I spoke to Comark Maloba, chief technical officer at Pamoja Media and also the brains behind Payuka, about well, the app! Excerpts.

• When did you come up with the Payuka idea?

It was around September 2011. Two things contributed to the idea formation. First, a group of Swedish newspaper journalists came to the office to research about how African newspapers publish their content online. East Africa was their last stop after West and South Africa. Second, I observed that people pay for sports content instead of for example, politics, by SMS subscriptions and going online.

• What made you come up with the idea?

I’m a football fan and I’ve always wanted to interact with the games that are being shown on TV or placed on sites such as BBC and Goal , not just listen to the commentators. Look at it like being in the stadium itself. With those two combined I thought:

“Why not focus on an app that not only enables you to view what the scores are, but also lets you get the mood from similar people.’’

• Where do you see Payuka being mostly used?

When I first thought about the app, I thought about my immediate sphere of influence: my Facebook friends and the people I follow on Twitter. The strategy then changed to how Payuka could work both in Africa and the rest of the world.

• How did you test drive Payuka?

We have had 4 test drive sessions this month.  We also test drove Payuka daily before we launched it at the Android marketplace on 13^th January.

• How long did it take you from conception to completion?

The Tandaza development team worked on the app from September 2011 to actualisation in January this year.

• What challenges did you and Tandaza experience during the app development?

The first challenge was naming. We initially named it ‘kick-off,’ a name already taken. So, we had to rename the app and took into consideration that the name had to be memorable and easy to roll off the tongue. Second, because the developers lacked prior mobile apps development experience, they had to undergo best practice and standardisation lessons so that users can encounter a good user experience.

• What metrics will you use to measurePayuka’s success?

I usually use Twitter to tweet about football. Most of the 900 people I follow on Twitter are Kenyans and I like to know what they are talking about regarding football. If at least 300-400 of them download Payuka and use it weekly during live games, I will know that they are responding well to the app.

• What other app idea are you working on, or is it confidential?

There are actually 2 ideas at the moment:  the first concerns social gaming and the second, data collection. Watch this space.

• When do you plan to avail Payuka to other mobile phone operating systems such as Nokia’s Symbian?

Coming soon.

Image courtesy of Tandaza Technologies

Hey Kenyan Premier League, English Premiership, Spanish La Liga, etc, junkies! Check out Payuka, a cool, free, smartphone football app developed by Tandaza, the mobile-phone apps subsidiary of Pamoja Media.

image courtesy: http://www.flickr.com

Evidence that Kenya is a cash obese economy is overwhelming: notices in cafés instruct you to pay first before you place your order and also remind you that they don’t provide credit, matatu conductors place currency notes between their index and middle fingers, banks resemble war zones when armed policemen escort cash carrying vans to deposit before July 1991 Kenyan importers needed Central Bank of Kenya’s approval before they bought foreign exchange.

As Joshua Wanyama, Pamoja Media CEO, observed in this recent interview, e-commerce in Kenya is growing, but a lack a nationally acceptable and valid electronic payment system and a ubiquitous culture that shuns buying goods and services online are in the list of obstacles preventing e-commerce in Kenya from fully taking off.

Card issuers and mobile phone companies collaborate

However, firms are rolling out different solutions to reduce the gulf between payments and e-commerce. In February this year, Safaricom launched the M-Pesa prepay safari card which allows its users to transact business online. In September Airtel and MasterCard launched payonline, a platform that enables the former’s subscribers to buy and pay for goods and services online using the latter’s cards. And down South, MTN launched payd, a system that facilitates South Africans to pay for goods and services online using a pin-based debit card.

These efforts are commendable, but insufficient if they are not complemented by measures to persuade Kenyan online shoppers to consider shopping and paying for goods using these cards. This festive season is a great opportunity about to vanish for Kenyan businesses to do that. They are offering an abundance of Christmas offers and even advertising them on their websites, but there’s neither information nor incentives to encourage customers to shop and pay for these offers online.

