This week has been so exciting for me during the challenge. I'm grinning from one ear to the other about sharing my biggest passion - Africa. You need to dissect my brain and see the ideas percolating through it. It's all about Africa! Telling the African story, reshaping and rebuilding Africa, as well as making Africa great.
On the subject of telling African stories, did you know that there are thousands of bloggers across the continent? African millennials and centennials are publishing most of these blogs. The blogs vary from political activism, citizen journalism, to lifestyle and entertainment. The continuous purchasing of smart mobile phones allows Africans to create and access stories from their phones. Many bloggers like myself have blogging applications such as WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, or Medium, according to preference. One can blog by the bus stop, in between class breaks, or when their laptop is inaccessible.
The 17% and 38% internet penetration in North and Sub-Saharan Africa respectively, has not deterred the continuous growth of African bloggers. As indicated in a previous blog, we as a continent are still lagging behind in affordable and easily available internet. In spite of these hurdles, the resilient African continues to press on and disseminate information. Recently an online platform ranked the top 100 music blogs in Africa. South Africa and Nigeria dominate the list with the most blogs. Due to cheaper data tariffs, Kenya joins the two when it comes to having a large number of blogs.
Entertainment and news blogs are the most dominant on the continent. Fashion and lifestyle blogs are slowly merging in the blogging sphere. Due to the need to share recipes for African cuisines, food blogs are also fast rising. Millennial mothers seeking tips on new age parenting have their own community. Beauty trends are an obsession in Africa hence make-up artists, utilise the blogging space to market themselves. Many businesses are taking advantage of blogs to establish networks and trade across the continent. Other businesses are positioning themselves as thought leaders in their respective industries through blogging.
Zimbabwe isn't far off on the blogging sphere. The community is small but clearly big enough to have bloggers awards. As few have garnered visibility to gain advertisers. Some have even won awards locally and regionally. Several host workshops and masterclasses to train individuals and corporates about blogging. Fashion bloggers are Instagram sensations, receiving double taps and verifications through their numbers. In turn, blogging is becoming a viable business.
Corporates are slowly viewing bloggers as influencers to their target audience. We are not yet at the level of our Western counterparts who can live completely off blogging. Most bloggers in Africa have nine to five jobs. Dedicated bloggers use their salaries to invest in tools to improve their blogs.
We still have a long way to go but the journey is worth it. Africans are having conversations around evolving subjects that affect them. Africa is worth marketing to the rest of the world. Expansion of blogging on the continent is inevitable. With the correct structures implemented, we are looking at a gold mine.
African bloggers, write up and be heard!
P.S. Always write your own love story!
Ciao!
Lady E
On the subject of telling African stories, did you know that there are thousands of bloggers across the continent? African millennials and centennials are publishing most of these blogs. The blogs vary from political activism, citizen journalism, to lifestyle and entertainment. The continuous purchasing of smart mobile phones allows Africans to create and access stories from their phones. Many bloggers like myself have blogging applications such as WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, or Medium, according to preference. One can blog by the bus stop, in between class breaks, or when their laptop is inaccessible.
The 17% and 38% internet penetration in North and Sub-Saharan Africa respectively, has not deterred the continuous growth of African bloggers. As indicated in a previous blog, we as a continent are still lagging behind in affordable and easily available internet. In spite of these hurdles, the resilient African continues to press on and disseminate information. Recently an online platform ranked the top 100 music blogs in Africa. South Africa and Nigeria dominate the list with the most blogs. Due to cheaper data tariffs, Kenya joins the two when it comes to having a large number of blogs.
Entertainment and news blogs are the most dominant on the continent. Fashion and lifestyle blogs are slowly merging in the blogging sphere. Due to the need to share recipes for African cuisines, food blogs are also fast rising. Millennial mothers seeking tips on new age parenting have their own community. Beauty trends are an obsession in Africa hence make-up artists, utilise the blogging space to market themselves. Many businesses are taking advantage of blogs to establish networks and trade across the continent. Other businesses are positioning themselves as thought leaders in their respective industries through blogging.
Zimbabwe isn't far off on the blogging sphere. The community is small but clearly big enough to have bloggers awards. As few have garnered visibility to gain advertisers. Some have even won awards locally and regionally. Several host workshops and masterclasses to train individuals and corporates about blogging. Fashion bloggers are Instagram sensations, receiving double taps and verifications through their numbers. In turn, blogging is becoming a viable business.
Corporates are slowly viewing bloggers as influencers to their target audience. We are not yet at the level of our Western counterparts who can live completely off blogging. Most bloggers in Africa have nine to five jobs. Dedicated bloggers use their salaries to invest in tools to improve their blogs.
We still have a long way to go but the journey is worth it. Africans are having conversations around evolving subjects that affect them. Africa is worth marketing to the rest of the world. Expansion of blogging on the continent is inevitable. With the correct structures implemented, we are looking at a gold mine.
African bloggers, write up and be heard!
P.S. Always write your own love story!
Ciao!
Lady E
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