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Mobile Monday –Kenya Is Powering Kenya’s Mobility Computing Innovation

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In Kenya, most Mondays, developers gather together to discuss and share ideas on mobile app development. Mobile Monday – Kenya is indeed helping Kenya to become a leader in mobility computing in Africa. This is something other African countries must look into and replicate. Good enough, it did not even start in Kenya – they just adopted it. We know Barcamp, for instance Barcamp Nigeria, but the specificity of Mobile Monday makes it cool. Companies like Nokia, MTN and others are using these events to tap and create partnerships with these local developer communities. African youth is taking over the technology roadmap and they are getting it right.

From Mobile Monday – Kenya

Mobile Monday is a global community of mobile industry visionaries, developers and influentials fostering cooperation and cross-border business development through virtual and live networking events to share ideas, best practices and trends from global markets.

Mobile Monday has the following objectives:

  • To encourage innovation within the mobile sector.
  • To facilitate networking between small and large companies, and between local and foreign.
  • To help local companies effectively participate in international initiatives through the import and export of visions, concepts, technologies, know-how and best practices.
  • To present innovative visions, trends, studies and forecasts from the mobile marketplace.
  • To facilitate and create partnerships.
  • To contribute to the education of the broader public through its publications, online presence and media partnerships.

Mobile Monday is organized by a group of dedicated volunteers from around the world. Originating in Helsinki, Finland, in the year 2000, Mobile Monday has grown into the world’s leading mobile community.

History

The remarkable MobileMonday phenomenon began almost by accident in Helsinki, Finland during the autumn of 2000. A couple of well-known Finnish visionaries, invited the who’s who of the Finnish mobile industry to a pub for an informal get-together and perhaps a warming drink. The only suitable time? Monday evening.

After meeting many new faces and discussing the latest in mobility, the group decided to continue meeting on the first Monday of each month — and thus, MobileMonday was born. Towards the end of 2004, the movement started to spread to other areas of the world and new MoMo chapters were started in Tokyo, Japan, Silicon Valley, UsA as well as Rome and Milan, Italy. Since then, the number of MobileMonday chapters and members has dramatically increased making MobileMonday the world’s leading mobile community.

Eyes on Africa: Developers’ Africa – A Nokia Video

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Nokia Video Link

Nokia is finding time to promote its activities in Africa despite the competition from Apple and other phone makers! In a video titled Eyes on Africa, Nokia highlights some of their works in the contenta and how they are supporting  innovative, locally relevant solutions for the continent.

Eyes on Africa is a series of four films, focusing on the work being done by Nokia in the continent.   Interestingly, Nokia has done very well. It is very important to note that $1m prize won by Kenyan Virtual City. That is a lot of money and it will go along way to expand and hire more people.

The main challenge is that this project must be African-wide and not localized within East Africa.

Kenyan PesaPal Looks to Enterprises For Growth – Paying Schools Fees Via Mobile Phone

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The mobile business dynamics of Africa differs from those of Western Europe and U.S. and Canada. This calls for a radically different approach when it comes to technology and business in an African context. Accordingly,  PesaPal, a payment gateway was developed and has been running successfully over the past few years. The company understood the poor state of credit card penetration in Kenya and is trying to help fill that void in a sector that is already crowded by MPesa (Safaricom), YuCash (Yu), Zap (Airtel) and Orange Money (Orange).

But this company wants to take the strategy to an enterprise level. So, developers and businesses can monetize their applications, by implementing online payments for goods and services. They want to stay in that domain and control it. This is what Pesapal wants to do differently. For instance,  the current strategy is to go after a large untapped market – school fees. PesaPal is currently working with schools to enable parents to remit school fees using mobile payment platforms. This is a safe and convenient method, as opposed to the traditional methods of bank transfers and cheques.

Kenyan has advanced its mobile payment – Nigeria is just starting. But as this technology penetrates, there is going to be more innovations as more players come into it.

Founders Series: Nigeria Must Modernize Trade Exams to Help Mechanics – Endy Motors Founder

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Founders Series interviews Founders every Monday. Visit this page every Monday for the next entrepreneurial or business star.

We are happy to present Endy N. Ndubuisi who is the Founder of Endy Motors, Owerri, Nigeria. We got very interested in this gentleman when we noticed that he went to Imo State University and obtained a degree when he noticed that he could not cope with the advancement in new cars. It is helping him and he is presently ordering some powering diagnostics tools from the US for use in his shop. He has worked all his life with Trade Certificates which are of minor value to computerized cars of today.

– Tell us your name and background

I am Endy N. Ndubuisi, the Founder of Endy Motors at Ugwu Orji Owerri, Imo State. I hold Trade Certificates in Mechanical Technology and recently completed my bachelor program from Imo State University. I began my career with Izuogu Motors before it went bankrupt. I then founded my own company in early 1990s. I have been running Endy Motors since then.

