Author: Hubtel

A lot of talk has been going on about how soon it will be till Ghana gets access to payment options that work outside of Ghana. In mid-2013, PayPal opened up its services to a host of African countries, Ghana excluded. We sobbed.

Amidst the various campaigns and petitions, PayPal seems a bit too busy to care about the cry of Ghanaians. However, also in Ghana is a budding payments processing platform, MPower Payments platform, jointly run by Encodev Labs and SMSGH.

MPower Payments is a complete end-to-end online and mobile payment solution for consumers and merchants. MPower offers various payment options that allow you to send and receive money by integrating seamlessly with your preferred mobile or digital wallets, and bank accounts. The web and mobile versions come with a built-in feature known as CornerShop which is convenient for airtime purchases and payments of bills for several utility services.

MPower has come a long way over the years, helping Ghanaians to pay for services and send money across the various mobile money systems in Ghana. Back story: MTN first introduced Mobile Money in Ghana, then Tigo and Airtel followed. Just about a month ago, Vodafone introduced Vodafone Cash and Airtel introduced its Tap-To-Pay systems. Considering that these three telecom networks are powering the mobile money system in Ghana, MPower Payments’ presence helps customers to send mobile money across these networks easily.

Another major helpful feature that MPower supports is to top up your MPower wallet via a debit card. This has been an issue since most of banks charge transactional fees when you make such top-ups. And now it’s free! About two weeks ago, MPower announced to customers that topping up via their debit card is now free.

This has been received favorably and helps make the barrier to adoption almost non-existent. In effect, you can now send mobile money to another mobile money subscriber for free even if you’re not a registered mobile money user. This initially attracted a charge of 5%.

Later last week, the CTO of MPower Payments made an announcement which will excite most developers who use MPower Payments – they now have Slack integrations. So much has been talked about Slack’s success and secret sauce and its ease of use, I need not say more. This integration will make it way easier to track payments, without having to comb through SMS and emails.

For a product that needs a lot of user-friendliness and education in the customer journey to be adopted, these subtle but important changes will surely increase its adoption now that Ghana doesn’t have any “internationally acclaimed” payment options in place. This a good one from the folks at MPower Payments.

“Startups are the seed corn of the future economy,” our partner Steve Case, co-founder of AOL and chairman of Case Foundation, often says.

Today, Silicon Valley is envy of the entrepreneurial world, but 50 years ago, Silicon Valley was apple orchards. Detroit, then the wealthiest city in the US in terms of median income because it was the center of the half-century’s greatest innovation (the car) has now slipped to becoming the poorest major city in the US, because it stopped innovating.

As we’ve traveled from Kenya to Ghana, we’ve seen how planting seeds in an entrepreneurial ecosystem can really mature.

The first thing to know about the Ghanaian startup ecosystem is that the Ghanaian economy is itself a startup. The country only adopted capitalism in 1992, so only one generation has lived in a free-market society.

But the new next generation is fully embracing startups and the country is on the move.

We visited SMSGH, a ten-year-old startup employing dozens of people and powering mobile transactions across East Africa; DTRT, a manufacturing factory employing hundreds of people in great working conditions; nine exciting companies pitch in the ImpactHub Accra; followed by a very fun happy hour that felt more like a beach party than a networking session.

Nairobi vs Accra

If you simply compared first impressions from Nairobi and Accra, you might have thought the startup ecosystem was really rough around the edges here in Ghana. But to me, the Kenya to Ghana transition was encouraging.

Ghana today, seems not too far away from Kenya five years ago. Back then, Erik Hersman and his team were solidifying the iHub. About 20 investment groups that are now active in Kenya were not active then, and the entrepreneurial ecosystem was fragmented.

Based on the evidence of promise we saw in Ghana today, Accra can get there.

1. Local investment is impressive

We spent several days with local investors: the Oasis Fund, the African Angels Network, and Eric Osiakwan, who has a Steve Case-like reputation in Ghana as the startup champion in the country.

One of the more difficult conversations I had to have over the years in Kenya — where the ecosystem is thriving — is with local Kenyan investors. In Kenya, successful businesspeople do not invest in startups very often. It is difficult sometimes for me to justify why we invest internationally in Kenya when successful local entrepreneurs won’t do it.

Now, that is changing. And Julian Kyula of MODE, who partnered with us on the Pitch for Impact competition in Kenya is a great example — but in Ghana, successful business people have been investing in startups for quite a while.

As a few examples: the Oasis Fund has 40% of its limited partner base in-country; the Ghanaian angels’ network has over 25 locals who have done a deal in the last two years, and Eric Osiakwan walked us around SMSGH — one of his portfolio companies — as a bigger cheerleader than the CEO.

One Ghanaian said that local self-reliance, as a relatively closed economy, was an important trait for a very long time. And in Africa, when it comes to locals investing in the next generation, Ghana may well be leading the way.

