2011… almost the end
I’m still busy gathering my personal and professional thoughts on the last 12 months…
In the meantime, have a look at this…
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Earlier this year I had the privilege to visit Nairobi to experience the mobile technology scene and learn about the developer community at the iHub. Below is a blog post I wrote for the MIH Media Lab website. Have a look at my Mobile technology adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa_Kenya Feedback slideshow on Slideshare if you want to see more pictures of my visit.
A recent GSMA report stated that Africa is currently the second biggest market for mobile in the world. This means that there is huge innovation potential in terms of mobile technology application development, as well as creating solutions (think access to information, ability to transfer money, creating jobs) for the more than 649 million handset owners on the continent.
As part of my research I’ve been investigating the mobile tech space in South Africa and Kenya as well as the developer communities in both countries. It is interesting to see how many differences (and surprising similarities) there are in terms of mobile usage and user statistics.
This infographic by Ivan Colic was published in July this year and gives a thought-provoking overview of smartphone vs feature phone penetration in Africa.
- Mobile phones in Africa. Image by @ivanisawesome
Comparison between Kenya and South Africa. Image by @mariskaza
Developer communities
The (software) developer community in Kenya is in its infant stages, with lots of young computer science students obtaining their degrees from European universities and then returning home to re-invest their skills in the country. The opposite is mostly true for developers in South Africa, where engineers obtain their degrees here, and then move overseas to gain international experience and work for huge corporations in America and Europe.
What struck me while I was chatting to developers in Nairobi, is that they’re much more “solution for the people” focused as opposed to developing cool technologies that are sometimes immitating international apps, and not necesarily apps that will improve people’s lives. It is interesting to note that there are currently 8 million smartphones (and growing at a phenomenal rate) in South Africa, with a much smaller percentage in Kenya. Developers in Kenya still develop mostly for feature phones. That’s why a platform like Mocality is agnostic to the client platform. Mocality is a business listing app that launched in Nairobi early in 2010 and already have 67,000 users. According to Mocality CEO, Stefan Magdalinski, “This is the Mocality reality: RIM, Android, Apple are 2% of usage.”
The biggest concentration of software (and by implication, mobile app) developers, are based in Nairobi. One could compare this ecosystem with the developer community in Silicon Cape. Most developers in Kenya, however, spend time at the iHub. The iHub is Nairobi’s Innovation Hub for the technology community and is an open space for the technologists, investors, tech companies and hackers in the area.
I had the privilege to meet the founder of the iHub, Erik Hersman, in Nairobi and I recently asked him (via twitter and e-mail) what he thought the differences are between Kenya and South Arica in terms of the mobile ecosystem.
“I’d say the biggest difference that I can point out is that it seems like there are more products made for a global market coming out of South Africa, as opposed to more regionalized products coming out of Kenya. The focus is different, not better or worse, just different. South Africa tends to have more restrictive telecom and banking regulations, which I think have lead to less innovation in these spaces. Kenya has had a much friendlier regulator, allowing innovative mobile money products to develop. South Africa has more money and better infrastructure than Kenya, more developers too, yet somehow Kenya seems to have a better position on innovation in the mobile space (though not the web).”
Looking at the future of mobile in Africa, I asked Erik what kind of technology he’d invest in: “I’d double down on mobile money solutions, both on the peer-to-peer and merchant-to-consumer sides. This is what the users want, so the products will find their way to market.”
Most developers in Nairobi are under the impression that we are light years ahead of them in South Africa in terms of our technological innovations. I would go as far as to say that yes, we are privileged in terms of technological experience, but that we will definitely need to adopt Kenyan developers’ outlook on building solution-oriented apps for the more than 80% of people who still rely on feature phones to communicate, share and transact.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_africa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sf.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ke.html
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Report-Africa-is-the-Fastest-Growing-Mobile-Phone-Market—133534983.html
http://thinkprogress.org/yglesias/2011/09/18/321937/mobile-phone-penetration-in-africa/
http://whiteafrican.com/2010/06/22/mocality-mobile-business-listings-for-africa/
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm
http://www.8ta.com/plans/prepaid-data/
http://www.kenyandroid.com/apps/kenyan-apps/item/167-kenyan-data-bundle-price-comparison
Image sources:
http://www.vecteezy.com/Map-Vector/5908-African-Map-Vector
http://afrographique.tumblr.com/post/7087562485/infographic-depicting-smart-and-dumb-mobile
Filed under: Africa | Leave a Comment
Tags: Africa, Kenya, mobile app development, mobile technology, Nairobi, Silicon Cape, South Africa
About amazing opportunities
About a year ago I wrote a post “About inspiring people, and dreams coming true“, where I mentioned about getting my dream bursary. A year later I look back at a year that was filled with wonderfully challenging interactions, lots of learning and becoming a more tech-savvy individual.
