Wow! A study conducted by Eco Ethics International in 2007 on the impact of imported second-hand computers in Kenya found that the country generated 3,000 tonnes of e-waste from computers, monitors and printers in 2007.

That's 3 million kilograms of e-waste!

I can't quite get my head around a number that big, but I can understand why Information and Communications PS, Dr Bitange Ndemo is looking to ban used computer imports. Too many of them are becoming e-waste that Kenya cannot recycle.

Read related posts on Used PC's

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Can we say its about time that Apple finally realized Kenyans want iPhone apps too?

The iPhone went on sale in Kenya in December 2008, via Orange but over a year later, February 2010, Apple added Kenya to the App Store.

iPhone users in Botswana, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, Tunisia, and Uganda can also change their lives with iPhone apps.

Hat tip to TechMasai

As we've already discussed, Facebook is driving ICT adoption in Africa. Just look at the amazing statistic that Moses Kemibaro found: 2 million Kenyans are registered with Facebook, 80% of all Kenyan Internet users.

Facebook on Mobile Phones

What's even more amazing about Facebook statistics in Africa is that much of that usage is on mobile phones. A recent Opera Mini report looked at their top 10 African countries, and found that with their users, Facebook is the most popular site in 6 out of 10 countries and the #2 site in three of the countries where it is not #1.

And that dominance is when mobile Internet users are constrained by limited and expensive data plans. Now Facebook is about to leap ahead on mobile phones with a free version of its site.

Facebook Zero

For all those that want to visit Facebook, but are constrained by download caps, I give you Facebook Zero. As TechCrunch reports:

It's basically a text-only version of the Facebook service that carriers can offer to their subscribers at no charge. If a user then decides to switch from text-only to multimedia (e.g. view photos from their friends), mobile operators can start charging them for ‘premium’ data service.

This system is apparently called zero-rated pages, and allows operators to use a trimmed down version of a web application as a sort of teaser, driving the adoption of certain mobile services or apps, and more data usage revenue down the line.

Facebook Zero as web chang’aa

Now what happens when you make Africa's most popular website free to access on mobile phones? You will have an explosion in web use beyond all imagination. The charts on Facebook adoption will stop being slopes and become straight lines - straight up.

And like chang’aa, jobs will be lost, marriages will break up, and all manner of parents and elders will claim its a blight on the land. Unlike actual chang’aa, Facebook Zero will also have a positive effect - its gonna increase demand for full Internet services and the computers that can support it.

All those Facebook users will want news, ecommerce, employment, and education websites, in addition to social networking. Yes, mobile phones will lead in usage by far. But make no mistake, those that get addicted to Facebook on mobiles will want the full screen upgrade - for Facebook and all the other Internet destinations. And they'll want it. Right. About. Now.

It’s that time of the year when any expert worth their salt makes some predictions for the New Year. I too couldn’t resist a peek into my crystal ball and here I share what I believe will be the major ICT trends and some of the countries to watch this year. In general, 2010 promises to be an exciting and important year for ICTs in Africa despite the fact that the global financial situation is still uncertain.

Mobile commerce

First off, after hugely successful trials and implementations of m-banking in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana and South Africa in 2009, this year is set to witness m-banking implementations in almost every African country. As m-banking grows, we should expect to see m-commerce in general take off quite rapidly with buying and selling of goods and services on mobile platforms becoming quite wide spread. I suspect that this will impact the business and economic landscape quite dramatically in many countries creating new jobs, innovations and investments.

M-commerce will grow along with e-commerce fueled in part by substantial deployments of 3G broadband services by mobile telephone operators. These 3G deployments coupled with significant terrestrial and submarine fiber deployments underway and/or planned for commissioning in 2010 all over the continent will see the number of broadband connections more than triple this year. African governments will meanwhile reap billions of dollars as they sell 3G licenses to existing and new entrants into the telecommunications sector.

Mobile phone options

Gather Data mHealth solution

Competition among the mobile service providers in many countries is set to heat up considerably, driven by two major factors: an increase in the number of providers in many countries as governments move to issue more licenses and the adoption of number portability. A few studies conducted in countries like Uganda fairly recently suggest that users are locked into particular providers, despite poor service, because they would not like to change their phone number which is currently the case if they moved to another service provider.

With number portability, these users will be able to migrate to rival or alternate service providers with their existing telephone numbers. The introduction of number portability is therefore likely to threaten the bigger players while benefiting smaller players and new entrants. But analysts who follow these things agree that the bigger players will take steps to retain their customers. Either way, consumers will be the winners as quality of service is likely to improve and costs will continue to fall.

It’s also likely that we shall see some major mergers and acquisitions in the mobile and fixed telecoms industry as major global players in this field angle to take a slice of the growing African telecommunications market. The increased number of broadband connections and lower prices will also lead to increased sales of smart phones and computers. I suspect that the major computer manufacturers will release low priced computers targeted at the African market. These are likely to be a cross between netbook type PCs and smart phones.