2. Culture and policy both pose challenges and opportunities.

At the same time, Ghana still has a long way to go. Unlike Kenya, where entrepreneurship is encouraged, stepping out and starting your own company isn’t in Ghana.

Whether it’s cultural or whether it’s a vestige of a socialist system that didn’t reward the free market, one entrepreneur said: “In Ghana, everyone is afraid of getting too big.”

Policy and economic conditions are difficult too. Kwami, whose company, Moringa Connect, is a great agribusiness that mentioned how difficult startup investment was to raise for one major reason—bank interest rates are 28%, and it’s difficult even for an exceptional startup to outperform that.

Yet despite these challenges, Ghana has several local conditions that make it globally competitive. The factory we visited, DTRT, can employ hundreds of people in quality working conditions and sell to major US retailers because Ghana’s port is a free trade zone (a vestige of Ghana’s exports of coffee and other cash crops), and also has an agreement with the US to not impose tariffs on imports of the 48 poorest countries in Africa.

Ghana has the ability to create 1 million manufacturing jobs, estimated our leader at DTRT—thanks to policy that supports small manufacturing businesses.

Finally, while Ghanaian culture could be a challenge, its creativity and vibrancy also have major advantages. We had a breakfast with creatives from across Ghana, which is becoming a burgeoning fashion and entertainment industry. The talk was about An African City (Ghana’s Sex in the City equivalent), where the producer joined artists, fashion designers, and more to show off Ghana’s edge in cultural leadership.

3. Great assets can make Ghana globally relevant

Despite the challenges, at a spirited dinner, businesspeople and investors were bullish on Ghana’s prospects. In discussing the entrepreneurial potential of Africa, they settled on the KINGS (Kenya, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa) as the top five highest-potential entrepreneurial ecosystems, and Ghana ended up third.

How come? Ghana had strong assets that were exportable across Africa and the world: the most educated population in Sub-Saharan Africa, an English language background, relatively good infrastructure, a good and functioning port, and more.

In the Pitch for Accra competition, we saw these assets on display. Farmerline, which delivers information to farmers over mobile — helping them to increase their income through better understanding of crop prices and more—is off to a great start in Ghana and importing to East Africa.

Flippy Campus, a mobile solution that helps schools manage information (replacing paper noticeboards), is building on Ghana’s asset of having the best educational system in Sub-Saharan Africa.

And amazingly, Bitsoko, a blockchain-powered financial services solution, that has an early customer in a food market in Detroit — helping power the entrepreneurial revolution that is rebuilding a once-great American city.

African solutions are not just solving problems in Africa, but helping around the world.

4. Africa keeps going

The winner of Pitch for Accra was Yago Baatuolku, a wonderful leader whose company, Wanjo, produces juice sourced from 250 women farmers in Ghana. Ghana is one of the leading juice consumers worldwide, and if Ghanaians only drank juice produced in Ghana, they would send US$ 250 million a year to farmers. Currently, it’s only US$ 10 million.

Yago has a wonderful business but never felt like she was ready to pitch. When Sheila Herrling of the Case Foundation encouraged her to be “fearless” and pitch, though, she brought down the house, treated the happy hour to Wanjo juice, and took home a US$25, 000 investment.

“I’m so glad I decided to show up,” she said. In a culture that doesn’t always encourage entrepreneurs, showing up is critical.

We asked the CEO of SMSGH what advice he would give — 10 years in — to a Ghanaian entrepreneur starting out. He said, “Just keep going.” He said that there would be a lot of social, cultural, and maybe even political pressure to slow down, not get too big, not get too visible, and a lot of unexpected bumps along the way. The only reason he was able to build a company was that he kept on going.

If Ghana just keeps going, and Africa just keeps going, we’ll see a transformed ecosystem and Ghana can move light years in the next five years. Who knows what we can see in the next 50 years.

Source: Ventureburn

In the 21st-century world of business communications, an organization’s chances of survival and success are heavily reliant on its ability to communicate effectively. To achieve a business’ communication objectives, be it among internal staff, partners, or customer engagement activities; speed, clarity, and relevance are three underlying tenets that need not be overlooked.

Traditional communication mediums such as face-to-face meetings, telephones, noticeboards, newspapers, mail, fax, radio, and TV are among the most effective channels in use. Yet rapid advancements in technology have improved the speed, reach, and storage capacities of newer channels like Instant Messaging (IM), email, and bulk SMS. Voice Messaging is one such channel gaining recognition as a preferred medium for broadcast marketing since it yields higher deliverability which leads to greater conversions.

With Voice Messaging the recipient does not require internet connectivity. The message is delivered in a simple fashion similar to a normal phone call. When a target recipient’s phone rings and the call is accepted, the voice clip automatically plays prompting the user for an action. Thus Voice Messaging is a faster and clearer form of communication; where done right can motivate a series of desired user actions.

