DIGITAL AFRICA: AFRICA IS BORN IN ME

2018-01-14T22:45:00.000-08:00

Google Sponsors Kiswahili Wikipedia Challenge

2009-11-17T04:19:00.001-08:00

What is Wikipedia Kiswahili Challenge?:

We invite you to take part in this challenge to create Wikipedia articles in Kiswahili. We hope to make the online experience richer and more relevant for 100 million African users who speak Kiswahili.

Winners of the prizes will be determined by a point system taking into consideration the number of articles submitted and the quality of the articles. We will also award prizes to the second place participants and runners up.

Prizes includes laptops, mobile phones, prepaid internet access modems, Google T-shirts, and more. Participants will also receive certificate of participation.

Read full details here.

PamojaConnect: Connecting the web, SMS, twitter, Googla Map for Villagers in Africa

2009-03-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

PamojaConnect (Pamoja means together in Kiswahili) is a new project intending to connect the web and SMS:

It connects on the web and through mobile-sms allowing everyone to be part of the conversation. One of the cool things is that with just a low-end mobile phone someone in a remote village I can send a text message to PamojaConnect. For instance, that message could tell about the work their Self-Help Group is doing to improve their native habitat — telling how it brings jobs to uneducated youth and helps prevent flooding in the area and improves the crops.

Now someone in the who lives in a remote village in Kenya has never used a computer or the internet, but they have access to a mobile phone. With PamojaConnect that message is integrated as if they used a computer. It is posted live to Pamoja where it shows up on the Google Map and is broadcast on Twitter. The message is now public and people from all over can respond.

PamojaConnect blog.

Legal and Policy Framework for Information Society In West Africa

2009-03-12T08:48:00.000-07:00

I am attending a workshop on Legal and Policy Framework For Information Society in West Africa in Saly, Dakar . There is a blog for the workshop. Kwami of PenPlusBytes (Ghana) is twittering.

African Blogs Are Not Only About Politics...

2009-03-11T05:05:00.000-07:00

So African blogs are not only about politics and technology. Read about the Literary Blogren in Uganda:

Uganda's bloggers are increasingly using their blogs as forums for literary expression, and online poems, short stories and multi-part novellas are becoming increasingly popular.

And Kenyan poet and artist bloggers:

The need to start blogs, as most poet bloggers shared with me, was mainly due to the fact that most, if not all, could not get any publishing house willing to publishing their works. This frustration and the demand by the now growing number of fans, led these poets to venture into blogging as a way of publishing their poetry.

Photos From Waxal Award Ceremony

2009-03-11T02:26:00.000-07:00

Waxal Award ceremony took place March 9, 2009 at Just4U restaurant in Dakar, Senegal. Check this photo of the winners and Ndo Kanaute performing during the ceremony.

Waxal: Blogging African Award For Journalists

2009-03-11T02:20:00.000-07:00

Here are the winners of the award...

Waxal (pronounced WA-HAL), which means “speak” in Wolof, captures the essence of the evolution of the worlwide web as a platform for conversation and for raising marginalized voices. The first edition of the award recognizes the use of new media by professional journalists in Africa and by African media organizations working to promote the production of alternative information and citizen expression.

Digital Citizen Indaba and Highway Africa

2007-09-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

Digital Citizen Indaba (where I will deliver the keynote) and Highway Africa coming up in South Africa.

See you there!

TEDGlobal 2007 Arusha, Tanzania

2007-06-05T07:15:00.000-07:00

I am in Arusha, Tanzania attending TEDGlobal 2007. I am liveblogging in Kiswahili at Jikomboe. For english speakers, read Ethan Zuckerman, the king of liveblogging.

Reuters Newsmakers: Dealing with Darfur - what is at stake?

2007-05-20T17:10:00.000-07:00

Dealing with Darfur - what is at stake?, a Reuters Newsmakers event - May 24, 2007.
More information soon.

Congo: Conservation 2.0

2007-05-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

Conservation 2.0 in Virunga National Park (Democratic Republic of Congo), cross-posted at Global Voices Online.

African Signals: Technology Podcast

2007-05-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

African Signals: Broadcasting Technology News From Africa.

Vote for Kabissa and The People, Yes

2007-04-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

With one day to go (deadline is April 15th), you still have a chance to vote for Netsquared's Technology Innovation Fund. Please, vote for Kabissa and The People, Yes. Go here. See Kabissa and The People, Yes project proposals.

Here is a list of all projects.

Note: I am a board member of The People, Yes.

Memeza: Zambia's "Digg"

2007-04-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

First there was Digg. Then, South Africa came up with Muti.
Now, Zambia comes with Memeza.

African Path: Weaving Tales of Africa's Past, Present and Future

2007-04-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

The interview I did with Joshua Wanyama, the co-founder of African Path for Global Voices Online, African Path: Weaving Tales of Africa's Past, Present and Future.

New Aggregators Out of Africa: Amatomu + Afrigator

2007-04-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

Two new aggegators have arrived in the African blogosphere: Amatomu (South Africa) and Afrigator (Africa).
Read Ethan Zuckerman's piece, The Rise of the African Aggregator.

