We would like to take this time and    wish our CEO and Founder, Emma Kaye, a safe arrival in Lagos, Nigeria. She is scheduled to speak at a ‘Mobile Web West Africa 2012 Conference’ taking place on the 24-26 April 2012. The conference is aimed at “…the entire range of individuals involved in the West African Mobile Sector.”

The first two days of the conference is aimed at bringing awareness relating to the different functionalities of mobile such as using it as a tool for empowerment, social change, entertainment, mobile marketing and the growth thereof. The third day however, has been sponsored by Blackberry where it will be around the development of applications for mobile phones. Various speakers have been scheduled to speak, offering a comprehensive dissection of key mobile web and application topics – we are proud to have Emma represent Bozza on the speaker line-up.

To view the full structure of the conference, go to the following link

Visual Reference: Mobile Web West Africa

Telecommunication market is booming in Nigeria and it’s about to take over the rest of Africa. While speaking in Lagos, at a re-launch of the Zoom Mobile brand, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Edwin Momife, stated that “in the telecommunications business, the voice business had become saturated, affecting revenue of operators and making data services next growth opportunity for telecoms.”

He also forecasted that by 2016, ‘there will be 80 million Internet connections in Nigeria and his company will play the lead in the Internet revolution’.

One of the statements I liked from an article published on the 15 March 2012 by Azubuike Ikedionu http://silvaniblog.com/zoom-mobile-re-enters-telecoms-market is about his take on short-term failure. The fact that Momife acknowledges what the mistakes were and how they affected his company, is refreshing. He has since then managed to turn those obstacles into opportunities and together with his team promises to deliver “quality data service provision and lots more” in Nigeria.

Zoom mobile has partnered with relevant wireless providers to bring in affordable smartphones that even the man on the street can afford. This then expands his market for his data services. His aim is that these devices will appeal to a large demographic.

Chief commercial officer of the company, Ms. Tawa Bolarin continues to explain the reasons to focus on data. To read more on what she says, visit the link above.

Visual Reference: Azubuike Ikedioru  (Silvani Blog)

According to Business-Travel-Nigeria.com, Nigeria has a population of 120 million of whom at least 10 million live seemingly haphazardly in the country’s main economic hub, Lagos. The following article, talks about how, since 1960, the economy of Nigeria has been mainly petroleum based. “Oil exports accounts for 65% of government revenues but 70% of Nigeria’s labor force are employed in Agriculture.”

It is clear that the second biggest industry after oil is agriculture followed closely by banking and telecommunications. Nigeria has 25 banking institutions, all of which are well capitalized and offer world-class retail banking services.

Even though some Nigerians live on below $1 a day, they are an enterprising people. The informal economy offers a unique opportunity for banking and telecommunications companies alike, and it will be interesting to see how new market strategies are deployed to capitalize on this.

Visual reference: developing8.org

Even though it is rated as a country that tops South Africa when it comes to mobile usage – over 90 million subscribers – only 60% of these are active mobile users. The global economic crisis had a serious impact in this regard, however these numbers reaccelerated in 2010 followed by another drop off in 2011.

The introduction and simplification of vital mobile services therefore becomes crucial for Nigerian mobile operators as this could help them tap into the country’s rural areas where it is still expensive to use a mobile phone.

The following link http://www.budde.com.au/Research/Nigeria-Mobile-Market-Overview-Statistics-and-Forecasts.html gives a market overview, key statistics, profiles and major players, etc. It also gives a clear forecast on Nigerian mobile market for 2013 and 2016.

Visual reference: Google Maps 

* Please elaborate on the need to free up spectrum in Nigeria?

What we realized is that we don’t have fiber on the ground; and that we don’t even have as much copper as we need. So we asked ourselves what infrastructure will allow for communication – and the only solution that we can have is wireless- and the most important resource to allow that communication is spectrum.

