Ugandan student makes millions from developing Apps

 By Paul Ndiho

July 12, 2012

Mobile phones are revolutionizing the way people communicate. They are also giving entrepreneurs an opportunity to create applications for the technology just like the big software companies.

Twenty two-year-old Abdu Sekalala is a college student in Uganda and also a successful businessman. He creates mobile applications that compete with some of the biggest names in mobile software. 

So far the young entrepreneur has developed nine internationally recognized applications including Wordbook -- a dictionary app with a "word of the day" function that includes definitions and synonyms.

Sekalala earns just over one US dollar for each download from Nokia’s Ovi store and his applications have been downloaded over 300,000 times so far.

"I have about four themes and five applications or the other way around five applications, four themes. Now the themes are basically to customize the UL of your phone, the way your phone appears, the screens, the transitions, the colors and the apps. We have Wordbook, which is a dictionary, and the Tutu Translate which is basically a translator and then there is World Sports which is a sports application for soccer fans."

Sekalala caught his big break when mobile phone company Nokia held a training session in Uganda last year to help software developers expand their skills in building applications.

He quickly learned how to develop his own application and Nokia was willing to adapt it for their online applications store.

Nokia plan an aggressive growth strategy focusing on outing their productions in the hands of millions of new customers. This gives developers like Sekalala a wider market at a time when the demand for applications to access the internet is at an all-time high.

Nokia’s Agatha Gikunda says developers like Sekalala have a unique opportunity to access an international market and make money.

 “So one of the ways that they can actually make money is they put it on the store for free so that consumers around the world can download it for free but they make money through advertisements, so one of the apps that Abdu created, that's what he incorporated so he put in advertising. So advertisers around the world pop up their ads within that application so he makes money from that and that money is entirely his."

Africa has the world's fastest growing telecom markets and analysts say internet based mobile solutions are helping boost development and growth on the continent.

Gikunda said there is great potential for mobile app businesses in Africa because companies are looking for new ideas to engage consumers.

"So Africa is definitely the next frontier, developers here have a huge opportunity that they have never ever had before to create businesses that require very little startup capital.

Sekalala and other African entrepreneurs see great opportunities in mobile technology and look forward to continued growth in the future. He makes over 100 US dollars a day from his apps. He says he will not be looking for job soon but instead he will continue developing applications.

17 African Enterpreneurs win fifty thousand dollars matching grants

By Paul Ndiho

June 30, 2012

At the second African Diaspora marketplace competition, seventeen African entrepreneurs in agribusiness, information technology and renewable energy were awarded grants to start or expand their business– and promote economic growth in north and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Nearly 500 entrepreneurs’ submitted business plans to compete for a grant to invest in their business as part of the Africa Diaspora marketplace ii competition. The event featured forty-four finalists who competed for one million dollars in prizes.  Seventeen were selected and walked away with fifty thousand dollar matching grants. US-AID, and the western union company jointly fund a-d-m ii.

Jeffery Jackson, senior private sector adviser at US-AID says the finalists’ initiatives ranged from software development in Ghana, to palm kernel processing in Nigeria, to poultry production in Kenya.

“The African Diaspora market place is a very innovative business plan competition where we are targeting members of the African Diaspora and others who are interested in African development.”

Alden zecha, C.F.O, of Spoxel, a previous winner of an ADM award.  He was also one of the judges tasked with selecting the top twenty ventures, he explains the criteria.

“One was incredible passion, to see that they really believe in their idea and that they feel very strongly about it. Another aspect is commitment: Are they really committed to make sure that their project succeeds and are they willing to invest not just their time and energy but potentially some of their funds. Also looking at their knowledge and the research they’ve done.”

David Kiambati, a Nairobi-based agribusiness entrepreneur says he is looking to expand his business and become a regional player.

“Zero waste-based farming and essentially what you do is you take those organic fertilizers and put it right back in the land, you improve the yield from the land and you have more food crops for people to eat and also what you do is you can use those same organic food crops to feed the pigs have better quality pigs.”

Western union is a leader in global payment services and one of the partners who say they are constantly looking for creative ideas.

“We’re looking for innovative ideas. First of all, ideas in agribusiness, ICT or renewable energy that target really high growth, potential high growth areas on the continent of Africa. Really things that change, are new, really make agribusiness more efficient.”

