Kenyan mobile directory startup Africa 118 has expanded its services, announcing the launch of an online business directory for Uganda, named InfoMoby.
InfoMoby provides business and contact information for thousands of businesses across Uganda, including in Jinja, Kampala, Entebbe, and other key cities.
Business information is sorted into categories and by location, making it easy for users to find business information, hours of operation, websites and physical addresses.
“We want to ensure Ugandans have access to the most complete and accurate local information. Every day, our team contacts hundreds of businesses and local services to collect, correct or enhance their information in our database,” Ezana Raswork, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Africa 118 said.
Raswork said the new product was developed in response to public frustration with the difficulties in finding business and contact information on local companies.
The InfoMoby team went door-to-door around the cities covered collecting business information using Windows phones, in order to create the directory.
InfoMoby allows users to directly contact businesses, favourite a page for future reference or share page links via social media.
Africa 118 was one of five startups to receive Microsoft 4Afrika funding in February last year, for the launch of the company’s Kenyan business directory. Microsoft has continued to provide technical support to the startup for the roll out of the Ugandan service.
“At Microsoft we recognize the role SMEs are playing in Africa’s economic transformation, at the same time the role of technology in accelerating this growth. We’ll continue working with and investing in these SMEs to grow to be the next generation of multi-nationals from Africa,” said Ivan Lumala, Microsoft 4Afrika chief technology officer (CTO).
According to Lumala, by helping local businesses to grow their profile and attract more customers through the InfoMoby directory, Africa 118 is a prime example of an African startup focusing its tools and technologies on solving business challenges for African ventures.
Raswork said he hopes InfoMoby will expand and be available in five African markets within the next year.
