A recent survey by Open Dialogue revealed that young unemployed South Africans were spending around R1,300 ($81,34) a month on looking for work, with over R464 ($29,03) of this on internet costs. For many, accessing information, job opportunities and learning comes at a high data cost, especially given that youth unemployment sits at around 60%.
But this need not be the case, says Nicholas Bednall, Chief Commercial Officer of MoyaApp.
“The data concern is one we have worked to overcome with our #datafree app Moya, which allows South Africans to access a world of information, opportunities, and services without using their mobile data,” he says.
MoyaApp began as a messaging service and has expanded to offer a host of functionality and access to over 300 content services, including news, entertainment, live sports results, education, weather, jobs, health info, products, and services – all free of data charges to the customer. Over 6.5 million South Africans have embraced Moya for access to the rich online environment it provides #datafree.
“Over one million students use the Moya app, taking advantage of access to over 40 educational apps, and nine job search and assistance apps when they are ready to enter the job market,” Bednall says.
Among the popular apps for youths on Moya is Nemisa for digital skills training, used by 50,000 users a day and over 1.3 million monthly. The Wikipedia free online encyclopedia is used by 20,000 Moya users a day, Google Translate by 12,000 a day, the Dictionary app benefits 9,000 a day, and World Reader – offering free access to a library of digital books – is used by a further 9,000 a day. Fundza, with reading material for young people, has 5,000 daily active users, and Springster, a platform that builds vulnerable girls’ confidence and skills, has 1,000 daily active users.
Every day, 14,000 Moya users take advantage of Adzuna for job searches; 5,000 use the Job Starter virtual career coach; 6,000 visit the Tshepo 1 million Gauteng Provincial Government youth empowerment initiative; 5,000 visit the National Youth Development Agency site; and 3,000 use Ask Gogo, a job classified portal.
“Moya users spend up to 25 minutes per session on a site, taking advantage of the access to opportunities, information and access to knowledge, and during bouts of loadshedding, we see a marked increase in learners and job seekers participating,” Bednall says.
“With our data-free innovative solution and the support of a growing ecosystem of business partners, we have created a supportive platform for millions of South Africa’s young people to participate in the opportunities and knowledge that exists in the digital economy,” he adds.
Moya is consistently on the lookout for partners that can support our youth with at-scale job listings, which allows MoyaApp to continue its support for sustainable job creation in South Africa.
“Building solid foundations in education and employment for the youth of our country ensures the economic growth to the benefit of all South Africans. The youth are the future of any country and we must continue to build platforms that empower them,” Says Bednall.
Edited by Zintle Nkohla
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