Appfrica at FastCompany by Jon Gos
September 5, 2008
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A Breakdown of the Costs of Doing Business in Africa
The goal of this article is to provide insight for those of you interested in starting businesses in Africa. I’ll break down all the costs associated with what I’ve done in my first month here so that you have an accurate, first-hand account. All the prices are in U.S. dollars with Ugandan Shillings listed where appropriate. The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer as I’m only citing examples of what I’ve experienced in Kampala, Uganda. Hopefully people working in other African countries can provide some insight into how things work in their neck of the woods.
Rising African Consumerism
Stephanie McCrummen writes about the growing middle class of sub-Saharan Africa in countries like Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.
A Blackhole of Geographical Data
Africa is called ‘the dark continent’ for many reasons.
National Museum of Language
Earlier this year Don Osborn blogged about his tour of the to new National Museum of Language in Washington, D.C.
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September 5, 2008
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The Next 2 Billion: The China/Africa Connection Explored
The combined populations of China and the fifty-three countries that make up Africa account for well over 2 billion people or 1/3 the population of the entire world. China is a nation bloated with people but starved for natural resources. The African continent has an abundance of both resources and people, but for many reasons it’s failed to capitalize on either. The next two decades will be critical for Africa as it struggles to keep up with the increasingly advancing world it was already lagging behind. However, China has more people than the entire continent of Africa and four decades ago was arguably no better off economically. Now it’s growing at a rate that is literally sending shock-waves through the Western World. To sustain that growth it’s looking for allies and alliances in countries that don’t share the same reservations about Chinese diplomacy as the West. Enter the African region.
Afrigator Acquired
The African blogosphere aggregator tool Afrigator announced that MIH Print Africa has taken controlling stake in the company.
Ushahidi Scores New Funding
Ory Okolloh made an announcement this morning that Ushahidi has relaunched it’s website and has laid out a bold vision for future growth and integration of existing technologies.
Barcamp Kampala Day 1 Recap
Barcamp Kampala Day 2 Recap
Photos, slides and video from the first ever technology barcamp in Uganda.
Interview: Martin Fisher on KickStart
KickStart is a nonprofit that develops and markets new technologies in Africa that help local entrepreneurs to establish small businesses. Founder Martin Fisher recently sat down with HaveFunDoGood’s Britt Bravo to discuss the nature of his work, KickStart’s future and his perspective on microfinance.
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August 15, 2008
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Ugandan Students Translating Firefox into Local Languages
Students in Uganda begin translating Firefox into local African languages.
Alltop.com Notices Africa
News Aggregation services Alltop.com has created an Africa specific page.
E-Trash Piles up in Ghana
Has Ghana become the dumping ground for aid organizations?
Technology and Africa at SXSWi
Vote for the Africa technology panel at this years South by Southwest Conference
Customer Service: Where Business in Africa Often Breaks Down
Is the biggest hinderance to the growth of business in Africa basic customer service?
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August 15, 2008
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Moving from Prepay to Subscription
The majority of people in developed regions of African countries still have no access to credit cards. Of the African banks that do offer credit or debit cards, most of those cards aren’t accepted internationally. Likewise, there’s no real infrastructure for accepting credit cards at many retail outlets here. Even Visa and MasterCard users will find a hard time making successful transactions in places like Uganda.
Where Are the African Designers?
In Asia groups like SIGG are making big names for themselves and as a result bringing a lot of attention to the Chinese ‘designing class’. But is there an equivalent in Africa? It turns out there is and people from all over the continent are revolutionizing the design industry, paving the way for others to follow in their footsteps.
T1 Connections for Uganda by 2009?
I came across this post by Ryan Allis (Chief Executive Officer of iContact) where he mentions plans for T1 connectivity in Uganda by 2009.
Improving Conditions for Internet in West Africa
Globacom is laying a 9,500 kilometres telecommunications cable at a cost of about $250 million from London to 14 West African countries. The cable is expected to reach Ghana by May 2009 and then extended to Nigeria and other countries in the sub-region.
Seeds of Peace in Northern Uganda
There’s an interesting special report from the Washington Post on the 21 year civil war in Northern Uganda.
Facebook Use Up 30% in South Africa
A survey done on Facebook growth of the first six months of this year showed that there are a estimated 971,908 South African users on Facebook, this shows a 239,320 increase in number since the start of February.
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August 7, 2008
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Google Invests in Kenya’s Mobile Planet
This week Google made the announcement that it is making a minority stake investment into Kenyan mobile operating company Mobile Planet…
Google Begins to Offer Localized Contient for Africa
Google begins to take a very proactive role in the African internet market...
Two Worlds And One Sea Apart
Osama bin Laden's brother wants to build 'Twin Cities of Light' and a bridge that would connect Africa to the Middle East by bridging the Red Sea.
University Programs for ICT In Emerging Markets?
