Introducing Ebot Tabi, a Cameroonian Software Developer

December 4th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Mambe Nanje in Hello Cameroon
send us like an attachment. every review or article on blackamphi must show a picture of you.
it must not be at work. it could even be in a club lol]
what are your names
Ebot Tabi
where do you live and work ?
Buea, Cameroon
how did you get the skills in software development(university, professonal school, online certifications, study from home, internet)
Self tutoring and learning from others
what are the tools you use in your daily activities (windows, WAMP, visual studio, dreamweaver, netbeans, eclipse, etc)
Windows/Linux OS, netbeans, Dreamweaver, XAMP/LAMP, eclipse
how long have you been writing codes or doing any form of software engineering/development
2 years
can you give some examples of projects you have developed or you have been a part of the development
Naijaborn.com, currently thinking on a location based directory service for some african countries for sometime in futur.
are you more into object oriented programming or structural/procedural programming, or something else like aspect oriented etc.
Object Oriented programming
while developing/engineering do you believe in KISS(Keep It Simple…) and Less is more ??
KISS
what are some of the software development design patterns you have used (eg MVC, Facade, Observer, front controller, singleton)
MVC
what software development cycles have you used before (Extreme Programming, SCRUM, Waterfall, Agile, Itterative, etc)
Agile
do you find design patterns usefull and do you think they help make codes orderly for teams to work together and future maintenance a breeze
Yes
can you tell us about any computerscience theories you have applied before ( Bayesian Theory, parallel computing, Bigtable, Mapreduce, Active Records, etc)
Active Records
do you work in a team environment if so what tools do you use for collaboration (eg collabtive, unfuddle, basecamp)
SVN
how important are deadlines in your work?
too important
are you into software outsourcing and do you think it will help enrich and empower Africans
It is helping  nations such: India, so i think it can also help us here in Africa
what do you think about software development frameworks like Kohanaphp, codeigniter, hibernate, django, castle monorails, .NET frameworks, J2EE frameworks
They all have their place, and are very important when i comes to speed development and code maintainance
do you think those frameworks will help African developers easily adhere to software development best practises?
yes
which do you prefer more: php, python, java, CSharp, ruby, etc
Java
what do you think about open source vs proprietory technologies
Open source
what are some of the challenges you face as a software developer in Africa ?
The software market and VC funds
what do you think could be done to get rid of these challenges ?
Funding >  Bootstrap
what word do you have for other aspiring software developers in Africa ?
Africa still need solution, everyone should go for it.
how can people interested in working with you get to contact you ?
info@ebotttabi.com, ebot.tabi@gmail.coO

Once again here we are on the black amphitheater, but this time around I will be talking about my own colleague and I remember a few years back when I met him and he was very much eager to get into software and web development and wanted to immidiately start coding on www.ubstudents.com also remember instructing his men Ebot Ndip www.ebotndip.com to take him through the java drills….

Enough of my talking lets get to know Ebot Tabi from the picture below and the question and answer session that follows.

ebottabi-blackamphi-com

What are your names

Ebot Tabi

Where do you live and work

Buea, Cameroon

How did you get the skills in software development(university, professonal school, online certifications, study from home, internet)

Self tutoring and learning from others

What are the tools you use in your daily activities (windows, WAMP, visual studio, dreamweaver, netbeans, eclipse, etc)

Windows/Linux OS, netbeans, Dreamweaver, XAMP/LAMP, eclipse

How long have you been writing codes or doing any form of software engineering/development

2 years

Can you give some examples of projects you have developed or you have been a part of the development

Naijaborn.com, currently thinking on a location based directory service for some african countries for sometime in future.

Are you more into object oriented programming or structural/procedural programming, or something else like aspect oriented etc.