SMSGH a leading Telecom Value Added Services (VAS) provider in Africa recently released a new Voice Messaging feature on MYtxtBOX; a suite of web tools for business communications.

The service is among the first of its kind open to users working with a set of Ghanaian recipients’ contacts list. The service is currently accessible on www.MYtxtBOX.com with free trial options for both new and existing users. There are limitless possibilities to the application of Voice Messaging and it is worth taking some time to explore some of its uses as it relates to the core operations of your business.

SMSGH BlogPost: A main concern for many companies is evaluating the best communication technique to increase customer engagement. How do you convince customers to interact with your product in the most contextual manner?

Email, push notifications and SMS are all popular methods of communicating with customers, but it can be tricky to discern when to use what while maintaining a good balance of delivering the right information at the right moment – all without sounding spammy.

Mobile has become the most impactful communication platform due to its massive growth over the past five years, clocking in an impressive 85 percent penetration rate with just Generation Y alone. The ability to reach customers directly on their smartphone can help boost visibility as long as their devices are powered on.

To keep customers coming back to your app, your communication methods must provide the most value at any given time. So what are the benefits of each medium?

Here are some recommendations on when to use SMS, push notification and email.

SMS
Approximately 90 percent of SMS are read within the first three minutes of delivery. This messaging channel should be used to deliver business-critical information to provide a superior user experience to your customers.

Sending an SMS when a delivery is arriving or when your item is ready for pick up keeps customers in the loop and allows them to feel more at ease. For example, Uber sends riders text messages when their ride requests are accepted and when drivers have arrived, giving customers time to prepare and look out for their rides. The SMS also prompts customers to browse the app to see their driver’s current location, photo, car make and license plate.

Aside from important contextual information, SMS APIS can be used to enable two-way communication between companies and their users in a comfortable and hassle free environment. By providing a communication channel that is familiar to users, companies can engage with their customers on their terms.

The combination of a high engagement rate (open and read) and global reach, also makes SMS an attractive choice for user authentication. Scenarios such as number verification and two-factor are prime uses for SMS because it can reach everybody, everywhere, in a familiar way.

Companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple do this well by allowing users to choose to receive an automated text message containing a PIN verification code. Once customers receive the code, they can input it via another channel (such as a Web form or app) to confirm their identity.
When shouldn’t it be used?
SMS shouldn’t be used for information the user will need to reference later, such as receipts or confirmation codes. Compared to emails, SMS are easier to delete and harder to search through. Any information sent by SMS should be readily actionable in a short timeframe.

Lastly, SMS can only contain a maximum of 160 characters, which limits you on the amount of information communicated to the user. SMS should mainly be used for critical information requiring the user to take an action, such as notifications, alerts, two-factor authentication, etc.
Any special considerations?
Try to avoid embedding links into SMS for devices in emerging countries where the user might not have a data plan or Wi-Fi to access the link, as this may result in frustrating your customers. Frustrated customers are not a good thing.

If a link is crucial to the message, make sure that the landing page is mobile-friendly.

Lastly, if your users are scattered around the globe, make sure that your campaign provider is capable of sending SMS messages globally – without delay and in the right timezone. Again, because SMS is the most time-sensitive channel, all communication with overseas userbase should be sent at the hours users are awake.

Email
Email should be used when communicating basic information which is not time-sensitive. Use email for things that users need to go back to at some point in time. This includes successful signups, confirmations, reference codes, orders and receipts.

Anything account-related and changes in service should also be communicated via email. User achievements or milestones can also be sent via email as they may want to keep them as badges of honor.

When in doubt, ask yourself the question, “will the user need this at some point down the line for reference?” If the answer is yes, then email away.

When shouldn’t it be used?
Email shouldn’t be used for urgent actionable items. Zipstripe found that the average time for recipients to view an email message is as long as 6.4 hours.

With this in mind, it would not be appropriate to notify people via email that their food delivery or mode of transport has arrived, as they might not see the notification in time. Promotions with a tight redemption period, e.g. a couple of hours, also shouldn’t bet delivered via email as the user might not see the message in time.
Any special considerations?
When sending an email, make sure your app/company is properly labelled as the sender so users don’t think it’s spam. If you want to it to come from a specific person, always include the app name as well e.g. James from CoolApp so the user recognizes the sender.

If your email has links inside, make sure it’s viewable on a mobile device, as your users may check it on the go.

Push notification
Push notifications work by sending a message to the notification center or status bar of your user’s smartphone and is the default way of communication for apps on smartphones.

It is considered less intrusive than SMS because it can be delivered on the user’s screen without interrupting their current activity, and it will never incur a cost to the user. It also makes it easier for the app developer as users automatically opt in to push notifications when downloading the app.

However, caution should still be taken when sending push notifications, as the user may revoke the apps permission push notifications.

