The Kenyan Government back in 2008 introduced a 40% local content rule for Kenyan Television Stations and the result has been a rapid growth of local programming that has seen fairly rejuvinated local production companies emerge.
What has surprised many is that the Stations which had previously protested the move are now tripping over each other to secure lucrative deals with Kenyan Production Companies.
Much thanks has to go to Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo who has been at the forefront of ensuring that these policies are implemented.
Now if he can re-enforce a similar rule for Kenyan Telco’s he will be able to witness a similar but more rapid revolution in the development of Kenyan oriented solutions made in part(40%) by Kenyans.
This is even more critical considering Telco’s are a huge chunk of Kenya’s economy generating almost 1 Billion Dollars in revenues and expenditure each year.
Why should this money go outside the country. If 40% – $400 million remained in the Kenyan economy the planned Malili Technopolis would undoubtedly materialize over the next 15 years.
But instead we have big monopolies that have virtually conned almost every Techprenuer i know. This has had the most unfortunate effect of driving this techies underground.
Many argue that Kenyan techies are not good enough to be awarded contracts. Even if this were true the only way to develop the necessary skill sets is through exposure.
Thankfully government is also providing alternative investments in this sphere (See ICT.GO.KE) but to ensure that the big boys of the private sector are reined in more needs to be done.
2009 has been a great year for Kenya’s technology scene, first with the worldwide buzz about the world first fully deployed mobile payment system Mpesa[Read: Article 1 | Article 2] to the success of homegrown crowd sourcing software Ushahidi which in recent days has been received a grant to further develop its Open Source software.
Focus should now shift to structuring the industry along similar lines to that of Silicon Valley and other technological hubs around the World. Kenya has thousands of semi and fully trained software developers and analysts who would be better served by a community oriented approach to managing the IT industry.
This has thankfully began through ICT based social movements such as Skunkworks, Ushahidi, TEDxNairobi and other initiatives which have become more prevalent in 2009. One hopes that these movements will push the Government to fast track the structural framework and finance needed to kick start true innovation in this country.
Business Licensing, Patenting and other key industry protections need to be enforced by an efficient Judicial system to attract idea generating individuals from neighboring countries to our HUB.
The next step is to solidify this gains by building technology parks such as the planned Athi River Park that should get a budgetary allocation in 2010.
The arrival has of fiber optics in Kenya has been hailed as a great first step (VOA Interview about cable MP3) towards reaching our technological goals. But how much of this capacity will be used for production rather than consumption remains to be seen. This calls for shifting education goals towards making young students techies rather than mind controlled zombies on the internet(@pambazuka).
Below are some(not all) of the impressive projects we have seen in 2009 in Kenya.
GotIssuez.Com a web startup currently operating out of Nairobi, Kenya was founded by a group of Strathmore University graduates namely Anthony Mwangi, Sarah Njeri, Esbon Wahome and Mark Kaigwa and Kevin Rombe. It is a social platform that lets users from all over Eastern Africa speak their mind on Products, Brands and Service Delivery. It helps companies solve issues swiftly and effectively, getting in touch with the people that matter and get them involved and resolving relevant issues with their companies.
The website reward our members by offering them plenty of gifts they can bid for with the points they get from Ranting and Rating Issues.
It has a Gift Gallery is where you can get your company and your products noticed, as the community bids to win them.
Nation Media Group, East Africa’s largest Media group has launched Nsoko.com a classifieds websites that will allow users to post classified Advertisements selling motor, home rentals and business services. This move will ensure that the group continues to have leverage on Kenya’s growing internet market. The service joins other Kenyan classified services like Whive.com Classified and jobs site BPOKenya.com which have the current market share.
The service is like to be somewhat popular because of the relatively powerful campaign resources the group has. The group is listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and has a large capital base.
It will be interesting to see how the privately owned with this initiative because of the entry of the new big competitor.
I rarely excited about start ups in Kenya because like many of mine they dont seem to get enough support from industry players and government. However just when you think innovation is dead someone somewhere unleashes a stunning and brilliant idea. This someone is Kenneth Ngetha 22, a 4th year student at the prestigious Strathmore University(i went there too!!!) in Nairobi, who has come up with an online gateway for making payment transfers to Kenya.
The system suitably named TULIPE solves the basic problem which is that in East Africa, (and Africa in general); E-Commerce Payments on the web are not well developed because of a low penetration of banking services (which means credit cards are not sufficient). However, there have been developments in the Mobile Money sphere and it serves the long tail of the unbanked. Tulipe aims to use this Mobile Money & Existing Bank accounts for online payments, as is the case with credit cards.
This brilliant idea is modelled on the US based PAYPAL.com which currently transacts billions of dollars every year in this way. Tulipe still on beta release has caught the eye of Kenyan investors who see in Tulipe a business model and solution that will help reduce the cost of transfering money to and from Kenya. This cost mostly brought about by thefts, delays and official corruption have been a major obstacle to doing business in Kenya.
Postkenya.com is a Web 2.0 style Email Platform that allows members to register and sign up for new email accounts.
Email accounts are structured in the yourname@postkenya.com format
The Platform allocates each user with space according to their usage. The current limit is 100 MB for Database Space per User.
Our Usage currently stands at 2,800,000 Bytes and growing.
A guide to PostKenya.com advertising.
PostKenya.com also offers numerous advertising opportunities, namely:
Your Brand Idea.
The idea is to create a brand, i.e. Your Brand. This will therefore be reflected in all your campaign materials with similar brand characteristics. These characteristics include, but not limited to:
· Banners-the banners shall be put on advertising space on PostKenya.com. In the banner shall be your picture and your vision in very bright and recognizable colours and your website too.
· Text Ads-these text Ads appear on different sections of our PostKenya.com mailing service.
Sizes available for Banner Ads
1. 468 by 60 pixels
2. 360 by 280 pixels
3. 798 by 90 pixels
4. 120 by 600 pixels
5. 160 by 600 pixels
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