The use of mobile internet in Kenya rose by 615.4% between November 2008 and November 2009, quite a heavy increase compared to other countries placed top 10 by  State of the Mobile Web, November 2009 a report by Opera, the most popular mobile browser currently. Got me thinking, Ghana is the biggest riser in this list, with over 4000% increase, followed by Kenya, the number of local mobile websites is ashamedly low and the increase within the said period of local mobile websites (or visits to them) is barely unnoticeable.

While the use of mobile internet is rising, content is lacking and this is where I say the African developers are sleeping on the job. We have most of the African traffic headed to Google, Facebook, Youtube, Yahoo and other major American sites, while the local websites remain unnoticed. Its funny that on that list, Safaricom’s wapsite is not even on the top 10 of the Kenyan traffic while its the start page on default browsers on mobile phones if you are using their connection.

I have mentioned before that corporates need to brace up to these stats and start giving mobile web the place it deserves. Nation Media is one of the most visited website in Kenya on the web but its also not appearing on the list because their site is not mobile friendly and they do not have a wap version – Standard group appears at number 10 because they actually have a mobile news site.

For the next few years, the best traffic you will get on the African web is mobile and this is a challenge to developers to provide mobile content for Africa and you will create traffic like never before.

I was in Nairobi when Safaricom launched the 7-day unlimited internet offer and I still had some data left on my account so I decided to use that until its finished then i can try the offer. Unfortunately I had to travel out of Kenya on Wednesday and at the airport, I managed to finish the data. When I got to my destination, I recharged my line and subscribed to the 7 day offer (Which I had actually just received an ad of via SMS a moment earlier while still out of Kenya). Unfortunately, I tried to connect and the connection was established but no data available. Connection kept timing out. When I called customer care, which got through to really quickly, they told me that I could not get the offer while roaming and as disappointed as I was, they promised to follow the case through to see what help I could get. I couldnt even get to connect using my normal airtime billing so I had to stay without the connection.

Next day a lady from Safaricom calls to just let me know they are working on the issue and they will be in touch. Another day later, they refund the airtime to my account, am able to use my account. Now that may sound like nothing to write about but please try call customer care in Tanzania, I have tried Vodacom, I will never try ever again. You just have no rights with the networks in Tanzania. Zain has an “unlimited” package for data which happens to be limited to 400mb. Try call them about it…

Congrats Michael Joseph, Safaricom made me proud to be a Kenyan today.

Yes, Africa can be self-dependent

About 7 years ago, I managed to get a dial-up connection in my house. It was a great feeling, probably greater than I felt when I first made a 3G connection in Nairobi a about 2007.  Internet at home was a privileged.  An expensive one and the connection was really slow but by the standards then, it was ok. I had to foot the bill twice, the phone company and the ISP. Slowly, things have evolved. Cyber Cafes have become cheaper by the day and more reliable.

In 2004, I first used my debit card issued by the National Bank of Kenya online to pay for a domain and hosting. That was another great feeling. The process to getting services paid for online was a really bad experience, an expensive one too. Things have become cheaper, efficient and more accessible by the day. While we adopt lots of products from the west, Africa seems to also be waking up to the creation bit. We have bought franchises, created, ran and now, we are getting up to the market as a market that can develop and satisfy its technological and entertainment needs.

Next week, Kenya hosts the MTV Africa Music Awards. African talent has been seen clearly worldwide and the only people who seem not to believe in us is us. Look at the sports world – European soccer is filled with African stars. Without them, the entertainment that is European soccer would not be complete. Kenya has exported so many athletes.

Entertainment in Africa is growing to local content. Big Brother Africa, Idols, Tusker Project Fame, Nigerian Movie Industry, we may still need a lot of improvement but Africa has come a long way.

