Mac-Jordan Degadjor's Blog

  The East Africa edition of the All Amber organized mobile technology conferences, Mobile Web East Africa 2012, is set to take place in Nairobi on the 22nd and 23rd of this month. The conference is supported by Kenya’s *iHub and m:lab East Africa. The conference is organized by UK based company All Amber and focuses on facilitating the growth of the mobile ecosystem in the region through interaction and relationship building. Mobile Web East Africa is going to be an action packed, [...]

Yesterday during lunch at the Pizza Inn on the Ngong Road by the Uchumi Supermarket, the question about the number of Ghanaians on Facebook came up again after it was reported that, Ghana is the least country that uses the micro-blogging platform – Twitter.

On February 12th, I left Accra en-route to Nairobi to work on a project by Blogging Ghana – #BLOGH on Ethiopian Airways with a 3hr lay-over in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We touched down at Bole International Airport (formerly known as Haile Selassie I International Airport) at approximately 20:45 GMT+1 local time. Arrival: I was very impressed with the clean nature of the airport and how the security guards were available to assist with any questions ranging from transfers/transits to baggage [...]

Most people these days  think the social networking tool – Twitter is an American or European phenomenon, but you’ll be surprised how heavily it is been used on the African continent based on research findings by Portland Communications and Tweetminster from the last three (October, November & December) months of 2011. Twitter map: how Africa tweets Young people tweeting from mobile devices are driving the growth of Twitter in Africa. This pan-African analysis of Twitter traffic was complemented by a [...]

While researching towards this article, I couldn’t use any quote to support my opening than borrowing this from the BBC: “Democracy does not begin and end with the ballot box” I vividly remember how the socio-political and economic grievances in Tunisia forced the computer science graduate- turned-fruit seller Mohamed Bouazizi to set himself ablaze on Dec 17, 2010 which sparked the Arab Spring. On Jan. 14, just 10 days after Bouazizi died President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali‘s 23-year rule [...]

Who is going to lead the world in 20 years? What would have happened if established global leaders met not only when they were in their 50s, but already when they were in their 20s? While many eyes are on the WEF in Davos next week, Sandbox, the foremost global network of exceptional innovators under 30 already this weekend (from 20 to 22 January) gathered 200 high-profile members from 32 countries in Europe’s City of the Year. The goal of the [...]

Are you a blogger, Internet activist or a freelance online-journalist from Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya or Mauritania? Would you like to participate in a forum to exchange views on the political situation in the region, the role of social media, quality standards in online-reporting, the economic potential of blogging and start a network with your fellow bloggers? If the answer is yes, then consider applying for the DW-Akademie Young Media Summit in Tunis, 3 – 5 October 2011. The DW-Akademie [...]

When it comes to promoting African Technology & Innovation (African Ingenuity) focused initiatives in Africa, one organization/group stands out. The Maker Faire Africa crew deserves a standing ovation for the good jobs they started in Accra, Ghana during Maker Faire Africa 2009, MFA ’10 in Nairobi, Kenya and MFA ‘11 which is scheduled in Cairo, Egypt. From August 5 – 7, 2011; the International Development Design Summit (IDDS) is hosting a mini Maker Faire Kumasi event which will bring developers, [...]

On 9th of July, 2011 Southern Sudan will celebrate its birth as the world’s newest country. The coming secession is the final chapter in what was one of Africa’s longest-running civil wars. For twenty-two years, southern liberation fighters battled for independence, leading to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005. That agreement allowed for a six-year interim period culminating in a vote on secession, which Southerners voted for by an overwhelming majority earlier this year. A report [...]

Yesterday, while tweeting my heart away as I normally do in the mornings, I came across an interesting link referring to a new social networking service from the search-engine giant; Google called Google+. Google+ is the search giant’s all-in attempt to add a social layer onto their other products, and the engineers in charge describe it as an extension to what Google’s already doing in the social scene. They are emphasizing on privacy in differentiating the new social service from [...]

The Tech4Africa 2011 conference to be held from 27-28 October, 2011 at the “The Forum” in Bryanston, Johannesburg, South Africa, will feature a line-up of international and African technologists. The event aims to provide attendees with the opportunity to learn firsthand from technology evangelists about the role that the web plays in African business and development. The two-day conference plans to bring international experience and perspectives to the African continent, while at the same time showcasing what Africans are doing [...]

From the Maker Faire Africa Blog: Maker Faire Africa is pleased to announce our 3rd event, ‘Maker Faire Africa 2011 : Cairo‘ which will take place in Egypt, October 6-8th, 2011.  Join us once again as we continue to cultivate  new and existing maker communities across Africa. As was the case in Accra (‘09) and Nairobi (’10), MFA 2011 will present and spotlight the vibrant and endlessly creative individuals that have come to represent the spirit of ‘making’ throughout the [...]