Champagne launches, flat follow ups

On December 16 2011, Safaricom concluded a nationwide tour to promote its products/services. These events attracted crowds similar to those who attend political rallies. They were not only entertained by comedians and musicians, they also won freebies such as tee shirts, hats and umbrellas. Why can’t Safaricom conduct a similar initiative to persuade (and reward) its subscribers with internet connection in their homes to use its safari card? Why hasn’t Airtel Kenya added information regarding its payonline

solution to its website? Both mobile phone service providers account for approximately 80% of Kenya’s 25 million subscribers. Imagine the effect their efforts to convince a substantial number of these subscribers to sign up to their respective offerings would have on online transactions in Kenya. One result is that the number of cards (Visa) will increase from the current 2 million. In addition, none of these companies have displayed the energy to update the public on the successes and challenges of these initiatives, compared with the enthusiasm they exhibit when they regularly update us on the progress of their other promotions, particularly those that have to do with winning cash.

Online transactions in Kenya will run on steroids once card issuers, mobile phone service providers and e-commerce sites actively woo, retain and reward potential card holders.

Joshua Wanyama, CEO, Pamoja Media

• Google recently launched the Kenyan Business Online initiative to encourage Kenyan companies to build their own free websites.  Does this mean that without such initiatives from multi-nationals like Google, e-commerce in Kenya won’t take off?

It doesn’t mean that. People always gravitate towards ways that make doing business easy. E-commerce sites already exist in Kenya and Google has nothing to do with that. KBO’s primary aim is to show Kenyan businesses the value of going online and competing against each other, and competition creates opportunities for Google to make money through advertising on their Adwords platform.  Digital processes and systems are growing, but what’s drastically needed for E-commerce to take off in Kenya is behaviour change by shoppers from over-the-counter to online shopping.

• The Kenyan government recently set up the Kenya Computer Incident Response Team to protect the government’s digital assets against cyber attacks. Should the private sector do the same?

There exist industry standards and software to protect the private sector against cyber attacks. The problem is that these systems are marketed and sold outside Africa. We can’t have E-commerce sites without secure servers, otherwise customers won’t pitch.

• Even though the Kenyan e-commerce market is too small for promotions such as Cyber Monday, what promotions can the existing Kenyan e-commerce businesses do to generate a buzz about ecommerce?

Cyber Monday is an obvious attempt by American online stores to sell more after Thanksgiving Day leading to the holiday season because this period contributes to 75% of their annual sales. But we can’t replicate Cyber Monday in Kenya, we need to create unique shopping days similar to the market days in villages. When more Kenyans will shop online, then we will spot opportunities to create our own Cyber Monday. For now, e-commerce sites should ask themselves: “How can we tap the psyche of the Kenyan consumer offline to turn it into an online experience?”

• How can Kenyan businesses take advantage of East African cooperation to extend their e-commerce tentacles?

Both e-commerce as a service and the individual East African markets are small, meaning the huge opportunities either lie regionally or continentally. However, each government has specific rules regarding online transactions and payments and combined with the few Africans buying online, make things tricky. Despite these obstacles, digital purchases have the best chance of scaling quickly if you already run regional operations and logistics. For example, Nakumatt, which currently has 35 outlets across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania, can sell Tanzanian rice online from their Moshi store to a Kenyan consumer who can collect it the next day.
Kenyan businesses will benefit from regional integration when legislation changes to suit e-commerce needs and consumers become more online savvy.

• When you look at Kenya’s economy, what sectors should already be practising e-commerce?

Music, events, news and mobile apps.

• Any other thoughts about e-commerce in Kenya?

First, Kenyan and African entrepreneurs need to localise e-commerce. They can’t use Western models because they are unsuitable for our unique environment.  Kenya has proved that mobile phone-based transactions work. So, how can we change the psyche of the Kenyan/African consumer from paying over the counter for goods and services to paying for them using their mobile phones? How can we enlighten them about the benefits of e-commerce?
Ponder this. Recently, a friend of mine opted to go to the Junction shopping mall, withdrew money from her M-Pesa account and paid for tickets to an event over the counter even after I had recommended she avoids the hassle by paying for them and later printing them using the same M-Pesa account on ticketsasa.

Joshua Wanyama, CEO, Pamoja Media East Africa

Joshua Wanyama, CEO of Pamoja Media, sketches his views on the current state of E-commerce in Kenya. We will publish part 2 of the interview next week.

• What ecommerce virtues and traits have you noticed in Kenya’s e-commerce environment since you founded Pamoja Media in 2008?