Computer Engineer Barbie
I won’t go as far as calling myself Computer Engineer barbie yet, but my focus of “engineering the world of marketing” has since shifted to “marketing the world of engineering”. Most of this journey happened at the MIH Media Lab in Stellenbosch. Another fantastic opportunity that crossed my path, was to get involved in Girl Geek Dinners, an international networking group that brings together girl (and boy) geeks in cities all over the world. I learnt that being in an intellectually stimulating environment not only encouraged me to become more critical about the world around me, but it made me acutely aware of the opportunities that exist out there. Opportunities not only to change the world in terms of your own little ecosystem, but encouraging people around you to aim higher, take risks, make things happen for themselves.
A great opportunity I want you to look into, is a bursary at the MIH Media Lab. They offer Master’s bursaries for students from a variety of under-graduate backgrounds (computer science, engineering, business management, etc) and give them the space and support to pursue a post-graduate degree in a very stimulating environment.
2011 was for me a year to make changes, make the most of opportunities that graced my path, but most importantly, have fun along the way with a bunch of amazing people. And for that, I am super grateful!
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Tags: Girl Geek Dinners Cape Town, MIH Media Lab
Good design
This morning I clicked on a link in twitter and started watching Objectified -a documentary made in 2009 about Industrial Design. Some of the principles listed by Dieter Rams on good design really resonated with me and I thought to share…
- Good design should be innovative
- Good design should make a product useful
- Good design is aesthetic design
- Good design will make a product understandable
- Good design is honest
- Good design is unobtrusive
- Good design is long-lived
- Good design is consistent in every detail
- Good design is environmentally friendly
- Good design is as little design as possible
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Tags: Design, Dieter Rams, Good design, Mariska du Preez, Marketing Engineer, Objectified
Doing well by doing good
Gustav Praekelt‘s presentation at the Net Prophet event. Doing well by doing good: Developing a successful social business…
Two take-aways for me:
Happiness = satisfying, engaging work + feeling successful + social connection + meaning
Social business = accessible (affordable, simple) + relevant + sustainable
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The 3 A’s of awesome
I just had to share this video by Neil Pasricha:
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I’ve had the privilege (thanks to Avusa Media Live) to attend this year’s Geek Retreat. Geek, what?
Geek Retreat: Every year, a group of people passionate about the internet and collaboration, get together for a weekend of sharing, fun and geekiness. The 2011 GeekRetreat had the theme ‘Geeks in Action’ – people were split into teams and asked to complete a project in 3 days.
Highlights of the weekend included some projects (real life and fun): Geeks @ Play, Solve my *&£$*%& Problem, Bootstrap Secrets and Argent Brown. Check out the Geek Movie as well!
I met some amazing people, learnt a lot about technology, people and life in general and got inspired for the year ahead. In my personal experience, (un)conferences, networking events, and workshops add value to your professional and personal life because of the people involved. Each experience in life is as beneficial as you allow it to be. So, make the most out of each opportunity in 2011!