Seyi Adeyinka of Riol farms, a Nigeria based livestock and crop production farm located in Ogun state, about 50 miles outside of Lagos, was one of the winners of a $50 thousand dollar grant. She says that Riol farms are committed to its customers, workers and its community.

“The $50,000 will enable us to do all of that right away and start embarking on the poultry production unit which will be very beneficial to us and also to the community because we will be employing more people in the local area.”

VOA’s Ndimyake Mwakalyelye, host of the event told the aspiring entrepreneurs that they should identify themselves as vehicles of change and that they could help put Africa on a very different path.  To expand upon previous successes, the organizers invited Tony Elumelu of the Tony Elumelu foundation and award winning actor, Jeffery Wright, and founder of the Taia foundation. Elumelu, whose foundation is dedicated to the promotion and celebration of excellence in business leadership and entrepreneurship across Africa, says that Africans in the Diaspora need to team up with those on the continent to develop Africa.

“I’ve said many times that no one is going to develop Africa but ourselves, so Africans in Diaspora should see it as a learning phase, a phase to amass knowledge, expertise, experience exposure and take it that all these human capital acquisitions and assists would be nothing if they don’t play a role in the development of Africa.”

Last year’s ADM grantees are at the forefront of number innovative business enterprises Sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa's broadband connection to reach Millions

By Paul Ndiho

June 27th 2012

Internet connectivity is spurring the growth of many African economies, but investment in building the infrastructure to help meet the rising demand for fast and reliable broadband -- especially in poorer countries needs to catch up. 

The arrival of the fiber-optic cable brought with it promises of faster more reliable internet service.  Some analysts say the days of slow speeds and hours wasted staring at computer screens waiting for e-mails to download are over.

Africa's internet connectivity through satellite is nearly a thing of the past, except in a few countries, as new terrestrial and submarine cables link the continent to the rest of the world.  Sub-Saharan Africa alone has nine submarine cables, with a total capacity of 22 terabytes-- the volume of traffic that can be transmitted via fiber-optic cable.

Aidian Baigrie, a representative of Seacom, a submarine fiber-optic cable networking company says undersea cables mean that internet service is getting cheaper and its usage is set to rise.

"Three years ago, the pricing was vastly different to what is it is today. To give an example, in Africa the cost of a megabyte in some of the more advanced countries or for 10 megabytes was about a dollar and half. What we are seeing today to get 10 megabytes is probably an equivalent of 20 us cents, so we have seen huge and vast change in pricing over the last three years, and that is reflected in this massive growth in subscriber numbers. We are expecting about 150 million more internet users in Africa to come on in the next three years."

A World Bank study shows a ten percent rise in broadband penetration is linked to a 1.3 percent increase in economic growth and that small internet based businesses are also feeling the positive effects of speedy and affordable connectivity.

Keabetswe Modise owns a graphic design company that operates in South Africa’s commercial capital Johannesburg.

"it is cheap and it's reliable and your documents get kept there, so you cannot lose your documents, if you misplace or something happens to your system or you have to repair or reformat your system, you know that you got your information backed up in emails,"

Duncan Mcleod, an internet and innovations expert observes that massive investment and focus on growing the infrastructure is still needed for even better access to broadband.  But South Africa, the continent's biggest economy is steps ahead of other parts of Africa.

"There is a massive over-investment in undersea cables, we have eight or ten of these things coming down our shoreline, more investments are coming. The other day we heard about brics cables to link Brazil, Russia, India, china and South Africa to the us, there is also wacs cable across Atlantic ocean which is going to bring massive amounts of capacity in the next two years.

Africa's limited internet infrastructure means that mobile phones are becoming the point-of-entry for high-speed internet.

Industry giants such as South African group MTN, Indian operator Bharti Airtel and France telecom's orange unit, as well as smaller firms like South Africa’s unlisted cell c, are ramping up investments to win the new battleground of high-speed internet via mobile phones.

Kenya's mobile service provider, Safaricom, expects a surge in demand for data services in the east African nation of 40 million people, thanks to an explosion of internet-ready, hand-held devices-- and an increase in the number of relevant applications and content.

