The Art of Writing

So I lost my phone like two months back.

Man, the timing was so bad as this was the time that my information intake was on a high.

I was reading 5 to 8 articles a day on Flipboard, a blog post or two or I would be opening and leaving half-read links on Twitter. I was on a roll, well sorta, till I lost my phone.

Man, that withdrawal phase that one goes through, the hallucinations of feeling a phone vibrate, the hasty decision-making process of getting cash to purchase a new tech companion.

The loss of my mobile phone had left me feeling more heartbroken than in my previous relationship. 

I lost a couple of nudes I had recently received, draft blog posts, ebooks, bookmarks and most importantly, my contacts. I was so naar.

So it has been a few months since my last post, which is understandable as I felt demotivated, but it should never have been the case as I own a laptop. I lost my phone when I had high expectations to start a habit of blogging more often. I didn't know there was a difference between blogging and writing.

Starting a writing habit is more challenging than I anticipated.

While it felt good to start blogging, I thought that the quality of the work I would write when I only owned a tamagotchi would be poor, and I would fail to communicate anything to my reader.

I missed being addicted to my screen. I was out of touch with the world. The only info I was taking in was from the traditional old school print of a newspaper.

It was during this time that I had more and more blog post ideas flooding in. I couldn't wait to get my next smartphone. But one mistake, I never wrote any of those blog post ideas down.

Anyway, I found the motivation to write this today, exactly a month after getting a new phone. The funniest thing is it took me a month to post something I thought I would have posted within hours of getting a phone.

Yes, screens are central. We spend 40% of our day on them. But creativity, at its central, is still at the core. That old school ink to paper does wonders.

I admire people who have it in them to blog often. Not all their posts may be gold, but that doesn’t deter them. When people see that I have posted something new, I want them to trust that it’s worth reading. This can only be the case if I write regularly. 

A Cliché. But Local Really is Lekker

By December 2013, MTC had close to 800 000 active mobile broadband subscribers.

15 July 2015, Team Namibia, a non-profit organisation, launched a mobile application to keep a younger audience informed about Team Namibia members and their products.

The discussion on finally moving from the lack of local content to that of local digital content is finally taking shape. I believe the consumption of local digital content is growing by the day. Through social media and the low-cost internet access (thanks to TN mobile for putting MTC in its place), many Namibians are now using Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter to communicate and share information. A closer look at the communication patterns reveals that Namibians tend to patronise groupings that one deems local. Look no further than the case of Whatsapp users. Most belong to groups that are either composed of family members, friends, workmates or acquaintances.

The Team Namibia team is playing it smart AND SAFE by testing the water with this digital approach.

Fine, I will confess, there was never a lack of local content. I mean, Namibia has +-15 newspapers, a huge number of radio stations, and the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation, which is reaching the most number of Namibians, has been the only media institution to openly confess that they are struggling with local content. This little problem is only one you will notice in traditional methods. Newspapers are filled with reoccurring sad stories, radio is annoying with all those jingles and repetition of songs, NBC *sigh* well, ya’ll know NBC.

For the most engaging content, look no further than digital media. 20th of July 2015, the president of Namibia posted on Facebook a post that gained close to 2000 likes and over 500 comments. Namibians are predisposed to value information from within their community. They will always want to know what is going on within their space. We may be using services hosted outside the borders of Namibia, but inherently, the content is local. I am really impressed by The Namibian Sun’s approach to curate stories via the WhatsApp messaging platform. This is when it hit me that Whatsapp has replaced the use of the burdensome traditional methods.

As the fibre network spreads all over the continent, creating a vast network of broadband availability, digital access hardware costs will drop, making it easier to use. The country might experience an upward surge in data demand which will drive new content generators such as Team Namibia to produce fresh content that matters. For the dreamers, this will be an excellent opportunity to set up locally based content creators.

M-commerce is Taking off in Namibia

I just love how connected Namibia is becoming digitally. I mean, can our president's Twitter and Facebook pages get verified already? Ok, fine, I'll have a bite on that topic in future. 

Today I scribble on FNB's e-wallet, mobi-pay and Ebank.

