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Silicon Savannah: Is Nairobi The Next Tech World Capital?

Silicon Savannah: Is Nairobi The Next Tech World Capital?

Kenya’s technological growth has been attributed to strong national leadership.

In particular, this leadership includes establishment of a strong regulator and the inclusion of information and communications technology (ICT) as a pillar for national growth in the Vision 2030, according to Dalberg Global Development Advisors, a New York City-based niche management consultancy firm.

There are 50 African tech hubs. Launched in January 2013, Konza technology city is expected to cement Kenya’s role as a regional tech hub in Africa, according to The Economist. The project is on track to cost $10 billion and generate 200,000 jobs.

Check out these 2013 sector trends for Kenya’s online, social and mobile usage from Slideshare.

Kenya was one of just five countries in Africa with 40-percent-or-higher Internet usage (41 percent) in 2010 as a percentage of the country’s population. Internet use is growing 75 percent annually.

Its population of 41.6 million includes 20.3 million under age 18 as of 2013. Mobile penetration is 78 percent. The country has 251,000 landlines.

Mobile data continues to dominate Kenya’s Internet market, contributing 99 percent of total Internet or data subscriptions, according to the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK).

Kenya’s main mobile networks and subscriber numbers as of April include: Safaricom (19.8 million); Airtel (5.2 million); Orange (2.4 million) and Essar Telecom (0.2 million) according to CCK.

Most Kenyans use feature phones: 45 percent have Nokia; 32 percent use Android, according to statcounter.com.

Kenya has the second most-active Twitter users in Africa after South Africa. In the fourth quarter of 2011, 2.4 million tweets went out, according to socialbakers.com.

As of March 2013, 1.88 million Kenyans use Facebook out of 50.38 million total African users. Egypt is the largest Facebook market in Africa and No. 20 in the world with 13.01 million users. Its market size is similar to Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia and Japan.

Kenyan e-commerce is thriving: 71 percent of Internet-enabled mobile users buy online, according to Jana. Kenyans’ favorite e-commerce websites are OLX (an Internet company based in new York City and Buenos Aires), Amazon, eBay, Google and WapTrick. Apps such as PesaPal allow Kenyans to pay by mobile money. The largest obstacles to buying things online for Kenyans are: lack of security (34 percent); delivery time (31 percent); and Internet connectivity (19 percent).

Kenya is considered the global leader in mobile money transfer services. Mobile money in Kenya eliminates the need for bank account, smartphone, bank card or contract. It is used for the following: M-ticketing, disbursement of salaries, bill payment, sending money to relatives in Kenya or abroad, in-store-purchases and loans.

Two thirds of Kenyans over age 15 subscribe to mobile money transfer services. Deposits totaled $2.63 billion in fourth quarter of 2012.

Safaricom launched MPesa in 2007; 25 percent of Kenya’s gross domestic product flows through MPesa, according to The Economist.

In 2012, MPesa revenue grew by 29 percent; 78 percent of Kenya’s mobile money subscribers use it. MPesa has 60,000 agents; 26,000 of them were hired in 2012.

Kenya was the first African country to introduce a government open data portal and there is a centralized drive to increase bandwidth, according to Dalberg.

Consumer confidence in the Internet is high: 80 percent of small-to-medium-sized Kenyan enterprises surveyed believe the Internet will help them grow their businesses; 70 percent say they expect to hire more employees.

ICT has led to innovation across the board. Kenya’s business environment and education system are considered strong; infrastructure, not so much.

Top Kenyan tech organizations include iHub and m:Lab. Top Kenyan tech organizations include VC4africa, Growth Hub, Savannah Fund, Nailab and 88mph.

Kenya has numerous cool startups including Ushahidi, a real-time crowdsourced crisis mapping tool. It uses SMS, email, Twitter and the web to map and respond to crises including earthquakes, oilspills and election monitoring in Kenya and 128 other countries.

BRCK is a portable backup generator for the Internet with eight hours of battery for when the Internet goes out.

M-Farm helps farmers access market prices.

M-KOPA provides affordable solar-powered lights and phone charging to rural Kenyans with pay-as-you-go arrangements via Mpesa.