YoungAfricaLive Youth Mobile Community Launches in Tanzania

Virtual youth community movement, YoungAfricaLive, has launched in Tanzania through Vodacom mobile. Young Africa Live is a mobile community that entertains and educates young people on topics of love, sexual health, gender and relationships which are issues adversely affecting the youth in Tanzania.

The portal gives the youth a platform to speak their minds, through a medium that is accessible, and encourage conversations on topics that impacts their lives positively. Hopefully, this will get conversations going, ideas shared and internalized thereby creating behavior change around relationships, good love, safe sex and HIV.

Praekelt Foundation runs YoungAfricaLive and the launch was meant to coincide with the December 1st World AIDS Day date. The same community which has been very active in South Africa was launched exactly two years ago.

YoungAfricaLive: Tanzania is available free to Vodacom subscribers through the Vodacom Mobile portal http://m.vodacom.co.tz. The URL attract no charges meaning that Vodacom Subscribers are able to be on the YoungAfricaLive portal even if they don’t have airtime. Praekelt Foundation and Vodacom believes that the community impacts the lives of the youth so positively that its should not be left to only those who can afford to pay for mobile data.

“Over the past two years, what started out as a desire to provide young South Africans with free access to information on HIV/AIDS through their mobile device has turned into a vibrant community of engaged young people who use YoungAfricaLive to gain information, discuss issues – and also have fun,” says Gustav Praekelt, founder of Praekelt Foundation.

YoungAfricaLive in South Africa currently has over 656,000 users.  The Johannesburg based Praekelt Foundation is a leading developer of mobile solutions to improve people’s lives. It was recently named the winner of the Social Impact category of the Mobile Marketing Awards for Innovation, Creativity and Leadership in Los Angeles in November 2011.

Praekelt Foundation believes that Vodacom Tanzania’s over 10.5-million subscriber base is an attractive client base for the community.