Namibia is soo moving in the right direction. Turtle pace? Definitely but this probably has the potential to be the single most significant innovation. The establishment of the above-mentioned mobile payment platforms in Namibia has provided solutions for people without bank accounts.

Ebank, which is linked to the first lady, has a unique approach, targeting Engen Service Stations, and in doing so, they are hitting potential target audiences such as cab drivers. However, Engen Service Station isn't the bank's only affiliate; Agra, Woerman n Brock, Cymot and Spar accept deposits and payout on Ebank transactions. 

Mobipay is the first company that lured MTC into the mobile payment market. MTC, the telecommunications company, had 2.2 million prepaid mobile subscriptions by December 2013 (according to CRAN 2014 market report). The partnership has resulted in MTC Money, a payment solution that allows MTC subscribers to conduct money transfers, make withdrawals, and deposit money. The service also allows for buying airtime, payment for utility bills and POS payments at any MTC Mobile home, and transferring funds between people, as long as they have a mobile number. 

However, in my humble opinion, I believe FNB's eWallet is the sweetest slice of the pie sowaar. This USSD option allows customers to send money to anyone with a valid Namibian cellphone number. The money is transferred instantly and can be used to withdraw cash from FNB ATM'S, buy prepaid airtime and send money to another cellphone.

All 3 players provide really delicious services. We will hopefully only find out whether the market is reacting to them in the 2015 Market report.

In 2011, Google launched a phone to replace credit card transactions. 4 years later, this has become a reality in Namibia for the past year thanks to mobile phone technology and innovative nation-building partnerships. The local consumer is fed with options that could mean that banks will have to be innovative in retaining and engaging new customers, FINALLY!

How MTC is Hurting Namibia's Non-existent Digital Marketing Industry

It's a fact, online marketing works. It works in Saudi Arabia, and it works in America. It works in South Africa and Australia. It works in any country where consumers are active online, and brands are willing to be strategic and creative. 

If you compare our digital marketing landscape to more advanced countries, Namibia is undoubtedly arriving late to the party. Still, we have been invited to the party, and that’s all that matters. However, the dominant telecommunications provider in Namibia can do more than what it is currently offering. 

Comparing MTC and TN Mobile to other mobile operators from 12 African countries covered by Research ICT Africa shows that both are among the top 5 operators in average download and upload speeds. This clearly indicates that there is massive traffic on MTC and TN Mobile’s networks.

More people have migrated online. Brands should capitalise on this trend and speak to a larger pool of people and reinforce an online marketing campaign, but this isn’t happening, and I partially blame MTC. They have the most significant market share, so big it is safe to call it a monopoly. However, the services provided are not helping create a recognisable digital marketing industry in the Land of the Brave.

Not only are consumers online, but their activities online are evolving as well. Concurrently, their expectations of brands are growing too. Gone are the days when all Namibians did online was check their email and visit Facebook. These days, Namibians want more efficiency from their online interactions. They use the internet more often, for more extended periods and for a more comprehensive array of activities. They are consuming content, interacting with their social networks and searching for information. More importantly, they are beginning to make purchases online. 

The Namibian digital market is no different from any other country in Africa. Factors always to be considered include;

·         The Internet landscape

·         The Internet population’s online activities

·         The brands

·         The strategies

This piece mainly dealt with the internet landscape in Namibia. For the best overview of the Namibian digital landscape, I refer to the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia Market report for 2014.

By 2013, Namibia’s population stood at 2.303 million people. Between July and December 2013, MTC had 788 015 active mobile broadband subscriptions, yet you can randomly ask anyone about MTC's internet services, and you will hear nothing but complaints from slow download and internet speeds to expensive data.

Comparing prices for 1GB prepaid user basket valid for at least 30 days data across 12 African countries shows that Namibia’s prices are very high. On this comparison, Namibia offers the fifth-highest value for money, significantly outperformed by Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, and Tanzania. For our population, MTC should be offering the Namibian consumer better. The Namibian market should be spoiled with lustrous packages to increase online activity (from brands) to brew a digital marketing industry so that forward-thinking brands capitalise 

Industry service providers have confirmed that the increased demand for data/internet services has been enhanced by increased access through mobile phones.

Will MTC up its services to allow brands to tap into the online community?