Rival Industrial buys Bundublog

2 Apr 2009

Niche market industrial publishing company Rival Industrial has purchased African-focused blogging platform Bundublog effective 1 April, 2009. Bundublog is a South African-based free blogging community with approximately 130 active blogs featuring bloggers across Africa in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Nigeria.

Rival Industrial owns stakes in niche market industrial titles including ManufacturingHub.co.za and Ferronews.com as well as remedial and special education website RemSpecED.

Marc Ashton, on behalf of Rival Industrial, said: "The transaction serves two purposes for us - firstly it allows us to aggregate some of our niche content to a wider audience which helps us generate advertising revenue and secondly it ties in with our longer term strategy of developing an audience for syndicated internet radio content."

According to Ashton, more South Africans are taking to blogging.

He said: "Every day new blogs are being added to the aggregators, small businesses who can't afford a web presence are suddenly being given a free tool through which to market themselves and ordinary citizens on the ground in places like South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nigeria are able to connect with the world and give us real-time feedback of events on the ground - it's seriously powerful if we can find ways to harness it correctly."

The site will continue to focus on Africa, but changes to be implemented include:

Development of podcasts from bloggers
Music platform for upstart South African bands to promote their talent
A science and technology platform, in conjunction with ManufacturingHub.co.za aimed at skills development in this

For more info view www.bundublog.com.