We have to look at ourselves and realize that Africa is hosting the FIFA World Cup for the first time in history. That we are enjoying the same technology platforms as everyone else in the world and that our standard of education is measuring up with the rest of the World. Again I will repeat, we are the only ones who seem not to believe in ourselves. The rest of the World can see the potential in Africa and that is why we have foreigners settled all over Africa.

My challenge to you and I, the African, re-examine what we are doing, ask us, are we doing what we do at the best it can be done? If so, then we are headed on the right path. Keep that spirit and if you need to fix it, please work on it and lets move Africa where the coming generations will have our names in their history books as pioneers and creators of stable systems and unique creativity that will see us move to the next level. Work together, build each other. Dont buy western or European products when you have African alternatives.

I am in the web industry and Majibu.com is my baby. I have great respect for Afrigator, Kachwanya, Moses Kemibaro, Bernsoft, David Kobia & Mashada.com, Kenyanpundit, Whiteafrican, Kiwanja.net,  SKUNKWORKS, Robert Alai,  Bongo5.com, Steve Gitau, John Karanja,  and many other countless bloggers and African webbers. These are a few people that have inspired my work everyday.  Please move towards playing a role in creating self-dependency in Africa. It may take years but its possible.

Well, Safaricom, thanks to M-Pesa, has done it again by scooping the Gold Award on the category Best Mobile Money Services for M-Pesa Money Transfer Service. Makes it the solo African winner. Below are the final winners of the Mobile Content Awards 2009

Winners – Mobile Content Awards 2009

Best Operator

Gold – Orange UK
Silver – CSL
Bronze – FREEDOM4 WiFi

Best Handset

Gold – HTC for HTC Hero
Silver – Nokia for Nokia 5800
Bronze – Research in Motion for BlackBerry Curve 8900 Smartphone

Most Innovative Business Model

Gold – Orange UK for Orange Dolphin
Silver – Spin3 for Mobile Casino Partner Program
Bronze – i-wood for Permission Based Mobile Marketing

Best Handset Application

Gold – Financial Times for FT iPhone Application
Silver – Alchemy Content / MSHK for Ministry of Sound Clubbers Guide to Ibiza iPhone Application
Bronze – Airborne Mobile for Homes on Mobile Phones Real Estate Application

Best Marketing Campaign

Gold – Samsung Mobile UK for Carphone Warehouse Interactive In Store Window Display
Silver – OgilvyOne for Kodak Snow Stories Mobile Application
Bronze – Clickatell for SMS Speech Excerpts to Global Citizens by President Obama (From Cairo to Ghana)

Best Social Communities and UGC

Gold – Utel for FOTOCHAT
Silver – aka-aki for The People Nearby Application
Bronze – Cellufun, Inc for Cellufun

Best Technology Innovation

Gold –  Movidia for MA1110
Silver – dotMobi for Instant Mobilizer
Bronze – DeviceAnywhere for DeviceAnywhere Proof Center

Best Mobile TV and Video Service

Gold – Vantrix Corporation for Media Profiler
Silver – QuickPlay Media for PrimeTime2Go
Bronze – Mobix Interactive for 3 on Demand

Best Mobile Game and Gambling Service

Gold – Spin3 for Mobile Gambling Software
Silver – Cellectivity for Bet2Go Mobile
Bronze – HeroCraft for High Speed 3D

Best Mobile Money Services

Gold – Safaricom for M-Pesa Money Transfer Service
Silver – Accumulate for Accumulate Mobile Everywhere
Bronze – Valimo Wireless for Valimo Mobile ID

Best Start-Up Company

Winner – eyeSight Mobile Technologies

Industry Personality of the Year

Winner – Pieter de Villiers of Clickatell

M-Pesa is what it is today because of Safaricom and its subscribers, the Kenyan People

This is not the kind of mood one likes to wake up with but I read an article yesterday by Olga Morawczynski (Whose page at CGAP gives a 404 page maybe for a good reason)  which she wrote for CGAP trying to tell us what we don’t know about M-Pesa, Kenya’s mobile money transfer. I feel obliged to say that his research (If any) is biased. Her findings are inaccurate and his theories incorrect. This article was published in July which means nothing much has changed since then.

