Category: User Experience Design

WhatsApp channels debut in South Africa, enabling organisations to share updates

WhatsApp Channels, a new feature designed for content creators and organisations to share updates, has made its debut in South Africa this September. Following its global launch in 150 countries last week, WhatsApp Channels is set to revolutionise the way users engage with content on the platform.

South African users will notice a significant change in the user interface, as the familiar “Status” menu has been replaced with “Updates.” Beneath the updates from their contacts, users will find the newly introduced Channels tab. This innovative feature, initially introduced by Meta-owned WhatsApp in June, offers a chat-like feed that allows users to follow specific accounts.

Read also: South Africa limits offensive content on Facebook, WhatsApp

Enhanced User Experience with Interactive Elements

WhatsApp Channels provide a simple, dependable, and private way for users to receive vital information directly within the app. It enables users to interact with content creators and organisations through reactions with emojis. While the interaction remains limited to emoji responses, users can engage with a variety of content types, including images, text, and videos. The structure of this feature closely resembles Telegram’s chat feeds, where users can subscribe to channels and receive content without direct interaction.

Among the early adopters of Channels in South Africa is eTV, a popular television network. eTV’s Channel offers viewers show updates, including airing times and trailers. This addition enhances the user experience, providing a convenient way to stay informed about their favourite programs.

Meta’s Strategy for Channel Discovery

Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, has implemented an enhanced directory feature to help users discover Channels based on their region. The directory prioritises local Channels, followed by those with high activity levels, popularity, and newly created channels. When users follow a Channel, they will receive notifications for new updates, similar to regular chat messages. To access the latest content, users can simply navigate to the Channel in their Updates tab. Furthermore, users have the option to forward these updates to individual chats or groups, complete with a backlink to allow others to follow the same Channels.

At present, only organisations and content creators have the capability to create Channels. However, WhatsApp has plans to open this feature to all users in the near future. The company stated, “This is just the beginning, and we’ll continue to add more features and expand Channels based on feedback we get from users. Over the coming months, we’ll also make it possible for anyone to create a channel.”

A World of Opportunities for Content Consumption

Although the number of available Channels may currently be limited, there are certainly several worth following for the latest updates. WhatsApp Channels is poised to transform the content consumption experience, offering users a new way to engage with their favourite content creators and organisations.

This introduction of WhatsApp Channels in South Africa marks a significant step forward in Meta’s efforts to enhance user engagement and provide a platform for content sharing and discovery. As the feature continues to evolve and more users embrace it, WhatsApp Channels is set to play a pivotal role in the way people interact with content on the popular messaging platform.

WhatsApp creates tools for high-quality photos, videos sharing

Debut of WhatsApp channels

Whatsapp Channels launched in June for subscribers in Singapore and Colombia. The social platform’s introduced this function to enable users to follow various non-governmental organisations (NGOs), medical research institutes (MRIs), fact-checking institutions, and local authorities (CAs) for important updates.

After initially launching in Singapore and Colombia in June this year, WhatsApp’s Channels feature has steadily expanded its reach. In July, it included Egypt, Malaysia, Chile, Morocco, Kenya, Ukraine, and Peru. It has gone on to expand to more than a 100 countries since then.

September 22, 2023
The emergence of a tech hub: Nnewi Tech Faculty

With the rise of technological advancement and the demand for technological skills, having a tech faculty that serves as a physical training center for technological skills is a positive development. Upon discovery of the existence of such a training facility in the city of Nnewi, a part of south-eastern Nigeria, Techpression deemed it fit to speak with the founder, Mr. Bill Achusim, for more updates.

Mr. Bill Achusim, founder of Nnewi Tech Faculty, Nnewi

The Nnewi tech faculty is said to be the first indigenous tech hub in the city of Nnewi, which gives the residents of Nnewi and environs such as Uzobolo and others access to a physical training center where highly in-demand technological skills can be accessed.

Mr Bill Achusim said, “We are a tech hub here in Nnewi, the first indigenous company in the city, where people can get training for modern technological skills like software engineering, data science, artificial intelligence, etc.”

The tech hub has a unique style of tutoring. They do not use the conventional classroom style; they make use of general rooms for students and a community style of teaching. The hub is operated by eleven instructors and four auxiliary staff. Mr Achuism started the Nnewi tech faculty over six months ago after his relocation from Lagos to Nnewi.

