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CEO Weekends: 18 Year-Old Nigerian Youth Launches Yolpe.com To Disrupt Africa’s Job Rectruitment Industry

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get hired fasterHoward Izundu, an 18 year-old developer has launched Yolpe.com, an online recruitment platform for members only, that he say will change the way firms hire in Nigeria and Africa.

Izundu told TechMoran, “Some times last year, we started development on a platform that we hoped would transform the future of the job industry and the lives of so many people. We created after months of work what I feel would impact the lives of lots of people.”

Izundu added, “Our service makes finding an employee dead easy and simple for employers/recruiting managers. When utilized, it effectively eliminates job ads, applicant tracking systems, company recruitment portals and the system of applying for jobs by emailing resumes (all which are normally the biggest banes to Hiring), thereby speeding up the employment process. Probably, if you have ever worked as a hiring
manager you would immediately see the glaring need/use of this service.”

He says, traditionally, the recruitment process takes from 3 weeks to more than 2 months before completion but with Yolpe, it can effectively be done in at most 2 weeks depending on volume, finding and sourcing already taken care of, by them.

Yolpe is a medium people where job seekers sign up to connect to firm with job openings or get referrals based on their qualifications, relevance,  specialization, company fit and talents. Users get access to job openings anytime, anywhere. He says that because most jobs are not advertised traditionally and most employed job seekers do not apply for jobs, Yolpe will help employers recruit the best talent in the market.

“I became interested in recruitment when my dad lost his job. For the past one year, I have had a roller-coaster ride testing out different platforms e.g. an internet job marketing site (hirepuss.com), social networks for employees to discuss, service for employees to complain about their jobs and warn off prospective companies e.t.c,” said Izundu.

“Then at my internet job marketing site I discovered something. As incredible as this may sound, Job seekers were hardly applying at recruitment  portals of small companies nor sent quality resumes.  This showed that job seekers were hardly interested in small S.M.Es who were my major clients. In contrast, bigger organizations usually had a surplus on every single job opening which they hate and an interesting number are
usually under-qualified. So there is a surplus on one side and a deficit on the other,” he added.

“Another issue is that you would publish a job opening on The Guardian or on job boards without knowing if you would even get a response or if your application qualified. That’s why if you look closely, you would see companies doing re-runs of their ads especially on
newspaper.”

He then said he discovered that firms did not usually have multiple positions open at once so they usually hire one or two persons to fill the vacancy immediately and mostly through referrals. That’s why he thought Yolpe can help connect users to jobs just as friends do at the work place.

 Yolpe.com aspires to solve this problem with a simple solution. Connect job seekers with employers, remove all the middlemen and create pent up demands on both ends and sell it to both sides of the table. Easily.

“At its core, it’s kind of like a dating site (marketplace) for employers and those looking for work, having a noble mission: “To make Job seekers’ information easily accessible Online, enabling employers find them faster, speeding up the Employment process”. The difference with LinkedIn.com is that LinkedIn is for professional networking but Nigerians need jobs fast not networking,” he said.

He says he is ready to take on his competitors who include TheLadders.com, Bizreach.com, RegionUP.com and all Job-boards in Nigeria and LinkedIn in general.

CEO Weekends: European Fashion Brand SuitSupply.com Set To Launch In Africa

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suitsupply

Top European men’s fashion brand, SuitSupply, is set to launch in Africa. The firm will run as Africa.supply.com, on the continent in September.

 The Amsterdam-based firm has  reported record-high sales following its expansion into the United States with stores popping out nation-wide in major cities, and is now set to take on Africa with the launch of its website as a Pan-African multi-channel roll-out.

“There is a growing interest and need for high-quality fashion in Africa. It’s a market that is as equally challenging as it is exciting for any player in the industry,” said Fokke de Jong, CEO and founder of the company. “The launching of africa.suitsupply.com will be our gateway to bringing our signature high-quality tailoring, impeccable style and revolutionary men’s fashion concept to Africa.”

SS_homepage_suits2

After the website launch which is scheduled for mid-September, the company plans to get on  a store roll-out and is currently assessing South Africa, Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya and Angola as their next retail locations.

The Suitsupply concept has over the years been very well accepted by many diverse markets, fueling the company in the rapid global expansion undertaken in the last years.

In the US, SuitSupply recently open stores in Atlanta and Philadelphia, Hamburg in Germany.The company also plans to open stores in Hong-Kong, Shanghai, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, Mexico City and a second New-York location within the next months.

 

CEO Weekends: MTV Searches For Talented Nigerian Artists And Illustrators To Design Shuga Comic

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shuga

MTV Staying Alive Foundation and Nigerian publisher Kachifo are inviting young Nigerian artists and illustrators between the ages of 16-34 to hand in their designs for a comic book based on the Shuga TV series.

The designers have the task of developing storylines and characters from the youth, sex, health and relationships drama. This exciting opportunity will give a matchless platform for showcasing the best illustration and graphic design talent in Nigeria.

SO MTV says that if you think you have what it takes to turn this MTV Base TV series into a hot new comic book, email a full colour comic book sample (six pages maximum in Jpeg or PDF format), drawn to the downloadable script, omitting no part of the story, to comic@kachifo.com. File size must be 2MB or less. The submission must clearly state the name/s of entrant, current address, telephone number/s, and email address. Submissions may be made by single individuals or teams. A team should consist of no more than three persons. The deadline for submission is midnight on Tuesday, 13 August 2013. No entries submitted after this date will be considered.

The Shuga Comic Book will be published by Kachifo in January 2014.

CEO Weekends: Bozza Becomes A Platform For New African Talent

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bozza

 Bozza’s digital platform aims to take talent from the slum or township and allow it to connect with potential audiences.

Late in 2012, Bozza closed its second round of funding with investment from Omidyar, Hasso Plattner Ventures Africa and an individually wealthy investor.

For Emma Kaye, the company’s CEO this provided the runway to start exploring the business models and to “build out the business.”

The CEO is quite clear that she is not going to be one of now very numerous content platforms that have exploded on the continent with the arrival of better.

