April 1, 2011

NEWS RELEASE

Social media, email and online chat access provider tackling Africa ’s
digital divide hires public relations firm

Millions of people across Africa will be able to access Facebook, email and online chat on their basic first generation, SMS-enabled mobile phones, without the need for smartphones, device upgrades or product downloads.

ForgetMeNot Africa, specialists in unified messaging systems for telecommunications operators, has hired a London-based public relations firm to promote the unique technology. Parker, Wayne & Kent PR is focusing on media relations with key African, global telecommunications and technology journalists.

Although many countries in Africa have high literacy rates, their populations struggle to access vital information such as healthcare, travel and educational resources. The Central African state of Republic of the Congo is a prime example. Despite having an 87 per cent adult literacy rate just 6.6 per cent of Congo ’s 3.68 million population use the internet, according to UNICEF and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) figures.

One of the reasons is the lack of fixed line internet and the high cost of smartphones on the continent. Although social networking and email access is in huge demand across Africa only 1.7 per cent of the continent’s one billion people used Facebook in 2010, according to Internet World Stats. By launching its technology with Warid Congo , ForgetMeNot Africa transformed the company’s 450,000+ mobile phone subscribers’ handsets into virtual smartphones with its new Warid messenger service.

ForgetMeNot Africa’s unique Message Optimiser technology gives millions of mobile phone subscribers using low-end mobile phones in countries across east, west, southern and central Africa access to Facebook and its two-way Facebook chat service, as well as email and online chat. The service is particularly attractive to young “early adopters”, giving them a considerably cheaper and more convenient way of accessing Facebook, email and chat compared to a standard internet connection.

Jeremy George, ForgetMeNot Africa’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We chose to work with Parker, Wayne & Kent because of their in-depth technology knowledge and experience of public relations in the telecommunications and technology sector. Their passion and understanding for what we are trying to achieve for Africa stands out and we look forward to working with them to bridge the digital divide on the continent.”

Rob Latham, PR Professional at Parker, Wayne & Kent, said: “In a world that is increasingly reliant on digital communication, the subsequent gap in lifestyle between those with and those without access to the internet is constantly growing. ForgetMeNot Africa will enable African people to communicate with their friends and family all over the world through email, chat and social networking simply using SMS-enabled entry level, first generation mobile phones. Their technology is enabling nations in Africa and across the developing world to compete in the global telecommunications market.”

For more information about ForgetMeNot Africa visit www.forgetmenotafrica.com.

For more information about Parker, Wayne & Kent visit www.pwkpr.com.

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Notes to Editors:

Figures were sourced from UNICEF, the CIA and Internet World Stats.

For more information please contact help@pwkpr.com or +44 020 7609 1900.