Push notifications should be used when a significant event or activity occurs within the app that requires the user to perform an action, or is a time-sensitive piece of information that will benefit themr. Examples would include messages from other users, reminders for certain tasks, new in-app content and special offers.

When shouldn’t it be used?
Like SMS, push notifications shouldn’t be used for information that the user will need to reference later on. The ephemeral nature of push notifications mean they will disappear as soon as the user swipes left or clears their notifications. It is the easiest out of all three mediums to delete after reading.

Push notifications also shouldn’t be used to promote third party products, even the ones that partner with your app, as it will be seen as too intrusive and irrelevant.

Any special considerations?
Keep the push notifications brief. Remember, the user will see the notification flash at the top of their phones while possibly being in the middle of some other activity, so keeping it simple will resonate better with your users.

Push notifications allow you to get personal with your customers. You can use them to add strong calls to action to increase user engagement. For example, instead of saying ‘The weather forecasts rain,’ you can add personality by prompting users to ‘Bring an umbrella! It will rain today’ instead.

Finally, don’t oversend. The fact that push doesn’t interrupt user activity is not a license to overdo them. It only takes a few annoying, irrelevant notifications to prompt them to disable the function altogether.

The difference is in timing
Ultimately, timing plays the largest role between the three messaging channels. If you are trying to send information to existing customers about your product, push notifications and email are the ways to go.

But for larger audience reach, timeliness and important information delivery, SMS provides the urgency and flexibility to give customers valuable content at the most precise time.

Culled from The Next Web (with much thanks to Mr. Maximus Ametorgoh)

Another day, another nomination!

MPower Payments, perhaps Africa’s most comprehensive payment platform, has earned SMSGH yet another prestigious industry nomination – “Best Card Processor of the Year” for the 2015 edition of Card & ePayment Africa Awards.

Card and ePayment Africa Awards is an annual event organized by Intermarc Consulting with the main focus of showcasing innovation, achievements within the African ePayment space. The award focuses on technology development, production design and marketing. The 19-category awards night is open to Card Issuers, Processors, POS Companies, Mobile and Online Payment Companies, PTSPs, Merchant Acquirers and respective solution providers in Africa.

MPower Payments’ highly secure platform enables users to make payments through Internet, cards, SMS and now a mobile USSD application – *714*44#. The application can be clustered to handle millions of users. It contains many functionalities including an e-commerce platform, CRM functions and opportunities for branchless financing.

It is competitively priced, offering opportunities for individuals, groups, microfinance institutions, smaller banks and local telecoms to facilitate financial inclusion.

MPower Payments currently has over 80,000 users as at December, 2014, a little over 420 registered merchants, and transaction volumes to the tune of GHC500, 000 a month.

“We’re excited to be recognized as a leader in the ePayments industry with this nomination”, said George Festus Mensah, Senior Products Manager. “SMSGH is doing all it can through MPower to deliver the next generation of electronic payment solutions. Clients should be able to effect smart and seamless transactions at little or no cost without facing bureaucracies, traditional credit limits and additional accounts payable workload.”

Voting ends 7th February, 2015, and is open to the public. You can assist by promoting MPower for this award at http://www.cardandepaymentafricaawards.com/vote/.

For more information on the benefits of using MPower Payments, visit the website at www.mpowerpayments.com.

In a related development, MPower has unveiled its latest feature – a USSD application – which mirrors and simplifies the functionality of the web app, allowing a user to open and manage an offline account, top-up airtime, pay bills, shop online and more. All a user has to do is dial the USSD code – *714*44# on their mobile phone and access all the functions of a seamless payments application, in seconds.

The first-ever MTN Business annual fair in Accra ended successfully with key participating firms giving the telecommunications operator a high rating in the country for networking and allied services.

Executives of software development companies, Rancard Solutions, Teksol Limited, and SMSGH took turns to commend MTN, crediting it with world-class technology-based products and support services for businesses.

Other businesses that took advantage of the rich platform were Fidelity Bank, which had on display its SMART Account portfolio that takes only minutes to complete and is virtually deposit-free, and the Ghana Investments Promotion Centre (GIPC).

On display at the MTN Business were MTN Audio Conference; MTN Mobile Money; MTN Cloud Services; Eazifon; Car Tracking; Connectivity (including dedicated Internet, leased lines, APN solutions, bundle offers, hosted PBX and allied data and security services); and MTN Directory among others.

Speaker after speaker told of how the network, which boasts of nationwide coverage, was the only one among many they tried, could help their dream businesses materialize.

The CEO of Teksol, Mr. Louis Amenyo Adanuty, said his outfit had won a big contract with a company to deploy a technology that required the provision of a reliable and far spread network “and after wasting time and money with other networks, it was only MTN that came to the rescue.”

“We were on the verge of losing the contract, but thanks to MTN, they solved our challenge in record time.”