Filed under: Events | 2 Comments
Tags: *mdp marketing, Alex Fraser, Andy Hadfield, Andy Volk, Avusa Media Live, Brian Pinnock, Coenraad Loubser, Craig Rodney, Elan Lohman, Elodie Kleynhans, Eshaam Rabaney, Geek Retreat, Guy Taylor, Heather Ford, Heidi Schneigansz, Henk Kleynhans, Jarred Cinman, Jonathan Maliepaard, Kerry Anne Giloway, Larry Claasen, Len Weincier, Leslie Maliepaard, Luisa Mazinter, Mariska du Preez, Marketing Engineer, Pam Sykes, Paul Furber, Paul Scott, Pete Flynn, Randolf Jorberg, Reuben Goldberg, Roger Norton, Sam Christie, Saul Kropman, Shawn Graaff, Stanford Valley Lodge, Tasleem Williams, Tim Lunn, Tim Price, Wesley Lynch
In my previous post, Work vs Passion, I mentioned how I was faced with a tough career (and life) decision and ended up following my heart…
What I did not mention, was how the universe worked together to make this dream a reality. Long story short: In the middle of this year I reached a point where I knew I had to make a few changes, one of them being leaving my current (rather comfortable) position and changing direction completely.
Without boring you with the details, I look back at amazement at the serendipity of events that ensued. A few months ago I became aware of an amazing study opportunity and subsequently had to update my CV. Being a child of technology, I googled “how to make a kick-ass CV” and came across Jesse Desjardins‘ slideshare presentation, Really Ugly Résumés. This inspired me so much that I decided instead of opting for a boring Word document CV, I would also design an online CV…
Not only did I get my (dream) bursary, I also mentioned to Jesse that his presentation really inspired me… And guess what?! It turns out not only did Jesse reply to my comment but he was planning a trip to Cape Town to promote 72 Hours in Cape Town. We ended up meeting for cocktails, had an awesome chat and of course I told him what his presentation meant to me and how it contributed to me making my dream a reality.
This morning (yes, I am awake this early 
I got a tweet from Jesse saying that he’d updated his presentation, and mentioned my story. How awesome!!! So, check it out for yourself: Really Ugly Résumés.
Click on “View in Slideshare” in the bottom right corner to view the updated version, please!
What is the point of my story? A Canadian born boy living and working in Paris makes a slideshow, posts it to Slideshare, inspires an African girl to make a kick-ass online CV. They meet, chat and inspire each other, tell the world about each other and inspire more people to make Really Pretty Online CVs!
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Tags: *mdp marketing, inspiration, Jesse Desjardins, Mariska du Preez, Marketing Engineer, Really Ugly Résumés, Slideshare
Work vs Passion
Recently I’ve been confronted with one of life’s biggest challenges: Do I choose work or do I choose passion?
I wish it was an easy choice like choosing my job over the man of my dreams (hehe), but alas, it was a bit more complicated than that. I think we’re all confronted by the dualities of life on a daily basis, yet when something so life-changing pops us, it is difficult to make a quick decision.
As with all challenges, I like to discuss my options at length with the people I love and trust. So, in my quest to make this decision, I ended up having coffee with my good friend, Johan de Goede.
We spoke about the challenges young people face, how on the one hand we are encouraged to build empires, be successful, get to the top no matter what. On the other hand we hear so often that life is short, that we should pursue our dreams, we’re still young, we can make mistakes…
Which brings me to the drawing…
Passion {vs=><} Work
So, while we were chatting, I drew him the picture of the “Passion vs Work Challenge”. Your work can either be your passion (=), you can work to fund your passion (>), of you’re so busy working that you don’t have time to live out your passion (<). And there there is the perfect symbiosis: Where passion and work “live” together in your reality, where they complement each other, feed of each other, and keep each other alive.
I have two very dear friends, Hennie and Maggie, who admit that they do a relatively boring (but obviously well-paying) job to fund their true passion: Food and Wine (>). My brother, on the other hand, recently launched his own wealth portfolio management company and he admits he is living his passion (=).
I have yet to meet someone whose passion and work is so entertwined that there isn’t a difference between the two*.
Sometimes in life, it is important to weigh up all the options… and then follow your heart… That is what I did.
*If you know of someone like that, let me know!
Filed under: Inspiration | 2 Comments
Tags: *mdp marketing, Batonage, Hennie Coetzee, Johan de Goede, Maggie Mostert, Mariska du Preez, marketing, Marketing Engineer, Passion, Van du Preez, Van Wealth Portfolio Management, Work