Object Oriented programming

While developing/engineering do you believe in KISS(Keep It Simple…) and Less is more

KISS

What are some of the software development design patterns you have used (eg MVC, Facade, Observer, front controller, singleton)

MVC

What software development cycles have you used before (Extreme Programming, SCRUM, Waterfall, Agile, Itterative, etc)

Agile

Do you find design patterns usefull and do you think they help make codes orderly for teams to work together and future maintenance a breeze

Yes

Can you tell us about any computerscience theories you have applied before ( Bayesian Theory, parallel computing, Bigtable, Mapreduce, Active Records, etc)

Active Records

Do you work in a team environment if so what tools do you use for collaboration (eg collabtive, unfuddle, basecamp)

SVN

How important are deadlines in your work

too important

Are you into software outsourcing and do you think it will help enrich and empower Africans

It is helping  other nations e.g  India, so I think it can also help us here in Africa

What do you think about software development frameworks like Kohanaphp, codeigniter, hibernate, django, castle monorails, .NET frameworks, J2EE frameworks

They all have their place, and are very important when it comes to speed of development and code maintainance

Do you think those frameworks will help African developers easily adhere to software development best practises

yes

Which do you prefer more: php, python, java, CSharp, ruby, etc

Java

What do you think about open source vs proprietory technologies

Open source

What are some of the challenges you face as a software developer in Africa

The software market and VC funds

What do you think could be done to get rid of these challenges

Funding >  Bootstrap

What word do you have for other aspiring software developers in Africa

Africa still need solution, everyone should go for it.

How can people interested in working with you get to contact you

info@ebotttabi.com, ebot.tabi@gmail.com

Popularity: 1% [?]

 

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Mambe Nanje has written a total of 15 posts on Black Amphi

Mambe Nanje

I am an African Software Entrepreneur. I speak and write FRENCH and ENGLISH very well and am doing business across the world. I am behind www.afrovisiongroup.com www.naijaborn.com www.villagediary.org and many more. My personal blog: http://mambenanje.blogspot.com twitter: www.twitter.com/mambenanje facebook: www.facebook.com/mambenanje

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Enstine Muki Musaga from Cameroon Stays Focused

November 2nd, 2009 | 2 Comments | Posted by Mambe Nanje in Hello Cameroon

Hey people!

We’re back again to Africa in Miniature. This time around, we are neither near Mount Fako nor on the grasslands but somewhere around the coast, in the economic capital.  While all commands come from Yaounde, I guess Douala is where all the money gets printed :D . Not really! But it is obvious that Business on this highly populated and busy town is at its peak. Talking of business, you know, of course, we can’t leave software and the web  development out of the ring. Who are we “investigating” now? There is a php/MySQL guru on the line.

Hello….. Anybody there?….. Echo…

Oh, here he comes. The first to be interviewed by us in his Region. As usual, per our tradition, we let him express himself because no one can possibly talk about him more than his very self.

Enstine Muki

What are your names?
My names are Enstine Muki Musaga.

Where do you live and work ?
Douala, Littoral Region of Cameroon

How did you get the skills in software development(university, professional school, online certifications, study from home, internet)?

I got into the digital world with screw-drivers lol … Well I got my first training as PC Technician far back in 2001 and my trip to software (web apps) sprung from an annoying experience I had while serving as computer operator in one construction company in Douala, 2003. My boss asked me to get someone to setup a website for the company so I called this guy who came and tabled a bill of 300,000fcfa and said he was to deliver in 2 weeks. Oh God! I said this guy’s slapping my face. He can not just come here and walk away with such a juicy sum so I told my boss I was going to do it (good enough he was not ready to pay that kind of money ‘just for a website’). Holy Cow! I was enraged and determined to break the hard wall so I laid my hands on html and put up my first website on geocities later in 2003 (about 2 weeks later). So by mid 2004, I was ‘eating’ html and could do some pretty good designs with fireworks 3. Not long, I picked up a piece of design job with a group of PHP developers in California USA and requested for PHP training as pay package. So these guys took me through online (principally using yahoo messenger, email and urls)

What are the tools you use in your daily activities (windows, WAMP, visual studio, dreamweaver, netbeans, eclipse, etc)?

My major tools are Internet, Dreamweaver and Fireworks. There are a couple of others but with these, I often produce satisfactory results and of course Windows OS and WAMP

How long have you been writing codes or doing any form of software engineering/development?

You can count the years from late 2004 lol

Can you give some examples of projects you have developed or you have been a part of the development?

