31 March, 2011

Nokia's Mobile Internet Strategy Outlook for Africa


Nokia predicts internet to be the next growth frontier for economies as mobile connectivity takes off in Africa   Nairobi, Kenya, March 30 2011:
Nokia, the global mobile phone maker and solutions provider, sees mobile internet and applications as next growth frontier for Sub-Saharan Africa that will help transform the continent’s socio-economic growth.
 New figures indicate that Africa is recovering strongly from the global recession with economic growth, a factor that may help drive penetration of mobile connectivity to 69 percent by 2014, compared to 49 percent in 2009, Ms. Woon Peng, Nokia Head of Services in Middle East and Africa, told delegates at the Innovation Africa Digital Summit in Mombasa recently
Ms. Peng said: “Mobile devices provide the world’s largest service delivery platform and given the host of new opportunities it brings mobile connectivity take-off is a convenient vehicle that will deliver us to the next economic growth level. The next phase of mobile revolution is all about locally relevant content and services delivered through handheld devices in areas such as banking, insurance, health and governance. We believe local entrepreneurs have the necessary contextual sensitivity and understanding to create appealing and economically sustainable services.” 
She noted that new disruptive technologies present real opportunities for low and middle income consumers in a continent where internet usage is estimated to be lower than 5 percent. She, however, pointed out that availability of affordable mobile phones and cheaper mobile broadband is helping steer significant economic growth in the region.  
Ms Peng pointed out that low formal employment in Africa has encouraged wide spread entrepreneurial activity and innovation. She added that micro-entrepreneurship in Africa is a massive phenomenon, covering about 90 percent of the employment base and 65 percent of the continental Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Nokia is already supporting establishment of local infrastructure relevant to entrepreneurs and mobile phone user through initiatives like mLab in Kenya and local universities, incubators and developer communities. These efforts, said Ms Peng, are helping improving mobile business skills as well as providing technical assistance to future entrepreneurs. 
“In a region where micro-entrepreneurship is a massive phenomenon, covering 90 percent of the employment base and 65 percent of the continental GDP, increased use of the mobile phone and services is fast becoming critical for development of African economies.Research indicates that in a typical sub-Saharan African country, a 10 percent increase in mobile penetration results to a corresponding 0.8 percent GDP growth.,” said Ms Peng.
According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) estimates by end of 2010 Africa’s mobile penetration grew by 41 percent, the highest in the world- and economic growth expanded at an average 27 percent in the last five years.

She revealed that Nokia’s next big growth opportunity is to go beyond bringing affordable voice and SMS to delivering affordable web and applications to the next billion consumers adding that “socio-economic empowerment starts from the grassroots of the society.”
“Rural populations live their lives largely outside of the reach of high quality services. Through solutions like Nokia Data Gathering, we are already supporting field workers to collect, send and receive information quickly and securely via a mobile phone helping circumvent infrastructural challenges and speed up data collections needs in sectors such as health, agriculture, environmental conservation, population census and emergency services,” concluded Ms. Peng.

22 March, 2011

Earth Hour 2011- Kenya :KICC Event !


National Environment Trust Fund (NETFUND) has  partnered with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), in marking what is anticipated to be the worlds largest ever display of voluntary action Earth Hour 2011. The event to be held at 8.30pm on 26th March 2011 at KICC grounds, will see Kenyans join hundreds of millions of people in cities, towns and municipalities across every continent, turning off lights for one designated hour to celebrate the positive actions they are taking for the planet.

 In Kenya, the event will be marked through a concert at KICC grounds which will be headlined by top Kenyan artists including: Juliani, Achieng Abura, Daddy Owen and Emmy Kosgei. DNG and Daniel Ndambuki (Churchill) will be the event MCs. 

Earth Hour is a channel through which individuals, communities, businesses and governments from all corners of the globe can show their commitment to ongoing change in behavior that will reduce their environmental impact on the planet.

 KICC will join landmarks as diverse as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Gateway of India in Mumbai, Berlin’s Brandenberg Gate, Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, the Obelisk in Argentina, and UNESCO World Heritage sites Denmark’s Kronborg Castle and the Alhambra in Spain, and Pakistan’s National Mausoleum, all standing in darkness for one hour, representative of the world’s largest voluntary action for the planet.