Nnewi, when compared to Lagos, is quiet and less commercial, which posed as a deciding factor for the founder. The passionate founder is said to have started the hub as a free training service in his family compound before expanding to a suite in the city in the last two months. The expansion and promotion of the hub have been fueled by the testimonies of the students to their acquaintances. The founder’s motivation for the project was the existing desire and passion in the hearts of the indigenes for technology.

Read also: Nigeria turns into a hub for technological innovation and research – Kola Oladejo

The Achievements of Nnewi Tech Faculty

Some trainees and tutors at Nnewi Tech FacultyThe Nnewi Tech Faculty has been able to mentor over thirty tech enthusiasts to a professional level in the first six months of its establishment. They have over 70 registered students currently in the process of becoming experts. They have been able to offer and encourage technology collaboration in their community, particularly in the church and schools.

Their program is structured and can accommodate trainees as young as five years of age. This, according to Mr Achuism, is the best age to start learning coding and programming.

“We have achieved so much progress in the past by mentoring over thirty people, many of whom were trained free of charge. “We are also charging the lowest prices in the world to learn any skill, ranging from data science to artificial intelligence, because we are actually community-focused,” he remarked.

The Nnewi Tech Faculty also has projects in MedTech and FinTech. They are making a POS app, a hotel booking app, a medical diagnosis app, a pharmaceutical app, and more.

The demand for the hub’s services is growing, which means that plans are being made for a bigger building in the future. The future expansion would include a hostel to accommodate nonresidents of Nnewi.

He explained that “Although there have been one or two hubs to be the first people actually to train people, the challenges are fundamental challenges of Nigeria, and I don’t want to get into politics. We thank God.”

Read also: Nigeria: Edo State wants India support to train Science and Tech teachers

How Nnewi Tech Faculty Manages Competition

The hub seems to welcome the idea of the existence of other tech hubs because, according to the founder, they facilitate needed collaboration.

“The people who design the app are supposed to work with the people who develop the app and the people who do the database.” “So, having more tech hubs in Nnewi will be very wonderful,” he said.

The founder compared the presence of other hubs to the presence of different high schools, which makes it possible for the schools to compete with each other in quizzes, debates, and other ways.

In technology, there are many different niches that need to be managed, so he said that demand is greater than supply.

In technology, there are many different niches that need to be managed, so he said that demand is greater than supply. For these and other reasons, more hubs are needed to show the people of Nnewi how important it is to know how to use technology.

On account of online courses and the potential competition they present, the founder remarks, “People are requesting online courses, so we are trying to get a global audience with online courses.”

The management of the Nnewi tech faculty is also assured that no online course beat their module of physical training. Their training is reported to guarantee a junior-level experience with three months of training and a minimum of three weeks to become conversant with basic operations.

How has the business been funded

The hub has not benefited from any funding and has been self-sufficient. The founder recalls initial assistance from his father during the relocation of the hub from his family residence to the town. The suggestion for such expansion also came from his father.

Current Location of the Nnewi Tech Faculty

Advice from the Founder to Aspirants

“I always encourage everyone to keep doing what they love to do and to keep believing in themselves.” “All you need is to remind yourself that you can do what you want to do, not what people want you to do, and if it is what you want to do, nothing can stop you,” he said.

Mr Achuism also assured every aspirant who looks up to him as a role model that a career in technology is a good choice and that all they needed to do was stick to their convictions and work hard.

His Word on a Marble

“What you believe always happens, and the belief in a thing makes it happen,” he said.

It is commendable that such a tech hub exists in the southeast of Nigeria. Mr Bill Achusim has done a good job impacting his community. The mantle now falls on the indigenes and youths to seize the available opportunity.