Since I began my research and subsequent move to Uganda, I’ve found a vast disparity in the amount of higher education available in the area of information technology as it relates to developing countries, NGOs, non-profits or developmental institutions. It think the implicit need for focus in this area is high as the discipline is essentially the same but the practice of IT changes significantly when ‘in the field’ or in low power areas.
The One Sided Narrative on Africa
How Datanet Serves Premium Internet to East Africa
"Since I assume Datanet prices are public knowledge, I’ll post them here. For a 92-100kbps connection the price is approximately $400 per month, a 192kbps connection is $700 and the FangFang connection that offers speeds of up to 256kps is $900/mo! Coming from the US, I have to admit I’m spoiled on the internet and 256kbps is pretty ’slow’. 92kps is like standing still considering it’s not even twice as fast as dial-up (56kbps)! The installation fee for these fast connections is also high, just under one thousand dollars!"
PowerPoint Presentation on Social Media in Africa and Developing Countries
Slides from my presentation at TEDC in Kampala, Uganda.
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July 22, 2008
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On Social Media and Utility
Yesterday I sat in on a discussion that lead to a NGO called WaterForPeople adopting Twitter as a tool for reporting progress on projects in Uganda. The whole discussion was about how the technology behind micro-messaging services like Twitter, Jaiku and Laconi.ca, could be used as communications tool in developing countries where people may not have computers, but they often have sms capable cell phones. Thus, using micro-messaging services as a low-cost way to a) log important discussions and b) broadcast important news eventually became apparent to them.
Using Mobile Phones to Irrigate Crops
Advances in Computational Linguistics
Microfinance: Kiva Responds to Fraud
In an unfortunate turn of events, one of Kiva’s microfinance loan partners has been reprimanded for taking excessive and fraudulent loans.
Story Sokwanele Broke Makes CNN
The stories about ‘land redistribution’ and the torture of farmers being forced to give up their land to native Zimbabweans has been brewing for a long time at Sokwanele.com (caution: the graphic imagery here is not for all) but it finally caught international attention this week when big media outlet CNN picked it up.
Bloggers in the Developing World Rejoice, Wordpress Adds Support for Gears
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July 14, 2008
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Forbes Calls Africa The ‘Last Investment Frontier’
“In 1989, there were just five sub-Saharan stock exchanges; now there are 16." - Forbes, John Christy
Africa Thriving Despite Downturn in World Economy
…But Are they Learning?
A recent report by HakiElimu suggests that the methods some have taken towards educating children in developing countries may not be the best approach.
Malawi Expo 2008 a Success
Assetmap.org’s Megha Agrawal to Speak at Appfrica/TEDC
“The problem with computers is that there isn’t enough Africa in them.”
A Quote from Brian Eno
Security and Cryptography Services for sub-Saharan Africa
nCipher plc , a global leader in protecting critical enterprise data, has appointed Networks Unlimited (Pty) as distributor for sub-Saharan Africa, as part of its commitment to support existing customers and further expand business in the region....
Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2008
The Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2008 brought together core activists from different local anti-censorship groups, NGO’s representatives and tools developers. Day One was devoted to discussing the challenges facing freedom of expression and debate the state of censorship and anti-censorship efforts in the world featuring several panels on matters relating to censorship and online freedom of speech.
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July 14, 2008
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Google Launches Africa Blog and Forum
Google made a surprise announcement this week launching a new blog specifically focused on their efforts in sub-Saharan Africa....
The Secret Diaries of Ugandan Survivors
The ‘Uganda diaries’ project is part of IRIN’s (Integrated Regional
Information Networks) coverage of the humanitarian impact of the
decades-long conflict in northern Uganda and the ongoing peace talks
between the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels and the government. Their aim
is to tell the stories of ordinary people and how the violence has
changed their lives; how they feel about peace, leaving the camps and
returning home; starting over and justice. These are stories of immense
courage and above all, hope, that after 20 years, a return to normality
is possible.
GoogleServe Aims to Participate in Local Communities
Dow Jones Introduces Titans 50 Index
Coca-Cola Invests $60 Million in African Interests
Nigeria Invests in Fiber Optic Infrastructure
Appfrica Search Tool for Firefox 3
CARE’s Social Network: A Missed Opportunity
The problem with non-profits getting into the social networking space is that they tend to think of it as an extension of their existing campaigns instead of truly trying to innovate and offer something new to the world. In my opinion, if you aren’t going to do it well, then partner with someone who will. I’m talking about Care.org who recently launched http://we.care.org, a ’social network’ (and I use the term loosely) aimed at encouraging communication around various development projects.
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July 8, 2008
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Nicco Mele Launches NewsJunk.com
Nicco’s career began as a member of the technical staff for various
political campaigns, in particular the presidential campaigns of Howard
Dean, Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama AND John McCain! It’s an
impressive resume, for his skills but also for the bipartisan nature.
