Obama MXits Africa’s youth

JOHANNESBURG – US president Barack Obama is asking young people across Africa to engage with him on mobile instant messaging service, MXit, as part of his first official visit to the continent.

For about 24 hours from Tuesday afternoon teenagers and young adults were able to communicate directly with the popular president from their phones or PCs. While Internet penetration in Africa is low, mobile web usage is booming and tools like MXit have garnered almost 14 million users, with its offer of cheap texting. It also allows users to chat and text messages to and from mobile phones and PCs using GPRS or 3G instead of using standard – and more expensive – SMSes. Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are visiting Ghana on July 10 and 11. The first six months of his term in office has seen him addressing other pressing foreign concerns. Reuters reported that as an African-American whose father was born in Kenya, Obama was anxious not to be seen as exaggerating the importance of Africa in US foreign policy.But this won’t be his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa. In 2006, he visited Kenya, Chad, Ethiopia, South Africa and Djibouti as a US senator.Meanwhile MXit has received a boost from a prominent figure like Obama, whose campaign to win the presidency garnered hitherto unrivalled attention and passion both in America and abroad. ‘We are very proud to have been asked to be part of a campaign to better understand and engage with African youth,’ says Herman Heunis, MXit’s founder and CEO.’We are simply delighted that such an important and influential president understands and acknowledges the power of social networking.’ Obama, who was often photographed on his Blackberry mobile phone while on the trail, is known for being a tech-savvy politician. The 24 hour window period opened at 17h00 yesterday and will close at 18h00 (South African time) today, according to spokesperson Sandra Sampayo. Obama will send messages back to the MXit user base after the campaign closes.To send a message to President Obama on MXit, go to www.mxit.com/wap from your mobile phone to download the social network and IM and follow the prompts to leave a comment or question. Simply compete the questionnaire found at MXit’s Tradepost entering your name, city, country and comment. – News24