I have quite a good number of works…but let me just highlight the most recent, most active and possibly most used…

CredFollow: Do you tweet? Well if you said yes, you should know what it means to get Twitter followers. I just put up CredFollow (http://credfollow.com) a twitter site aimed at bringing targeted twitter followers to its members. Based on Twitter’s Oauth API, authentication is 100% safe. No auto tweet in it please lol. so if you believe in the Twitter marketplace, hurry and grab your FREE account before I change my mind

NjangiHost: I am a co-founder Njangihost.com Feb 2008 and it’s today the No. 1 web hosting institution in Cameroon. Check it here [http://www.webhosting.info/webhosts/tophosts/Country/CM]

NoStress CMS: Have you ever heard of “NoStress CMS”? I started that far back in 2006 and it’s running on many sites already. Though I dropped it for other projects, it’s not dead. Watch for its return. It’s going to be open source

Some other web applications include:
Gesforet: A complete ajaxified application for companies doing forest exploitation… Ref: Cameroon United Forest (CUF) http://cufcm.com

CyberCash: Web based money transfer application plus instant SMS alert
Ref: UNICS http://unicspeedycash.com
TRANSAFREX: http://transafrex.com,

OPENSMS: A web based sms application with reseller account management. In fact, I give this to my clients under their brand name: ipwSMS, betaSMS, simpleSMS, njangiSMS

Some other sites include:

The first site to run NoStress SMS http://cameroon-business.com

http://cufcm.com

http://camarues.com

http://btp-djemo.com

http://cometal-superdoll.com

http://cemactours.com

http://carehealthprogram.org

http://gccint.org

http://neltatravel.com

Are you more into object oriented programming or structural/procedural programming, or something else like aspect oriented etc…?

Both are necessities depending on the weight of the project. For real projects, I do OOP but for some simple needs, structural programming will be quicker to implement.

While developing/engineering do you believe in KISS (Keep It Simple…) and Less is more ?

Every software developer strives to make his/her products friendly. You know as I do that the more complex a system is, the more it needs to deploy. Simple and useful apps sell faster except simplicity means weakness.

What are some of the software development design patterns you have used (eg MVC, Facade, Observer, front controller, singleton)?

MVC is what I have used and I like its implementation in CodeIgniter (CI) www.codeigniter.com

Do you find design patterns useful and do you think they help make codes orderly for teams to work together and future maintenance a breeze?

I think most development framework are based on these patterns. That further goes to project its importance. If I do a project using CI (MVC) any other developer using CI will go through the code crossing his legs

Do you work in a team environment? If so, what tools do you use for collaboration (eg collabtive, unfuddle, basecamp)?

I do not work in a team environment for now. May be for future projects

How important are deadlines in your work?

Holy Cow! They are as important as the check. You don’t deliver your projects on time and if you are the cause of the delay, know that you are drifting far off your next projects.

Are you into software outsourcing and do you think it will help enrich and empower Africans?

If Africans can deliver critical projects, they may grab projects from Indian developers. There are lots of projects in the market. Whether they are given us or sent to India depends on results. The best developers eat the fattest bones.

What do you think about software development frameworks like Kohanaphp, codeigniter, hibernate, django, castle monorails, .NET frameworks, J2EE frameworks?

There is no doubt that frameworks go a long way to enhance team work, facilitate the development process and of course step up productivity. These are all great tools depending on the choice of technology.

Do you think those frameworks will help African developers easily adhere to software development best practices?

African developers should adhere to these best practices whether on frameworks or not

Which do you prefer more: php, python, java, CSharp, ruby, etc?

I do not do other languages apart from PHP so I prefer what I know to what I do not

Enstine Muki Musaga

What do you think about open source vs proprietary technologies?

I think the Internet is growing this fast thanks to Open Source technology which has a bigger community. In the Open Source kingdom, there is more room for scalability as every user is free to contribute to its growth. In a nutshell, I think the Open Source tech offers more to users.

what are some of the challenges you face as a software developer in Africa ?

The main challenge here is the client. Most of the people don’t know what they want. Sometimes, they want everything for free or little pay. A lot is still to be done.

What do you think could be done to get rid of these challenges ?

Nothing other than information! Information on how things should be done should be circulated. In short, Training is the right word.

What word do you have for other aspiring software developers in Africa?

All I have for them is that everything there need is available on the Internet ( Professional training, study materials, certification, fame, jobs,etc). All they need is Internet signal and probably some guiding steps. In addition, there is a big virgin market.