January 11, 2023
Kenyan E-commerce Platform Elloe, Acquires Rival Flo- by-Saada

A conversational e-commerce company in Kenya called Elloe has bought rival Flo-by-Saada for an unknown price so it can grow and enter new markets.
Flo by Saada’s team will join Elloe’s product, and engineering group in Kenya as the company uses the technology to make a packaged AI-driven offering to add to its current messaging services.
The startup raised US$1 million in pre-seed funding in April.
Owen Sakawa started Elloe, a conversational commerce platform powered by AI that lets small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) do online business on any messaging network.
Elloe will be able to expand throughout Kenya and other emerging markets thanks to the US$1 million pre-seed fundraising round, which the Philippines-based Mad Ventures are heading.
Gerishon Mwaniki introduced the technology behind Flo by Saada in 2019. This technology lets SMEs make conversational commerce solutions and handle payments using USSD, programmable SMS, Voice (IVR), and WhatsApp Business. Telkom Kenya, Quick Bus, Oxfam, and other retail, entertainment, hospitality, and travel businesses are among the clients.
As a result of the purchase, Elloe will be able to speed up the next stage of its company’s growth. It will be able to offer more services to its corporate clients and reach more places than just Kenya and the Philippines, where it currently works.
“The addition of Flo by Saada technology fits perfectly with Elloe’s strategy and is a natural way to expand Elloe’s offerings.” ” It transforms customers,” Sayawa explained.
“With our conversational commerce capabilities, we’re able to meet the needs of both new and existing customers right now, and we’re set up to continue to meet their changing needs for a long time to come.” We do this by giving businesses built-in commerce capabilities that make it easier to serve, connect with, and sell to their customers from anywhere, on any channel.
Mwaniki says that Flo by Saada was made to help businesses adapt to the growing popularity of instant messaging as the go-to method of communication, both for staying in touch with friends and family and for getting quick, helpful service from brands.
“We are excited to be joining the Elloe team.” Combining our market-leading technologies presents an opportunity to create new, amazing customer experiences, “he said.

Why should you use ELLOE?

Elloe turns a merchant’s catalogue into a fun and personalised shopping experience when consumers buy an item. This is meant to convert customers and get leads.
Elloe connects the Web, social chat, marketing efforts, and social postings so that consumers can work together as one virtual storefront. They enhance real, all-around relationships with your customers and offer them your brand.
As a service, Elloe makes it easy for you to choose to get alerts, notifications, coupons, and deals. The built-in live order monitoring makes it easy for you to answer user questions quickly and in real-time.
Elloe uses our lead generator to produce targeted ads for engagement. Create effective retargeting ads with a 64% conversion rate. Organize and distribute pertinent content, such as newsletters, polls, and advertisements.
Consumers can easily shop thanks to Elloe. The company streamline the ordering process by removing time-consuming downloads and challenging sign-up processes.
The AI chatbot will help your customers right away to finish their orders in less than 60 seconds.
Shop owners can acquire a special link for their stores with Elloe.
Quick and painless integration is possible with Elloe. Social networking sites can take orders, run ad campaigns, and bring in more money for clients.
Customers can add their products to Elloe. Additionally, there are shipping and payment options.
You can quickly manage your information using our easy-to-use interface to upload your menu or catalogue, or we can talk to your API.
Customers can start getting orders by sharing their URLs on social media.
Your customers place orders in their preferred manner while Elloe walks you through each stage of generating leads, boosting sales, and establishing lifelong clients.

About Elloe

Elloe was created to combine the best features of top-tier e-commerce technology and make them easy for anyone to use.
By developing innovative e-commerce practices, starting with increasing local employment prospects, switching to renewable energy sources, and automated supply chains, Elloe hopes to erase a sizable logistical carbon footprint.
The group led by Elloe is very motivated to support small business success.
To push the boundaries of innovation and achieve significant success, the team at Elloe takes into account all factors.
Elloe has many different features, such as Social Commerce, Integrations, Omnichannel Messaging, a Marketing Suite, and Customer Engagement.
Leading hospitality and entertainment companies use Elloe. There are over 8000 of them.

Read Also: Liquid Launches Africa’s First Cyber Security “Fusion” Centre

The Executives of Elloe

Elloe’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is Owen Sakai. He has over ten years of experience as a software engineer and is a serial entrepreneur. He also started RepairNet Ltd. and was its first CEO. After two years, he sold the company for a profit. He advises the Forbes Technologies Council.
The Chief Commercial Officer of Elloe is Abhijay Rao. His active company development experience spans more than five years. He also has experience with sales, digital marketing, lean thinking, and creative ways to reach goals.
Elloe’s Chief Product Officer is Aaron Madolora. A former Air Force pilot, he is now an entrepreneur. He has been a top-level tech executive for more than 20 years and has had a successful career building corporate systems for companies worldwide. He was also JPMorgan Chase’s previous CTO.
Elloe’s Chief Technology Officer is Jackson G. Mwaniki. He is a perennial entrepreneur and product-oriented technology leader.
Elloe cares a lot about its customers, and the rival company Flo, which Saada just bought, will help them reach more people. With the merger of With the teams from Elloe and Flo by Saada, e-commerce operations in Kenya would be easier.

August 24, 2022