South African makes top 50 women in mobile list

Says Mobile Entertainment (ME): “It was during the Meffy Awards back in May that the idea for a top women in mobile content list became irresistible. The idea has been mooted a few times before, but sitting at a table alongside Ann Williams, CEO of Brazilian transactions provider Okto, and watching Beth Marcus collecting a brace of awards for the company she founded, Zeemote, it became clear that the time had come for some proper flag-waving.”

So ME mailed their database to source nominations and as a result, executives from as far a field as Bangladesh, Brazil and Korea all feature in their list of the most influential women in mobile content.

Emma Kaye is the only South African to feature on this list. Her background in animation led her to create Gate7, one of the foremost mobile media companies in the fast-growing African market. She also serves on the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) EMEA board.

Kaye is the driving force behind Novel Idea, a text-based mobile channel powered by Mobfest, featuring well-known South African authors such as Lauren Beukes, Robin Gross and Francois Toerien which launched on 7 July 2008.

Says Kaye: “It's an honour to be named as one of the top 50 women alongside such significant individuals in the mobile sector. It is women such as these that help to influence both our business and social worlds through mobile telecommunications. I feel privileged to be amongst women in such an exciting and influential industry, particularly in Africa where mobile plays such a major role in the lives of every individual.”

Concludes Ralph Simon, President/CEO, The Mobilium Group: “Emma Kaye worked assiduously to establish the first Africa chapter of the MEF, one of the reasons she was recently named amongst the Top 50 Women in Mobile Content worldwide. Mobile content in Africa is assuming significant creative and revenue prospects and Emma is one of the few executives who understand how revenues depend on original African content.”