A collection of views from some of the most relevant people that are working within an African/mobile/tech context and that can bring some realistic views of trends for this decade on the continent

I love tech gadgets, you know the phones, smartphones, tablets, laptops , computers and even the giant mainframe computers, but I have never developed the same level of interest for the cars. I try to keep up with what is going on but that is all. Well,  in the last one month that has changed thanks to one Robert Kunga popularly known as @mwirigi in the online world. I have attended two events where Robert gave presentations about his Ovistore app “Motogari”. First, at the Nokia developers happy hour and then at Mobile Monday.

Motogari app is news and analysis powerhouse for the cars. I came to learn that anything about the cars is well covered at Motogari and the writing style is just cool.

But the most amazing part is the interest people have on the Motogori app around the world. The following table show the number of times the app has been downloaded and the top ten downloading countries.

Here is the cloud of the countries involved. For real people love cars….

After Mobile Monday I asked @Mwirigi about how it all started and the future plans:

Kachwanya: Quick ones…about motogari , how did the idea come up and what inspired you to start the Motogari blog?
@Mwirigi: I started http://motogari.blogspot.com/ back in 2006 as an outlet for my love of cars.

Kachwanya: What are your future plans with the blog?

@Mwirigi: Future plans I’d say would be to shift to more local content, get into car reviews and possibly a channel for selling cars (Classifieds).

I am in negotioations with Cheki.co.ke to syndicate my content on their site. They are the exclusive automotive content provider for home.co.ke and they are growing very fast in the online car sale market with a wide geographical spread, a partnership would add value to both of us.

Kachwanya: In the future plans..are you planning to monetize it , if so what are the business models you are thinking of?

@Mwirigi : Monetization would be through advertising mostly. Still have to work out a business model.

Every week in Kenya these days there are remarkable events or news  in the tech front and it interesting if you are observer or real participant.  Last week was not any difference. The big news came with Nokia Siemens Network, the global telecommunications enabler , inaugurating its head office for its Africa Operations in Nairobi.

As part of the renewed focus on the African continent, NSN has recently restructured and separated its Africa operations. “The African market is growing at a strong pace and we felt the need to provide additional focus to support this growth. We already have a strong base of operations in Morocco and South Africa to support the region. Our head office in Kenya will strengthen our operations in the continent to deliver superior services to our customers,” says Dimitri, the recently appointed head of African operations for Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN).

This might look little in the face value but for a long time i have always been mad at companies which lump Africa together with Middle East. If you look at it critically Sub Saharan Africa was never in the picture for these companies. You see when they say Africa and middle East, they are basically saying North Africa (Arab populations) and Middle East. During KenyaFeb28 debate in Kenya after the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, i said it clearly that Kenya is noway like North African countries.  Nobody should ever expect what happens in Tunisia or Egypt to be automatically translated in Kenya due to many many many factors. The same applies to almost all the Sub Saharan African countries. So when you take Africa and put it together with Middle East, i wonder what exactly you are trying to say.  Kudos to Nokia Siemens Network for seeing the lights in good time.

Local Talents

One of the reason why NSN chose Kenya is coz of the great pool of the human talents.  I can testify to that but also i have many questions to Kenyans. Yesterday  I attended a meeting for the newly launched #aminaseries under the banner Intervangelist. I met a number of guys behind the series and i was very impressed. we have very smart young people in Kenya, and i repeat very smart. But always wonder why as a country we lag behind in so many aspect. Why are these smart young people not showing the direction to the general population. Yeah yeah the politicians and the old guards! I think that excuse is very convenient for many but never the real reason. Since when do smart men and women just sit back and  leave the people without clear direction to spoil their country?  I think it is high time we translate being smart and talking smart to something tangible!

Anyway on the selection of Kenya for its head office, Alain Van Hemelen, Kenya Country Director for NSN, says, “We have chosen to set up our new headquarters in Kenya as the country provides a central location for travel, has a well-educated pool of local talent and a sturdy telecommunications infrastructure. Nokia Siemens Networks has expanded their Kenyan staff compliment from 109 employees in 2009 to 220 employees in 2010. We have chosen to draw on the local pool of talent to increase our headcount, rather than bring in experts from other countries. We are also in the process of recruiting a further 30 employees to the operation by mid-2011. With these additional staff members and our projected business growth in the region, we expect to employ 300 people by 2012.”

Moses Kemibaro- Dealfish Regional Manager, East Africa

Hilda Moraa- M-Order

the Nairobi GTUG chapter, We will be launching an Android Developer Challenge on Saturday, April the 16th 2011 at the iHub from 11 AM to around 3:30 PM latest.

The Objective of the launch parties are to give mobile developers a platform talk about Android and learn about the competition, do some hacking, collaborate and get ready to build some killer apps.

Looking forward to your attendance. Great stuff lying ahead for Android developers