For the CEO of SMSGH, Mr. Alex Adjei-Bram, who predicted rather philosophically that payments would soon be a function of communication rather than banking, technology-based solutions have been made possible and cheap too as a result of the opportunities for collaboration.

The Chief Information Officer of Rancard, Ebow Bentil, whose company specialises in software solutions provision, recommended MTN as the one network to look to, in deploying technology and for support. He said network quality and spread were key for market penetration and those were qualities assured at MTN.

Mr. Michael Ghartey, Key Accounts Manager (ISP & Bulk Carriers, MTN Business), said if anyone was in doubt about MTN’s pedigree, the unsolicited testimonies should convince all that the network was serious with what it promised.

He invited businesses to test the company’s products for their reliability, value for money, and low risk, which he said were scalable to suit the needs of SMEs, small offices, large corporate bodies, and even multinationals.

Source: Ghana Web

Kokomlemle, Accra — One of Africa’s leading mobile and internet value-added service (VAS) providers, Ghana’s SMSGH is preparing to outdoor even more applications as it moves into its newly-built US$1.25 million state-of-the-art offices by the end of October 2014.

This fast-growing indigenous start-up has for nine years run on the back of its three major platforms; MYtxtBOX, Jumpfon, and MPower Payments which have grown its customers to over 25 million across four African countries – Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Kenya – with millions of mobile VAS transaction volumes on a daily basis.

The ever-growing company achieved all this by working from a relatively small space at Kokomlemle, where its offices sit about 40 employees comprising engineers/developers, platform managers, business solution experts, call center executives, and country operation directors among other staff categories.

General Manager of the company, Alex Adjei Bram reveals: “We will move into our new offices by the end of October. It’s an exciting time for the company, and even more, having this coincide with the launch of our Unity Aggregation Platform. This will mark the beginning of something entirely different in our space as it is a global first. This platform will host a plethora of innovative mobile and online-based applications to serve our teaming clients across Africa and elsewhere.”

The new SMSGH three-story building is nicely segmented into various areas, and a tour of the interior showed a bigger sales area, platform monitoring center, app development area, call center, an administrative area, a boardroom, and an anti-boardroom (a more relaxed and casual area for meetings and discussions).

Alex Adjei Bram said when the company moves into its new state-of-the-art offices, located on the same premises as the old one, “there is going to be a flood of applications and services that we will release into the market to further deepen Ghana’s position as a leading VAS community in Africa.”

SMSGH is close to finishing about 10 new tailor-made applications for specific corporate clients for promotions and other services those organizations are about to run in the country soon.

Alex Adjei Bram said “The team here at SMSGH is a very entrepreneurial one, so we measure our success by the result we give our customers. I would not say business has not been good but the financial reward is not our yardstick at SMSGH – to the extent that our customers are getting results or value, and our products are helping businesses to grow we can say we are successful.”

Regulator

He believes the regulatory environment in Ghana has been pretty responsive to the industry but things could be better if the regulations properly encompass every aspect of the VAS space with an orientation towards helping the main players, who are mainly young but skillful Ghanaian entrepreneurs, to grow.

Particularly in the area of stemming abuse of VAS services, Bram said the regulator has been largely responsive and some industry players now need to sanitize their operations to meet regulatory standards.

But he still believes “the regulator has some catching up to do with the VAS industry – we need a regulator that is not too speculative or restrictive because that could also stifle innovation,” he said.

He said “at SMSGH we have effective systems of preventing and checking abuse on our applications and have also signed on to the Code of Ethics of WASPAG (Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Ghana) for the purposes of ensuring sanity in our industry,” he said.

The government has announced that soon it would issue a license for a one-stop-shop clearinghouse for the telecom and VAS industry, and Bram thinks the clearing house is a great idea because “it will bring organization, sanity, and a fair playing field into the entire telecom industry and potentially help the local VAS space to grow.”

Source: myjoyonline.com/

Movenpick Ambassador Hotel, Accra, Ghana — There’s no better measure of a company’s effectiveness than major external recognition – by its appreciative customers, peers, business publishers, and by professional organizations whose job it is to judge quality. The long list of awards and accolades won by SMSGH proves that the company has never wavered from its commitment to excellence on all fronts: from technology to customer service to operational excellence and innovation.

In what is becoming a norm lately, MPower Payments, the country’s premier online payment solution, has earned SMSGH a prestigious industry award – “Mobile App of the Year” at the Ghana Telecom Awards 2014 held on Saturday, 31st May 2013 at the Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra.

The awards, organized by MobileWorld, and adjudicated by an independent panel of leading technology and communication industry experts honored several industry brand leaders in various areas of activity: products and services, communication, and innovation, among others. The night also provided an exceptional opportunity for stakeholders to network and reinforce relationships.

The General Manager of SMSGH, Alex Adjei Bram could not hide his excitement. “We are delighted with this award, as it’s a tremendous seal of approval from our like-minded business friends – whether partners or competitors – for all the hard work that went into creating the MPower brand. The development and launch of MPower a year ago was an important milestone for SMSGH and will continue to play a key role in our growth strategy. We mean business.”