 The event comes after two successful editions in 2009 and 2010.  Nairobi city was among 65 national capitals and 9 of the 10 most populated metropolises on the planet to mark 2009 Earth Hour. People gathered in parks streets, town squares and homes around Kenya to witness the lights going out on iconic landmarks, UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, homes and social places. In the year 2010, hundreds of Kenyans joined the people in 125 other countries and regions around the world for Earth Hour.
 www.earthhour.org 

17 March, 2011

REGULATORS LYRICS ;Tribute to Nate Dogg !

LYRICS TO THE SONG : REGULATE (Warren G & Nate Dogg -1994)
NATE DOGG ( BORN: 19/08/1969 DIED: 15/03/2011)
 If there is a song by Nate Dogg and Warren G that i really liked;this one tops the list(i know some of you feel me!!!) , so in memory of Nate Dogg who recently died of Stroke on Tuesday 22 March 2011 i reprint the lyrics .

Regulators Mount Up !



Warren G:
Regulators
We regulate any stealing of his property
And we're damn good too
But you can't be any geek off the street,
Gotta be handy with the steel if you know what I mean, earn your keep!
REGULATORS!!! MOUNT UP!

Warren G:
It was a clear black night, a clear white moon
Warren G was on the streets, trying to consume
Some skirts for the eve, so I can get some funk
Just rollin in my ride, chillin all alone

Nate Dogg:
Just hit the Eastside of the LBC
On a mission trying to find Mr. Warren G.
Seen a car full of girls ain't no need to tweak
All you skirts know what's up with 213

Warren G:
So I hooks a left on the 21 and Lewis
Some brothas shootin dice so I said "Let's do this"
I jumped out the ride, and said "What's up?"
Some brothas pulled some gats so I said "I'm stuck."

Nate Dogg:
Since these girls peepin me I'ma glide and swerve
These hookers lookin so hard they straight hit the curb
Won'tcha think of better things than some h**** tricks
I see my homey had some suckas all in his mix

Warren G:
I'm gettin jacked, I'm breakin myself
I can't believe they taking Warren's wealth
They took my rings, they took my rolex
I looked at the brotha said "Damn, what's next?"

Nate Dogg:
They got my homey hemmed up and they all around
Ain't none of them seeing if they going straight pound for pound
They wanna come up real quick before they start to clown
I best pull out my strap and lay them busters down

Warren G:
They got guns to my head
I think I'm going down
I can't believe this happenin in my own town
If I had wings I would fly
Let me contemplate
I glanced in the cut and I see my homey Nate

Nate Dogg :
Sixteen in the clip and one in the hole
Nate Dogg is about to make some bodies turn cold
Now they droppin and yellin
It's a tad bit late
Nate Dogg and Warren G had to regulate

I laid all them busters down
I let my gat explode
Now I'm switching my mind back into freak mode
If you want skirts sit back and observe
I just left a gang of those over there on the curb

Warren G:
Now Nate got the freaks
And that's a known fact
Before I got jacked I was on the same track
Back up back up cause it's on
N A T E and me
The Warren to the G

Nate Dogg:
Just like I thought
They were in the same spot
In need of some desperate help
The Nate Dogg and the G-child
Were in need of something else
One of them dames was sexy as hell
I said "ooo I like your size."
She said "my car's broke down and you seem real nice,
Would ya let me ride?"
I got a car full of girls and it's going real swell
The next stop is the Eastside Motel

Warren G:
I'm tweaking
Into a whole new era
G-Funk
Step to this
I dare ya
Funk
On a whole new level

Nate Dogg:
The rhythm is the bass and the bass is the treble

Warren G:
Chords
Strings
We brings
Melody
G-Funk
Where rhythm is life
And life is rhythm

Nate Dogg:
If you know I´ll got know
You don't wanna step to this
It's the G-Funk era
Funked out with a gangsta twist
If you smoke like I smoke
Then you high like everyday
And if your ass is a buster
213 will regulate


11 March, 2011

MISS NESTEA® KIBERA TO BE CROWNED SATURDAY

Nairobi: March 10th, 2011: The ready-mix iced tea brand under the Nestlé stable, NESTEA® has entered into a partnership with ASHLEYS, the franchise owners of Miss World Kenya chapter to sponsor the 2011 Miss World Kenya. The pageant will be known as NESTEA® Miss World Kenya.
  