In West Africa, the number of people in Nigeria with internet access could triple over the next two years, mirroring the explosion in MOBI.  But          Goldstuck cautions that the growth in mobile internet availability comes at the cost of quality.

"unfortunately what we see often in the market service providers don't want to give up very healthy margins that they are enjoying. So in the past for example the excuse they gave for not bringing down the cost of bandwidth was that international bandwidth was so expensive, with the undersea cables the cost of international bandwidths has plummeted, but now the excuse is "oh no it was not the international bandwidth, it was the cost of local infrastructure. So the local a access cost and infrastructure cost it is actually what it dictates cost of our bandwidth, so we can only bring it down so much or we can't bring it down at all."

The international telecommunication union says several African countries are still wholly dependent on satellite internet. With Sierra Leone and Liberia recently welcoming the undersea Africa coast to Europe fiber-optic cabling.  Other african nations including the central african republic, chad, the democratic republic of Congo, Eritrea and Liberia, all lack fiber-optic connections to the wider world.

One of Uganda's Success Stories - The Remarkable Journey of Businessman Gordon Wavamunno

By Paul Ndiho

June 8, 2012

Sir Gordon Wavamunno is one of Uganda's most prominent entrepreneurs. Born in Rugaaga, a rural village in South Western Uganda, he now has a personal fortune estimated at over fifty million dollars with companies in a wide variety of pursuits, including media, transportation, tourism, farming, trade; manufacturing, real estate - property development, and motor vehicle distribution.  His ability to succeed, despite repeated hardships is remarkable. 

Gordon Wavamunno is probably one of Uganda’s best-known and most successful businessman, - and a key player in the country’s economy.

This year, Queen Elizabeth II bestowed a knighthood, the United Kingdom’s highest honor on Sir Gordon, recognizing him for his contributions to society and international relations.

From an early age, Wavamunno knew he wanted to be a businessman. After joining his father's trade business, he worked as a cashier and traded agricultural produce.

He quickly saved enough money from that enterprise to establish a dry cleaning business, bought a car and started a car rental and driving school business in Mbarara, Western Uganda.

A couple years later, he expanded the business to Kampala. From there, with two partners he opened Uganda Peoples Transport and Taxi Service Limited, and eventually left it to form his own company “Spear Group” and obtained a Daimler Mercedes dealership to sell its products.

Gordon Wavamunno’s story closely mirrors the fortunes of post-independence Uganda - During the turbulent years of General Idi Amin’s regime, and the early 1980s under President Milton Obote, his efforts were almost completely destroyed. He was thrown in jail twice; his business was vandalized and looted beyond repair.  He survived, started over and reclaimed his fortunes.

He persuaded Daimler Mercedes to retain him as Uganda’s sole dealer. And founded and built the now multi-million dollar, Spear Group of enterprises; consisting of Spear Motors Limited, which sells Mercedes Benz, and other brands.

Over the years, he has moved into other businesses including, WAVA textiles and clothing, state of the art WAVA Fancy furniture, WAVA Ostrich and Horse farming, WAVA bottled water, and more.

Wavamunno continues building his rapidly expanding portfolio, Wavamunno Broadcasting services or WBS Television is an affiliate of Voice of America’s to TV- Africa. The station is one of the leading privately owned media operations in the Country.

The self-made businessman has won the Ugandan Businessman of the Year award seven times. And despite leaving school at a young age, he has honorary degrees from Makerere University, the nation’s oldest premier institute of higher learning and Nkumba University, where he serves as the chancellor. 

Beside his business skills, Wavamunno has never turned his back on the less fortunate. His company Spear Motors Limited has donated beds to Katalemwa, a home for the disabled children. He has also donated other materials to schools. And worked with St. John’s Ambulance in Uganda and regularly contributes to the building of schools, hospitals and places of worship in Uganda.

As if this were enough, He is also a diplomat in his own right. For example, he represents the interests of the republic of Hungary in Uganda.

As the saying goes, behind every great man is an even greater woman. Wavamunno married Morine in 1974.  The Wavamunno’ s live comfortably in the Munyooyo suburbs of Kampala; in the multi-million dollar home they call Cape Villa, on the shores of Lake Victoria.  They are often photographed attending public outings. Wavamunno attributes his business success largely to his wife.  He says, “Morine is not just my wife, the mother of my children but someone who has become my chief business advisor and confidante. He credits her with challenging him to venture into many now successful businesses including textiles.