Picking up the Mobile App of the Year award did not come as a surprise to many as in the year under review, MPower Payments for eleven consecutive months met all key internal and external KPIs.

MPower Payments currently has some 20,000 users as of May 2014, a little over 400 registered merchants, and transaction volumes to the tune of GHC380,000 a month.

In a related development that seeks to keep up with the company’s commitment to excellence, MPower has been given the feel of an identity refresh with its latest feature which allows an MPower account holder to convert Ghana Cedis into Bitcoins – an electronic currency that is accepted globally – and buy anything online from Amazon.com or 1,000s of other websites.

Nairobi, Kenya — Ghana’s multiple-award-winning mobile value-added service (VAS) provider, SMSGH has been granted a Telecoms VAS license in Kenya.

The license was granted by the Kenyan telecoms industry regulator, the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK), and it allows SMSGH to provide its full range of mobile VAS and online payment services in that country.

The company has so far set up an office in Kenya and hired local talents who are already serving some SMSGH corporate clients in Ghana who also have operations in Kenya. It has also attracted a few individual clients in that country already.

Kenya is one of the most developed telecoms markets in Africa with four telecom operators commanding over 30 million subscribers representing almost 80% mobile penetration. Kenya is the world’s leading mobile money market and it has thousands of VAS providers, which present huge competition for any new entrant.

But General Manager of SMSGH Alex Adjei-Bram told ADOMBUSINESS said they are fully aware the Kenyan market is highly competitive but “we are not in the least scared because even though there are thousands of VAS providers, practically none of them combines a range of services to provide a one-stop-shop experience for customer like SMSGH does.”

He said the license allows SMSGH to “provide the entire array of our messaging services and the premium services as well. They include premium content, shortcodes, and bulk SMS. It also gives us access to be able to gain connectivity to other channels like USSD, voice, and indeed the legal backing to provide any of our services in Kenya.”

“We know that we will be the only company in Kenya that does mobile and web technology with a 360 approach. We are in mobile payments, we provide content services, we are in business solutions and we provide messaging solutions. I don’t think there is any company in Kenya right now that has all these solutions that we have,” he said confidently.

Bram explained that most of the VAS providers in Kenya specialize in one service or the other but SMSGH is going in as a player that provides synergies in the various VAS spaces so anyone who goes to SMSGH would get bulk messaging, shortcodes, entertainment, mobile payment and even customized corporate/business solutions where necessary.

“We are primarily going into Kenya to learn and grow because Kenya is fast becoming the telecoms hub in Africa – but what we also find is that even though there are lots of VAS players there is little innovation in terms of breaking out of the box to provide a combination of services under one roof – so we are motivated by that as well,” he said.

In Kenya, SMSGH would be providing services through its leading and all-new MyTXTBox bulk messaging platform, which recorded a 53% increase in traffic after a recent update and now seeing traffic from Nigeria, Kenya, and from out the African continent.

It is also going with its Jamfon, on which users are able to download/purchase entertainment content like songs (ring tones), wallpapers, funny videos, SMS alerts (bibles, dating, etc), and others. Jamfon currently has over five million customers and is recording over 100 million transactions every month. It has the biggest subscriber base at SMSGH.

The company would also be providing service on its award-winning online payment platform – MPower, which is currently gaining huge traction around the world because of its high level of fraud detection. MPower currently boasts of over 20,000 accounts and processes over GHC2 million worth of transactions every month.

With SMSGH in the Kenyan market, corporate Kenya also stands to benefit from customized messaging services to give their customers a better experience.

Alex Adjei-Bram said the company also has operations in Cameroun and has recently started in Nigeria as well, adding that the plan is to operate from the strategic markets on the continent and reach other parts of the continent from there.

Localized Location Services

Bram said this year the company would focus on location-based services (LBS), where customers can find traffic information when they need it, share their location with others, and locate their friends without having to go through traditional platforms like GPRS and GPS.

He explained that the system will use the local resources of mobile networks outside of 3G system, saying that LBS uses cell site information to track things and people. It would help people to know what is happening at home while they are in the office just via the use of a modem. It will help to track relations, cars, and other things outside GPRS and therefore not expose one’s information to a third party.

The company is currently working with some consultants and partners from South Africa to develop the location-based service.

“LBS is not as developed as GPRS but it works wherever there is network coverage and so it works fine at a lesser rate,” he said.

SMSGH is currently one of Ghana’s leading Mobile VAS providers, working on the platforms of almost all the telcos in Ghana to provide bulk messaging, business solutions, content, and payment solutions to banks, insurance companies, events organizers, shops, restaurants, media houses and individuals both here and abroad.

