This kept me thinking, who are the opportunists behind the websites (I must admit they are quite stealth…and thorough)? Did they get permission or consent from Just a band? This exposes a huge copyright void in our beloved country. Intellectual property needs to be respected…hope makmende will arm twist the legislature into passing an intellectual property/copyright law and actually implement it

The power of social media is finally making corporates think alot harder in Kenya. Just-a-band, a Kenyan music group has produced a viral campaign following the release of there second single from their latest album, 82. In a matter of days, the name makmende is on the lips, statuses and text messages of tens of thousands, and many more as I type this post. This is a great feat and an eye opener of how social marketing can hardly be overlooked in Kenya.

UPDATES:

The Wall Street Journal: Kenya Launches Country’s First Viral Video

Ethan Zuckerman says Makmende is so huge he can’t fit on Wikipedia

Others covering this story:

Moses Kemibaro: Is Makmende Kenya’s first “viral” internet sensation?

Ndesanjo Macha of Global Voices Online

African Digital Art: Makmende

The maps, accessible on Google Maps, signal Google’s relevance to Ugandan users and support in the development and innovation of local content.

“This is an exciting pan-African launch, enabling us to improve maps functionality for Africa and to make information about the continent readily available,” said Joe Mucheru, Google’s regional lead for sub Saharan Africa.

Google Maps, now available for 29 African countries, is a Google service offering user-friendly mapping technology and local business information.

Uganda Maps follows earlier launches in Kenya and South Africa.

Users of the service are able to save or share their own geographic information, using My Maps, a simple-to-use tool accessible to all Google Map users for creating customised maps.

This move is part of a broader effort to improve the quality of maps and mapping data in Africa using local people, said Google Uganda country manager Rachel Payne.

“We want to show that the Internet is not just a place to find and consume information, but a place for Africans to create and contribute their own.”

After the launch, Google Maps users in Uganda can now search up to date online maps, look up business, advertise for free via Google Maps local businesses centre, create their own maps and even check locations while they are on the move.

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Each of them will be given an opportunity to speak about their innovations for the financial services sector in front of an audience of over 300 bankers, service providers, regulators and fellow technology suppliers from throughout the COMESA region. The theme of the conference is “Banking Leadership through Innovation”, with the aim of highlighting Kenya’s leadership position in financial services innovation, as exemplified by Safaricom’s M-Pesa mobile payment service, which has taken the market by storm and attracted worldwide attention.

Agosta Liko will discuss the PesaPal online payment verification system that has been developed by his team, creating an indigenous ecommerce solution, allowing users to conduct business on the Internet. Danson Muchemi, who founded Web Tribe after studying at Kenyatta and Strathmore Universities, will speak on the online micro-payment gateway called Jambopay that they have developed. Philip Nyamwaya, co-founder of Intrepid Data Systems, will speak about the need for real-time processing of mobile money transactions to spur the uptake of m-commerce in the COMESA region. He will showcase Intrepid’s online domain registration system that uses the iPay system to authenticate and complete transactions, thus allowing clients to sell products online.

Announcing the three young innovators, Sean Moroney, Chairman of AITEC, enthused about the large reservoir of youthful expertise emerging in Kenya’s ICT market. “Kenya’s young ICT innovators are the key to Kenya achieving the information society goals of its 2020 Vision. World-beating solutions are being developed by the country’s software developers and it is time for local investors, users and entrepreneurs to sit up and take notice. We hope that by exposing a sample group of innovators we will stimulate serious market interest in the potential they represent.”

The young innovators will be joined by another 90 local and international experts, making presentations in four parallel tracks over the two days of the conference. Speakers will be coming from 13 countries, representing an unprecedented level of expertise in systems and business strategies in the financial services sector.

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“PR is going to form a critical element of driving Google’s business in Africa,” said Stefano Hesse, Google Africa’s head of corporate communications and public policy. “Africapractice is perfectly positioned to work with a multinational organisation like Google, with in-depth knowledge of the local markets, coupled with the international perspective and quality of service that we also demand.”

Google already plays a role in the ICT sector in Africa, working in partnership with governments, developer communities, learning institutions and students. The company also recently launched local versions of Google Maps and StreetView in Kenya and South Africa.

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Hope Buzz will have a more favourable fate

His company, Bincom ICT Solutions, is in the fore front of deploying open source solutions to meet client needs. The concept of open source is practice in production and development that promote access to the end product’s source materials—typically, their source code. He is an Open Source Ambassador, and recently organized the third edition of the annual Joomla Day in Nigeria (Joomla is an award winning Open source content management software used world wide by leading organizations). Joomla Trainings in collaboration with NTA Lagos will commence in February 2010. The JoomlaUni! Nigeria was started in April 2009 and he is the lead training facilitator at the moment. Her served as the Head of Joomla! User Group Nigeria recognised and accredited by Joomla Internationally. The User Group has held 3 editions of the annual Joomla! Day events in Nigeria. The last edition held on December 12, 2009.

Afrinnovator congratulates Bade for the archievement

1. to better market themselves for prospective opportunities, whether freelance or for full-time employment,
2. to network with other technologists to build and strengthen their professional network, and
3. to be informed about African tech events happening on the continent of Africa, whether small meetups or large conferences.

Think of African Tech Network as a type of LinkedIn built specifically for African technologists. Technologists will be able to create a profile, listing all of their technical skills as well as a picture, bio, links to their website and contact information. Other members will be able to find you as well as prospective employers or contractors.

This further shows the growing trend in the continent where players in the tech scene are coming together to forge synergies

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