Wavamunno Broadcasting Services, the leading indigenous television station in the country has curried live VOA’S Flagship Television Talk show Straight Talk Africa since 2000.

Mr.  Wavamunno does have his critics in Uganda; some say that he has attained his success at the expenses of the smaller businesses that have no access to his kind of capital or political connections.

Nollywood Films Stream Live Online

By Paul Ndiho
June 4, 2012
Nollywood films are growing in popularity in Africa, because they often touch on issues that many people across the continent can identify with.  Now, an online distribution company is sending the movies into the homes of Africans, cutting out a notorious layer of pirates. 
UK based iRoko TV, dubbed the "Netflix of Africa", and is the continent's leading online subscription and distribution service for TV and Nigerian movies.  The platform streams content directly to avid consumers in amazing high-definition quality.
31-year old Nigerian-born Jason Njoku, the founder and CEO of i-Roko TV, says the idea came to him when he realized his family and friends in London had an insatiable appetite for Nollywood films, but were always struggling to get the latest releases.
"Being that I lived with mom again, I was going to aunties and uncle's houses and friends and families in the Nigerian community in London. And they were all watching this similar type of movies. I was just -- how have I missed this huge movement, huge phenomenon in Nigerian cinema and i am a media guy? So i task myself which is to find out more about the industry."
Since January, iRoko TV has recorded about three-thousand titles and signed-up over 100-thousand subscribers.  The films are currently distributed for free because revenue is made from advertising, but, starting in June, subscribers will have to pay for the service.
Nollywood films are often tales of cannibalism, witchcraft and weeping girlfriends who put curses on their errant boyfriends - but Nigeria’s nearly one-billion dollar film industry is Africa’s biggest after India’s Bollywood and America’s Hollywood.
Njoku says iRoko’s wide-ranging viewership spans from Africa-- to the diaspora, with the largest markets being in the united states, the U.K., Canada, Germany and Italy, mostly because of the high-broadband penetration.


"Production values are probably not as high as what people would expect in the west, but it's not really about the production value it's about the stories. Why people who have access to everything in the west are going on to a computer and watch Nollywood movies? It's because they connect to it somehow and that's where the story comes in, that's where the cost comes in, that's where the actors and actresses come in."
Njoku says Nollywood churns out about 50 low-budget films a week.  To find the movies for distribution, he had to move back home and physically find the production houses, many of which did not have offices and were often a setup of one man and his cellphone.
Producers eventually got acquainted with the idea-- and now they call him.  But, piracy is rampant, and producers lose out on huge amounts of revenue from the illegal sale of their copyrighted films and music.
Njoku says with better internet penetration in Africa, where millions of fans still rely on DVD's that are often illegal copies, the market is set to grow tremendously in the next five years.
"In London, we have more viewers in London than we do have in the whole of Nigeria. But when you think, how many Nigerians Africans are even in London compared to the 150 million or so in Nigeria? So once the broadband penetration improves then we expect to see a massive surge in sort of interest in Africa. So my prediction is by five years' time we're talking about an African business as opposed to being a western one.
Award-winning filmmaker, Okechukwu Ogunjiofor, often referred to as the "father of Nollywood", says iRoko TV is creating a new avenue for films to be seen, and in turn, eliminating piracy and making sure film revenues go to the right people.
"What iRoko is doing is going to help our industry but, the only challenge i foresee which i am not praying for it to happen, typical of Nigerian industries, there is always this ingenuity in us Africans, especially Nigerian to circumvent whatever someone has created and he thinks is full proof," he said.
While some of Africa’s expertly trained filmmakers disdain Nigeria’s commercial approach, others believe it is filling a gap which will bring dividends in the long run.
IRoko TV employs 100 people on three continents and recently 8 million dollars of funding through the U.S.-based investment manager, tiger global.
"... A great thing is that as long as our viewers love what we're doing, and then we're going to be okay as a company,"
About one-thousand movies are produced in Nollywood each year - most are in local languages - Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo, while English accounts for more than 40 percent of the films produced.

