An idea that started off just to be entered into the 2011 Google Android Mobile Challenge has developed into a popular African movie application with over three million downloads.

The application dubbed Afrinolly was developed by Nigerian Digital Marketing Agency FansConnectOnline. The company specialises in social media platforms and developing mobile applications and Afrinolly is one of its products.

Chief executive officer Chike Maduegbuna spoke to ITWeb Africa assistant editor Simnikiwe Mzekandaba about his company’s decision to develop Afrinolly into a fully-fledged application for movie enthusiasts.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: What is Afrinolly?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: Afrinolly is a tool for movie enthusiasts. It’s a platform for movie enthusiasts to watch African movies on their mobile devices. So you can view short films, or thrillers and music videos - it’s essentially African entertainment in your pocket.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: And when did you launch this movie tool?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: Essentially we launched in 2011. We put through the idea at the Google Android Mobile Challenge and the results came out in September 2011. Between September and early January 2012 we built other versions because when we started we only had a version for Android. So between September and early January we had to build a BlackBerry version.
We’ve basically been going for about a year and a half now.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: What was the motivation behind the launch of Afrinolly?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: Well for us the first thing was the Google Android mobile challenge and when the challenge was launched we decided to just participate. We were really just thinking about building an app for the stages of the competition.
But we thought you know what regardless of what the outcome of the competition we would still go ahead and make this a product. And we found out that a lot of people are actually trying to figure it out. It was like providing a solution to a need that lots of people were having - which is how do I know the movies that are out, how do I know which ones are coming out? So we thought regardless we should go ahead and make this a product.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: And how many movies can be found on Afrinolly?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: If you look at the total video content that is on Afrinolly, whether you are looking at movies, short films and music videos we have over a thousand videos accessible through Afrinolly.

We try to carry movies that deal with African productions - things that are happening in Africa and that’s the kind of content that we have on Afrinolly.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: And when you say African movies do you mean it is just “Nollywood” (Nigerian Hollywood) movies or any movie that is produced in Africa?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: It’s any movie that is produced in Africa currently we have movies from over 10 countries in Africa. We essentially cover the whole of Africa it’s not only Nigeria.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: And to clarify the availability of the application is it available to anyone who would want to download it?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: Our app is available globally not only to people in Africa but anyone who would want to download it. It’s a global app and it’s free.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: So how was the starting process like, once you decided that you wanted to launch the app and make it a product that people would be able to download and use?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: What really surprised us was how exciting people found the product because you find that each person that uses it would say ‘oh this is nice’. The first thing we did was to show it to Samsung – and when Samsung saw it they went ‘oh this is awesome’ and asked if they can have it on their mobile devices and we said yes. Samsung was the first one to install it on their Android devices and when Nokia saw it they also said ‘oh this is nice’ we would like to be part of it as well. We actually grew in that way.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: And how has the response been like since the launch of Afrinolly?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: Well from the end user which is the mobile users we have been very excited about it. Afrinolly is about the only content provider that allows them to actually get access to African movies on mobile devices and for them it’s exciting and they love it. Also the filmmakers are loving it because it gives them the opportunity to market their product because before now most of the time when people think about making movies they think about the production costs they don’t think about marketing and publicity so if you are going to take your product to the cinema you need to drive it with movie trailers so the app allows people to watch those trailers so that people can go to the cinema to watch the movies when they come out.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: How many subscribers have signed up and downloaded the app since its launch?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: In terms of downloads there are just about three million downloads now, this is across all platforms. At the moment we have about 6 or 7 platforms. We have Apple’s iOS, we have Android, we have BlackBerry, we have the Windows phone, java enabled version, we have the Amazon Kindle and we have it on the iPad and iPod.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: Did you even think that the response would’ve been so positive since you decided to launch?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: We seriously didn’t expect the positive results we are seeing at the moment with Afrinolly, definitely not in this short period of time. We just hadn’t thought we would be here and created something people love. We thought it would happen in a vacuum because there is nobody trying to use technology to organise Africa’s movies ecosystem, we saw that as an opportunity and thought okay let’s try and use this as a means of giving people information.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: How important is the mobile phone industry in Africa’s technology space?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: One thing that was clear to us is that mobile is key in Africa, because it is one device that you find in most of people’s pockets. And for movies if you look at mobile devices, mobile devices act as a screen just like a TV screen or the screen at the cinema. Mobile devices are the screens which should act as an alternative of content distribution. Entrepreneurs should make content that is mobile compliant, mobile specific because that content can easily reach people.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: How would you like to see Afrinolly expand further?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: One of the things we are looking at now is that there is a lot of interest from the diaspora people from outside of Africa who are actually using mobile to consume content, and we feel that this is an opportunity for them to work with us. But more importantly it’s an opportunity for them to see content that their peers need. If you look at the stats of who is using mobile it is those who are between 15 and 35. So we use Afrinolly as a means to search for content that that age group needs, and it as a means of making that content available. In that way we are connecting them with their age group.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: What are your thoughts on the technology start up space in Africa?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: I think it’s a huge space I also think it’s a huge playing field and it’s something that people can innovate.
The whole thing is about how you use technology to provide utility convenience for people. And we have so many areas in Africa that have not been helped in that format. With technology you can make these things available, so I think there are huge opportunities.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: What about competition within the mobile industry and setting up platforms like Afrinolly? How is Afrinolly setting itself apart from the rest?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: For us what we try to is make sure that we are creating value for the people. We try to stay on top of operating systems as they are coming out. For instance the Windows phone is just out we just finished creating Afrinolly for the Windows phone and we are now working on Afrinolly for Smart TV. So for us it’s all about making sure that we are ahead and taking the opportunities that are arising and people have means to access Afrinolly.

The second is that we are also working within the ecosystem to make sure that the quality of content people are getting is what people would really like to see – which is where the sharpening competition is coming in. We try to find a way to get into ecosystem so that we can actually do stuff. So for us at Afrinolly our involvement is not so much as an app but as a technology tool to help structure the African movie ecosystem. How people can use technology to promote their work. For us the Afrinolly app is one thing but the African movie system using technology to make it work better is our primary goal right now.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: How do you source content from film makers?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: The easiest tool is to approach us through email at Afrinolly.com and all they should say we have this movie and would like to send it to you. And because of the way we operate people’s content is available when they want it to be available.

SIMNIKIWE MZEKANDABA: Would you encourage someone else to establish a technology startup?

CHIKE MADUEGBUNA: I think it’s important that we have more people involved – there are lots of opportunities in that space. With us we found out that the moment we started operating in this space people like Google started paying attention to us because they could see that we were trying to solve a problem. And when they see you trying to solve a problem especially if it’s a problem that is in line with their own strategic plan, we find out that we are driving the use of mobile and it makes more people consume content using mobile devices.