Biz Community

Ghana's Saya Mobile is the latest mobile chat app out of Africa. IM and chat messaging clients are incredibly popular on the continent. Applications such as 2go and mobile social networks such as MXit have raised the bar on the possibilities in the mobile and social space in Africa.

As such, there is strong expectation for the success of the recently launched Saya Mobile in Ghana. Saya works on Java, iOS, Android and the Blackberry platforms and is a product of the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST).

MyMilpark, Milpark Business School's new online learning environment, provides a platform for students with their own e-mail address.

Milpark recognises that the student is the principal player in the teaching-learning transaction and should be encouraged to take charge of his/her own learning experience.

One of MyMilpark's primary aims is to provide an improved learning experience for distance learners through increased interaction and access to learning resources.

A portable voice-based computer for the blind, developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has been shortlisted in the South African Breweries (SAB) Foundation inaugural Innovation Awards.

The notetaker device is the first invention of its kind in South Africa and was developed by Willem van der Walt, a blind researcher at the CSIR.

Fellow researcher Gerhard van den Berg was also involved in the development of the product.

Van der Walt is respected in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT) for disabilities.

YouTube, the platform where anyone with a video camera and an internet connection can share their life, art and voice with the world, has announced the launch of YouTube in Nigeria and will be offering the most relevant content. Through local interface, YouTube Nigeria will offer informative and entertaining video content from around the world and promote content that is most relevant to Nigerians.

Airtel Africa has announced a two-year strategic partnership with global mobile manufacturer, Samsung. The partnership is set to improve both Airtel's and Samsung's brand equity, their distribution infrastructure, expand its African footprint and drive penetration in Africa to achieve common goals.

It is indisputably the era of the consumer. Yet in two centuries there have only been two major innovations in the way life insurance products are sold to consumers. The first was when brokers were introduced some 160 years ago and the second when call centres came along in the 1970s.

The crux of the matter lies in the word 'sold'. The biggest game-changer would surely be the one that can remove the cross the life industry has born for so long: the assumption that its products are sold and not bought.

The implementation of South Africa's first cashless NFC system at the Oppikoppi Unknown Brother rock festival has been declared a success by its organisers, merchants and system developers alike.

While teething problems are acknowledged, all parties agree that substantial progress has been made in providing an enhanced customer experience for festival goers, as well as reducing fraud and risks associated with cash management.

117% traffic growth - the fastest in Namibia, the fastest-growing Facebook fan page in Namibia, in the top five biggest local websites in Namibia within 3 months.
This was the performance of iNamibia.co.na in Q1 of this year after the 15 January launch. The strong growth has continued into Q2 with iNamibia now being the third biggest site in Namibia already.

Malawi-owned Celcom Limited, run by MD Ted Sauti-Phiri, is expected to roll out services such as voice telephony and mobile voice telephone by October 2012. MACRA Communications Manager Zadziko Mankhambo said in a statement released on Wednesday, 4 May 2011, that Celcom Limited beat bidders; Zambezi Africa Telecom, C-Mobile Holdings and Smart telecom Limited. He further said the bids were opened on 19 March 2011 in the MACRA boardroom in the presence of all applicants and the public.

Malawi's Zomba High Court has given G-Mobile a flicker of hope as it has stopped the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) from revoking the mobile service providers licence until the matter is heard before the court.
Another case waits before the Mzuzu High Court where G-Mobile is challenging a US$6 million penalty MACRA slapped the company with for its failure to roll out as scheduled.