 “Nearly all these content platforms are working with the top layer of celebrities who are already famous. Bozza is about enabling individuals in the creative industries to have a voice. But content is about the talent and Bozza will be digging down deep into that to create new talent. It’s about breaking the glass ceiling that exists for township or slum talent” she continued.

Despite having got a considerable source of self-generated local content and people potentially interested in it, Bozza has been tackling how it can best make a business model out of these assets.

So Bozza has gone into the market with its third version of its platforms and is now focused on three ways to monetize; one will be to operate a similar fermium model to LinkedIn. This means offering things like local music talent opportunities.

The other way is attracting sponsorship and advertising from brands who want access to the green artists’ audiences and it will see whether it is possible to scale this as the artist’s audience size grows.

Lastly it will, organize content from the platform to operators and handset manufacturers, offering dynamic and new content.

Bozza is currently in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya but also from across the continent and with a stippling of users from Europe. The platform is available on Android, Blackberry, Java and Nokia Express. The platform has grown steadily and reached 300,000 users without marketing.

In making its Pan-African expansion, it has worked with local partners who have got a strong understanding of things like poetry, music and video and know how to get new talent to market.

The internet will accelerate building of audience both local and internationally as well as build the artist profile, this will assist in the rising of talents.

CEO Weekends: iSpace Links Up With Incubators Setting Up Across The Continent

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ispace

In the past two years innovation hubs, incubators and accelerators have created support networks to give ICT entrepreneurs a better chance of survival.

iSpace came out of a conversation between Ghanaian developers for the need for a space to meet and the lack of reliable internet connectivity and decided to set up iSpace.

It is run as a social enterprise that offers developers, entrepreneurs and those in creative industries connections, resources and training. According to Oxford Street in Accraís Osu district and covering a floor, it gives a visible public presence to all three of these commonly overlapping communities

The idea of having creative industries alongside was that the media are not very familiar always with ICT and the developer community is currently largely but not completely invisible.

iSpace has attracted 6 start-ups and has a co-working space that can accommodate 60 people. It has enticed funding from the Indigo Trust and ATTI is part of the Google partnership for entrepreneurs.  It also wants to be able to set up its own UX Lab to assist providence in research for developers before they start writing apps.

The OS and handset market is incredibly fragmented, making all but the development of SMS apps tough. Transaction processes remain in the hands of the mobile operators.

Diverse communities such as developers, entrepreneurs, creative industries, articulate what they need and argue for it. Funding fashions change and a lot of hubs will disappear unless they start tackling the fundamentals of building the ecosystem.

CEO Weekends: Gartner Predicts That Indian Public Cloud Services Market Will Reach USD 443 Million In 2013

cloud

Gartner Inc. predicts that the public cloud services market in India will grow by 36 percent in 2013 to total USD 443 million from USD 326 million in 2012.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), including cloud compute, storage and print services continues as the fastest-growing segment of the market in India. It is increasing from 22.7 percent in 2012 to USD 43.1 million, and a growth of 39.6 percent in 2013 to USD 60.2 million IS expected.

The largest segment of cloud services market in India, Software as a service (SaaS) continues to dominate as is comprises 36 percent of the 2012 market. Gartner predicts that through 2013 to 2017, USD 4.2 billion will be spent on cloud services, of which USD 1.6 billion will be sent on SaaS.

“The continued growth of the cloud services market will result from the adoption of cloud services for production systems and workloads, in addition to the development and testing scenarios that have led as the most prominent use case for public cloud services to date,” said Ed Anderson, research director at Gartner. “Evidence of this growth is found in the increasing demand for cloud services from end-user organizations, met by an increased supply of cloud services from suppliers.”

The cloud business process services segment (BPaaS) is the second-largest market segment after SaaS, comprising 23 percent of the total market in 2012 in India, followed by SaaS at 13 percent, cloud advertising services at 12 percent, cloud management and security services at 11 percent, and cloud application infrastructure services (PaaS) at 5 percent.

Market dynamics differ significantly when considering the cloud services market size and market growth across the different regions of the world. Generally, the emerging markets in Asia/Pacific, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa show the highest growth rates, while representing the smallest overall markets.

China is the exception, being both a large and growing market. Likewise, the mature markets of North America, Western Europe, Japan and the mature Asia/Pacific countries constitute the larger, but slower-growth, markets.

“IT services providers, particularly those focused on delivering cloud services offerings or related services, must consider these disproportionately large mature markets if they want to play a leading role in cloud services growth worldwide,” Mr. Anderson said. “Similarly, markets in Emerging Asia/Pacific, Greater China and Latin America should also be important considerations for IT services providers that want to capitalize on the high growth of these regions, particularly Latin America and Greater China.”

CEO Weekends: BRIC Nations To Be The Market Leaders In Smartphone Shipments

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brick

Countries ranked in top five positions in 2018 would account for 51 percent of worldwide smartphone shipments even though the BRIC countries would account for 33 percent of smartphone shipments says a prediction by ABI

The BRIC countries, which are Brazil, Russia, India and China, will take their places among the top seven smartphone markets in 2018, according to ABI Research.

 

The report says that China will displace the US as the largest smartphone market in 2013, while Brazil and India are also forecasted to be in the top four countries for smartphone shipments by 2018.

 

Russia on the other hand taking the eleventh position of being the largest smartphone market in 2013 and will get an upgrade to 7th in 2018, said ABI Research analysts.

 

“With room to grow, the emerging BRIC nations are displacing established markets such as the US and Japan as market leaders in terms of smartphone shipments,” stated senior analyst, Michael Morgan from ABI Research.

 

The research further said that the top five countries in 2018 would account for 51 percent of worldwide smartphone shipments while the BRIC countries would account for 33 percent of smartphone shipments.

 

By 2018, Western Europe and North Americas’ share of smartphone shipments would be 33 percent down from 39 percent in 2013.

 

The predication further said that the growth of smartphone market in the coming five years will depend on operators depend on operators and handset OEMs delivering enhanced and price appropriate solutions to the BRIC consumers.

 

In terms of total handset shipments, the BRIC countries are already in the top five, but have trailed behind in their global smartphone share.

 

In a span of two years, Android pairing with low cost hardware has opened the door to increasingly lower average selling price for smartphones noted the research report.