– Introduce us to your company, products and services

We care for cars and we do create jobs on it. Oil change, engine repair, tune up and indeed any type of car job. We are located opposite old Hallmark Bank Building, just after Glass House in Ugwu Orji Owerri.

– What are the opportunities for your business?

As Nigerians become richer since our economy has been improving ever since democracy came, I think more will buy cars and we will have more jobs.

– Tell us the challenges your business is facing

New cars are causing problems to us. Nigerians must be fearful – our mechanics cannot maintain modern computerized cars.  Car diagnostics technologies provide more business threats than lack of electricity. At least in electricity, we know what to do when light comes. But we have seen new cars and just tell the owner, we cannot help you. The nation must wake up and help develop the knowledge base of the mechanics. I am very happy that after working with Trade Certificates for two decades, I went back and got my bachelor degree. Today, I am hopeful and my business looks positive. Now, I can operate those tools and business has expanded from Owerri to Onitsha and across the entire East.

– Share with us how you are mitigating those challenges

I had to go back to school. I noticed that in five years, my shop can close if I cannot understand how to use the diagnostics tools through a formal education. I am happy that today I have overcome that problem.

– Your message to other founders and entrepreneurs

People must not be afraid of the future. When the opportunities come, take them. It does not have to be big at the beginning.  Just start but ensure you have discipline and you have a good skill in what you do. Have a good service and be good to your clients.

– Should you become a LGA chair, Governor or President, tell us how you will make technology to flourish in your country

I will open in all the geopolitical zones Advanced Automobile Academy like the one in South Korea so that mechanics can graduate and be well trained to care for people’s cars. Non tradition education must be improved in Nigeria. We must also modernize Trade tests as those that are graduating today are not fit for today’s cars. We see them and nothing has changed since more than two decades I got those certificates.

(Thank you)

 

Endy Motors is located opposite defunct Hallmark Bank Building, just after Glass House in Ugwu Orji Owerri, Imo State.

 

 

 

 

MIT Students Are Right, Africa 2.0 Is Only Possible Through Innvation

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When I wrote this piece for Harvard Business Review, I had the theme of MIT Africa Business Conference Theme in my mind. My friends at Kauffman Foundation had contacted me about the Bill going through the U.S. Congress that would help Africa.  Immediately, I decided to write about it in HBR.

 

This [MIT AB]  conference intends to bring together people working on ideas that will shape the African continent for years to come. The event will include a mix of speakers and panel sessions covering areas of innovation in Africa including: Telecoms & Mobiles,Technology, Entrepreneurship, Finance and Energy. The unifying theme will be a perspective on how today’s students and tomorrow’s leaders will impact the continent by putting ideas to work.


The interesting aspect of the students’ theme is the realization that Africa needs to move from Africa 1.0 which has existed for about fifty years to something more. In other words, the era of hydrocarbon and mineral fuelled growth should be replaced with something sustainable. They figured out that innovation will position the continent for that new phase. So, Africa 2.0 ideally should be comprised of innovative economic activities across the continent. It will be a continent where brain power and creativity will define trade and investment and not necessarily the availability of minerals and hydrocarbon.

 

As I explained in my HBR blog, facilitating the ecosystem of innovation will prepare Africa for the post-mineral era. And now is the time to do that. The students went ahead and picked Africa’s present innovative stars. These are people that have created technologies which are redesigning many economic operations in the places they operate.

 

Kola Karim is an energy innovator who is running Shoreline Power International. He has brought vision into this sector and has proven that things can work in the continent. John Waibochi is arguably the best known face of mobility computing in Africa after winning $1m in a global Nokia challenge. He runs Virtual City. Dr. Ashifi Gogo runs Sproxil which today has become the industry engine to mitigate counterfeits in Africa.

 

 

Yet, the problem with all these students programs is that nothing is made public. From Wharton to Harvard and possibly to MIT, the students do not provide any summary after the program. Immediately the conference is over, they get back to cases until the next year conference. I have suggested that they must summarize the ideas shared by speakers and panelists and then send all to African Union and some selected governments. They must not deprive those that could not attend these conferences the opportunity of participating in these exciting programs, run by Africa’s future business leaders.

 

The students also included a business plan competition which many people participated:

 

About Africa Innovate!

This past year, over fifteen countries in Africa celebrated 50 years of nationhood, and several of the top economies in the region forecast 2011 GDP growth rates over twice that of the United States (per The Economist, Ghana will enjoy the 2nd fastest GDP growth globally in 2011). Furthermore, investors in key African equity markets enjoyed returns of up to 36.5% in 2010, and the continent experienced a remarkable level of investment capital flow and exit activity.

Business must demonstrate potential for direct & significant commercial and/or social impact in Africa, and the plan must be implementable in an African country. This contest does not require that you have a student on your team.

 

Growth in Africa must be driven by innovation and time has come for African governments to use our entrepreneurial stars to  position the continent for the next phase, Africa 2.0. That will come through education, infrastructure development and most importantly strong intellectual property rights.