Oju officially launches all 65 Afro emoticons
Powered by Mi-Fone, the first African mobile devices brand, 'Oju', (literally meaning 'faces' in the Yoruba language from Nigeria), has revealed the full range of 65 Afro emoticons at the global launch for the brand late last week.
Oju Africa was created in 2012 and forms part of the premier Mobile Lifestyle Brand company Mi-Group International. The African mobile giant had intended on originally launching the emoticons at the global brand launch, however decided to launch 15 of them early following discussions surrounding #EmojiEthnicityUpdate and subsequent trends on Twitter.
Designed to be used across all Android platforms, the Oju's will be released shortly on iOS and other platforms. Yet the digital space is not the only area they are intended to live. "Oju is an African innovation, an African character that we have no doubt will become an iconic character across the globe. Africa does not have its own Mickey Mouse or Hello Kitty until now with Oju," says Alpesh Patel, CEO Oju Africa and Group CEO of Mi-Group International.
"Oju is a licensed African character which will be licensed out via emoticons in the digital space, and via a traditional character in industries such as FMCG, Entertainment and Fashion. In fact, the launch will be followed by Oju Africa's attendance at the prestigious Licensing Expo 2014 held in Las Vegas, USA from 17-19 June 2014, making us one of the few African manufacturers to be present at the Expo."
Mi-Oju Children's Foundation
A portion of all licencing fees generated will be donated to the Mi-Oju Children's Foundation which was officially launched at the event in association with Mi-Fone Board Advisor, and globally celebrated best-selling leadership author - Robin Sharma.
"The purpose of the Foundation is to empower and educate the children of Africa via ICT," explains Patel. "The launch Oju and the Mi-Oju Children's Foundation with Robin Sharma will undoubtedly help us achieve our dream of digitally uniting Africa, liberating Africans from digital exclusion. In fact, with the launch of the Oju Africa Afro Emoticons we are sharing African soul, funk and unparalleled smiles with the world and allowing the world to help African children in return," explains Patel.
To download the free set of Afro emoticons go to the Google Play store. For more on the Mi-Oju Children's Foundation, go to www.ojuafrica.com.
