Nigerian Twins Launch ‘African’ MySpace

By Bruno Gaston
Redding News Review Exclusives - International Editor

ATLANTA, July 25, 2006, 10:00 a.m. - The giant of the internet chatting, blogging, networking and file sharing phenomenon, MySpace.com holds an astounding 90 million plus members in its social playground. This huge market prompted media giant Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. to spend $580 million to buy out its parent company Intermix Media Inc. for its recently created, Fox Interactive Media in 2005.

Nielsen/NetRatings AdRelevance tracked about 197.7 billion display ad impressions in May. MySpace claimed 14.6 percent of all online ads in May and advertisers continue to aggressively fuel a marketing block which so far shows little signs of decline. Even Wal-Mart is entertaining the idea of its own version of the growing web craze.

Twenty-seven-year-old Nigerian twins, Uchechi, also called "Mr. Jeno," and Kelechi Anusiem of the Atlanta-based multimedia company, Jenofenology, decided to take the initiative and create the same kind of success for Africans with its newly created Afriqueka.com Web community forum.

“Our marketing research says that online community sites are the reality TV of the web and MySpace is the Wal-Mart of online communities, but there are always other places for people to shop." Kelechi said. "Afriqueka.com will be the first African community website of its kind online.”

... [read the entire article]