Umuntu Media has proven this concept to work with their extraordinary uptake of iNamibia and iZambia. The success comes down to truly local content: Umuntu Media employs on the ground journalists and encourages citizen journalism to publish world class local and hyper local news on their platforms.

Umuntu means ‘person’ in Ndebele and people are the core of the strategy. “We want to be the one stop content and information shop for our readers. So far we’ve established a news and entertainment section, offer the largest database of accommodation establishments in Namibia and Zambia, showcase the latest music and events and have integrated a property and job board. All this information is locally produced to create relevance, as we believe it’s the local content that counts.” explained Johan Nel.

Brian Hirman of eVA Fund: “Quality local content is still a gap in the market in Africa. It is a massive challenge, but we have the vision, we have the team and we have the guts to make this happen. We have great confident in Johan Nel and his team. That is why we are happy to invest a second round in Umuntu Media today and will continue to invest and actively support the team in the future.”

For our new office in Nairobi, Kenya we are looking for a FUND MANAGER

ABOUT EVA FUND

eVentures Africa Fund (eVA Fund) is launched in January 2010 by Vincent Kouwenhoven and Brian Hirman. Both founders form the board of directors of eVA Fund and combine years of experience in  business development, management consulting, online business, digital marketing and venture capital.

The ultimate goal of eVA Fund is investing capital and knowledge to strengthen small and medium sized internet related enterprises thus securing and creating jobs and income for large African communities and with that, generating attractive financial returns for investors.

Currently eVA Fund has invested in companies like ExplainerDC (Ghana), Umuntu Media (SA), Pesapal (Kenya) and Jumuika (Kenya). More investments are expected on short term. Please check out the eVA Fund  website for more information: www.eva-fund.com.

MAIN TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Representation of eVA Fund in sub-Saharan Africa
• Manage the portfolio of investments of eVA Fund
• Report results and management issues of the investments to the board of directors of eVA Fund
• First intake of potential digital media companies to invest in
• Generate new leads (potential digital media companies to invest in)
• Legal Compliance – Ensure compliance with all local law

PROFILE

• Young ambitious professional with academic level / degree
• Digital and mobile savvy
• Good organizational and leadership skills
• Good marketing / communication skills
• Financial management experience
• Proactive and entrepreneurial personality
• Good social and presentation skills
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal)
• Excellent computer skills including Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Available as from Q4, 2011

WHAT WE OFFER
An inspiring working atmosphere in an international environment where rapid digital developments, entrepreneurship, professionalism and innovation are combined. We offer a challenging job with a lot of room for individual initiative and development.

INTERESTED?
E-mail your CV and motivation letter to Brian Hirman before 1 August 2011: brian@eva-fund.com.

This was the performance of inamibia.co.na in Q1 of this year after the 15 January launch. The strong growth has continued into Q2 with iNamibia now being the third biggest site in Namibia already.

iNamibia’s aim is simple. Create a world-class online portal for Namibia; make information and access to all kinds of information easier, concise and cool.

iNamibia is a central aggregation point or portal where every Namibian or any other visitor interested in the country and its people and the events that make waves there can find what they want.

Anything from the latest breaking news to listening to the latest release by their favourite Namibian artists. We are creating the one digital destination where every Namibian should go daily.

This is really a site by Namibians for Namibians about Namibia; our editorial angle is fresh, fun but accurate – and we really have a very diversified audience in terms of demographics. If you are into Namibia, iNamibia is for you.

Peter Mietzner, the editorial powerhouse behind iNamibia’s success states: We are really blown away by the uptake and success. The best reward is when we get those emails, letters and pats on the back from our readers who compliment us on our initiative.

When asked how this growth is possible with a small really team and limited budget, Johan Nel, CEO and founder of Umuntu Media, the holding company for iNamibia, just smiled and said: “It’s actually easy and great fun doing it. There are three main pillars to this and when your focus on those and ensure they are spot-on, you start seeing results.

Number 1: Believe in your vision, see the end result and work towards that and never stop imagining.
Number 2: Get the best people you can, create a fun and creative working environment for them and the magic starts to happen.
Number 3: Never forget who and what this is about; this is for the Namibian people, so build and create and tweak constantly to keep the information relevant and your readers engaged, informed and entertained.

We are certainly excited about the digital revolution in Namibia and look forward to even more exciting times ahead.

Visit www.inamibia.co.na and our very own Facebook fan page and become part of the digital revolution in Namibia.

Umuntu Media is an entrepreneurial start-up founded and funded by Johan Nel and eVentures Africa Fund (eVA Fund).Umuntu Media has reserved numerous other icountry portals across Africa and will be rolling them out during 2011. For instance, www.izambia.co.zm is also live already and showing exactly the same brilliant growth as its sister iNamibia.

(source: BizCommunity.com – 22 June 2011)

Kouwenhoven is founder and owner of the Dutch venture capital firm eVentures Europe and Hirman recently resigned as CEO of Isobar Netherlands (Isobar is the world’s largest full service digital agency network) and is now founder and owner of Forventures, a Dutch incubator of digital business ideas.

The first investment of eVA Fund is in the full service digital agency Explainer DC in Ghana. eVA Fund is currently investigating possible other investment opportunities in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda.

Vincent Kouwenhoven: “It’s now time to invest in digital Africa. The penetration of (mobile) Internet is increasing rapidly. Furthermore a lot of enthusiastic and highly skilled young IT entrepreneurs are eager to start new digital businesses, but lack the right support and financial possibilities for growth.”

Brian Hirman: “I am convinced that there are major opportunities in Africa with regards to digital media and e-business. I have almost 20 years of experience in the international digital media and marketing business and I am excited to share this experience with talented African digital entrepreneurs.”