Tag Archives: Mi-Fone

Taking On Giants With Alpesh Patel

2 May

Alpesh Patel is the outspoken Founder and CEO of Africa’s first home-grown mobile device brand, Mi-Fone. He is also formerly the Director of Sales at Motorola Mobile Devices for Africa, as well a seasoned entrepreneur who’s seen his fair share of ups and downs.

Alpesh is famous for standing his ground whenever the odds are stacked against him, and especially when faced with bullying tactics by the likes of global mobile device producer, Xiaomi. And in a week that’s seen Kenneth Nkosana Makate win his 15-year legal battle against Vodacom in South Africa, there’s no doubt that this Workers’ Day is all about celebrating the grit and determination of “The Little Guy”.

In this relaxed conversation, I was privileged to discover  the secret behind Mi-Fone’s growth from a modest mobile device brand to having a footprint in over 15 countries throughout Africa. His name is Alpesh Patel.

How To Build Products For Africa And Avoid Failing Like The Altech Node

21 Sep

It’s official. Citing “increased competition” and “unfavourable market conditions” Altron is puling the plug on the Altech Node console and will discontinue its video-on-demand offering come the end of October 2015.

The news comes in the wake of Naspers’ recent launch of the Netflix-clone, ShowMax, which the tech giant is clearly not sparing any expense in promoting. (By the way, you may as well take advantage of ShowMax’s free seven-day trial offer to check out what all the fuss is about.)

What is the best way to build new tech products for Africa?

The Node’s spectacular failure to appeal to consumers has led Tefo Mohapi and I to ponder the question, “What is the best way to build new tech products for Africa?” Perhaps there are lessons that big tech and startups on the continent would  do well to learn from Altron’s costly misfire regarding how to effectively build and roll-out relevant and commercially successful products and services.

Also in this week’s African Tech Round-up, all the week’s most important digital, tech and innovation news:

  • Visa has choses to test ground-breaking biometrics technology— for use at ATM’s, in South Africa,
  • Apple is preparing to shut down the transit app, Hopstop— which it bought from its Nigerian founder, Chinedu Echeruo for $1 billion in 2013,
  • WeChat and Nigerian online tech publication, Tech Cabal are set to host conferences in Nigeria, aimed at empowering developers to make use of WeChat’s API, and
  • Mobile phone manufacturer, Mi-Fone, accuses its Chinese rival, Xiaomi, of intentionally using similar sounding names for mobile devices they have recently launched in Africa.