How can people interested in working with you get to contact you?

All my contacts are available on http://enstine.net though I need to update it… ;)
You can also follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/enstine
If you use CredFollow, watch out for updates: http://twitter.com/credfollow

Thanks for your time, Mr Enstine Muki. I equally thank all those watching out for what we have to offer. Black Amphi is always at your service.

Popularity: 2% [?]

 

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Mambe Nanje has written a total of 15 posts on Black Amphi

Mambe Nanje

I am an African Software Entrepreneur. I speak and write FRENCH and ENGLISH very well and am doing business across the world. I am behind www.afrovisiongroup.com www.naijaborn.com www.villagediary.org and many more. My personal blog: http://mambenanje.blogspot.com twitter: www.twitter.com/mambenanje facebook: www.facebook.com/mambenanje

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Adesoji ‘JesusFreak’ Adegbulu Sees No Limit!!!

October 19th, 2009 | 2 Comments | Posted by Mambe Nanje in Hello Nigeria
Adesoji Adegbulu

We are not done with Hello Nigeria yet. As a matter of fact, I am not sure we will ever be able to get done with Nigeria or any other African country. Nigeria is fast patronising this Amphitheater. In just a short while we have met five Naija robots already(a.k.a naijaborns). Yeah, I call them robots because like me, I doubt if these guys do sleep at all. They work very hard to get software and web development running smoothly in Africa so that we don’t have to sit on our arms and wait for others to babysit us. There are many entrepreneurs in Africa who have vowed that in the nearest future, the West will have to outsource to Africa NOT only for  cheap labor but also for bigger brains.

There is a freak, a freak for Jesus, I will want you to meet. As the curtains open, let’s put our hands together for… oh, let’s hear everything from the horse’s mouth.

What are your names?

I am named Adesoji Adegbulu. Some friends know me as JesusFreak and freeblogger.

Where do you live and work?

I live in Nigeria and work from home as a Consultant – Social Media and Web Technology. A Web Developer, Social Network Marketer, Entrepreneur, Coach and a Blogger

How did you get the skills in web development (university, professional school, online certifications, study from home, Internet)?

I will say it’s a combination of all. The reason is that, I studied Agricultural Engineering as a major in the university but did web development as a minor course. During most weekends and Academic union strikes, I either go to a professional school or study from home or study on the internet.

What are the tools you use in your daily activities (Windows, WAMP, Visual Studio, Dreamweaver, Netbeans, Eclipse, etc)?

The tools are very obvious. I use the internet as my first tool. I use that for reading and learning new things on web development. I also use windows (I’m considering using Mac), Dreamweaver, Photoshop, SwishMax, Corel Draw, Flash, FileZilla (FTP), WordPress and other tools and websites I come across online.

How long have you been writing codes or doing any form of web development?

Though I started learning about it sparingly in 2002 but I started doing web development in 2007. And you know web development involves writing codes too.

Can you give some examples of projects you have developed or you have been a part of the development?

I have always developed websites as a team. You should know that it is the best thing we can do. Things are achieved more as a team. I have been part of the development of www.ccfnifes.org,  www.getinspiredng.com and www.9jacorp.com (will be launched on November 6th, 2009).

Which part of web development are you more into?

I am more into building dynamic sites, web content management and web administration.

While developing, do you believe in KISS (Keep It Simple…) and Less is more?

Sure, I believe keeping things simple will make the web to be easily navigable. The website will be somewhat ‘user friendly’. The web users will be able to make good use of the website than one bulky site that gets web users confussed. Less is actually more, focused and direct to purpose. Anyway, keeping things simple does not mean neglecting the core stuffs that should be on the website.

Do you find design patterns useful and do you think they help make codes orderly for teams to work together and future maintenance a breeze?

Yes. I consider design patterns as a foundation or a blueprint. Without them, working together as a team or working on the web in the future will be a hard task to come. It will be like reinventing the wheel over and over again.

How important are deadlines in your work?

Adesoji Adegbulu

Deadlines are very important. I hate being disappointed and I would not want to disappoint others. So what I do is to give my clients enough time. This is done at the start of the basic planning. If I’m going to complete a work in 4 weeks, I will add an extra 1 or 2 weeks. So, at the start, I will inform my client that I will deliver in the next 5 or 6 weeks.