 

“When you look at operating system share in emerging markets, you tend to find that Android has been busy fulfilling its mission to bring the Internet to consumers who can’t afford a traditional PC or laptop,” added ABI Research senior practice director Jeff Orr.

 

CEO Weekends: Healthcart.co.za Introduces 10% Off To Absa Credit Cardholders

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healthcartHealthcart.co.za, an online retail store for over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, supplements, sports nutrition, personal care and much more with thousands of products available for delivery day or night has today introduced 10% discounts on items for all Absa card holders.

Launched June this year in South Africa by Paul Cook, a PhD in physics from the California Institute of Technology and co-author the McKinsey Global Institute report Africa at Work: Job Creation and Inclusive Growth and co-founder Thornhill Associates, an online leadership development and feedback provider, Healthcart.co.za, is South Africa’s first independent online store offering a full range of non-prescription pharmacy products.

The  incredible 10% off deal on over 4000 products to every Absa credit cardholder is valid from 1 August to the 30th September 2013 and restricted to Absa credit cardholders only.

Paul Cook, CEO Healthcart.co.za
Paul Cook, CEO Healthcart.co.za

According to Healthcart CEO Paul Cook, “Healthcart is bringing consumers the future of online shopping and this fantastic deal from Absa means even greater savings on essential healthcare items.”

The state-of-the-art portal retails essential healthcare items from multi-vitamins and supplements, razors, soap and foam bath to sports nutrition and cough, cold and flu fighters and has made medical shopping hassle-free.

Users can log on and access vital healthcare items in diverse categories from personal care and sexual health to fitness supplements and infant care with free delivery on orders over R500.

 

CEO Weekends: Rocket Internet Plans Launch of Hotel Booking Service in Lagos

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hotel-booking(3)

Rocket Internet one of the most aggressive online investors in Africa and the world, are planning to launch a new site that will deal with hotel bookings, according to Techloy.

The site aptly named Jovago hopes to rope in major hotel chains in Africa and give consumers a new platform to obtain timely hotel bookings.

The new e-commerce venture is expected to launch in August and  is being lead by managing directors, Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec. The Jovago team will work from offices located in Berlin, Paris, Porto and Lagos with a total staff base of about 50.

The company is also looking to go into countries such as Kenya, Nigeria and Ivory Coast to expand its business offering.

Rocket Internet recently received funding to a tune of 35 million Euros to drive their expansion in the continent.

CEO Weekends: Nigeria’s Gidilounge Launches Music App For iOS & Android

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android_landingSeems guys at Gidilounge are committed to giving music lovers the easiest way to listen to their favorite tracks and help them find new music that they’ll love. The crew just announced their music app is now available for Android and iOS.

“It is with great pleasure to announce the release of the Gidilounge music streaming app for iOS and Android devices available on the iTunes Appstore and Google Play for download, said Benny Alaga, the team lead Gidilongue.

“At Gidilounge we are reinventing the way Africans discover, listen and enjoy African music. Our aim is to bring you the best of digital entertainment and a world-class user experience,” he added.

Alaga told TechMoran, “We created the first highly successful Gidilounge Mobile radio which currently attracts 6 million listeners globally per month. In addition, we’re excited to announce that Gidilounge is the first music service app catering to African music available on the iTunes Appstore.”

Android_screenshots  The Gidilounge app packs amazing features that give users a rich music experience:

  • Music discovery: Explore music lounges, new releases, Independent music, hard-to-find classics, and much more.
  • Instant access to your playlists, favorite songs and your history of recent plays. Create and update your playlists and sync them across the web and phone. 
  • Easy and fast way to search for your favorite songs, artists, albums, and playlists. Tons of tracks at your fingertips with gorgeous album art.
  • Social: Fully integrated with Facebook and Twitter to ensure that your social experience is absolutely smooth. Connect with Facebook to experience, discover and share your favorite music on the go. 
  • Push notification: Get notified of new music releases from your favorite artists.gpromo4

Alaga adds that these are just some of the amazing features on their application but emphasizes that the App’s design was made to create an experience that puts users first hence make music discovery more interesting.

CEO Weekends:Kenya’s Chaja To End Power Woes Faced By Off-grid Communities

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Chaja prototype
Chaja prototype

Two Kenyan entrepreneurs, Jeff Wanjohi and James Njenga have developed Chaja, a micropower charger for phones, tablets, flashlights in a move set to end power woes for people living in off-grid regions in East Africa.

Wanjohi told TechMoran,” It’s been a while since I went upcountry, so I just packed my smartphone and left. But because I was using data, browsing the internet for news and streaming music, my phone battery didn’t last long. The nearby market had a mobile phone charging kiosk but was so full that my phone had to ‘queue’ overnight to be charged.”

“I was so disturbed. I was offline, I couldn’t make or receive calls, couldn’t check mails or social media using my phone. These horrible experiences inspired me to think of a solution,” he added.

Developed in January 2013 after their harrowing experience during their December holidays upcountry, Chaja is a pan-like gadget which continuously generates power on demand as one cooks. The thermoelectric generator is smaller than a brick, comes in a box-like design made of steel. The ‘box’ holds water which when boiled produces slightly over 5 volts (3.5 watts). The box has copper wires transmitting current from the boiling water to charge a mobile phone or device. Externally it has an a steel arm insulated with heavy duty plastic arm as a handle, though the team is looking at replacing it with wood.

Armed with his Political Science degree from the University of Nairobi he came back to the city and deeply began his research. Fortunately, he met his friend and former campus mate, James Njenga who shared his frustrations with his mobile devices upcountry too. With his Electrical Engineering background and Wanjohi’s research skills they began working on a solution.

Their prototype can charge up to six mobile phones or devices.

Chaja costs Ksh 1500 but the duo told TechMoran that there newer version of Chaja will use wood and some other easily available materials to make it cheaper and affordable for the mass-market.

 

Chaja is bootstrapped and is in talks with several organizations to work with. The team is incubated at Nairobi’s The GrowthHub, a social entrepreneurship hub launched last year.

Here Is Google’s $199 Moto X Assembled For You In The USA

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 Google Motorola Smart PhoneNow, US residents will have the choice to buy a phone assembled in their yard.
Google’s release of the Moto X gives them just that, choice and control over what they want. Moto X is designed and assembled in assembled in Ft. Worth, Texas by Motorola, a Google Inc company and comes with top Google services and many others. With Touchless Control  users can  check the weather, get directions, or do just about anything without lifting a finger.