* Other African aggregators: BlogAfrica, KenyaUnlimited, NigerianBloggers, African Women Blogs, and Mashada,

South Africa's "Craigslist"

2007-01-26T11:01:00.000-08:00

First we had South Africa's "Digg," Muti. Now we have South Africa's "Craigslist," YouPost.

South African Marketing Podcast

2007-01-08T02:06:00.000-08:00

Amplitude is a new South African marketing podcast by Mike Stopforth and Dave Duarte. Check it out.

African Path: African Blog and News Aggregator

2007-01-07T16:58:00.000-08:00

African Path is an interesting project by Joshua Wanyama and his team (Spectrum Media). It is an interactive community blog and news aggregator focusing on Africa.

The Five Things Meme!

2007-01-03T01:51:00.000-08:00

There is a meme going on on about "five things people don't know about me." My friend Ethan tagged me last year (well, December 29th, 2006...that was last year, right?). I tried to appeal so that he would drop my name. It is not easy to think of five things that people don't know about me (if they are not known, then they were not meant to be known). But since my appeal failed, I have to reveal five, and only five, things about me.

Here we go:
1. When I was in primary school (what American would call elementary school), my brother took me to the town library in Moshi, Tanzania and had me registered. Before that day, I did not know that there are "buildings full of books" for people to read for free. I loved reading. After discovering the joy of being inside a library as opposed to being in a classroom (where the learning structure was very rigid, centralized, and there was canning, too), I stopped going to school. In other words, I dropped out of school. I would put on my school uniform every morning as if I was going to school and, without my mother's knowledge, I would go to the library, stay there until kids get out of school. I would then go home. And do the same the next day. And the next day. It continued for a while until one of my relatives told his mother, who told my mother. She took me to school the next day and guess what happened...I was canned really good in front of the whole class!

2. The second website I ever visited was a porn site...at a Tanzanian government Minister's house! The first was one was Hotmail (to set up my first email address). I guess this (what I saw on the porn site that day and later on) is what made me a neo-luddite for a while before becoming a semi neo-luddite. I left the camp completely after I met Dr. Rubbin Patterson and Dr. Abdul Alkalimat (ended up being the editorial assistant for the journal, Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, wrote a thesis on political use of ICTs in Tanzania and got addicted to blogging).

3. I have a first-hand experience of soccer and juju in Africa. Our neighborhood soccer team had a critical match with a team that we all feared. We decided to consult a famous traditional healer for help. He promised to help us win with his muti (at a fee, of course). Since I was the goalkeeper, most of the rituals were done on me! The results of the match? Do you really want to know? We got beaten badly! Until this day, whenever I meet him (the “healer”), we look at each other and smile! By the way, this was long, long time ago.

4. When I was going to college at the University of Dar Es Salaam, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, I had a sticker on my door, which said: the future president. It was not a joke. I plan on becoming the first dreadlocked president in the world. Gilberto Gil has beaten me already as the first dreadlocked minister in the world (as far as I know). And Gwisai Munyaradzi, probably the first dreadlocked Member of Parliament. So, I am heading for the presidency. And, excuse me while I "flash" my dreads at the Dis-United United Nations. The day I become the president might be the beginning of a new concept, open-source presidency! But the dreadlock part is not the main/primary motivation for my presidential ambition. I am saving this part until I officially launch my campaign. So, if you want to know or meet me, you better do it now before it is too late.

5. I am a disciple of Harry Houdini. The last time I pulled a trick was two days ago. I did to my son for the first time since he is now old enough to get it. I can make myself disappear in front of your eyes just like that!

I would like to know five things nobody knows from Jill, Preetam Rai, Sean Coon, Daudi, and Kameelah.

International Conference: eLearning Africa 2007

2007-01-01T15:06:00.000-08:00

eLearning Africa 2007, the second International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training, will take place from May 28 to 30, 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya under the Patronage of the Kenyan Minister for Education, the Hon. Prof. George Saitoti.

South African Online Industry Summit 2007

2006-12-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

The South African Online Industry Summit is next February, 2007: The Online Industry Summit is a platform for industry leaders across Southern Africa to exchange views about the state of online and its developments. Different sectors have now realised the power of doing business online. With more of all media consumption shifting to one it is vital that you engage your customers through the web channel. While search and e-mail have often led the way brands are beginning to recognise the importance of on-line advertising in the digital mix and its effect on buying behaviour, online and off.

Kenyans United: Online Videos

2006-12-26T05:08:00.000-08:00

Kenyans United "enables Kenyans to watch videos, look at pictures, op-in to a SMS service which allows other Kenyans and businesses to deliver their news more quickly and easily. However, the main goal of the website is to bring Kenyans from all over the world closer and allow them to communicate with ease."

Lusaka Sunrise: A Documentary

2006-12-24T01:45:00.000-08:00

Lusaka Sunrise is a documentary by Smooth Feather Productions about the power of soccer in the fight against HIV-AIDS.

Fair-Trade Handicrafts From Tanzania

2006-12-23T02:15:00.000-08:00

The Amias Project specializes in hand-made, fair-trade accessories inspired by traditional Barabaig fashions.