Beneath its ruggedly harsh exterior, Mathare Valley boasts  a vibrant and creative pool of young talent. Using basic tools like smartphones, these dancers, musicians, actors and comedians create and post  content on social media hoping to become famous. They understand that with fame comes an opportunity to earn more money and a bigger platform to raise their community’s voice in a society that has long neglected it and a real opportunity to rise out of poverty.  

Unfortunately, local content creation is poorly monetized making it hard for creatives to make lots of high value and relevant content. Once they create it, they generally monetize through affiliate marketing, Google Adsense, and sponsorships. The first two options require some form of bank facility, either wire transfer or credit card details to disburse earnings. A significant portion of the Kenyan population is unbanked leaving many content creators unable to leverage content monetization on popular platforms such as Youtube, Tidal and iTunes and even then, they would need thousands of subscribers to make any kind of real earnings. The same goes for Sponsorships where a content creator’s value is based on their reach.  Lack of  money in the pockets of Kenyan consumers so they cannot or will not pay for premium and paywalled content is another obvious barrier to monetization.

Moja WiFi’s approach to Content Monetization

Moja WiFi provides affordable internet and content to people in low-income areas. Working with five local content creators to develop exclusive content for Moja, we are leveraging Moja’s existing user base in Mathare to create a sustainable web monetization model that truly benefits local content creators. We do this in partnership with Grant For The Web and through our existing premium content model. Moja users earn Moja points by performing digital engagements on the Moja platform and can then use these points to pay for the premium content they want to see.  The content creator receives payment in XRP to their crypto wallets, which they learned about and created during their Web Monetization training. The content creator is free to either hold the XRP as a store of value in itself which may appreciate, or cash out with MPESA.

Over a 3 month pilot period, we hope to prove:

1. Low-income Kenyans are willing to “pay” for creative content when given a mechanism to do so that doesn’t break the bank. 
2. There is real earning potential for local content creators through web Monetization.
3. When content creators realize the earning potential of web monetization, they will become digital activists for the same, encouraging other artists to create and earn online. 

We want to engage with more creatives to put their art on our network and continue commercializing the Moja network so we can offer more monetary rewards to content creators. For every hundred Moja points a creative is awarded by Moja users, they will earn 160 Kshs.

We are encouraging all organizations interested in engaging with young Kenyans to think creatively about leveraging the Moja platform: advocacy and awareness campaigns; short polls and long surveys; and brand awareness. These kinds of commercial engagements with organizations and brands help us offer more monetization opportunities for the creatives on our platform.

BRCK started Moja Free Wi-Fi because we saw that people had trouble connecting to the internet — and this was often due to an affordability barrier, along with an accessibility barrier. Specifically in the African context, we have observed for some time that, despite significant mobile phone penetration, people are still struggling to pay for the internet. With our new current reality of social distancing and quarantining (which may last anywhere from weeks to months), the importance of connecting to the internet has become even more obvious. And recent studies and reports are showing that Moja Free WiFi is uniquely addressing a very real need. 

The Affordability Barrier

On October 30, 2019, the World Bank released the Kenya Economic Update: Accelerating Kenya’s Digital Economy publication. It stated that 44% of the urban population has access to the internet, compared to 17% in rural areas. Just a month earlier, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) conducted a national census, the results of which indicated that 75.1% of all Kenyans are below 35 years and 68.9% of them live in rural areas. So the majority of young people live in rural areas and only a fraction of them have consistent access to the internet. 

Why is it then, that 35.7 million youths — who are typically early adopters of technology — live in areas with the lowest internet penetration rates? The obvious answer would be barriers to access. But can we really claim this when, at the same time, the Ministry of ICT’s Digital Economy Blueprint acknowledges Kenya as a world leader in driving financial inclusion through the use of digital finance solutions? These include M-Pesa, Mula, Pesalink and Pesapal, solutions which have gained traction mostly due to the over 100% mobile subscriptions penetration rate (due to multiple SIM card ownership).

Indeed even census officials, for the first time ever, adopted the use of mobile technology to collect and transmit data. KNBS data also showed that mobile phone ownership is highest in rural areas (12 million) compared to urban areas, which account for 8 million users. So we have the highest number of youth, with a higher probability of phone ownership. And, yet, they’re not regularly able to access the internet. 

Mo… Mo… Mobile Phones

If Kenyans from all walks of life have widely adopted mobile technology, why can’t we get the internet onto those phones? And if other barriers to access still exist, how can organizations like Moja, who are at the forefront of bridging the connectivity gap in Africa, leverage these statistics to bring more of these 35.7 million youths into the internet age? This is Moja Wi-Fi’s perennial question. 

Less than 10 years ago, during a typical work week, most people who were busy commuting from their homes to schools or places of employment may not have had the time to access the internet because it meant stopping by an internet cafe.  Thanks to 3G and 4G mobile technology, the time problem was mitigated. Users could enjoy internet services from any place with a decent mobile network signal. Moja capitalized on this by deploying internet services to over 700 matatus in the country. Users could then access the internet as part of, rather than in addition to, their daily commute.  

Uncharted Terrain and Opportunities

But what about the money? Obviously the cost of internet relative to user income levels remains a challenge for many Kenyans.  There are several organizations that offer free internet services to users as a response, only to be faced with the high network set up and maintenance costs. That, coupled with regulatory challenges, gaps in electricity supply, and a slow rate of user adoption (Kenyans are typically wary of free products and services), have made smaller players pivot or close shop altogether. This explains why, out of 72 network service providers in Kenya, only half of those are operational.  

Still, opportunity continues to knock on Kenya’s connectivity door and Moja is one of the organizations who continue to answer. In addition to the mobile network, we have expanded into 1,300 fixed network hotspots across both rural and urban areas, specifically to reach users in rural and semi-urban areas. 

From the university student who is able to complete their homework assignment from their hostel room to the boda boda operator who can now connect with customers on his ride-share app,  to the office employee who is suddenly required to work from home, Moja is charting a way to overcome the affordability barrier. We are slowly but impactfully contributing to the narrative of digital inclusion, with the hope that by the time the next census rolls by, more youth and people in rural areas will be leading the growth trends.