I am here to talk about the role of Safaricom, the Kenyan citizen and the unseen push to the success of M-Pesa. Am here at the perception you have put up and the mentality you have created that M-Pesa is only for poor people. I may not be rich but am not poor. I am one of the millions of people using M-Pesa. I feel the racial divide here. If this product was implemented anywhere else in the world, it would have worked just as well, because its a great product. Because its an innovative product. In CGAP’s article base, there seems to be a big percentage on M-Pesa but most of it coming out as a poor man’s solution. I want to put out a few points here.

1. Safaricom’s role in M-Pesa was vital. Maybe because no one else believe in the idea enough to try it on their platform. If we go by Olga’s findings or insinuations, seems like Safaricom and the Kenyan people were being used as an experimental pad, we took all the crap and when there was success, here comes Europe trying to show how the success was theirs. Well, no one disputes the fact that they did a good thing, but we did too. I feel part of the M-Pesa success as a user – and it has been of great help to me. I feel insulted by this article, I feel downtrodden. Maybe I should ask how much money one has to pay to get an article published at CGAP on them – I guess the answer might be am from the poor Africa I cant afford.
2. Kenya was right for the product: The same product has been launched in Tanzania by Vodacom and almost a year later, its still to get off the ground. It maybe the people’s reception to the idea or the company’s marketing strategy for the product. Mobile money transfer in Tanzania has many players with 3 different competitors but its not as popular as it is in Kenya.
   
3. The European companies that came up with the idea to use Kenya as a testing pad for M-Pesa had just designed it as a Micro finance loan repayment solution. Kenyans made it a money transfer platform. Safaricom and Kenyans played the role of making them believe that it could grow as big.
4. M-Pesa has been beneficial to Kenyans of all classes, not only the poor as stated in his article.
   
5. M-Pesa was really popular in Kenya way before the post-election violence, so that did not play the major role described in one of your articles

In conclusion, I think this writer owes Kenyans and Safaricom an apology. Am sure she will get a glimpse of this article and I hope she does the right thing or responds to this article with his view. Africans have been over the years been used as research pads and its unfair, its time you took us for what we are.

Sleek Looking Chinese Phones designed to just cheat the mind of the buyer

I lost my Blackberry the moment I arrived in Tanzania a while ago and when when I went shopping for a phone, I wanted something simple yet a phone that I could get to achieve a few basics like blog, facebook, email, IM and a few things. So I hit downtown Dar es Salaam and went phone shopping.

I thought that we had quite a bunch of Chinese phones in Kenya but that was just like a third of the number in Dar. I wanted a Nokia in the ranges of 5310 and I knew just like every little gadget I have, I would over use it to get what I wanted. Unfortunately, it was too expensive in Dar. I came across an iPhone on the shop counter and I looked closer only to realize it was a Chinese fake. I actually went ahead and bought it.

It had TV instead of U-Tube, GPRS instead of 3G, quite some fake browser and only Java application support made it quite closer to getting me anywhere. Even the Gmail app could not work. I spent about $160 for it, not too bad for the look, it was an exact copy of the iPhone, physically.

Question is how good is this Chinese mobile for Africa? It may be cheap but how long does it last? Within 2 months, my iPhone was useless. A waste. This is what happens to the thousands of the cheap quality mobile phones distributed to Africa from the Chinese market. The Chinese have found a way of putting a media player, a GSM radio, an FM receiver and a Bluetooth platform on really cheap material and have it flooded to Africa for near future waste. They make money off it as they dispose their trash to us. I feel so bad knowing what this does to our environment. The thing is that our governments are not looking at these effects and they are just allowing cheap imports without regulating the quality.