More bandwidth brings opportunities

As access to the internet improves and costs drop dramatically due to increased competition, the nascent Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector in countries like Kenya and Senegal is likely to take off. Governments are also trying to stimulate this sector with various policy and regulatory sweeteners and stimuli thus making it a sector to watch carefully in 2010.

As intra-country connectivity improves, there is going to be a greater demand for local content in local languages and locally designed applications that fit the context of the different countries. Expect to see a dramatic growth of the software industry in the big markets targeting mobile phone applications. Those who have lamented the lack of African content might be in for a pleasant surprise starting this year.

Government regulation

Can't wait to know you

This year is likely to see some governments move to gain tighter control of and regulate ICT services especially as it becomes clearer that ICTs empower citizens to access information almost instantly, increase demand for accountability, make it harder to hide or gloss over human rights abuses, promote freedom of speech and strengthen political organization. Most countries taking these steps to muzzle or regulate ICT services will do so in the name of national security or fighting terrorism.

This desire to control ICT services will see a big push for SIM card registration (at the moment, one doesn’t need to identify themselves to purchase mobile phone SIM cards in most African countries) which on its own has merits, enactment of “wire-tapping” and other laws restricting broadcast media and in some cases increased censorship of internet, mobile and traditional broadcast content. This is likely to be a year where democracy and human rights activities will join hands with ICT companies to push back against what they will see as government interference in the market.

However, governments will be caught between a rock and a hard place: on the one hand, they would like to exercise control and on the other hand, the ICT sector is becoming a key sector of the economy accounting for a growing and significant portion of GDP and tax revenues as a result of deregulation, liberalization and reduced government control. This is therefore a year where governments will play a high-wire act to ensure that they don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg while angling to gain more control.

Countries to watch

Kenya
Kenya is my number one country to watch this year because of four important factors: its early and leading adoption of m-commerce, large investments in terrestrial and submarine fibre, the government’s strategy to grow the BPO sector and lastly the position of Nairobi as the “unofficial” business capital of the East African Community’s common market. These four factors are likely to lead to increased ICT investment flows into Kenya, decent growth in the ICT sector and a shakeup in the economy as m-commerce and e-commerce take root.

Rwanda
Rwanda is probably the only developing country that has staked its future on ICTs with an ICT-led economic development strategy. Rwanda remains among my top countries to watch on the ICT scene in Africa. The government has done a few things right such as promoting an investor-attractive environment, emphasizing and supporting ICT, Science and Technology education and investing in broadband infrastructure. Rwanda also has one of the most impressive ICT public awareness campaigns, and investment promotion regimes in place.

While in the past, there was a difference between government rhetoric and reality on the ground mainly due to limited human capacity and cautious moves from investors still associating the country with the Genocide, expect that gap to narrow as all of the government policies and interventions in infrastructure, science and technology education, investment policy and regulatory reforms in the last 5-10 years begin to bear fruit. It is not far stretched to expect to see local, regional and international ICT companies set up shop in Rwanda as a base to exploit the East African Common Market and Kigali take on the Silicon Valley status of Africa.

Ethiopia
Still in East Africa, Ethiopia is another country worth watching. Ethiopia still retains state control on the telecommunications sector with a monopoly state-owned telecommunications company. The government has always argued that it preferred to follow a slow and carefully thought out deregulation path instead of rushing to implement a free and open market. This may be the year when we see concrete moves to open up this space. If this happened, Ethiopia with its 80 million plus population would herald a gold rush for ICT and especially telecommunication companies into the country.

Look to Nigeria for change

Nigeria
Nigeria, often touted to as the “power house” of Africa, has in the last few years shocked the continent with an aggressive drive by its movie, banking and insurance industry to expand to the rest of the continent.

Already, Nigerian movies are by many accounts more popular than anything Hollywood could throw up in Africa and this is a trend that will continue to grow. Expect Nigerian ICT companies to begin to play a more prominent role in Africa with some of their top ICT companies already spreading their tentacles into the bigger markets in Africa. It is not too far stretched to imagine that 2010 may herald the emergence of an African ICT giant from Nigeria.

On the national scene, there are at least two submarine cables expected to land off the coast of Nigeria this year and massive fibre deployments underway in the country by the major telecommunication companies. The increased connectivity and lower prices are likely to give a tremendous boost to the nascent but impressive e-commerce sector in Nigeria.

South Africa
South Africa has made massive investments in ICT infrastructure in preparation for the World Cup which it hosts in June of this year. This investment will leave the country with one of the most developed ICT infrastructures among emerging economies in the world. This investment is likely to give the ICT sector a good boost.

