DD
MM
YYYY

CATEGORIES

PAGES

DD
MM
YYYY

spot_img

CATEGORIES

PAGES

Home Blog Page 7916

What is eBay Waiting Before Buying This Kenyan Startup

By
Tekedia Editors
-
0

Maduqa is a very sleek Kenya marketplace where buyers and sellers come together. We like the simplicity, the ergonomics and the level of integration the site provides. It looks decent and a platform for commerce.

 

If this company is well funded, it could be a possible platform for eBay to scale into Kenya. It is perhaps the best  among all the Kenyan companies in this sector.

 

Africa’s e-commerce is still at infancy because the web is just starting. The next phase will be building structures that will enable trust which will ideally help people to make buying decisions online without fear. This is going to become a very difficult challenge. The old history of Internet in Nigeria was that of fraud and 419. How can you change that? Not going to be easy. Most people do not just have that confidence to do business online.

 

But as people begin to see value and savings in cost, the web is going to boom with opportunities. What Maduqa offers is ideally a platform that can help people stay at home and order items and then receive them via posts. This a Kenyan site  – there are many like that in Nigeria.

 

 

Nigerian Developers – Work In Teams and Build Great Products. The Era of Lone Developers Is Gone

By
Tekedia Editors
-
1

Gentlemen, now is the time to pass that ‘I built it alone’ mentality. It will not work and that will hurt the nation to compete. Tekedia challenges all the folks and developers to come together and work in teams. You may think someone will steal your idea – do not worry, he might have tried what you wanted to do a year ago and found it worthless. By not working in teams, Nigeria will not make great products and we will not compete with other parts of Africa effectively. So working in teams is what we need to do.

 

When you work in teams, you come up with better ideas and challenge one another. Even funding comes easier when folks work in teams. Let us keep that tradition and remember that it is better for 10 people to share a glory than one person to share none.

 

Let all these duplication of services in Lagos stop. Let guys come together and find ways to partner. Also, as much as possible, try to incorporate your business. It makes all the differences when those funding partners come.

 

 

 

 

 

Many Business Directories in Africa – How Many Are Working And Why Consolidation Could Be The Roadmap

By
Tekedia Editors
-
2

Across the continent, there are many business directories. Online Nigeria is a big one. VConnect is there. In Kenya, they have got Mocality. There is no shortage of  business directories.

 

Yet, when you visit these sites, you will not get much. It is not just working because the database is not rich. Funding is the key factor and these firms cannot deploy researchers or marketers to go and actually bring businesses online. It is a problem since most of the business owners are not ‘online generation’ and most do not understand the benefits.

 

What can be done here? Maybe they should just consolidate and bring their resources together. That is the best way to do this. Umuntu Media is building one across the continent, likewise Dealfish and many organizations are competing in this space. Competition is fine, yet, there could be a time to merge especially when funding is scarce.

 

 

 

iHub – Go And Build One In Nigeria. Lessons From Kenya

By
Tekedia Editors
-
2

 

This is iHub Kenya. It is simply a wonderful vision and we challenge Nigeria to build one. Nigeria needs one with order and funding. Kenya is reaping enormous foreign direct investment in  the web and mobile ecosystem because of what this institution is powering.

 

 

Overview

*iHub_ – Nairobi’s Innovation Hub for the technology community is an open space for the technologists, investors, tech companies and hackers in the area. This space is a tech community facility with a focus on young entrepreneurs, web and mobile phone programmers, designers and researchers. It is part open community workspace (co-working), part vector for investors and VCs and part incubator.

Here’s a rough video of the iHub. A first-look at the space, before any design or wiring was done:

 

 

Background and Info

iHub_ is an open innovation space with a 20MB internet connection from Zuku, hardwired and Wi-Fi, and it’s freely available to any tech person in Nairobi to use once they become a green member .

It is a paradigm shift towards the areas where technology approaches a barrier, and new technologies emerge to cross it. This is achieved through the idea of Open Innovation which is the process of combining internal and external ideas as well as internal and external paths to market to advance the development of new technologies.

Using syllogism, the *iHub_ can be described as follow:

  • “Mental Frame 1?: *iHub_ is an open space for the tech community in Kenya.
  • “Mental Frame 2?: The tech community in Kenya have great ideas.
  • “Mental Frame 3?: Great ideas lead to development of new technologies

Hence: *iHub_ is an open space for the tech community in Kenya with great ideas that will lead to development of new technologies in Kenya.