What is the work of bodies like Kenya Bureau of Standards or CCK for that matter? Where is the civil society in environment? This is a challenge to anyone who can put a word forward, lets think of the effects of cheap stuff before we buy them. I challenge mobile phone service providers to put up campaigns to support proper quality of phones and help save our people from these fake things.

Motorola Cliq

The war of high end mobile gadgets initially dominated by Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s Blackberry has a new player threatening to take over the market. Motorola has unveiled their first Android based smart phone, The Cliq. This new gadget has a sleek design more resembling the iPhone at a glance but moves slowly to prove better reliability when you pull up the slide with a QWETY keyboard that has always given Blackberry a lead ahead of the iPhone.

The phone has a touch screen and a physical slide-out keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, 3G connectivity, the ability to shoot video at 24 frames per second, a standard headphone jack and GPS capability.  A price for the device has not been announced yet but its not expected to go too far from the current prices of the high end iPhone and Blackberry.

The Cliq is lovely to hold. It feels quite slim (about 0.62 inches thick) and light (weighing 5.6 ounces). Comparatively, the Palm Pre is 0.67 inches thick and weighs 4.76 ounces, while the iPhone 3G is 0.48 inches thick and weighs 4.7 ounces. The sliding keyboard on the Cliq is smooth and the physical(!) keypad offers fantastic tactile feedback, making touch-typing a very real possibility. The phone comes in a polished black the company calls “Titanium” and “Winter White.” The 3.1-inch display is bright and easy to read — at least under the florescent lighting where we put the phone through its paces. The screen is touch capable and very, very responsive. It’s certainly on par with the iPhone.

The device will have a custom interface called Moto Blur that will bring together e-mail messages, text messages, Facebook and Twitter feeds, and photos into a single interface.

The new social Motorola

The Cliq has a 5.2-megapixel auto-focus camera. We tested it briefly by shooting some pics in low light and comparing it to photos from the iPhone’s camera. Guess what? The Cliq’s cam captured finer details and offered a brighter picture with true colors. It’s easy to share and upload photos, in the spirit of Cliq fun. The user interface on every photo has four choices: Share, Gallery, Set as Wallpaper and Delete. Clicking on the Share tab means you can post the photo to MySpace, Gmail, Picasa or any other photo-sharing site you have set up such as Flickr.

As usual, it launches the American and European market before it gets to Africa but am sure we shall have access to it real soon. It seems like the perfect gadget for anyone torn between the iPhone and a Blackberry, combining the business features of Blackberry and the social that is an iPhone.

Lets move from looking for blames and excuses to finding solutions with the resources that we have.

There is an old Kikuyu saying that goes …”You cannot take a donkey to the river and force it to drink the water”. So Seacom has delivered proper bandwidth at our doorsteps. Soon retailers will be giving us a share of the affordable and better internet. Question is, what are we going to do with it? We had our previous connections and as slow as they were or expensive as they were, they gave us a way to communicate with the world, infact, they still are until we get proper retail services from the ISPs.

I would like to challenge us to be innovative as we await the price drops and service delivery from our ISPs. What can we do to change our Nations? What can we do with better connectivity to increase the quality of education? What can we do to deliver better services at our jobs? What can we do to save time with the capacities that come with good connectivity? How can you make your children’s life better than yours using the new opportunies presented by this connectivity to the rest of the world?

Africa has waited too much for guidelines from the west and this is time we take the road South Korea took in the early 90s. We need to be creative and support our own. We need to start creating and innovating. We need to invent something that the west can adopt. We need to be leaders in something other than corruption, poverty, greed and war. We need to have IT managers lead our Nations and avoid the likes of most of our current leaders. Am specifically ashamed to say I come from Kenya when I look at our situation. Am looking for the young people who can identify with what am talking about, lets change our lives. Africa, wake up, you have the chance to make the world turn round and ask “Is this really the Africa in History Books?”

Lets move from looking for blames and excuses to finding solutions with the resources that we have.