Recent news coming of South Africa where foreign investments in the telecommunications sector have been blocked because of a government policy on foreign ownership restrictions in the telecommunications sector is likely to pit South Africa against other countries like Nigeria whose companies are seeking to expand into the rest of the continent. This government policy is also likely to place South African telecommunication companies that command a significant share of the sector in many other countries in Africa in an awkward place especially if the other countries enact retaliatory policies.

Senegal
Lastly, Senegal is a country that has made tremendous gains in the ICT industry in the last few years. Sonatel, the former state owned telecommunications companies now majority owned by France Telecom represents a rare breed of a former state-owned telecom company that has managed to transform itself into a viable and aggressive market player. Senegal has also positioned itself as the ICT Hub for West Africa with Sonatel building infrastructure into all its neighbours. This year, expect to see Senegal secure its position as the ICT Hub of French-speaking West Africa and a growth of the nascent BPO sector.

Alex Twinomugisha's Africa ICT Trends and Countries to Watch in 2010 is republished here with his permission

If you want to send computers or other technology hardware to Africa, how do you do it? You can't just walk down the to Post Office and put a stamp on the outside of the computer box and mail it to Nigeria. Okay, so you could, but you'd have many problems.

First, your package might make it to a regional post office in the country, but it would take ages and when it arrived, the recipient would have to pay whatever customs and duties the local postmaster thought was due on the equipment. That might work for a random present, but isn't the best way to ship equipment to Africa.

At Inveneo, we've learned the hard way that getting information and communication technology equipment to different countries in Africa can be a challenge, but there is a method to the freight forwarder madness. By using tools like a Shipper's Letter of Instruction, in addition to the Commercial Invoice, and requiring a Form M for Nigerian shipments, we've made the shipment of technology equipment to Africa an easy process.

And we've even made a video to explain the process:

Like Glenn Stewart and Colm Pelow say, the equipment goes via air freight, riding in the same planes that haul people from the USA to Africa. But unlike your luggage, air freight cargo doesn't get delivered to the Arrivals baggage claim at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. It goes to the customs clearinghouse for review and import duty payment. From there, a local shipping agent can retrieve your equipment and have it delivered to the implementation site.

But why worry about all this hassle? Work with an Inveneo Certified ICT Partner, and focus on your implementation, not equipment importation.

Learn more about shipping - subscribe to ICTworks via RSS, Email, Twitter, or Facebook

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If you're an expert in information and communication technologies in Kenya, Nigeria, or Ghana, and looking for a new job, where do you find employment opportunities?

I was wondering this as I read about Jobberman, which Techmasi says is a Nigerian job site with promise. Yet it only has 20 new jobs in the last 7 days, none of them in the ICT field.

So if you're an telcom professional, where do you look for work? Do you really use the Internet? If so, which job boards work the best? Here is a few I've found, with my impressions of them. A motley lot for sure.

Kenya

• BrigherMonday: with 7 information technology jobs, its actually one of the better job boards
• BestJobsKenya: is another good employment site with quality opportunities and direct emails to employers
• White African Job Board: started as a response to the lack of tech-focused job boards, its the one job board I've used to hire a techie

Nigeria

• Nariland: while not a employment site, specificlly, its the largest forum in Nigeria and its job section rocks
• Jobberman: as I mentioned before, it has some jobs but few in the ICT field. I include it in hopes it will grow
• NaijaHotJobs: is a forum filled with job opportunities mixed with IT support requests, get rich quick schemes, and other chaff
• CareersNigeria: looks all swank, but the job selection is pretty thin - only 3 in the ICT field

Ghana

• BusinessGhana: is impressive - the most number of current jobs of any job site I found
• And that's it - Ghana seems to be lacking in the online job board front - or BusinessGhana owns the field

Does this selection mean that most people find employment through newspapers and personal connections, not online? If so, here is another African business opportunity for the right entrepreneur.

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Last week, there was a countrywide blackout in Kenya. The electrical authority, KPLC, took the national electrical grid offline from around 6pm to around 11pm, local time due to a generator failure.

As you can imagine, this was a shock to the country and its national pride. Kenya thought itself immune to blackouts due to its hydropower system, which is now under duress after a multi-year drought. But amidst the chaos, there is an ICT lesson to learn. Just listen to what Moses Kemibaro did when the lights went out:

The first thing I did was whip out my smart phone and decided to get on Twitter and Facebook via Safaricom’s 3G connection that was working in spite of the blackout. In a matter of seconds, I had replies that it was not just in Westlands and Kileleshwa that had a blackout but that it was indeed countrywide!

This is kind of “peculiar” since even though I did not have access to television or radio the whole time, here I was able to get the latest news via the Internet on Twitter and Facebook on the extensive Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) blackout.