The Moto X has a 4.7 inch 720p AMOLED display, runs on a X8 Motorola chipset that contains two dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro processors. It has a Quad-core Adreno 320 GPU, a 2 GB of RAM, 16 or 32 GB storage and a 50 GB of free cloud storage on Google Drive for two years. It has 10 megapixel rear camera and 2 megapixel front facing camera.

 Google wants users to redesign the Moto X, in 2000 possible choices and return it within 14 days. Moto X will be available in the US, Canada and Latin America late August/early September in woven black and woven white models.

CCK License Ten More Digital TV Stations in Kenya

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From Blog.Harris.com
From Blog.Harris.com

In its last quarterly report, the Communication Commission of Kenya stated that it has licensed ten more digital stations as the country edges on to the digital migration deadline.

This means that free to air channels are increasing hence adding pressure on existing stations to up their momentum in bringing quality service.

“The Commission continued to ensure plurality and diversity in the broadcasting industry. During the quarter, the Commission issued temporary authorisations to 10 new television (TV) stations to provide TV signals on the digital platform bringing the total number of entities with temporary authorisation to 84,” the commission said in its report.

The total number of FM radio stations stood at 102 while that of existing analogue TV channels, which had activated their TV signal on the digital broadcasting platform, stood at 13 at end of the third quarter.

According to the Business Daily, the liscenses that the commission will release will be thematic and not general. Which means some stations will duly concentrate on sports while others on documentary.

The digital migration intends to increase more content for viewers and also improve on signal quality on all broadcasts.

Master Classes To Develop SA’s Knowledge Economy

Masterclass_logo_RGB_colour_0This is innovation at play.

For years the Knowledge Economy has not been fully utilized in South Africa. But this seems to be coming to an end.

As a unique partnership between the University of Cape Town (UCT) Graduate School of Business (GSB) and the Cape Town International Convention Centre is to play a pivotal role in advancing the country’s ‘Knowledge Economy’ by offering a new series of Master Classes given by global experts.

Aimed at harnessing the knowledge of world experts who frequent Cape Town to attend key global conferences, the sessions will provide a platform for aspiring students and entrepreneurs to benefit from the wisdom and knowledge of some of the world’s most knowledgeable and sought-after professionals.

Rashid Toefy, CEO of the CTICC in Cape Town, describes his ‘Master Class’ idea as a first for South Africa.

“These unique sessions will advance our knowledge economy, through the facilitation and exchange of international standards of best practice,” he says.

“The master class sessions are geared at providing the opportunity for people to learn from those who are setting the standard
for innovation and the latest trends.”

The CTICC is one of the world’s leading international conference facilities and attracts an array of leading global experts from across academic and scientific disciplines to its many prestigious international conferences.

Director of Executive Education at the GSB, Linda Buckley, says that the partnership creates an interesting opportunity for tapping into global
thinking.

“So much knowledge comes through Cape Town for conferences, but it seems almost unfair that only those included in the conference can access it,” she says. “And it is very important that we find novel ways of opening access to this knowledge, to offer it to the
people who need it and who can use it to improve their businesses and their thinking and by extension, the economy.”

From Global to Local: The Meetings Industry in Context, will be a one-day program facilitated by the International Association of Congress Centers (AIPC) – a leading global association for convention and congress center professionals, with representatives from over 170 major international centers in 53 countries around the world.

The program will delve into the latest trends and practices in the conferencing and international meetings industry, with special focus given to the key role centers play in the industry, the economic role centers play in the communities that surround them, and career opportunities in the global industry.

Rod Cameron, Executive Director of AIPC says the association is pleased to be the first in the series.

“We’re pleased to be able to use the occasion of our annual conference in Cape Town to be able to share some of the insights and expertise of our membership with those in the business and academic communities who would like to get a unique insight into the structure, challenges and opportunities associated with an industry which today is a key factor in creating sustainable economic and professional development throughout the world,” he says.

Buckley says this inaugural program should set the tone for the rest of the series in scope and quality.

“Our aim is that the series is rich in learning and that people attending the programmes gain, in a short time, beneficial insights that help them navigate through the competitiveness, complexity and uncertainty in today’s business environment,” she adds.

Announcements on up-coming events would for now be posted on the GSB and CTICC websites.

Rocket Internet’s Linio Goes Mobile | Launches An Android Shopping App

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linio-1LINIO, Latin America’s fastest-growing e-commerce retailer has launched its  Android shopping app for use in México, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela.

Starting in México today, the Linio‘s mobile shopping app will take advantage of the Latin America’s increasing mobile population.

According to a study conducted by the World Bank, Latin America already has more mobile phones as it has people: “On average there are 107 mobile phones per 100 people across the region.” Besides mobile shopping further important drivers in the market are mobile banking and payment via smartphone (as shown in a recent study by Ericsson).

With the launch of its Android app, LINIO emphasizes its position as an early and innovative pioneer in the growing mobile market.

Andreas Mjelde, CEO LINIO said: “With our brand-new Android app we make shopping even easier and we are at the core of innovation. About a fifth of our customers already come from mobile devices. We believe that m-commerce, besides e-commerce, is the future of retail. It is a further technological and cultural milestone and with our app, we are a leading part of this evolving social trend.”

 The LINIO Android app enables on-the-go shoppers to:

–       Browse through the widest product range by categories, search for brands or keywords and sort the products by popularity, price, name and brand

–       Choose from broad variety of categories such as technology, entertainment, fashion, home, toys and babies as well as books, office accessories and personal care products

–       Get exclusive updates on new arrivals, deals and vouchers

–       Use simple, flexible and secure payment methods, like credit card payment.

Besides a great product assortment and a broad variety of brands, the app is characterized by a fast and intuitive navigation.

 To enjoy exclusive benefits and daily special offers, all the users have to do is download the free application through Google Play to know the latest deals that are being launched every day.