Miss Nestea Kibera finalists

At the same time NESTEA® is giving opportunities to underprivileged girls from across the country to participate in the NESTEA® Miss World Kenya beauty pageant. Starting March 12, with the crowning of NESTEA® Miss Kibera 2011, NESTEA® will launch a countrywide head hunt for four young underprivileged ladies who will get direct entry into the finals of NESTEA® Miss World Kenya 2011.
NESTEA® aims to give young women from a less privileged background who meets the criteria of the pageant to participate in the process. This is a life changing opportunity for any one girl, regardless of her back ground or her socio-economic status” said Guenter Spiess, Business Executive Manager - Coffee & Beverages, Nestlé Equatorial Africa Region.

The recruitment for Miss NESTEA® will take place during the NESTEA® road shows to be held in Kibera, Kayole, Kwangware, Githurai, Thika, Machakos, Mombasa, Narok, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu and Kisii as indicated in the route map below.

NESTEA ROUTE MAP



1
12th March 2011
Kibera Grounds
2
19th March 2011
Thika
3
26th March 2011
Kayole
4
2nd April 2011
Kawangware
5
9th  April 2011
Githurai
6
16th  April 2011
Machakos
7
23rd April 2011
Mombasa Public Beach
8
30th  April 2011
Mombasa Chinaina
9
7th May, 2011
Narok
10
7th May, 2011
Nakuru
11
7th May, 2011
Eldoret
12
7th May, 2011
Kisumu
13
7th May, 2011
Kisii


From each of the thirteen locations, one girl will be crowned. Four out of the 13 Miss NESTEA® from the 13 locations will then be selected to attend a two day Nestea Workshop & Mentorship in Nairobi conducted by grooming, etiquette and public presentation experts. These four will then join the NESTEA® Miss World Kenya 2011 finals in August and get a chance to be crowned Miss Kenya and later Miss World. 

“We are not looking at how sophisticated the girls are and that is why we are conducting the head hunts from places like Kibera.  They just need to believe in themselves and meet the selection criteria such as the age limits and the minimum height requirement then they can show up at the events.  NESTEA® will show them how to wear makeup, do their hair, dress them up and give them a chance to be Miss World Kenya and change their world,” Mr. Spiess said.

The contestants will be required to be between 17 and 24 years of age, be of good height (at least 5’’7ft) and be of good dental health.  Weights will also be checked. 
“We want to make the participation to Miss NESTEA affordable to everyone,” Mr. Spiess said. “NESTEA® is retailing at prices as low as Ksh5 a sachet and contestants only need 5 sachets of NESTEA in order to enter the Miss NESTEA competition. Our intention is to make NESTEA® a grass root product, enjoyed by everyone, at any time.”
Natasha Metto, Miss World Kenya 2010 and Guenter Spiess, Business Executive Manager Nestlé EAR, crown Linda Kavetsa as the new Miss Nestea Kibera

Alongside the head hunt for Miss NESTEA® , ASHLEYS will be conducting separate auditions in the 8 provinces to select three finalists from each province who will proceed to the next elimination stage where 20 contestants will be selected to join the Miss World Kenya boot camp.

09 March, 2011

Ushahidi Platform Deployed in Cote d'Ivoire Crisis

I feel proud to see the  webmashup Ushahidi Platform deployed in Cote d'Ivoire to crowd-source and map crisis incidences following the 2010 disputed elections and now looming Civil War/Discontent.The Platform has been deployed under the website Wonzomai.com (see screenshot below):

The website is rapidly gaining popularity among the Citizenry of Cote d'Ivoire as Users update via Facebook and Twitter on incidences of violence,events ,humanitarian crises ,unusual occurrences ...etc. The Ushahidi platform was first deployed in Kenya in 2008 following the hotly disputed and contested elections and the violence that followed therafter by a group of Kenyan bloggers and coders.

The original Ushahidi website was used to map incidents of  peace efforts and violence throughout the country based on reports submitted via the web and mobile phones. The website currently has over 45,000 users in Kenya indicating its popularity and the willingness of Citizens to inform the outside World on first hand basis their experiences.The Platform has been deployed in several potentially crisis areas such as Sudan- Darfur region and during the 2011 election, Haiti etc.The success of Ushahidi to me illustrates the positive power of innovation that blogging and citizen journalism can contribute to the development of the emerging information and technology generation.This kind of innovation has the power to rapidly change the economic and social conditions in many of the under developed/Third World Countries.

