Pocket Officially Launches in Kenya

Mozilla launched Pocket for East Africa at an event attended by top content creators in the country and a high level delegation from Pocket. This is definitely great news for East African content creators as it shows the interest in recognising great content from this side of the world. 

The launch which was in partnership with Aga Khan University, ushers in a space where East Africans have more hand in how they tell and share their stories to the world. The platform will give content creators more visibility and ensure that local content is curated and distributed to  meet the needs of East African online users.

I’ve been using Pocket for almost a decade, as far back as when it was Read It Later and have loved the app. The first thing that got me hooked was how easy it was to save articles to read later and I found it a lot better than using bookmarks. Other great things about the app are the ability to share recommended articles and to view other users’ recommendations. There’s also a great discover tab that lets you in on amazing content from around the world you need to know about. 

The discoverability of niche content is definitely one of the best things about the app. Even better, you can read most articles offline which is a huge lifesaver when you are out of data or somewhere without WiFi. Articles saved in Pocket are stripped of ads and formatting which limits memory storage needs and users can also control how much memory they allow Pocket to use. Additionally, downloads are only possible over Wi-Fi to meet the needs of cost-conscious users who often have limited bandwidth.

Kenya, and the East African region in general, has seen a growth in internet users, making this a great opportunity for content creators, journalists, media companies and other digital publishers. There are currently 23.35 million internet users in Kenya as of January 2022, with the internet penetration rate at 42 percent. This is only growing as cost of internet and devices drops. Digital media and content therefore that cannot be ignored.

Aga Khan University has partnered with Mozilla to identify and work with a team of curators who have put together fascinating and exceptional content from East Africa.  The series of collections from Kenyan curators who bring fresh perspectives from Kenya and East Africa, target mostly under 34 users who are voracious readers and consume a lot of content from the internet.

Matt Koidin, Pocket Vice President and General Manager Mozilla, said their mission is to ensure that the internet becomes a global public resource, open and accessible to all.

The Pocket Downloadable from Google Play Story and Apple Store, saved Pocket articles are stripped of ads and formatting which limits memory storage needs and users can also control how much memory they allow the application to use.

To read the curated collections, check out

https://bit.ly/AKUPocketCollection To download Pocket on App Store on

https://apple.co/3IZfLCv and Play Store on

https://bit.ly/_PocketApp

Follow the conversation online on the hashtags #StoriZetuKikwetu #SimplyPocketIt