Which do you prefer more: php, python, java, CSharp, ruby, etc?

I prefer and use HTML, PHP, CSS and JAVASCRIPT. I’m learning to incorporate SQL, AJAX

What do you think about open source vs proprietary technologies?

I think both have their own advantages and disadvantages. I like open source for what it is – “OPEN” and also like proprietary technologies because it motivates developers to work and learn more. To me, there is nothing that cannot be learned and made better whether open source or proprietary.

What are some of the challenges you face as a web developer in Africa?

The major challenge is competition. There are lots of web developers and aspiring web developers in Africa. One other challenge is the image to which we see ourselves and which other nations of the world view Africans. The last challenge to web developers in Africa is limited access to Information and Internet Technologies and trends.

What do you think could be done to get rid of these challenges?

To get your share means that you have to devise your own uniqueness. It is your uniqueness and excellent service that draws the market to you. Once this is done, the effect of competition will be minimized. On the image thing, without prejudice, we see ourselves and other nations see us mediocre not until we prove the stuff we are made of. They see our skins as black and thinks we are black within not until we show that we are not judge by the color of our skins but by the content of our minds. On the challenge of limited access to Information and Internet Technologies and trends, what we need do is to get out of our comfort zones and lay hold on the things we should have. So far that some people can have adequate access gives us leverage that we can attain the same. We should make good use of the internet to learn, relearn and unlearn some whacked ideas.

If you are “Jack”, too much work without leisure will obviously make you a dull boy LOL. What do you do when you are off the job?

It is either I sleep or watch movies or go to the cinema, play PC games, go and see friends or read a book at times I just listen to music.

What word do you have for other aspiring web developers in Africa?

I am still aspiring though but my word is simple – and telling myself too. We must keep learning, getting the required knowledge and wisely putting them into practice with our own specialty and uniqueness. I will also say that we should seek more of value, qualitative relationships and good networking with the made web developers and other aspiring web developers. We have a lot to learn and do as African web developers.

How can people interested in working with you get to contact you?

I live on the internet. I have houses on Facebook (www.facebook.com/adesojiadegbulu and www.facebook.com/freeblogger), on Twitter (www.twitter.com/adesojiadegbulu and www.twitter.com/9jacorp), on Naijapulse (www.naijapulse.com/adesojiadegbulu), on Twitternaija (www.twitternaija.com/adesojiadegbulu), on One Page (www.onepage.com/jesusfreak), on Naijaborn, 9jabook, Myspace, Linkedin etc

You can get in touch with me on any of these. You can also get in contact with me on
Phone: +2348059605025
Email: adesoji.adegbulu.com
Skype: adesojiadegbulu
Yahoo messenger: adesojiade
Google Talk: adesoji.adegbulu@gmail.com

Some final words.

I came to know Mambe as if i had known him before. Thank you for this opportunity to be featured on BlackAmphi.

God bless AfroVisioN Group, God bless BlackAmphi, God Bless Africa. We would make God and our continent proud!

Popularity: 1% [?]

 

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Mambe Nanje has written a total of 15 posts on Black Amphi

Mambe Nanje

I am an African Software Entrepreneur. I speak and write FRENCH and ENGLISH very well and am doing business across the world. I am behind www.afrovisiongroup.com www.naijaborn.com www.villagediary.org and many more. My personal blog: http://mambenanje.blogspot.com twitter: www.twitter.com/mambenanje facebook: www.facebook.com/mambenanje

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Victor Asobo Taka from Bamenda Describes “His World”

October 14th, 2009 | 22 Comments | Posted by Mambe Nanje in Hello Cameroon

Asobo Victor

After hearing from Mambe Nanje Churchill and Minang Suh Franklin, we are back again on Hello Cameroon. This time, we shall be moving up North from Buea (the base of AfroVisioN Group) to Bamenda (Abakwa Town) to meet a software/web monster who has been breaking walls and creating highways for IT to flourish in the town and the country at large.

He has been an inspiration to many people around him and by this interview, we hope he gets to inspire and encourage more people. Here we go…

What are your names?
Victor Asobo Taka my friends call me toofinevicky [2 fine Vicky]

Where do you live and work?
Live in and work in Bamenda, NW Region of Cameroon.