 

The concept of the *iHub_ is a first of kind in Kenya and there are great expectations that it will spur a revolution in the technology products and services space with its core focus to give the tech community a community facility where they can bring their ideas to life.

 

*iHub_ will be a gallery of technologies that will emerge to revolutionize the Kenyan Business scene.

 

Data connectivity is the most important aspect of the iHub, but after that comes a fresh design and an atmosphere that is conducive to techies getting cool stuff done.

 

Finally, we’re putting our networks into place to give special access to the entrepreneurs and startups who need space to meet with VCs, seed funders and local businesses. We’re trying to create the place where seeds are planted and are easily found by the people with money to help them grow.

 

A Blank Canvas

The iHub is what we as a tech community make it. It is a blank canvas, a big open room with a great view and wonderful location, but still an empty room that needs some input from people within the community to design, and create a culture around.

 

What part are you going to play?

  • Good at creating intranets for fast and easy file sharing of 1gb+ downloads like the Android SDK? Want to help us build that?
  • Maybe you’ve got great business connections. Will you help us connect the iHub and the people in it to the business community?

iHub Location

The iHub’s location is going to be on the 4th floor of the Bishop Magua Centre on Ngong Road (directly opposite the Uchumi Hyper). It’s an amazing location, with quick access to public transportation, food and the City Centre.
View iHub – Nairobi’s Innovation Hub in a larger map

 

Community Involvement

From the beginning, we’ve been working closely with a couple of people from the community to find a place and get some basic items squared away. This advisory group is made up of individuals with a long standing presence in tech locally, including:

  • Riyaz Bachani, CTO of Wananchi
  • Josiah Mugambi, Co-Founder of Skunkworks
  • Rebecca Wanjiku, Tech reporter and entrepreneur
  • Conrad Akunga, Blogger and Software Manager
  • Erik Hersman, Tech blogger, Founder of iHub, Founder of AfriGadget and co-Founder of Ushahidi

 

The space was made possible by funding to Ushahidi by the Omidyar Network and Hivos. Ushahidi covers the lease, electricity and data connections.

Mobile Money Agent Business In Nigeria – How Will It Play Out? What You Need To Know

By
Tekedia Editors
-
1

This is an interesting piece from kachwanya on this topic that will soon dominate the narratives in Nigeria. The perspective was on Kenya but this will play into Nigeria also as we are just starting this game.

They are the real force behind the growth of mobile money across Kenya.  Probably you are like me and you are wondering what really make them tick. Yes, I am talking about the mobile money agent business and I was happy when I came across the presentation by  Piet Biemans during AItec Conference Banking and Mobile Money COMESA.

Here  are the  nine drivers to the agent Business Case based on research in Brazil, Kenya and India according to CGAP:

•  Role-related

1. Up-front capital ‘acting as an agent can be a very capital-intensive business. CGAP’s research found M-PESA agents needed to acquire an average of US$ 1600 in capital in order to start operating as an agent.’

2. Liquidity management ‘liquidity management has two components: (1) accumulating adequate e-float and cash, and (2) the act of rebalancing the two’

3. Rigid staff and space expenses ‘a rigid cost “floor” that leaves the agent with much less flexibility on how many transactions are needed for the agent business to be attractive’

•  Exogenous

4. Security risk ‘robbery risk has two implications for agent costs. The amount of upfront capital an agent requires to begin operating can be increased by the cost of security improvements. But much more substantial is the expense from actually being robbed’

5. System reliability ‘losing a few days of business may be enough to make the month unprofitable’

6. Effect on other line of business ‘the bulk of agents will have a pre-existing business that continues to be important ‘

Time-specific

7. Adequate revenue at start-up ‘sufficient capital to fund losses until the cash flow turns positive’

8. Major costs with growth ’as the level of customer activity grows, agents will incur additional expenses like extra staff member and improved premises’ 

9. Fragmented demand across too many agents ‘the ratio of customers to agents is a key driver of agent network revenue, but the ratio can deteriorate even after it reaches an optimum point’

1...7,9157,9167,917...7,964Page 7,916 of 7,964

© Tekedia. All rights reserved.

Term & Privacy

© Tekedia. All rights reserved.

Term & Privacy