We have a growing requirement for data with a lot of content coming out of Nigeria. Going into the future, we will need a way of transmitting this content to the population and indeed other parts of the world. Now, if you don’t have fiber or copper underground, you have to have an alternative. If you go and ask for spectrum now, you won’t get it and we don’t have it. Every spectrum that is being identified by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) becomes harmonised around the world, making it lucrative – because infrastructure will be developed for it.  So what we went to the ITU for, is to prepare for the future. Its not just about content, but the ability to actually use your mobile as a partner- to purchase products at a shop instead of using a debit or credit card.

To prepare for the future, we have to create infrastructure that will make that kind of thing available and one of them is spectrum. There are technologies around, for example improving spectral efficiency is one way to improve data speed – but there is only so much you can do because you can have LTE but that is still not enough. The second alternative is to go back to erecting more towers, but that is more costly and there is an environmental impact- so clearly that is not the best option for us. The third alternative is co-location of towers, but you can only use that to a degree because not every tower can be co-located. So by far, the most important and effective way to improve the potential of being able to accommodate the higher data demand, is to free up some spectrum.

* It has been reported that Nigeria creates the second largest amount of content in the world? Where does this content come from?

We have many movies that we have created in Nigeria; I think that is where this is coming from. We have more movie content, and future content will also be movies, videos and so on. I can agree that we are maybe the second or third largest content creator, because of the number of movies that are coming out of Nigeria.

Which content should we be focusing on?

Other content like software and development, we are not at the level at which I want to see. I want to see us better in terms of producing software, in terms of the evolution of hardware – we are not there yet. But in terms of the content that people can buy on the internet, yes Nigerians are very good at it – probably the number one player in Africa.  To prepare for all of this is difficult, because if you want to download a movie in Nigeria today, you will be very frustrated because there internet speed is poor. So that is where we are, and you have to look ahead and have the vision to prepare for the future- and that is why we went to ask for the extra bandwidth spectrum.

* What is the future of mobile devices and usage in Nigeria?

The future of the mobile industry, I think, as more people get connected and our lives become more digital, we will have more efficient services. We will continue to rely on mobile as part-and-parcel of our lives, and we’ll one day see cars talking to each other using spectrum. In time, RFID technology will be part of our lives in such a way that you will know the location of many different things. These things are coming; it is just a matter of time. There is a very bright future ahead, and our lives will be managed more efficiently. We are thinking ahead – as regulators in Nigeria we are really among the people who think ahead, so that we give our people the best chance at making efficient use of their time and resources.

To read more on his visions for Nigeria regarding mobile technology, content and accessibility, you can go to http://gbiportal.net/2012/03/28/qa-nigerian-communications-commissions-dr-bashir-gwandu/

Visual reference: Charlie Fripp

It’s almost the end of my birthday month and it’s a big week at Bozza. As of today we are moving into Kenya. It’s going to be big, brilliant and beautiful. After doing extensive research on some of the media businesses in Kenya, I read an interesting article that clearly spoke to Bozza’s aims and objectives.

In the article titled “Someone is watching Kenya’s media” on the 16/01/2012, Carole Kimutai wrote about how a particular media company, Jackal News, is the source of news and gossip on the happenings in the Kenyan media space. She met up with the owner, Bongoko Bosire, who spoke about media in Kenya and how China is investing in media. He went on to speak about the importance of information distribution using technology. “Technology has made this possible and we must hand this power back to the people.”

To read more, please visit: http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/410/15/69343.html

Newly elected MEF EMEA Board represents mobile ecosystem diversity and growth markets

London, 6th March 2012 – MEF, the global community for mobile content and commerce, has announced the results of its 2012 EMEA board elections with Colin Yeh, Head of Group Product Development QTel Group (Qatar) elected as EMEA Chairman. Ben Carter, Head of Mobile Services Atos (UK) and Emma Kaye, Director, Mira Networks (South Africa) were also voted in by the membership as co-Vice Chairs.

