In 2012, Kenyan-born Franco Abott and Ugandan-born Brian Asingia, graduates of Lafayette College in Eaton, Pennsylvania, teamed up to do something about the lack of access for hundreds of millions of adults and children of African descent worldwide to authentic African stories. In April 2013 they incorporated The Pearl Dream®, and by December the same year the beta version of their DreamAfrica app was on both App Store, Apple Inc.’s digital distribution platform for mobile apps on iOS, and Google Play, Google Inc.’s platform.
Asingia recently spoke to AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com via email about the DreamAfrica app – its progress, needs, and next steps.
AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com: What was the trigger for this app?
Asingia: The need for broader distribution of African content and lack of access to authentic African stories at home and school across borders. Only 10 percent of books published in the U.S. in the last four years were authored by diverse authors.
AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com: When was the app officially rolled out?
Asingia: The app was officially launched at DEMO Africa 2014 in Lagos, Nigeria, as part of the top 40 Africa-focused innovations.
AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com: Where are you delivering content now?
Asingia: We are delivering content across platforms on iOS, Android and Windows in Africa and the Diaspora. We have teams both in New York and Nairobi, Kenya, executing similar strategies to connect people through culture. DreamAfrica will be piloted in schools as well as used by children at home.
AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com: What is your immediate market focus?
Asingia: Our immediate market focus is the Diaspora, due to the wide access to smartphones and broadband. However, our Africa team is making progress in making content acquisition partnerships, engaging ministries of education as well as the community to tap into the 15 percent smartphone penetration in most areas – projected to be 38 percent in 2020 according to a GSMA Intelligence report.
AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com: What inroads into Africa have you made?
Asingia: Since we launched at DEMO Africa as part of the top 40 Africa focused startups in 2014, we have since participated in African billionaire Tony Elumelu’s TEEP [Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Program] 2015 cohort and received seed capital for our Africa operations. Our Africa subsidiary is located at iHub Nairobi, one of the most innovative communities in Africa. We also have an existing strategic partnership agreement with Ghana’s Alltel Ltd. to install DreamAfrica on their Africa-made mobile devices for educational purposes. We also presented at eLearningAfrica 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the African Union headquarters on the role of ICT in eLearning and preserving African heritage in the digital era.
AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com: What partnerships have you established?
Asingia: UR4Africa for content and community engagement in Nigeria; UHETV for community engagement in Harlem N.Y.C., as well as potential launch of a dedicated DreamAfrica children’s channel on Comcast Video on Demand service. We have also established partnerships with content creators, from authors to publishers and filmmakers, for authentic African stories for children; and with corporate sponsors for community engagement as well as for our upcoming DreamAfrica Award for writers and content creators.
AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com: Your revenue model is subscription based. What are the fees?
Asingia: $5.99 per month, or $54.99 per year, for subscribers in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Fees are discounted to $1.54 per month and $15.40 per year for Africa and Latin America. We also charge a premium content fee of $3.99 for individual ebook collections of short stories by the same author. Revenue is shared with authors and content creators.
AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com: What is DreamAfrica’s greatest need right now?
Asingia: Funding to scale and enable more people to have unlimited access to authentic African stories for children, at home and at school across borders. We currently have a 40 percent commitment to our $1.5 million seed round.
AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com: What is your next step?
Asingia: DreamAfrica will be expanding its NYC and Nairobi teams to engage more communities and monetize DreamAfrica access. We are also finding strategic partners and sponsors for our DreamAfrica Award for writers and content creators making authentic African stories for children and families.