E-commerce is picking up, but it’s still hampered from releasing its full potential by these obstacles: A lack of a valid electronic payment system that is nationally accepted, haphazard physical addressing that stymies delivery of goods ordered online and we haven’t cultivated a culture of purchasing goods and services online.

I have also noticed that businesses are using social media spaces such as Facebook to generate sales instead of using structured, traditional e-commerce stores such as ebay.com. If these businesses succeed on social media, then the entrepreneurs build a website.

Going back to payments, M-Pesa’s success (25% of Kenya’s GDP runs through M-Pesa) proves that we can electronically do transactions. We should use M-Pesa and other mobile payment platforms to buy goods and services from electronic stores.

• Kenya still hasn’t gotten basics like food security, education and healthcare right, for example. Isn’t e-commerce a mirage?

E-commerce is not a mirage because it has nothing to do with these things. E-commerce is a different way of transacting business. What matters is that human beings have to buy and sell goods and services.  Commerce is a social phenomenon and the question should be, “Can we do this electronically or not?” And that’s where e-commerce comes in.

• The Kenyan government has placed incentives such as zero rating ICT equipment and encouraging the laying of undersea cables to increase bandwidth speeds. Are these measures good enough to grow e-commerce? What more can the government do to accelerate the adoption of e-commerce?

It’s a good thing the government is addressing the infrastructure side of things, but it’s not enough.

I see two areas that need urgent intervention. First, it’s cost prohibitive to consume and download digital content. For example, most Kenyans consume Youtube videos at offices during working hours because their employers have good internet bandwidth. Internet access fees should drop drastically for the 4 million Kenyans who have Internet access at home.

Second, local authorities should institute better street address systems that will make it easy for courier services to deliver goods ordered online to customers living across the country. Our streets haven’t been numbered or follow any specific order thus making it hard to find most properties.

If the government solves the above challenges, then Kenya will be in a much better position to scale up e-commerce and enjoy the benefits such as increased job opportunities.

• Kenya has a vibrant mobile apps ecosystem and mobile payment platforms as evidenced by the iHub incubator and M-Pesa respectively. How can we leverage these advantages to improve e-commerce transactions because credit cards are still out of reach to most Kenyans?

Currently, M-Pesa is key to enhancing e-commerce because it can make Kenyans change their attitudes towards e-commerce. For example, why shouldn’t I pay for my drinks at a pub using M-Pesa?

Second, mobile services providers should provide open access to their payment systems’ application programming interfaces (APIs) that will enable developers to build applications that solve e-commerce challenges and make online shopping fun. Additionally, telecoms companies should allow consumers to link the former’s payment systems to the latter’s bank accounts. Finally, mobile services providers should enable their consumers to seamlessly do business with one another through their various mobile payment platforms.

• A substantial number of Kenyan e-commerce websites lack updated content, are hard to navigate and are poorly designed, among other flaws. Isn’t this more evidence that Kenyan businesses despise e-commerce?

No, they don’t. Just like any thing accepted in society, e-commerce needs good storytelling. Local businesses haven’t heard a story of successful, local web-based businesses they can look up to. For example, the rest of the telecoms companies in Kenya are trying to replicate M-Pesa’s success once Safaricom cracked the money transfer code.

Secondly, these businesses do not understand the value of a well-designed and updated site in the growth of their online business. Pamoja Media is currently partnering with firms which want to win and win BIG in e-commerce, and which realise that a well-designed website is a prerequisite.

• How can Kenyan businesses use both e-commerce and social media spaces to succeed online?

Social media platforms are great areas for businesses to test their online markets and audiences and determine if their ideas resonate with their target audiences. This is especially true in the fashion and beauty industries where small shops are getting set up as side gigs and people building a successful social presence before venturing into the operation of a full e-commerce Web store. By the time these companies have their sites, they have proved their business model, iterated and gotten the necessary core customer base that will support their businesses and help them grow.

Ukulima.net, developed by Pamoja Media, was one of the application programming interfaces (APIs) the JKUAT students developed applications for. The winning group in the Friday 9pm- Saturday midday hackathon, led by Patrick Ndung’u, developed an application called Agri-Soko that enables registered ukulima.net users to sign in, connect, buy, sell, and also source for produce via Google Maps. Payments are made via PesaPal. “This was very catchy and easy to use,” says Evans Gikunda, one of Pamoja Media’s software developers and hackathon judges. Patrick’s three-group members each won a 500-GB external hard drive.  Other APIs the 59 participants developed applications for were PesaPal and BEEP (a bill presentation, payments, real-time settlement and reconciliation system) for Cellulant.