Source: myjoyonline.com/

Kokomlemle, Accra, Ghana — SMSGH, the makers of the globally recognized bulk SMS platform, MYtxtBOX, have added new features to the platform that makes it the first in the world to allow users to send pictures, videos, voice/music in addition to text messages.

Hitherto, SMS, both in the form of single or bulk messages was only limited to text, but the all new MYtxtBOX redefine SMS and now allows all the multimedia content on the SMS platform, and they could also be sent to multiple recipients at the same time from either the phone, tablet or PC.

This is an improved version of MMS with an opportunity for interactivity, and it places the SMS platform in the class of web messaging platforms like Viber, Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter and the others.

MYtxtBOX also allows users to create and assign a #Hashtag to ones contact group and allow recipients of bulk messages to easily reply to messages, and also allows new people to easily join the contact group by send a message to the #Hashtag.

“Your own #Hashtag works on short code 1942,” said General Manager of SMSGH, Alex Adjei Bram.

MYtxtBOX, which is available for free registration at www.mytxtbox.com, also allows users to create and choose from as many sender IDs as one wants, and gives the user the option of up to five messaging tools to upload and send messages to millions of people just by one click of a button.

The platform also allows users to monitor the length of the messages they type and thereby able to create a template for subsequent bulk messages in the future, and it also allows real-time tracking of airtime consumption in the form of analytical reports in the user’s account.

Alex Adjei Bram said the all-new MYtxtBOX also offers more than 10 ways to top up credit, including the use of mobile money, Visa Card, Master Card, ATM card, online payment, and others, and also offers great discounts as the people in the group receiving the bulk SMS increases, or depending on the bundle one purchases.

“No other messaging service offers more volume and or recurrent discounts than MytxtBox,” he said. “You register for free and pay only 3Gp per every message delivered but as the number of recipients increases the rate reduces to as low as 1.5Gp per delivery. No contracts and no service charges for the tool on MYtxtBOX. ”

Bram noted that the old MYtxtBox had 36,000 customers from across Ghana and other parts of the world, and it aggregated at least 25million text messages every month, adding that since the new features were added, more people have signed on both here and abroad and it is expected that users would hit 50,000 plus by the close of the year, which is a few days away.

He observed that the main users of MYtxtBOX have been small businesses, schools, churches, clubs, associations, societies, and other such groups that require the same communication to a lot of members/customers at the same time.

The GM SMSGH is confident MYtxtBOX would give value, particularly to small businesses like restaurants, clothing designers/artisans, and others who need to reach several customers at the same time and inform them about new stuff available.

“It is also great for big businesses like banks who need to broadcast available promotions, new services, new offers, and other vital information to several customers at the same time,” he said.

“We have been doing bulk SMS for the past eight years. We have mastered the game and we believe this is a game changer because it redefines bulk SMS and where it is expected to go in the future,” Bram said.

He is also glad that the all-new MYtxtBOX is positioned to drive interactivity between all levels of businesses (large, medium, and small) with their customers at a very affordable rate.

Bram assured potential users that MYtxtBOX is designed to send messages to only subscribers, and not to broadcast unwanted messages to persons without their express permission through signing on to a particular bulk SMS group through the #Hashtag of that group.

The new MYtxtBOX platform also offers improved support services when the user adds a Support Ticket from his/her account.

Source: Myjoyonline.com

iSpace, Osu, Accra, Ghana – SMSGH and Dev: Congress teamed up for Ghana’s first ever eCommerce Hackathon. The event dubbed the Dev:Congress MPower API Hackathon 2013 was hosted at the iSpace, Osu in Accra.

The winning entry was “Fundr-Africa” a crowdsourcing platform where individuals can create campaigns to generate funds to help with social problems in Africa. It was developed by Osborn Kwarteng, Bright Ahedor, and Kingston Tagoe, and out of the other applications presented, it was judged to have the highest levels of creativity, technical difficulty, polish, usefulness, and overall complete utilization of the MPower API.
The DevCongress team worked out the modality of the event and managed to convince SMSGH, the brain behind MPower, to provide sponsorships. The event brought over 50 developers and web enthusiasts together to take part in collaborative computer programming. As a result, the 60-second presentation time limit was pretty strictly enforced, but teams still had plenty of chance to wow the judges and the audience.
“It’s a value exercise. It allows you to quickly think about a lot of different things,” Yaw Boakye, co-founder of Dev: Congress said of the event. “It’s an opportunity to try something you might not otherwise.”

Hackers were restricted to utilizing first the MPower API plus other SMSGH APIs to work on an application of their choosing. C.T.O of SMSGH, Kwadwo Seinti suggested in advance that some consider creating an application that “benefits the society in some way”.

Fueled by soothing music and fortified by a range of nourishment and cocktails, the young hackers worked for 10 consecutive hours on their applications. The majority of applications hacked at the event revolved around Fund Raising. This goes a long way to emphasize the difficulty and need to apply technology and commerce in the generation of funds for groups and the advancement of socially relevant causes.