“This new app allows you to search by category or product in a simpler way. With this app, Linio aims to bring you all the benefits of our online store to your smartphone. Now you can save time and fulfill all your shopping needs where ever you are: on the way to the office, on your sofa or out in the free. And the products will arrive at your doorsteps within a few days,” added Andreas.

 

 

InPractice Africa Digital Medical Solution Launches in South Africa

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stethoscope-lying-on-the-phone-cell-phone-serviceDigital solution, InPractice Africa, aimed to help medical practitioners with learning resources in the medical field has been launched in South Africa.

The platform will help clinical officers in various hospitals to access learning resources and help improve clinical skills, even in offline mode.

The digital solution was developed in cooperation with the Foundation for Professional Development (FPD) with the University of Witwatersrand. The solution was also funded by US Agency for International Development (USAID).

“The program, designed to help meet the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) goals of building clinical capacity, enhancing retention of clinicians and supporting task shifting, provides South African physicians and nurses with relevant, practical training, and certification to support and improve existing healthcare training infrastructure, clinician education, and patient outcomes,” the statement read.

“Our goal has been to address the needs of the clinicians in Africa by creating a unique, sustainable, flexible technology platform that can ultimately be shared across the continent,” said Dr. Jeffrey Drezner, Managing Director of both CCO and inPractice.

“We have spent the better part of the past year re-engineering our US-based technology to ensure it will work in the cities, districts, and rural clinics across Africa and, with the support of an African faculty, provide unique curricula that will make a difference in quality of care.”

At the launch the guests were able to test the platform using their tablets and smartphones.

Samsung Thumps Apple In New Smartphone Customer Satisfaction Study

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samapple

Samsung has become the people’s choice with its Galaxy S III and Note II, a study by American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI) stated.

The study provides that, in 2013 up until May, customer satisfaction standards for 10 of the past year’s top-selling Smartphone models in the United States.

Samsung’s flagship model for 2012, the S III, received an ACSI standard of 84 (on a 0 to 100 scale), beating Apple’s iPhone 5 at 82, the company’s most recent Smartphone offering. Another Samsung model, Note II, shares the top of list at 84. However, Samsung’s Galaxy S4 is not included because the ACSI study was fielded just prior to its launch.

U.S customers prefer Samsung’s Smartphone while Korean consumers prefer Apple, says National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) in South Korea, which uses the same technology as the ACSI.

ACSI data suggest that Smartphone users are much more satisfied than are feature phone users as the Smartphone earn a customer satisfaction score of 76 compared to 69 for feature phones.

The iPhone 4S matches its successor, iPhone 5, with an ACSI score of 82. Apple’s iPhone 4 is just a point below at 81. On the other hand, at a score of 78, customer fulfillment with the Galaxy S II, predecessor to the S III, is lower. Motorola Mobility’s Droid Razr Maxx HD comes in at 80, while the Droid Razr scores 77. The low end belongs to Blackberry’s Curve and Bold Smartphone scoring 67 and 64, respectively.

“Not only does Samsung edge ahead of all iPhones, Apple customers themselves don’t see much difference between the iPhone 4, 4S or 5,” says ACSI Director David VanAmburg.

“The latest earnings report from Apple was better than expected, but the name of the game for Apple has always been innovation. Samsung, on the other hand, shows a strong upward ACSI trend from the Galaxy S II to the Galaxy S III. If the S4 performs as well — or even better — in the eyes of customers, Samsung could threaten Apple’s dominance in overall customer satisfaction.” He continued.

The Smartphone brand study matches and expands the ACSI’s coverage of the cell phone industry, measuring customer satisfaction with each company’s complete array of product offerings Smartphone and feature phones.

Unlike Apple, which has a Smartphone-only lineup, Samsung offers both feature and Smartphones. At 76, Samsung continues to lag Apple for overall customer satisfaction. Nevertheless, the company’s 7% gain in 2013 is a clear reflection of the strength of Galaxy S III.

 

Founder2be.com Wants To Help Lagos Entrepreneurs Find Co-Founders

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founder to beFounder2be, the world’s largest co-founder finding service founded by Frank Haubenschild and Oliver Bremer in 2011 is on August 11 hosting an event in Lagos, Nigeria to help founders find co-founders.

The co-founder finding meetup seeks to help founders to be find co-founders or technical team members, start something of their own or just find some great people t share ideas with.

The network reports it has had success in its previous events in London, New York, and Beijing and now want to help entrepreneurs in Africa find like-minded fellows to take their startups to the next level.

Founder2be is welcoming entreprenuers to attend the event, demo their products or startups, talk to the awesome people attending, make friends, promote their businesses and find co-founders.

Sign up here to attend and see you at the Zanzi Bar and Grill, Victoria Arobieke Street, Off Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1 in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.

South Africa Has Africa’s Cheapest Postpaid Broadband Packages

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A study conducted by Research ICT Africa (RIA) indicates that South Africa is among the countries with the cheapest postpaid broadband packages in Africa compared to twelve other African nations.

South Africa has the cheapest deal of 1GB postpaid mobile broadband basket at an average price of USD 9.81 per month.

Second place was taken by East Africa’s Tanzania and Kenya gets third position. The countries offer 1GB postpaid broadband data packages at USD 10.17 and USD 10.81 respectively. West African countries scope fourth position in the list, having Ghana offering 1GB at USD 10.92

RIA executive director, Alison Gillwald, said that they conducted their study by analyzing postpaid, prepaid and fixed data packages telecom firms among the selected African countries.  The executive director also added that in terms of studying these African countries’ postpaid data markets, the company took 24 month broadband contracts into consideration; as well as the likes of installation fees, modem or router costs, and the cost of a land-line are all included in the study.

The report said that due to a relatively high number of postpaid customers (in South Africa) compared to other African countries, even European countries can go and hide. These days the most important sales are cheap broadband deals that give you a fast connection. It’s something that we all want to have as comfort within our homes competitive forces in this market segment have pushed mobile operators (in South Africa) to reduce postpaid broadband prices.

It further stated that it was not in the 1GB postpaid broadband range that South Africa has competitive prices on the continent but also in the 5GB basket SA has the second cheapest offering after Nigeria. SA charges USD 21.80 monthly.

Tanzania takes number three in this broadband package range as it offers USD 28.94 monthly fee for a 5GB, while Ghana offers USD 30.97 for the same package monthly.