Pamoja Media, PesaPal and Cellulant sponsored the SCOSIT hackathon. Below are some photos.

Briefing 101: Comark Maloba, Pamoja Media's chief technology officer, outlines the ukulima.net platform to the SCOSIT hackathon participants before the games began

Pamoja Media's Ishuah Kariuki (left), Comark Maloba (seated) and Evans Gikunda troubleshoot the ukulima.net platform

Well done: Pamoja Media's Ishuah Kariuki presents the 2nd-placed SCOSIT hackathon group with their prizes

You've hacked it: Amos Wachanga of the SCOSIT hackathon winning group receives his group's prizes from Bundi of Cellulant

Some of the SCOSIT hackathon partipants

Participants get on with the SCOSIT hackathon

Feet first: Pamoja Media's Ishuah Kariuki 'toklezearing' during the SCOSIT hackathon

Caffeine fix:Good thing Kenya is a major coffee producer

The year 2010 saw one of the biggest surge in both individuals and Kenyan organizations joining Twitter thus giving a clear indication of the current growth the country is experiencing in the social media sector. Here are some of the main highlights:

January
I truly cant remember much about January. Its always the hectic month with too much to do that we had all initially neglected over the festive season for the fun that comes with the month of December. So to spare you the nostalgic feeling, lets just jump straight to the second month.

February
Setting the pace for the year was the first ever #140conf Nairobi meet up held on the 6th of February, 2010. The #140conf (founded by Jeff Pulver), runs on the belief that through Twitter, the gathering provides a chance for the participants to discuss and share about the emerging real-time Internet and the effects on business and societies.

#KenyaInThe90s become the first ever global TT to emerge from the growing community of Kenyans on Twitter. This was one of the main things that made many corporates notice the numbers and opportunity that Twitter presented in the country. This was when it came of age.

In the communication sector Orange Telkom, set the precedence for the rest by officially joining Twitter on the 15th of February. They were followed a few days later by @SafaricomLtd who have stuck around (despite the hostile reception) to become one of the most prominent and active Kenyan corporates on twitter at the moment.

March
March began promising to be one hell of an active month, on the 5th the strong-willed Narc-Kenya Leader Martha Karua joined Twitter with the official handle @Martha_W_Karua. I stand corrected, but I believe she was the first prominent Kenyan politician to join the community. Not sure if she tweets herself but we are glad to settle for a PR person as long its the official account. Another great addition to the community was @WestgateMallKe, one of the premier shopping malls in Nairobi.

I most definately can not forget to mention the biggest Internet sensation to ever come out of Kenya; #makmende. From YouTube to FaceBook to Twitter and even on CNN, this wonderful video by the contemporary band called ‘Just A Band’ (@justabandwidth) made history as the first video to go viral. This was one of the longest running topics amongst Kenyans on Twitter and generally raised the profile of the country among its peers on the Internet scene.

May
The most darling local corporate for #KenyansonTwitter; Kenya Power & Lighting Company (@KenyaPower) joined the twitter family only to find it a full house with many parodies to its name such as @kplc_kenya and @kplcCares. This presented the first uphill task that awaited them in redeeming its image among the frustrated lot. At the end of May (actually 31st of May), the NSE listed ISP Access Kenya picked up the username @AccessKenyaCom to try and do some client relationship management via Twitter. I can’t really say they have achieved this though…

June
Sponsored by Pamoja Media (@pamojamedia), the second #140conf went down at the NaiLab on June 19

(Sample digital ad shown above running on the Mashable Website)

The talk about Kenya’s growth and contribution to the IT world has increased the country’s reputation as one of Africa’s leaders in the technology sector. This is true as far as ICT innovations and the tech-world is concerned, but what about the impact on SMEs and corporates? How effectively are businesses in the region using the digital space to market their services and provide product information? Lets first understand what this is all about. According to Wikipedia; “Digital marketing is the practice of promoting products and services using the interactive digital distribution channels to reach consumers in a timely, relevant, personal and cost effective manner.”