The 1st and 2nd runner-ups took home GHs1,000 and GHs500 respectively. Prizes were issued instantly into the winning teams’ MPower account which was projected for all to see. Hackers who were unable to complete their apps were given the chance to do so within 14 days. The first team to present its final app wins GHs500.

The Judges for the event were, Kwadwo Seinti (C.T.O of SMSGH), Alfred Rowe (nCodeDevLab), and Reginald Royston from Berkeley University (Researcher)
The Hackathon also attracted professionals in the banking sector. Attendees found the topics of the event applicable to many different fields. “MPower Payments API is the single most complete API for dealing with Telecos in Ghana and electronic money business”. These were the words of a merchant who has successfully implemented the API for processing payments online.

The event was crowned with a charged party atmosphere with great music from DJ Loft and cocktail engineering by Desny’s Cocktail Engineering.

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DevCongress is a budding developers movement aimed at becoming the most vibrant across the software developers space in Ghana and Africa.

SMSGH remains Ghana’s leading mobile value-added-services company with services and applications in use by more than 7 million mobile subscribers. The company aims at blending communication, content, and commerce to create Africa’s most useful technology aggregation company. Its flagship solutions include MPower, MYtxtBOX, and Jumpfon.

Ghana’s technology and software industry is relatively a younger one and with this comes many challenges for those who are in these fields. Countries like Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria have received some level of international recognition for their software industries. In some of these countries, they have had huge multinational companies buy out some of their budding startups.

In Ghana, the software industry is growing and already is seeing some promising startups that may soon become multinational. In this article, I take a look at five of such startups that are ready to be skyrocketed.

1. RetailTower

RetailTower is an e-commerce marketing solution. RetailTower enables merchants to create campaigns on price comparison engines.

They seamlessly integrate between e-commerce platforms and comparison shopping engines. With a few clicks, merchants can export their inventory product descriptions, images, and prices from e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Magento, and osCommerce to publish their products on shopping websites.

RetailTower has over 11,000 online retailers who are all outside of Ghana an indication of their potential in terms of growth and expansion.

The company was adjudged the Utility APP of the Year 2013 at TopAppAwards, Ghana.

2. Dropifi

Dropifi is a smart contact widget that helps small businesses better analyze, visualize, and respond to incoming messages. They promise to help small businesses offer better customer support, capture leads and drive sales through the roof.

Dropifi has over 8000 small businesses as customers all over the world which include TKC Apparel, Colombia International, and ALMA Soul among others.

With the nature of their business and customers, it is expected that they will soon have offices in some countries in Europe and the US to address their growing customer base.

Dropifi has been featured on many international platforms including Forbes, the Huffington Post, and TechCrunch, and was recently selected as the first and only African startup to be among the 500 Startups.

3. Leti Arts

Leti Arts is a startup that is focused on Africa’s superheroes. Leti Arts is bringing Africa’s rich folklore to life through the media of comics and mobile gaming.

This tech company is set to launch The Epic of Ananse, an exciting new comic book series, and mobile game that reimagines the ancient fable of the African trickster god.

With their target market and intentions of running TV series around these superheroes, they might soon expand into other African countries. Already, they have offices in Ghana and Kenya.

Leti Arts has been featured on the BBC World Service, and Polygon, and were recently selected as World Summit Award (WSA) Nominee. They were winners of the Entertainment APP and APP Developer category of the TopAPPSaward 2013, Ghana.

4. mPawa

mPawa is a job-matching service developed by Innokiq. mPawa supports the posting of jobs and the onward notification to blue-collar workers in Africa.

They wish to bridge the gap that exists in the current blue-collar recruitment space; that is getting blue-collar workers into a centralized location and allowing employers to easily reach them.

Their focus on the African continent and the successes in the countries they are already in indicates a possible expansion into other African zones.

mPawa has offices in Ghana and Kenya.

5. SMSGH

SMSGH is a Ghanaian tech company that provides bulk SMS, corporate SMS solutions, mobility, and web solutions among others.

Their story of three young graduates coming together to build Ghana’s first non-telco internet SMS messaging gateway and software is an inspiring one.

They have not only succeeded in building an idea into just a company but a company that sees millions of cedis as yearly revenue. Their turnover is expected to reach GHC10 million in 2013.

SMSGH processes about 10.8 messaging requests every second and over 28 million business-critical & subscriber messages monthly with more than 7 million mobile subscribers relying on them to inform, alert, notify, transact, interact, monetize, and share mobile data.

Their vision of becoming an international brand for business messaging is on course and we might soon see them expand into other African countries.

They were adjudged the APP company of the year 2013 at the Topappawards. One of their products, Mpower Payments was also adjudged the most innovative new app 2013, finance app 2013, top user experience app and was the overall winner, the top app of the year 2013 at the same TopAppAwards, Ghana.

Source: opinionghana.com