08 March, 2011

Zimbabwean Vikas Mavhudzi Arrested over Facebook Comment !

The next war on freedom of expression seems will be fought over on the internet.39 Year Old Zimbabwean Vivas Mavhudzi just realised that "Big Ben is watching" after a comment he posted a comment on a Facebook  page allegedly belonging to Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai the following comment:

“I am overwhelmed, I don’t want to say Mr. or PM what happened in Egypt is sending shockwaves to dictators around the world. No weapon but unity of purpose worth emulating, hey.”

According to the NewZimbabwe website Mr Mahvudzi was charged with “subverting a constitutional government”.That well illustrates that Governments especially the repressive ones have become more keen on what their Citizens are doing online.But on the other hand what Mr Mahvudzi stated was a personal opinion and i believe to the best of my understanding does not meet any known legal threshold of subversive conduct or activities.But obviously that is Zimbabwe where fundamental human rights and freedoms long went through the window but that does not mean that it is acceptable to deny anyone the right to express a contrary opinion !

One also wonders who "befriended" the Government of Zimbabwe so as to allow them access to Mahvudzi's comment...i thought facebook was all about communities of friends and like minds.

02 March, 2011

Mombasa Road Accidents : Petitioning Nairobi City Council

Have you ever lost a friend ,relative ,colleague ,workmate on Mombasa Road ?(i know i have) Then the following petition should have a personal appeal to you.Kindly sign up and tweet on the petition Construct 5 pedestrian footbridges on Mombasa Road , .The petition can be found at GoPetition.Com

The petition reads:

Background (Preamble):
The sections of Mombasa Road between Capital Centre and Parkside Towers (Zain), and between General Motors and the Nakumatt Embakasi junction have consumed the lives of many pedestrians over the years. While authorities have put up signs asking motorists to slow down, the carnage continues unabated.

With every death on this road is a family left behind mourning in pain, dreams and aspirations suddenly brought to a brutal end, and a bright, promising future destroyed.
Petition:
We, the undersigned, petition the City Council of Nairobi to construct 5 pedestrian footbridges at the following locations along Mombasa Road: Oil Libya in South C, Parkside Towers, General Motors, the Imara Daima junction and the Nakumatt Embakasi Junction.

Because footbridges with solid concrete slabs on the sides many times provide hide-outs for street families, posing a security challenge for pedestrians and discouraging their use, we petition that these new footbridges have metal grills on the sides so that the goings-on on the footbridges can be visible to all.

For the same reason, we ask that no advertising billboards be erected on the sides of these footbridges to obscure them from the public. Finally, we petition that these footbridges be well-lit at night for ease of use by pedestrians even in darkness.
Kindly sign up and spread the word, blog, tweet ,share. like on Facebook etc so that we can get the critical mass to effect change. Seeing accidents day in and day out and doing nothing about it will not change anything.We must hold the public authorities tasked with our safety accountable and demand they accomplish their mandate after all we do pay taxes .

01 March, 2011

Computers in Schools Event At I-HUB

Computers in schools - wouldn't smartphones be better?
 I have to create a buzz for the above event that will be taking place @Ihub this Friday.
mLearning Wayan Vota, a noted expert on ICT and education  will be discussing the role of mobile phones (and computers) in Kenyan education on Friday March 4th, at the iHub.This will be particularly interesting especially as the whole Country is engulfed in the 2010 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education(KCSE) results released yesterday by the Minister for Education Professor Sam Ongeri.

Mr Vota will explore the possibility of I-pads  and Tablets replace the use of the traditional laptop and Desktops.Considering their size and portability making them available to students in the rural area's may  prove expedient ,less costly save for the actual costs of the items.

Smartphones for schools could be more viable (cost, personable, and battery life) than computers. Yet computers have the form factor, training programs, and applications for education.


See you there at the Ihub on Friday , but do not forget to register(they are throwing in an Ideos phone-now that's a cool incentive dont you think?)
Computers in schools - wouldn't smartphones be better?
Friday, March 04, 9-11AM
@ iHub
Upper Hill Estate, 4th Floor,
Bishop Magua Centre, George Padmore Lane
Nairobi

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