How did you get the skills in software development
(University, professional school, online certifications, study from home, internet)?
I was introduced to turbo Pascal in High School [C.P.C Bali], this gave me the ability to try html from scratch, and did the rest at home.

What are the tools you use in your daily activities (windows, WAMP, visual studio, Dreamweaver, Netbeans, eclipse, etc)?
Windows as my OS, WAMP, Dreamweaver, notepad, depending on the complexity of the job.

How long have you been writing codes or doing any form of software engineering/development?
I did my first coding with notepad in 2003

Can you give some examples of projects you have developed or you have been a part of the development?
www.flexcominstitute.com
www.aziccul.org
www.glomaships.com
www.bamendacitycouncil.com
www.directcameroon.com – Part of the Team
www.justiceandpeacebamenda.org
www.bamendauniversity.com – Part of the team

Are you more into object oriented programming or structural/procedural programming, or something else like aspect oriented etc.?
Object Oriented Programming [OOP]

While developing/engineering do you believe in KISS (Keep It Simple…) and Less is more ?
Controlling complexity is the essence of computer programming.
Beauty is more important in computing than anywhere else in technology because software is so complicated.
Beauty is the ultimate defence against complexity.
That’s why in my development, I try as much as possible to Keep it Simple.

What are some of the software development design patterns you have used (eg MVC, Facade, Observer, front controller, singleton)?
Separating the presentation logic from business logic is a more professional development pattern. This is efficient when I have multiple objects needed to coordinate actions across the system I’m developing else the singleton pattern is used.

What software development cycles have you used before (Extreme Programming, SCRUM, Waterfall, Agile, Itterative, etc)?
Depending on the project at hand, and as a developer, I strive to implement the Agile Software development methods or cycles. Well… not like I’ve used all, I mostly use the XP (Extreme Programming). This gives room for a lot of checks and accuracy in coding,

Do you find design patterns useful and do you think they help make codes orderly for teams to work together and future maintenance a breeze?
Definitely, I find patterns useful, we all need to be guided sometimes, it also depends on you ability and methodology, and yes design patterns can guide a team, if only you play by the rules.

Do you work in a team environment if so what tools do you use for collaboration (eg Collabtive, unfuddle, Basecamp)?
Most often I work alone, I also have a small network with associate developers. We seldom use a collaborative software environment.

How important are deadlines in your work?
Deadlines are important as the air we breathe. Deadlines are what makes us popular. Deadlines are what keep clients coming back. Deadlines also makes our pockets swell… lol

Are you into software outsourcing and do you think it will help enrich and empower Africans?
I believe so much in people. I believe that making people grow makes you grow indirectly. Outsourcing does not empower Africans, it makes then dependent to the west. With handwork and determination we will be able to develop our own stuffs depending solely on us Africans.

what do you think about software development frameworks like Kohanaphp, codeigniter, hibernate, django, castle monorails, .NET frameworks, J2EE frameworks?
Personally, I think frameworks are a good idea, when it comes to complex applications. One of the most outstanding advantages is time; it gives room for rapid development. It also enhanced opportunities with a repository of reusable application code. Besides this it reduced risk and reduced cost of project deployment, also reduced cost by dramatically lowering the amount of low-level coding. I think they are a good support for us.

Do you think those frameworks will help African developers easily adhere to software development best practises?

Victor Asobo

Yes and no.
Development of PHP scripts without a preconceived plan to manage them is asking for a headache. The goal of a framework is to make the process of writing web-based applications simpler. A good framework is easy to learn, simple to use, intuitive to work with, easy to extend or to modify, rapid to build (maintain) applications with and of course stable.

Different framework have different coding convention, depending upon the framework, you’ll have to learn coding convention for the same framework which you want to follow, also while coding using these frameworks, sometime you’ll not find any library or helpers which might be useful for you. Also, frameworks are not for the small projects, because in a very simple project custom coding will work faster than setting up a framework, and our African market relies on small projects.

Therefore, on a personal note, frameworks have helped me very much to understand especially my elasticity in development. Any Developer who wants to go as far as possible will be advised to understand how frameworks work, who knows, one day the west will rely on us to deploy huge projects.

