The Oju Range: The First Afro Emoticons

With over 650 million mobile phone subscribers, Africa is said to have more mobile phone users than the United States and the European Union. Consequently, it would be normal for Africans to have more applications tailored specifically for us. A small company has however done something new and laudable; they created Oju.

The Oju range, powered by Mi-Fone, are the first Afro emoticons, and the first African mobile device brand. Oju in the Yoruba language means ‘face(s)’. The brand is African-owned, meeting the needs of Africans from here, in Africa.  This App was launched in April 2013 but developed in 2012 and has had more than 16,000 downloads.

Mi-Group international, the parent company, is based in Mauritius and owned by Ugandan born Alpesh Patel. This is a small African company doing something innovative and unique to attract a global diverse audience, particularly those of a black ethnic background. The company aspires to go beyond an app, aspiring to build an African brand.

For most of us who are tired of the old yellow emoticons and the usual bland ones which are not expressive of what we really feel, this is a great alternative.

According to Patesh, Oju is an iconic character which he hopes will go beyond being an emoticon and work in a non-digital way with a traditional character identity. Here in Africa we do not have our own mascots like Barney, Hello Kitty and Mickey Mouse. Patesh realizes the potential of building the character Oju. Imagine a cereal box with Oju collectibles, and it being as popular as Ben 10. There are endless possibilities of the future of these emoticons such as films, and a television series for kids to mention a few.

The brand has also introduced a foundation called Mi-Oju’s Children Foundation, which will empower and educate children in Africa via ICT. It is an impressive start for a ‘start up’ to embed their corporate social responsibility right from inception, and a challenge to all other companies out there to identify and meet an immediate need in their society.

Oju is available on Google play store for free and can be downloaded on the Ojuafrica website. You can download the emoticons from www.ojuafrica.com and share with your friends. The Oju app is available on different mobile platforms. We look forward to seeing emoticons that represent our Nigerian slangs such as ‘yimu’ ‘na lie’ etc. If you have an idea for an app, get to it, the market is ripe.