Alternate Kenyan power generation

So here we have a case study in how information and communication technology can delivery timely and needed news during a national crisis. Safaricom's voice and data systems were able to spread knowledge of the event via the Internet when traditional media were unable to, thanks to their backup distributed power systems.

And the surprise there? Many mobile phone operators generate their own power from wind and solar, as much as diesel generator. Inveneo ICIP WinAfrique and other power partners are equipping cell towers with alternate power solutions that work even with the national grid (or the sun) is down.

The national blackout might have another surprise as well - a Kenyan baby boom nine months from now. But only with non-geeks. Those wired, like Moses, didn't take advantage of a great opportunity to say:

"Hey baby, how you doing?"

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In my interview with Rachel Essendi, founder of the eCommerce marketplace, Rachel's Bargain Corner, she mentioned an interesting advantage that she felt differenced her site in Kenya.

None of the other shopping sites have an automated payment engine that integrates Zap and M-PESA. Our payment engine has set us apart from all the other shopping sites in the country.

This move towards mobile payment systems for web-based eCommerce sites is quite recent - previously they were all credit card driven. Which lead me to ask Rachel more questions, specifically around mobile payments. Her conclusion: both Zap and M-PESA give shoppers comfort and convenience unmatched by credit cards.

A new way to pay - online!

You take Zap and M-PESA, but not credit cards or Paypal. Why?

Rachel: This is a deliberate move and we have had some local publishers ask us the same question. Credit cards in Kenya are a preserve of the rich and we reckoned that this would turn off many Kenyans who don't have the same and usually associate the same with the rich.

Our target market is the majority of Kenyans and with the popularity of Zap and M-PESA in the country we wanted and continue to provide a solution that is relevant and one which the local market can identify with its all about our market.

Was it hard to get M-PESA or Zap? Do you feel they are enabling your site's growth?

M-PESA and Zap are the most popular money transfer modes in the country, this is because of their availability and ease of use, we are just riding on this technology that the mobile phone operators launched. What we did was to integrate the same into our web site. Most people identify with M-PESA and Zap and when they come to our site and see that we are supporting the same they find it easier to transact on our site.

Both Zap and M-PESA has enabled us to have our checkout system, without an efficient money transfer system we would not be able to offer a complete online shopping experience. The fees they charge are reasonable with Zap charges being lower than M-PESA, but the latter has more people on it.

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There's a new ecommerce site in Kenya, Rachel's Bargain Corner which claims to be the "complete online shopping experience in Kenya". With such a bold title, reminding me of Amazon.com's initial bravado, I've interviewed its founder Rachel Essendi, to find out more about its history and future:

Wizard of the Crow

How did the Rachel's Bargain Corner idea come about?

Rachel: Partly due to difficulty in getting employment and the thrill of trying out something new. I did a course in biomedical science and technology in university and completed the same in August 2007, I worked a bit in a laboratory before quitting but a job in the research agencies was not forthcoming and so i decided to start a business on my own, my husband who happens to be a partner in the business was for the idea also and he pledged to support me through out especially on the technical side of things.

What business capital (cash, connections, etc) did you need to get it started?

Rachel: In terms of cash we dint need much this was due to the fact that we are still based at home and all the technical work was done by my business partner Enock, while I worked to get and maintain the business connections and relations.

We started the business with the bare minimums including two laptops that Enock owned but decided to use in the business, one laptop started as the one hosting the payment engine and also served as our Internet proxy server and it was running on a Linux OS, and the other laptop we used to do our day to day work.

Was the Rachel's Bargain Corner site designed and coded in Kenya?

Rachel: The whole site and the associated support applications including the payment engine and the order management system were coded in Kenya by my business partner Enock. He has experience in system development having had short stints with two software development houses in the country. He hold a Bsc in Computer Science from Egerton University Kenya and he graduated in April 2007. He took some time off in April to work on the site and had it up and running beginning July this year. Enock is still doing the maintenance and further development of the site.

We choose to host our web site through a local hosting company that has very good terms and we started with a GPRS modem to provide for the internet connectivity.

After the Vote

How do you market an eCommerce site in a country that has low (5-10%?) Internet penetration?

Rachel: I've always believed that if you create a service that is useful to people, they will go all the way to try and access it. our target marketing avenues so far has been the print media and word of mouth - this is due to our limited budget when it comes to marketing and thus we are targeting any news outlets to create awareness about our presence and so far we have got the two leading media houses do our story.

Through the publishers that we started with we got some connections to media people and that enabled us to present our story to be put in one of the leading daily newspaper the Nation and has also enabled us to appear on a local Televison program called Zinduka aired on one of the leading broadcasters in the country Citizen TV.

Dr Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary to the Kenyan ICT Ministry is a keen advocate of the key role of local content in Kenya according to this interview with KenTel and ALIN representatives on Digital Villages programme progress

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