Yeh will lead the MEF EMEA Board which reflects MEF’s strength in key growth markets as well as its representation of the total mobile ecosystem. The team includes newly elected companies Aspiro, Barwa Bank, RIM, Mira Networks, Nokia and Telefonica as well as incumbent board directors from Buongiorno, Inmobi, MTN Group and Vodafone Group. The election took place on the 10th anniversary celebration of MEF Connects 2012, attended by 600 industry leaders, during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

On his election as MEF EMEA Chair, Colin Yeh of QTel Group, commented; “I’m honoured to undertake this leadership role and work with such a talented team on the EMEA board which includes our first financial institution – Barwa Bank, OEMs, content creators, operators and enterprise representatives. QTel Group’s engagement in MEF demonstrates our commitment to driving innovation, knowledge exchange and monetisation opportunities across the region. I look forward to working with the Board to support members’ strategic objectives and business development needs, particularly in growth markets.”

Rimma Perelmuter, MEF Global Executive Director said; “The EMEA region and its growth markets are a strong focus for MEF and I am very excited to work with the new Board to drive forward MEF activities across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and help shape, connect and monetise the mobile content and commerce industry.”

Andrew Bud, MEF Global Chair added: “I am delighted to welcome the newly elected EMEA board. The sectoral diversity and geographic breadth of this strong leadership will help MEF and its members to master the complexity of the mobile landscape during a time of change and uncertainty.”

The full MEF EMEA Board:

Chairman:     Colin Yeh Head of Group Product Development Qtel Group

Vice Chairs:  Ben Carter, Head of Mobile Services, Atos
Emma Kaye, Director, Mira Networks

Board Directors:

• Diane Alphonse, Head of Marketing, Communications & PR, Barwa Bank
• Christian de Faria, Senior VP, Commercial & Innovation, MTN Group
• Jaime Grau Ullastres, Director Financial Services Global Unit, Telefonica
• Volker Hirsch, Head of Business Development, Games, RIM
• Rob Jonas, VP & MD Europe & Middle East, InMobi
• Hemant Madan, Head of Developer Marketing, Vodafone
• Lucia Predolin, Global Head of Marketing, Buongiorno
• Maximilian Schierstädt, Director Global Partner Management, Nokia
• Gunnar Sellaeg, CEO, Aspiro

For further information or interviews with MEF, please contact:
Steve Green/Tim Banks
infomob PR
steve@infomob.co.uk
+44 (0) 1273 697170
www.infomob.co.uk

Article  and visual reference: www.mefmobile.org

The team have now qualified for the 4th time in a row, an exceptional achievement for an amateur sport. The reason they are Bozza?, because even the guy painting the Bozza office knows about them as I discovered from our awesome chat about this morning. These ladies have crossed communities and social boundaries and managed to bring people together in one voice to support them. Their achievements have been celebrated in the Sowetan, Cape Times, on SABC, M-Net, basically across the spectrum.

Everyone is going to be cheering those girls on at the Olympics. That’s bozza!

Visual reference: zeenews.india.com

Just when you thought that you saw advertising just about everywhere, think again. London has now introduced LED bins, yes that’s correct. These bins will display a host of “advertisements as well as information such as breaking news, transport timetables, emergency alerts and even stock quotes”.
As far as I am concerned it is to much of a distraction, especially if you driving, and we all know South African’s can be easily distracted. Set one of those up and you’ll have a backlog of traffic for days! I’m pretty sure our beautiful country won’t be getting any of these anyway soon, considering the cost is $1.5 million for 50 of these digital bins.

See the original article for more http://www.simplyzesty.com/technology/the-newest-form-of-advertising-recycling-bins-with-led-screens/

Visual reference:  www.simplyzesty.com

So as many of you all know, Facebook is the biggest social network on the market. More than 800 million registered users with tens of millions of active daily users (all I see is $$$$$). People use Facebook for all sorts of reasons yet they tend to forget that this social network saves everything, and I mean everything! http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/facebook-does-not-erase-user-deleted-content/4808
Every single message, comment, photo tag and even a like is saved. Pretty scary stuff if one considers how oblivious people are to the fact that they are sharing personal and secret information.

Applying for a new job? Well employers now use Facebook as a medium to determine your lifestyle outside the office, sad but TRUE! So be careful of the those photo tags of you throwing up outside your friend’s car! http://www.simplyzesty.com/social-media/the-interview-is-dead-facebook-used-to-predict-job-performance/

Visual reference: www.ZDnet.com