Which do you prefer more: php, python, java, CSharp, ruby, etc?
php is my Joker

What do you think about open source vs proprietory technologies?
open source matters a lot for me. Not only does it make me satisfy my clientele, it’s really educative too. That’s why I am joining forces with one of my collaborators on the first open Source CMS Cameroon has never come across. Watch out for “ No Stress” CMS…

What are some of the challenges you face as a software developer in Africa?
The Clients… They really don’t know what they want. They give you parameters to follow, and at the nuke of time, they change every thing. Client is King but that will not mean we are slaves.

What do you think could be done to get rid of these challenges?
It’s like we need to sensitize the public about our profession.

What word do you have for other aspiring software developers in Africa?
Dream, get a mentor, be crazy, and speak the truth… lol

How can people interested in working with you get to contact you?
on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/victor.taka
on Twitter: http://twitter.com/toofinevicky
Yahoo Mail: toofinevicky@yahoo.co.uk
Gmail: toofinevicky@gmail.com

Please can you tell us one thing you either love most or hate most about your job, clients or collaborators?
What I hate the most are clients or collaborators who don’t settle their bill appropriately.

Thanks for your time and please give us some closing words.
Thank you too, and thumbs up for the great job you are doing, peace & love to Africa.

Popularity: 4% [?]

 

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Mambe Nanje has written a total of 15 posts on Black Amphi

Mambe Nanje

I am an African Software Entrepreneur. I speak and write FRENCH and ENGLISH very well and am doing business across the world. I am behind www.afrovisiongroup.com www.naijaborn.com www.villagediary.org and many more. My personal blog: http://mambenanje.blogspot.com twitter: www.twitter.com/mambenanje facebook: www.facebook.com/mambenanje

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Revealing Ucheugo – A Top Nigerian Graphics Designer

September 24th, 2009 | 12 Comments | Posted by Mambe Nanje in Hello Nigeria

uc5I love to refer to what Black Amphi is doing right now as “Entrepreneur Hopping“. We are jumping from Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur and have no plans of leaving any Afro Born Entrepreneur out of the loop. We started with the AfroVisioN CEO (my humble self) in Cameroon, and to my good friend and partner, Francis .O. Oghuma of Naija Born, Nigeria. We navigated south to South Africa where we met Vinny and Justin of  the Silicon Cape Initiative. We are giving you the best of what we can about these shots and from time to time, we won’t hesitate posting updates about them.

Now, we are back again in Nigeria to meet the great Ugo Uchechukwu (UCHEUGO) of Ucheugo Interactive. Since he is right here in the Black Amphitheatre with us, let’s get the story from the horse’s mouth.

[BA]What are your names?

Ugo Uchechukwu (UCHEUGO)

[BA]Where do you live and work ?

I live in Lagos/Nigeria and I juggle gigs as an ART DIRECTOR in one of the top advertising agency in Nigeria.

[BA]How did you get the skills in graphics design (university, professional school, online certifications, study from home, internet)

My skill in graphic design is just a self taught thing..really I just love colours and all that. I did computer science and you must know that studying computer science, its either you end up been software developer or just the normal computer engineer you find around.

When i was little younger, I did some drawings but my mum had to stop me because she felt I was not going to make anything out of it. That was then but now in Nigeria, ART is more worthwhile. That can be seen from the fact that people do motion design and related stuff.

Now I think it is lucrative.

[BA]What are the tools you use in your daily activities (Windows/Mac/Linux, Photoshop, Fireworks, Illustrator, Frontpage, Dreamweaver, FLASH,etc)

Well for my graphic jobs, I shuffle between Photoshop and Illustrator depending on the task given to me.

For website design, I just use Fireworks and Dreamweaver, Flash. Also it depends on the task ahead. Sometimes I just use Photoshop instead of Fireworks.

[BA]What do you use more? Fireworks or Photoshop? Do you find any more suitable only for a particular or specific purpose?

Well you see people don’t really understand their software. Fireworks is really meant to be use for WEB. It all boils down to your ability using it. All those stuff you see that people do using Photoshop on the web can also be achievable using fireworks as I said earlier on, it all boils down to your capability of the software. You need to study the software very very well before jumping into another software.

Photoshop is pretty good for PRINT JOBS and photo enhancement but also It can also be use for the web but the layers is not helping matters..