It’s no surprise then, that his latest project would be a website that
pulls in information about politics from all across the web and
centralizes it in one place. [Read More]
Open Learning Exchange Aims to Offer Basic Education For All by 2015
G8 Summit Turns it’s Attention towards Africa, Climate and Oil
Africa has never had more of the worlds attention than it does now.
Partly because of the abundance of untapped resources but also because
of the possibilities for more trade and new markets. With the recent
rate at which China has completely changed it’s course as a nation to
become an inevitable world economic superpower, all eyes are on other
parts of the world that have the potential to do the same. Africa is
one of them. [Read More]
The Economist: Is Africa Recovering?
A recent report from the World Bank has some interesting findings related to the African continent… [Read More]
Using Google Earth to Encourage African Tourism
Startup & Change the World: Guide for Social Entrepreneurs
Slides from the Young Social Enterprise Initiative’s guidebook for Social Startups. [Read More]
Was South Africa’s Afrigator Ripped off By Regator?
When Armageddon came out in theatres, Asteroid wasn’t too far behind.
Likewise, Earthquake was succeeded by Volcano, another natural disaster
movie. When the Bentley went luxury, Hyundai prepped their knock off. Recently this trend of ‘copying’ (a.k.a. stealing ideas) moved to the web when Yahoo was accused of copying Digg.com’s interface. Now, the African blogosphere is abuzz with allegations that South Africa’s own Afrigator was victim to a stealthy feature and brand clone. The accused is the newly launched, Regator. [Read More]
Shine2010
Shine2010 is being marketed as an online
social networking platform which offers a place for South Africans to
congregate, learn and communicate in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World
CupTM. The project was sponsored by the First National Bank of South Africa. [Read More]
China Wins Ethiopian Development Deal
Ethiopia’s national network will be built by China’s second-largest
telecoms gear maker, ZTE. The network, which will allow Ethiopia
Telecommunications Corp to provide next-generation network services,
will cover 14 major cities in the east African country including the
capital, Addis Ababa, ZTE said in a statement. Read the rest at IT News Africa.
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July 2, 2008
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Ushahidi featured in MIT’s Top 10 Start-Ups To Watch
The GIS service for tracking incidents of unrest in violence in Kenya, Ushahidi, has been featured in MIT’s Technology Review as on of the Top 10 Start-Ups to Watch…
“Technology is at the heart of business expansion in Africa.”
Auditioning for Entrepreneur TV series moves to Aba
Sokwanele Maps Zimbabwean Violence
Sokwanele is a civic action support group campaigning for freedom and
democracy in Zimbabwe. Their website includes an ‘election violence
map’ that provides detailed information related to localized
occurrences of violence related to the election.
Matt Mullenweg (Wordpress creator) on SixApart
Wordpress was born in 2003 it became
an instant success, changing the world of blogging as we know it and
eventually giving it’s nearest competitor MovableType a run for it’s
money. The fact that Wordpress is so versatile, extensible and free,
made MovableType seem bloated, unfriendly and a gratuitous expense for
many small publishers. Fresh of the release of Wordpress 2.5 and the
immediate update 2.5.1, Matt Mullenweg speaks with Linux Journal about the movement he started and where he intends to take it.
Is Developmental Aid Stifling Africa’s Growth?
Thilo Thielke makes a bold statement in this recent piece from Spiegel Online: “No
one has to starve in Africa. Hunger there results from the failures of
unscrupulous rulers — and their friends in the West. Paradoxically, it
is the aid workers who are standing in the way of progress.”
Obviously, I wouldn’t have started Appfrica if I didn’t believe in the
power of personal perseverance, free market competition and
entrepreneurship. These things are hard to nurture in an environment
where everything is handed to you before you ask.
Sun Microsystems Enters Emerging Markets
Sun Microsystems, is one of the worlds largest dealers of computing
components, servers, software and IT technology. The companies recent plans,
however, include expanding into the emerging markets of South and
Eastern Europe, Latin America, India and Greater China. The company
attributes this strategy to “a series of management changes to realign the business with its latest plan for growth.”
The new ‘Emerging Markets’ division will be headed by Sun Senior Vice-President of Asia Pacific, Denis Heraud.
The Question Box Project
Question Box brings the power of the Internet to people in the
developing world using voice and a mobile phone. The idea is a very
simple - Question Box is a phone or intercom box people can use to call
a local-language Operator. The Operator answers most any question
searchable on the Internet for the caller. This idea thereby brings
much of the Internet’s information resources without asking much of the
user in terms of new behaviors.
South African Twitter Mashups
Multi (Stii’s Neville Newey’s answer to Digg.com) and developer Wogan May recently started doing some interesting things with Twitter and the Summize API. Basically both of them aggregate and display content from Twitter users in Africa, primarily South Africa.
Adam Grosser Talks Sustainable Refrigeration
African Farmers Adopt SMS for Market Information
Farmers in Uganda struggling to sell their commodities have a new ally in the marketplace, SMS messaging. Information Communication and Technologies for Africa Rural Development (ICTARD) is the group behind this effort.
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