"Nokia Money"- Safaricom Mpesa Here Comes The Big Boys !

Nokia has launched a mobile phone payment/money transfer service in India that closely resembles the Safaricom M-Pesa service model that was first rolled out in Kenya by the Vodafone affiliate in 2007.

The M- Pesa concept(see wikipedia stub) made it possible for people to transact business without the need to visit a Bank premise or to make actual physical payment of money.In essence M-Pesa is branch less banking service.The Nokia Money scheme is a replication of the M-Pesa money transfer model and seems to be offering no added value.The service will be first rolled out in India and thereafter on a Country by Country basis.

Nokia money will allow subscribers to transfer money, pay  merchants for goods and services,pay utility bills ,carry out online transactions and even top up their phone credit.Without doubt Nokia has the financial muscle and it is quite telling why the service was rolled out in India first as opposed to Africa where mobile money transfer schemes are readily catching up like wild fire. Indeed Safaricom the big boys are coming your way so it is time that the service was made more affordable both for the sender and recipient of the money transfer and of course more innovative. 

The Nokia group hopes that the new service will help extend its profitability beyond device sales. Indeed, the company is targeting  to have 300 million active users of its services by the end of 2011.Nokia money is aimed to work on any device, not just Nokia phones and will feature joint partnerships or collaboration with local banks.Of course here at A Nairobians Perspective we are eager to see how all this rolls out and of course experience the benefits of competition in the service industry.

African Fashion and Photography Blog

I have stumbled upon an Afrocentric fashion and photography blog that is truly iconic that i wish to share with my readership.For quite some time now ,i have been highlighting the absence of good Kenyan fashion blogs but it seems i have been looking in the wrong direction.There's a personal blog written by an alias "Warm Spirit" at makosewe.blogspot that features quality delightful African fashion ,African model shoots etc.

I hope more such quality blogs sprout up so that we can have more Kenyan presence out there in the online fashion world .For today the makosewe blog scores an A+ for Kenyan fashion and photography at this blog!

Here is a screen shot :

And wonderful photos from the site:

Jo'bulani-World Cup Final Ball Unveiled By Adidas !

It is golden, it is glittering -it is Jo'bulani the golden themed ball named after Johannesburg-the golden city ! Jo'bulani is the golden ball custom made by Adidas and will be used in the final game between victors in the 2010 World cup ceremony to be held in South Africa this coming summer.The FOOTBALL was unveiled on Tuesday  21 April, 2010.This is the second time the German ball maker Adidas are privileged to make the final ball.The Jo bulani has some unique features as indicated in this earlier press release  by Adidas.The world cup never ceases to amaze. So much is paid to each detail and people follow it with almost a religious fervor.

Which team will be in the final two ? Lets wait and see?

In the meantime you can buy a replica of the final ball from Amazon from the links provided:

Nexx Webhosting Special Promo

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Nexx Online. All opinions are 100% mine.

Finding a good webhost need not be a nerve wrecking experience.In fact the search for a good Unlimited Web Hosting starts and stops at Nexx online.Let me qualify this statement:

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That is a web hosting deal that any serious online entrepreneur should seriously consider and at an affordable cost.The control panel is user friendly and supports various open source applications such as Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal and Zen Cart.Zenn online can make your online experience as website owner convenient and comfortable.

All that is required is for you to sign up and take advantage of this special promotion package.Yes you can, it is very possible to get quality webhosting with a 24/7 customer support for as little as 10$ for the first year.If you are signing up; the special promotional code that grants you access to the deal is SPARK10.Hurry and take advantage of the offer, i know i will !

KNaan Bags Artist of Year in Juno Awards

The renowned astounding Somalian Born Musician/rapper Keinan Abdi Warsame(stage name K-Naan)now resident in Canada yesterday bagged the artist of the year and songwriter of the year award in the Juno Awards held in St Johns ,Newfoundland and Labrador Canada. Knaan's song "Wavin The Flag" won him the accolades for song writer of the year .The Juno awards are the Cnadian equivalent of the Grammy Awards given to musicians and artistes in recognition of their outstanding achievements and performances in the music industry.

Knaan's song "Wavin the Flag" has been chosen as the 'Coca Cola Anthem 'for the' 2010 Fifa World Cup' to be held in .For certain, this young  musician's resilience has come to be appreciated worldwide as a symbol of success and determination in the most adverse of circumstances seeing that his Country of Naturalization has been embroiled for decades in strife and war.Knaan inspires many upcoming young African Artistes that they can make it big despite adversity ,inherent disadvantages or economic turmoil.

His song wavin the flag can be purchased from the Amazon link below:enjoy!



If you are like me i am sure you love this Spanish beats in Knaan's Song ,enjoy the YouTube video

African Art,Jewellery & Clothing

Without doubt the African continent is rich in art,Jewelery, Fashion,bead work,figurines, Masks, medieval currency,notes,coins,artifacts, ornamental wears ...etc.The list is quite inexhaustible yet few of this items are finding exposure online.Speaking of Kenya its only recently that i critiqued our fashion industry for a lacklustre presence online(see the post).Today i decided to do a Google search on African Art, Jewelery and Clothing.However the results from the various websites were not pleasing, consequently i am off on a venture to create an African Fashion website where one can shop confidently online.So far most of the sites  are selling African items listed on Amazon, there are no shopping carts nor options to purchase via credit cards.

I found one site to be pretty impressive and authoritative.The site is Africa and More.Com .The site has a wonderful array of indigenous African Masks, Statues,Weapons, Iron and Bronze works,textiles, Jewelery and bead work. I  highly recommend it.

There is a lot of potential for African Art and artists online.Website owners should invest in robust web templates and shopping platforms. In this post i highlight some African Artifacts that can  be bought online, including Kente Shirts, African Drums ,Oil Paintings...etc all this from Afriboutik webstore....

African Bracelet: BVB   


African Dress Shirt (GH)



African Oil painting: African Sait (40 x 20)






African Kente Hat


African Lady Kente Suit


African Dashiki (DS4)


African Man Shirt (TRD)



African Man Traditional Suit (1)



African Mask: Bongo Guy



African Mask: Donkor Ahofefe



African Mask: Sika Baa


African Necklace: Designer (1)


African Necklace: Designer (10)



African Mother Drum


African Men Shirt (GHN)

Julius Malema:Disgraces Blacks in South Africa

Without doubt ,the recent racists slurs and remarks by the ANC ' Youth Caucus Leader cum Politician Julius Sello Malema to BBC journalist Jonah Fisher are a shame to a Country that so badly needs healing and reconciliation especially after many decades of racial segregation.

The fiery tongued Julius Malema at a media briefing held at the ANC Headquarters last Thursday  8 April, 2010 hurled unrestrained vitriol at the BBC Journalist especially after advocating for Zimbabwean style seizure of white owned farmlands.His speech has raised concerns even about the World Cup and seems to lend credence to many's fears that if left to manage the economy some of this black leaders would end up destroying it as has been the case in many African Countries.The video footage from YouTube on  Joseph Malema's insults from South African e- Channel  are quite telling....


It would be in order if many of the  native African leaders in South Africa could evidence that they are above revenge or retaliatory actions, however Malema just does not seem to get it.He seems not to have learnt any lesson from Nelson Mandela that such actions are only self defeatist both in the short and long run.

Mr Julius Malema's remarks are reminiscent of an adolescent school boy's response evincing lack of manners ,civility and self control.His fiery temper worked against him but it is not surprising that Malema used such speech, after all he keeps company with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.What should you expect?