However, South Africa fails to compare well in the prepaid broadband space, as the study reveals that the country is ranked fourth in the 1GB prepaid broadband sub-index when it comes to the cheapest packages in this range among 12 African nations.

In South Africa a 1GB mobile prepaid option costs up to USD11.32 monthly whereas in Ghana the same package costs USD 3.72.

The report says that South Africa stands at number two rates in 5GB prepaid as they offer a monthly fee of USD 22.47 more than Tanzania who holds second position charge only USD 13.30 says RIA.

The research group adds that South African mobile operators are moving to grow their high data and bandwidth usage markets, which is resulting in prices being competitive especially in the 5GB range.

South Africa, however, holds the sixth position in fixed-line ADSL broadband pricing as they charge USD 42.15 monthly for 1GB.

Amiran Kenya Introduces Juliani As Their First Poverty Eradication Ambassador

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Kenya’s agriculture firm and active leader in sustainable agribusiness, Amiran, has signed a deal with Julius Owino popularly known as Juliani, a Kenyan inspirational gospel artist to be the Amiran Poverty Eradication Ambassador.

Juliani is a well known rapper and Change-maker for his deep lyrics and mindset on issues of bringing change and development among the youth. He has also been involved in many campaigns.

The partnership between the two is to prove to Kenyans and especially to the youth that agribusiness offers a respectable, sustainable and ‘cool’ means of wealth creation and can be practiced even by someone with no prior knowledge or experience in this area, such as Juliani himself.

The introduction of Juliani, as their ambassador comes at time when unemployment, poverty and food insecurity have become a challenge in Kenya. With 21 percent national underemployment, 40 percent total unemployment and 70 percent unemployment among the youth.

In response to the newly acquired responsibility, Juliani said that the programme will come as a solution to the food situation pointing out that many people sleep hungry to survive in the city. He also said that the programme will be able to provide employment as well as improve the food situation in the country which will be a major boost for the country’s economy.

In the six months, Juliani will be trained by the Amiran Team on proper agricultural practices using the most modern technology and inputs available through Amiran to small and medium scale farmers in Kenya. As he practices farming at home, Juliani will travel across Kenya, bringing this important message to youth and to all Kenyans at all levels of society.

The idealistic artist, who has already completed training on the award winning Amiran Farmers Kit (AFK) will work hand in hand with the Amiran Team to energize Kenyans to be pro-active and to create their own wealth through agribusiness in a move to reduce extreme poverty and hunger.

 

iROKING Launches Android App To Take Nigerian Music To The World

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iROKING_android imageWith over 1 Million unique visitors every month, iROKING has launched its Android app for users to access the biggest Nigerian music artists as easy as possible.

Now available in the Google Play store, the brand new iROKING App will bring music & video streaming and downloads of Nigeria’s biggest stars, straight into the hands of Android mobile users.

On the launch, Michael Ugwu, CEO of iROKING said, “I’m excited to be announcing the official launch of the iROKING Android App. It’s been a long time in the making and the hard work and attention to detail has paid off.  The functionality is awesome and the whole user experience is seamless – this is the future of how Nigerians will access music and videos.

“We know that our iROKING users are fanatical about Nigerian music and they want to be able to access the freshest tunes and videos, as soon as they are released and on the go – anytime, anywhere, so we really hope that they love the new App – it was built with them in mind”.

With a 67 percent market-share, Android is currently the biggest platform for mobile devices and smartphones world over. Launching an Android app for iROKING therefore makes huge sense.

The new App joins iROKING’s mobile website m.iroking.com where music fans can browse iROKING’s entire catalogue and download unlimited songs, for free.

iROKING, Nigeria’s number one music streaming and download service, is. Launched officially this week, the App,

The iROKING app is currently free to download. Key features of the iROKING Android App include:

·       Download the latest releases directly onto an Android phone

·       Browse through thousands of tracks

·       Download and watch music videos

·       Share tracks and music videos with friends via email, Facebook and Twitter.

·       Listen to play listed iROKING tracks offline and on the go

iROKING collaborates with many of the country’s biggest artists, including PSquare, 2Face, Flavour, Timaya, Iyanya, Waje, Olamide, Phyno, Burna Boy and many more. The service has over 40,000 songs by over 2,000 artists.

 

Mxit & Amisco Group Partner To Bring Soccer News To Fans

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Cristiano-Ronaldo-1867031Mxit users in South Africa will be able to access soccer news live from the mobile social network after its recent partnership with global sports match analysis firm Amisco Group.

According to Ryan Paterson, regional head of the Amisco Group for Africa,“For true fans the experience is not limited to the 90 minutes that the match is physically being played. There are hours of analysis of the players, the strategies, the opposing team’s ability to compete before the match and then there is the post-game deconstruction of what happened and what impact it has on the rest of the season.”

The South African fans will get realtime Premier Soccer League (PSL) news straight to their mobile phones. They will also be able to follow latest soccer news, match reports and analysis, player profiles and live match updates. Fans can also share thoughts, ideas or encourage their teams using the platform.

The partnership gives users detailed and accurate performance information live plus pre-game and post-game data and statistics on the teams and players of each PSL teams.

Mxit now has all the 16 PSL teams and is working on adding Bafana Bafana and Bayana Bayana in a few months so as fans.

“The community apps on Mxit will be the perfect location for fans to get up-to-the-minute facts and stats on the games and players, increasing fan engagement and allowing them to share their views with others.”

The Amisco Group said it wants to create an environment where the enjoyment of the game can stretch way beyond the televised match. Its partnership with Mxit gives it the ability to reach over 6.5-million monthly active users in South Africa accessing the app via over 3 000 types of phones.

Umeme Shares Cross List with New Securities Exchange Technology for East Africa

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NSEIn its first, the Nairobi Securities Exchange and Uganda Securities Exchange have partnered to list Umeme shares from Uganda in Kenya, through the new Regional Interdepository Transfer Mechanism (RITM).

Umeme which is an energy company listed in Uganda Securities Exchange will boast of being the first company in Uganda to use this service.

The technology will help company looking to cross list in diferrent securities exchanges in East Africa do so, while increasing the listed businesses in the region.