Despite the increase in Internet connectivity and speeds, digital online marketing is still relatively adopted in the country and few people fully understand the possibilities it presents. Google Africa, the (government backed) ICT board, Strathmore University, the iHub and Pamoja Media, among other institutions and IT firms, have taken the initiative to increase awareness about the available online opportunities for businesses. This is through holding events with the business community to highlight on how they can take advantage of Internet advertising and marketing to boost their sales numbers and online presence. So, how soon do we expect to see our Internet browsing experience flooded by ads about regular Kenyan products and services that are common during prime-time television? I say NOT too long. There is no doubt the biggest spenders on advertising and marketing in Kenya are the telecommunications industry guys. Safaricom, Zain and Orange already have some online footprint on the digital advertising world (thanks to the infamous mobile price wars).

And true to the traditional corporate trends, many companies will begin to follow suit and seek to find out more information with regards to online marketing. In essence, the telecommunications companies helped the Kenyan online marketer to overcome one of the biggest hindrance yet: proving that digital marketing is safe, targeted, cost effective, within reach and very do-able. I believe in a few months we will start seeing the local neighborhood hair salon running a highly targeted advertisement online. Yes, I know it does sound a bit far-fetched, but its really not. We already have numerous businesses, signing up on online business directories, setting up pages on Facebook and even running Google Adwords.

As a country, Kenya has invested in the technology sector to promote innovation and infrastructure. Now the next step is for the business and government to use the digital space created to reach more clients, increase sales and provide a better service to the population. This, definitely, is the next frontier in the Kenyan marketing and advertising. The pace in which companies and agencies are adopting online digital marketing is amazing and the momentum is set to be maintained as the solutions and advantages presented by digital marketing become more apparent.

One area that is conspicuously absent or lacking is corporate/company blogs, on a company’s website you will find the blog section to be usually out of date and generally ignored.  This is unfortunate because in terms of ease of communication this platform would be the best for the company to offer a regular update of goings on to its clients, customers and to the general internet public.  Wikipedia defines corporate blogging as ‘….. a weblog is published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals‘, adding that..’ The advantage of blogs is that posts and comments are easy to reach and follow due to centralized hosting and generally structured conversation threads‘.

We would like to offer a few pointers on how to run a successful and relevant company blog:

• Establish guidelines.  This should be done from the outset as they will guide the bloggers on what topics to cover.  These guidelines should also outline the themes that the bloggers will write on on the blog.
• Establish a blogging team.  A team should be put in place to ensure regular updates, the blogging duties should also be part of the tasks and not seen as an additional/side issue.
• Avoid Marketing-speak and PR.  Make your blog a window to the soul of the company, a place where the company’s corporate ethos are shared with the on-line public when doing this avoid it being a marketing talk-shop.
• Establish a commenting policy.  This will guide your blogging team on how respond to comments. Comments will encourage interaction between the company and your readers.  As you blog you will find that comments will come ranging from the constructive ones to insults a commenting policy will make sure your blog does not degenerate into an abuse arena.  One thing to note though is to welcome criticism, this will provide valuable feedback to company.

The above four steps should guide you to starting out you company blog, if you need more help doing so, feel free to contact us on how we can work together to make your corporate blog work for you.

Erik Hersman talks with Joshua Wanyama, Co-Founder, Pamoja Media.

White African writes, “Joshua Wanyama found himself in a bind. He had just moved back to Kenya after growing a successful web firm in the US.

Now he wanted to put Pamoja Media on the map in Africa, and he realized quite quickly that there was a major knowledge-gap in the interactive marketing space. How could he sell the connections that his ad network gave him if the very people he was selling to didn’t have an online strategy at all?

This realization caused him to change his strategic direction of the Kenyan operations to gain a customers. He changed it from being just about his ad network, and added on 5 more areas of expertise that would really give his clients positive returns:

• Interactive strategy – how to scale a company’s operations and marketing online
• Creative Development – Interactive ads, landing pages, enewsletters & micro sites
• Placement – We run ads on the Pamoja Media Network, Yahoo, Google and Facebook network of sites
• Social Media Marketing – This works for clients seeking long term social engagement with customers. We handle blogging, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and other accounts for such clients
• Online PR – We also handle online PR for companies seeking to grow their reputations outside of advertising African Market online”