In an innovative first, the world has been introduced to the first Afro Emoticons courtesy of Oju Africa. Powered by Mi-Fone, the first African mobile devices brand, “Oju” literally meaning “faces” in the Yoruba language from Nigeria, is an innovation born out of the motherland.
Aimed to address the need to have a more diverse range of emoticons, the Afro Emoticons which were launched globally today have been designed to be used across all Android platforms, and will shortly be released on IOS.
Oju Africa was created in 2012 and forms part of Mi-Group International Ltd. The African mobile giant had intended on launching the Emoticons at their global brand launch on the 10th of April 2014, however decided to launch them early following discussions surrounding #EmojiEthnicityUpdate and subsequent trends on Twitter last night.
“We had a dream of digitally uniting Africa, liberating Africans from digital exclusion. And with the launch of the Oju Africa Afro Emoticons we are sharing African soul, funk and unparalleled smiles with the world. The launch of our Oju Emoticons has come at an ideal time where celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Tahj Mowry are also becoming increasing vocal about the need for a more diverse range of emoticons. They have even gone as far as approaching Apple with this request, yet what people don’t realise is that there is no need for anyone else to develop these when we have them available RIGHT NOW,” says Alpesh Patel, CEO Oju Africa and Group CEO of Mi-Group International Ltd.
Oju Africa’s Global Brand launch is still scheduled to take place on the 10th of April in Johannesburg South Africa, with leaders in the mobile and technology field and celebrities in attendance. The Mi-OJU Children’s Foundation will also be introduced at the launch. “The purpose of the Foundation is to empower and educate the Children of Africa via ICT,” explains Patel. The launch will then be followed by OJU Africa’s attendance at the prestigious Licensing Expo 2014 held in Las Vegas, USA from June 17-19th 2014.
Staff writer