Umeme Managing Director Charles Chapman said, “This is a significant milestone for Umeme and for the continued integration of the capital markets of the East African Community Member States.”

“We pride ourselves as the first Ugandan company to cross list at NSE and have trading on both the USE and the NSE. With the integration, our shareholders have a choice of where they want to trade, which will significantly increase convenience for our investors.”

In a meeting in July held in Zanzibar, the East Africa Security Exchange Association proposed that the RITM system be used to make it easy for companies to cross list. They noted that the new system will enable companies to enhance liquidity, efficiency and reduce exchange rate risks.

“Since the listing of Umeme shares, we have witnessed increased daily activity at the USE and Umeme is one of the most active counters. “We are happy to be driving the development of regional exchanges with the trading of cross-listed companies in Uganda and Kenya,”  Joseph Kitamirike, the CEO of Uganda Securities Exchange commented.

His Kenyan counterpart, Mr. Peter Mwangi Chief Executive of the NSE said:  “By enhancing the efficient movement of securities across the EAC region, the successful implementation of the regional inter-depository transfer mechanism is a major breakthrough for the EAC capital markets. This will benefit investors and issuers of cross listed securities such as Umeme. It gives great leverage to shareholders as they are able to decide on which exchange to trade and in which currency.”

MTN Uganda Goes Royal | Connects The Buganda Kingdom’s Palace With High-Speed Internet

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Twekoobe Pictures2MTN Uganda has commissioned Internet connectivity at the Kabaka’s Palace in Lubiri-Mmengo to commemorate Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II’s reign as King of Buganda.

The world-class Internet connectivity will be set up at the (King’s) Kabaka’s office lounge for use by the King and the kingdom’s officials.

According to MTN Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Ernst Fonternel, the Internet connectivity to the King further demonstrates its commitment to lead the delivery of a bold, new digital world to our customers in Buganda and indeed Uganda.

MTN was launched in Uganda in 1998  and is today the country’s leading telco with a countrywide network coverage with superior quality on Voice and Data with innovative Value Added Services. The firm has also continued to invest significantly into its infrastructure to offer world-class services to its customers.

In 2013, MTN Uganda will be investing $70 million for Internet penetration and digital usage in the country. It has also upgraded its Internet capacity from 21.6Mbps to 42Mbps and became the first telecommunications company in Uganda and the region to launch a superfast 4G LTE Network which provides speeds of up to 100Mbps.

Microsoft Opens Its Technology Centre In South Africa

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Yesterday Microsoft SA opened its Microsoft Technology Centre (MTC) in Africa in a bid to help local firms develop “next-generation solutions” to end their major business problems.
The MTC hosts a team of top architects, developers and has massive hardware to help partners and customers discover new ways to  up their businesses, improve their processes and optimise their own technology.

According to Mteto Nyati, MD of Microsoft SA, “This centre is all about collaboration and building an entire ecosystem of innovation. We want to dramatically speed up the pace of innovation, and help our customers and partners slash the time it takes to get solutions and applications to market.”

 MTC has a data centre, a fully-equipped developer suite, a retail store and three envisioning centres and is open to app developers, startups and students who want to test applications before they launch them to the market.

South Africa’s Science and Technology Minister Derek Hanekom was also elated on the move and said the center will foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship and will help the youth develop home-grown technology solutions.

Hanekom said:“There has never been a better time for businesses, government and the youth to develop solutions that can address a range of challenges. Technology hubs like these can only enhance our capacity to provide innovative solutions to the most pressing social and business challenges facing our country and continent.,”

According to MTC manager Markus Hain the centre will offer a free boot-camp curriculum of software and hardware customisation.

Paynet Partners With MasterCard For New Tech To Reduce Fraud

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mastercardTermed, “The Great Migration to EMV Chip,” the new technology by Paynet aims to decrease cases of fraud for MasterCard users in different banks in Kenya.

Cards such as Visa have already embraced this technology and now are offering safe transaction to customers rather than the magnetic strip technology.

The Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) has also set the deadline to switch to the new technology by March 2014.

“It is important that we move rapidly to safeguard consumer confidence. We believe the partnership with MasterCard today and the joint effort of all other stakeholders in “The Great Migration to EMV Chip” will further grow the momentum of the campaign and enable this market reap the benefits of a highly innovative and secure card payments industry,” Paynet Chief Executive Bernard Matthewman said.

“Kenya has recorded impressive growth in card usage in the last two years, with the value of card transactions rising over 74 per cent to one trillion shillings between January and December 2012 alone,” said James Wainaina, Vice President and Area Business Head for MasterCard in East Africa.

“But while we celebrate these gains, we also recognise that to maintain our momentum we must do everything within our power to put in place measures that make it impossible for fraudsters to operate, and to constantly assure our customers that their card transactions are safe.”

The Banking Fraud Investigations Department (BFID) estimates that financial institutions lost Sh.1.49 billion to fraud between April 2012 and April 2013

Kenya’s Wateja.io Wants To Help Business Engage Their Customers On Social Media With Ease

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wateja.ioFounded last year by Clement Gitonga, Wateja.io as a customer service tool for corporate firms using social media.

The software as a service tool enables firms to schedule messages based on the times their customers would be online and active on social media.

Using its analytics and reporting tool, Wateja.io helps clients create updates and schedule them to be posted on twitter and Facebook at specified times.The tool also helps firms measure customer satisfaction, track response to campaigns on social media among others.

It also help in quantify engagement on social media by tracking how fast the social customer service team responds to customer issues, measure brand sentiment, know the number of people you engage within a certain period, track response to marketing messages.

According to the founder social media has become a serious channel for customer service and it is therefore important for firms to keep track of  their activity and performance just like it was in the old days using suggestion boxes.

Because it is a software as a service tool, Wateja.io is found in the cloud and does not require installation or additional hardware requirements as long as one has an internet connection.

To use the tool, one has to create an account on the site, add their social media teams and social media accounts then begin to use it.

The tool can be used by any business be it a bank, telco, ISP or a Salon. Wateja.io is still in beta testing and users are encouraged to try it out and give feedback.

