commercially viable,” he said.

Rocket Internet’s Lamudi Officially Launches in Uganda

Startups

Sam Wakoba

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March 24, 2014

0

Rocket Internet’s Lamudi Officially Launches in Uganda

Rocket Internet’s Lamudi, has today launched in Uganda and is aiming to be the country’s largest online property portal in the housing market by meeting the demands of the Ugandan population in major cities.

The site was live for use in the country by October 2013 and has signed up a umber of properties. The firm said Lamudi global has over one million monthly visitors across 21 countries around the world and its launch in Kampala, Entebbe and Jinja aims to make it the biggest in the country.

Shakib Nsubuga, Lamudi Uganda Country Manager stated: “In 2013, according to the World Bank there were 36.4 million people in Uganda and figures show that is further increasing. A service of this type is needed to further support Uganda’s fast growing real estate market especially in the big cities like Kampala, Entebbe, Jinja and surrounding areas. Currently, there is an increased demand for more affordable housing, with only a fraction being currently met. This remarkable growth is due to an increase in local and foreign investment, population growth (2.89%), an emerging middle class, and increased diaspora property investment.”

In 2013, figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics show that the real estate sector in Uganda have fluctuated and is now seen as one of the major sectors of the country’s economy. Lamudi’s presence in Uganda goes a long way in supporting the economy with a commission free service – great for individuals and agencies alike and users’ access to reliable property information at users’ fingertips.

The business currently operates in 21 countries worldwide and is constantly expanding and improving its global operations to meet each countries property buyers and seller’s needs.

CEO Weekends:Hellofood Nigeria Hits Port Harcourt| Heading to Kano, Kaduna, Benin City & Ibadan

Startups

Sam Wakoba

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March 21, 2014

0

CEO Weekends:Hellofood Nigeria Hits Port Harcourt| Heading to Kano, Kaduna, Benin City & Ibadan

Hellofood Nigeria has extended to Port Harcourt, signing up popular restaurants The Promise, Pepperoni, Just Relish, Eldorado, Skippers and many more in a move set to increase the firm’s footprint across Nigeria.

In a statement James Gibson, Managing Director, said, “After the phenomenal response in Lagos and Abuja, we are extremely excited to be launching in Port Harcourt. We aim to offer the widest range of cuisines and cover every area of the city.“

Currently, Hellofood Nigeria works with over 250 restaurant partners, which it intends to grow to 500 across 7 cities by the end of the year.

Gibson said the firm plans to expand to 4 other cities in 2014, including Kano, Kaduna, Benin City and Ibadan and completely revolutionise the way customers interact with restaurants, providing the simplest, fastest and most convenient way to order food.

The Rocket Internet backed venture Hellofood/ Foodpanda recently said it has launched in over 41 countries, making it the world’s fastest growing online food delivery marketplace and reaches over 3 billion people and operates with more than 22,000 restaurants partners across 41 countries. It helps restaurants ability to reach clients via online and mobile platforms and gives them the tech and analytics to monitor their reach.

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