Microsoft’s MSN Launches In Kenya

 

Software Company, Microsoft has launched MSN Kenya through South Africa-based Kagiso Media, to provide a fully localised version of the Microsoft web portal to Kenyans.

Microsoft’s MSN is a serious global player in the online international publishing market and one of Africa’s largest portals with about 3.3 million unique browsers per month.

MSN Kenya will host the local content on various sections of its platform – all of which are shaped to suit the needs of the Kenyan market which has an Internet population density of 40 percent.

Microsoft will initially not produce original content for MSN, rather it will partner with local publishers and content generators for local content through the web and mobile.

Kagiso Media in partnership with Microsoft has helped launched MSN in Nigeria and South Africa.

According to Marcus Stephens, General Manager of MSN & Skype, Microsoft’s Publishing & Advertising & Online assets in sub-Saharan Africa – a division of Kagiso Media; MSN looks at the country's Internet penetration density.

"There are more cellphones in Africa than toothpaste business, which forms most of the Internet growth", says Stephens.

"With more than 10 million Internet users in Kenya, we think that MSN Kenya is going to be an excellent platform for brands that want to market their products and services to the country's fast-growing middle-class."

He added that: "Though many Kenyans already visit our general African and South African portals, we believe that the Internet market in Kenya is now of a size that it deserves a dedicated MSN portal of its own.”

“There is a growing hunger for localised content across Africa as undersea cables, mobile broadband and falling Internet access costs bring more people online. We aim to address this need with the same formula of locally relevant, easy to digest content that we offer our audience in South Africa,” Stephens said.

Additional report from: Ventures Africa