China’s Dongfang Electric To Set Up $100 Million Solar Power Plant In Kenya

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solarChina’s Dongfang Electric International Corporation (DEC) is set to build a $100,000 solar power plant in Kenya,a move that will help power the country.

DEC, one of China’s biggest global contractor for power generation, electric and mechanical works, power distribution and transmission, railways, environmental protection, heavy duty mining and metallurgy equipment, traffic and transportation, communication will set up the plant in Kenya’s Nakuru County.

DEC will set up a 50 megawatts of solar energy plant at $100 million (Sh8.5 billion) then redirect it to the national grid.

Nakuru County governor Mr Kinuthia Mbugua told the Business Daily that the he was in talks with the firm for a memorandum of agreement  which will be signed later this month.

 

Mbugua told the paper: “We will do some few adjustments like on the timeframe before we sign this month. They will send their technical staff to embark on holistic assessment with our staff immediately.”

According to Dongfang VP Hu Weidong, 100 acres of land would be needed for the project. The first phase of the project is expected to take three years. The project will be funded by both the Kenyan and Chinese governments.

Experts from Dongfang  are at the moment surveying the county, though the studies are expected to take a year.

Kenyan Banks Might Charge More on Transactions

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Kenya-shillingIt might cost you more to do transactions in Kenyan banks if the implementation of the 10 percent excise duty is implemented.

Some banks have also warned that they would backdate the fees to June this year, throwing customers in a panic mode.

According to the Standard, the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) had sent out a warning letter on July 12 stating the need for customers to pay up the fee to Kenya Revenue Authority. In the letter, the bankers association said that the directive would be implemented by August 1, this year.

“KBA, on behalf of its member banks, wishes to notify bank customers and the general public that the excise duty on all such service fees will be payable to the Kenya Revenue Authority,” KBA said.

“Following the enactment by Parliament of the Finance Act 2012 and amendments contained in the Finance Bill 2013, a 10% Excise Duty (Tax) has been introduced in the Customs and Excise Act Cap.472 on service fees charged by banks. The service fees to be taxed include fees and commissions charged on money transfer services and other bank fees, charges and commissions, excluding interest,” the statement added.

Banks like CFC Stanbic have already written to their clients preparing them for the penalties that await them on the new excise fee.

In a letter obtained by the Standard, the bank said that: “Kindly note that in the absence of a deferred implementation date, this letter serves as notification that 10 per cent Excise Duty is chargeable to your account in respect to bank fees from June 18, 2013.”

This new move will expect to increase banking charges hence increasing the gap between those who are banked and the unbanked.

This year, the government implemented an excise fee on mobile money transactions in a bid to raise money for the coffers. Even though there was hue and cry, the mobile companies went ahead to pass on the charges to the consumer.

South Africa’s Tele-Enterprise Seeks To Make VoIP Awesome

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teleRiaan Pietersen, Tele-Enterprise CMO, says many companies have had their fingers burnt by Voice over IP (VoIP) implementations that left them with unstable and unreliable connections and cost them money in the long run. The poor quality of VoIP calls has given the technology an undeservedly bad reputation, he says.

To change perceptions of VoIP as a communications channel, Tele-Enterprise has launched a challenge seeking the worst VoIP implementation story in the country. If your company has telephony expenses of at least R15 000 a month, at least 25 phone extensions and a good story to tell about how VoIP let you down, you could turn the experience around by winning a trial implementation of VoIP that works, followed by a preferential deal on a next generation system.

Pietersen says: “Communications is the lifeblood of any business, irrespective of sector. But too many businesses buy in to vendor smoke and mirrors without a full understanding of the technology behind the solution.”

 

VoIP is a case in point, he says: “VoIP has a negative association because so many companies have tried it and had it fail and cost them money.”

 

But there are many reasons why a VoIP implementation could fail, and none of them are because VoIP is inherently a poor communications tool, he says.

 

“In some cases, technicians are not experienced enough and don’t have the experience to understand the full requirements of different VoIP implementations. VoIP is not a plug ‘n play or cut ‘n paste implementation.”  Pietersen points out that buying cheap is a major mistake. “If cheap equipment is used to save money, this will lead to problems later if it needs to be replaced or is not scalable.”

 

Many VoIP implementers often make the mistake of focusing on savings for the client rather than service and added value, says Pietersen. “VoIP will save clients money in the long run – but the main objective should be about control, functionality and extended features,” he says.

 

The three most common reasons VoIP fails, says Pietersen, are that VoIP services are implemented without a full pre-installation assessment of the complete network and office environment; that sub-standard  VoIP equipment such as gateways, connectivity mediums and routers are used;  and that inadequate or no assessment of call performance is done after implementation.

 

A good VoIP solution needs to be tailored to meet the business’s individual needs and strategy, making it important for vendors to carry out a thorough business analysis before the VoIP implementation, he says. In addition, cost savings should not be the primary goal, and the equipment used should be reliable and scalable enough to meet future business needs.  The implementation partner should offer on-going support and conduct post-implementation assessments to ensure the system performs optimally.

 

Because Tele-Enterprise’s team has a long history of experience in the VoIP arena, they have encountered numerous companies who regret their VoIP investment. The company believes the VoIP Challenge will turn around perceptions and illustrate that properly-implemented VoIP can deliver significant efficiencies as well as cost savings.

 

The company that submits the worst VoIP story in the VoIP Challenge will win a 30 day trial, during which it will:

  • Not pay for calls or equipment.
  • Have the latest virtual PBX with next generation IP phones and world class features under pinned by world class BroadSoft technology.
  • Receive a free network LAN test and if required, upgraded to CAT5E with POE.
  • Receive training on the immense functionality of this feature rich world class system.

 

After a successful trial period, the winner will have the following next generation system in place:

  • A free video conferencing phone worth R3500.
  • Automatic redundancy and failover to two networks that gives 100% uptime if any lines go down.
  • Free servicing and maintenance.
  • Onsite probe that will monitor all calls to all destinations to guarantee and prove call quality.
  • Telephone expense management tool measuring each extension in the company – optional.
  • Some of the lowest call rates in the market to offer cost savings.

 

To enter, write about your experience (not more than 1 page and without any mention of suppliers) and send your latest telephony account to info@tele-enterprise.com (T&Cs apply).