The antibrand: mi-Fone in Africa

By Nadim Nyker

“I don’t really follow the Richard Branson mantra, because they are not in my world. I have got to relate to someone who is kind of coming from my world.” -Alpesh Patel.

In the last six years, the up and coming mogul has sold over 1.5 million mi-Phones to, surprisingly, people who could relate to his (old) world. Alpesh Patel started off as a paper boy in London. And although his consumer market may not be surrounded by mink coats and Yeezy boots, they’re rather subjected to Samsung and iPhone’s starry-eyed marketing and their unattainable price tags.

A craftsman’s guide to replacing your cellphone screen.

By Nadim Nyker

As of 2014, there were 51 million people in South Africa. However, there were 66.1 million active sim card connections. This meant that the mobile penetration (active connections to population) was at a whopping 128%. In SA, 89% of adults own a cellphone, equivalent to that of the highly acclaimed, overrated and (according to Trump) not so great, United States of America. At this rate, with the Weighted blended Average Revenue Per User per month (ARPU) also being at R119.00, surely we were getting our rates and cellphones cheaper than anyway else in the world, or at least in Africa, right? Sadly not. ICT Africa has recorded that SA’s cheapest local operator has a basket price of R52.00, 4.4 times pricier than the rest of Africa. In layman’s terms, we’re being screwed by the system.