Tanzania Soil Conservation

 By Paul Ndiho 

June 4, 2012

The slopes of Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro play an important role in the nation's socio-economics and ecology.  The mountain is a contributor to agriculture, forestry and eco-tourism.  Now, the government is teaming up with the United Nations food and agriculture organization, to access the forest's carbon pools.

Field workers from Tanzania’s national forestry assessment project or naforma-- have arrived to take tree measurements and soil samples near Mount Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania.  The team is collecting information on the number, size and quality of the trees as well as assessing the forests so-called carbon pools-- one of which is soil.  Forest soils are a massive carbon stock.  The deforestation process releases carbon from the soil, significantly increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

"Soil stores two to three times as much as living plants, so it it's really important.  And the problem is that we don't know yet how this carbon stored in the soil can be released to the atmosphere if the land use for example changes from forestry to agriculture.   And this is one of the questions that the naforma soil survey tries to address."

Soil samples are brought to this laboratory where they are analyzed to establish the carbon content.

"Now we know we have some areas which are highly fertile, and those need to have some ways of conserving it so that we can maintain the carbon stocks in those areas."

Farmers on the slopes of Kilimanjaro have been developing their own form of climate smart agro-forestry for centuries.

The principal crops are coffee and bananas grown under a canopy of trees. While farming is intensive, the farmers conserve water and recycle all organic matter to ensure their methods are sustainable.

Scientists say, if Tanzania can successfully sustain and even increase its carbon stocks it stands to gain from the United Nations initiative to reduce carbon emissions through deforestation and degradation - also known as red - which aims to reward developing countries who can demonstrate a reduction in their carbon emissions.

"The main aim of the red initiative is to try capturing the excessive carbon within the atmosphere to the forest. We will come out with the change of how much carbon has been added from the atmosphere to our forest stores and how much we should then be paid for that storage.  You see red will pay for the additional carbon."

The soil survey being carried out here is one of the most extensive efforts undertaken in tropical forests to gather more information on the role of soils in climate change.

If that can be understood, it will provide not only Tanzania but also other tropical nations with the information they need to sustainably manage their forest resources, allowing them to better provide for their growing populations and reduce their carbon emissions.

Kenya Food Prices

By Paul Ndiho

May 22, 2012

Kenya has shifted from a drought that threatened millions people without food in 2011, to floods that are sweeping through fields and compromising harvests.  Food prices remain high and consumers in east Africa’s biggest economy are hurting. 

At one of Nairobi’s biggest open air food markets, the colors of ripe fruit and vegetables displayed in heaps around muddy stalls, brighten up a dull rainy day.

The kangemi market, which lies strategically along the highway that links the fertile right valley region to the Kenyan capital to the west, has always been cheaper than what you would find deeper within the city.  But in the last five years buyers say the cost of food, like in every other part of the county has continued to rise.

"We have not seen the food prices drop anywhere because even when we go to the wholesale market we find that the prices are high and when we try and sell it to our buyers it is impossible."

Record high food prices last year helped to fuel the demonstrations in east Africa. Domestic food prices remain high due to a combination of large quantities of food imports and factors such as regional trade restrictions, hoarding, civil unrest, poor governance and climate change.

A United Nations report released in April showed that world food prices eased after rising during the first quarter of this year.

Economic analyst James Shikwati says supermarkets were keeping prices high for consumers willing to pay more for convenience, forcing wholesale markets like Kangemi to follow in order to stay relevant.

"the causes of food prices going up in Kenya is the disruption of transportation system caused by the heavy rains that's one of them the of course the other cause is the competition between what i will call the super market surge visa - visa the open air markets where now everybody is trying to position to be able to be meaningful to the market."

In another part of Kenya, the Maasai people of Namelok in Amboseli region are trying to adapt to changing weather patterns by coming up with new farming methods aimed at improving their food security. They are traditionally livestock keepers, but successive droughts have decimated many of their animals, so they broke with tradition and now cultivate tomatoes, maize and beans.

United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark recently visited the area ahead of the launch of the Africa human development report. Helen noted that across Africa a big answer to fighting hunger and food shortages is empowering women farmers.

"this cooperative of women working with a local non-governmental organization has found a way to move forward, so this story needs to be told many times to inspire other communities to think that it is possible to be able to have a livelihood as things around you are changing, as the climate is changing, and things can't be done the way they used to be."

Some women in this region earned a living by trading goats at the local market after their husbands left them with children to feed-- but the income is unreliable.  Now, the women's group has leased two acres of land with the help of a small local charity, and they've already had one successful harvest.

"We would like to farm more arable land and do this on a bigger scale, and we want to learn better agricultural practices, so that we can become a society that can sustain itself."

Analysts say tourism is a major earner of foreign exchange for Kenya-- and the community has recognized that conservation can also bring economic benefits.

Some critics say the government has failed to harness the water available for storage and farming in areas that require irrigation-- and to serve populations without access to drinking water and electricity.

Shikwati says Kenya needs to prioritize food security as much as it does other sectors of the economy.

"If Kenya continues to rely on other countries to govern its food security policies, they can never be food secure because it's the same comparison with national security they try as much as possible to have an internal mechanism to ensure the country is secure so i think the same needs to be applied to food,"

After decades of neglect, critics are urging African governments to pay more attention to the importance of investing in agriculture -- if not for food security-- then for political stability, as a way to avoid the riots over high food prices that affected several countries in 2008. 

Congo Aviation Safety

 By Paul Ndiho

May 15, 2012

The Democratic Republic of Congo has few passable roads traversing the country, forcing much of the population to rely on ill-maintained planes. But the central African country has one of the worst air safety records in the world, with notoriously lax safety regulations. In order to restore the confidence of its passengers and investors, the airline Fly Congo has introduced a new fleet of airliners and promised to tighten safety procedures.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) says that the Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the world’s worst records for aviation accidents. The country rates poorly in overall aviation safety.

But earlier this month, an airline whose license had been revoked in the wake of a July 2011 crash that killed 74 people, resumed operations. Fly Congo, known previously as Hewa Bora, opened a new Kinshasa-Kisangani-Goma route as part of its effort to revamp and rebrand the airline.

Passengers on board one of the relaunched airline's first flights are hopeful safety problems are a thing of the past.

 

 

"Sometimes it's a purely technical problem. I cannot confirm , but I am pretty certain that following past incidents of plane crashes, I think that company bosses will now try to improve the airlines quality, because having planes crashes all the time does not help anyone.”

DRC is Africa's second-largest country, and one of the most inaccessible countries on the continent. Its dense forests, rivers and mountainous terrain make ground transport problematic, leaving aviation as the only option for fast and efficient travel. Experts say aviation oversight, in spite of the periodic government statements following such disasters, has remained patchy at best. They say none of the promised fundamental overhauls has taken place, leaving in operation "flying coffins," as the Soviet-era planes are often dubbed in Congo and other countries in Africa. Both airline and ground infrastructure leave much to be desired in terms of international safety standards.

"I think that the current infrastructures at many of the country’s airport’s control towers are inadequate, but they are working on it. We are closely following that in the news. They (the authorities) are working towards improving the infrastructure, so that we can have more reliable communication in

United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classifies Congo as non-compliant with standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

As a result, Congolese airlines are banned from flying within the European Union airspace. Since records began in 1950s, there have been 65 fatal accidents in DRC, with 878 fatalities. Seven of the incidents took place in the last two years.

Goma, where another Hewa Bora crash killed 40 in 2008, was chosen as a site for the launch event, which gathered local politicians and airline officials.

Gedeon Mangolopa, Goma's airport director, says he hopes customer confidence will return once the international standards of the airline and the airport are confirmed.

"We estimate that the plan that we are going to put forward will lead to the airport of Goma being able to once again operate to international standards. We ask the people to respect the rules, and to not believe that we are trying to push or manhandle them, but rather that we are trying to implement international regulations, so that we can attract other airline companies,"

To restore confidence and increase the safety of the airline, Fly Congo undertook to destroy six of Hewa Bora's airplanes and replace them with newer fleet. The aircrafts are being scrapped for parts.

"At the moment, these are planes that can no longer be used for public transport, so we have to turn to planes that are more economical and which are newer."

The airline is planning to open a new international route between Kinshasa and Johannesburg, South Africa later in the year.