[BA]How long have you been doing graphics design or any form of design jobs ??

Well in music, you will find people saying I started as professional singer some years back lol but in my case 7 years now , but I started as commercial designer earning good bucks 4years ago.

[BA]Can you give some examples of things or products you have designed or you have been a part of the design team.(screen shots if offline)

I can’t start mentioning because i have hundreds of them but I can say am part of the success of some interesting design both offline and online. Below are just 4 out of hundreds I can remember lol. If you want some creative design you can email me at info@ucheugo.net I can zip them for you from Art directions, to still design, to motion design jobs.

SMS NAIJA (http://www.smsnaija.com/): I did their interface design and the programming was handled by the team.

NAIJA BORN (http://www.naijaborn.com/): I was actually honored to be their associate interface designer. After d mock-up of the Naija Born T-shirt, I got a lot of buzz! On the shirt and my phone keeps ringing for enquiries.

THE NEXT MOVIE STAR AFRICA (http://www.thenextmoviestarafrica.tv/): This is a Reality TV Show that depends on me for most of their branding jobs and website.

Excite OnTV (http://www.excitetv.tv): handle some branding design and working on their website.

[BA]Are you more into web design, print, branding or Multimedia design(adverts, TV, Music videos, commercials)?

Well am more into anything that has to do with Design and Music but my Specialty is Branding, Advertising, Print, Web Design.

[BA]How often do you apply the color theory

Everyday, because I am really meticulous about it.. clients don’t want see how much noise you can make on their brand but how good you can interpret their brand colours to their creative jobs. And that has really affected the way I dress lol, because when I wear black, i wear sneakers black, sunshades black to compliment my dressing I don’t wear colouriot that’s the popular saying in Nigeria when you wear off colour dressing.

[BA]How much do you consider usability principles in your work.

Well it’s very useful, when am working on a web job for instance, I make sure its load faster because in Nigeria we still have poor ISP around and client might get frustrated waiting for web to do download.

[BA]How is aesthetics important to your work

100% important

[BA]Do you consider accessibility as a strong influence in your designs ?

Well it’s very useful, when am working on a web job for instance, I make sure its load faster because in Nigeria we still have poor ISP around and client might get frustrated waiting for web to do download.

[BA]Do you believe in KISS(Keep It Simple….) best practise and LESS IS MORE when you do your designs ?

I don’t make too much noise.. what is the essence? When u make noise and your job is kinda clumsy ? I make noise with my simple design and clients never complain about it.. so I believe in keep it simple

[BA]Do you use more of CSS or you just slice and dice from photoshop or fireworks into dreamweaver ???

I use both of them. Depending on the job

[BA]Do you use any web design (html+css) frameworks like YAML(http://builder.yaml.de/) and the others out there

It’s just like asking me if I get Pre-made template out there.. well Capital N.O I build design from scrash.

[BA]Do you find these css+html frameworks helpfull in your work if so how?

Yah they make my work easier and they load faster on the internet.

[BA]Do you work in a team environment if so what tools do you use for collaboration (eg collabtive, unfuddle, basecamp)

We use Adobe Tools.

[BA]How important are deadlines in your work?

100% important.

[BA]Are you into outsourcing and do you think it will help enrich and empower Africans

Well I believe in outsourcing because one person can’t do the job alone.. but in Nigeria you find the stingy ones who believe they can handles everything from Video, Web, Advertising, Multimedia, e.t.c

For instance I can do some fantastic drawings but I just outsource it to someone else and concentrate on other things.

[BA]Which do you prefer more: photoshop, fireworks, GIMP or ????

Photoshop and Fireworks

[BA]What do you think about open source vs proprietory software packages.

Open source are the best software that has ever happen to me.

[BA]what are some of the challenges you face as a Graphics designer in Africa?

A lot of challenges, when someone condemn your job, making you feel useless, inferior..

Another one is that people don’t really appreciate what we do well. And beside we don’t have a body that governs us in Nigeria… Over there in US, they have an association for graphic designers, website designer. And also Copyright is not really helping matters at all. Someone can just jack-up your designs and tweak it and he/she doesn’t gives you credit.

[BA]What do you think could be done to get rid of these challenges ?

I think when we have an association and people who don’t just feel that the graphic industry is just for making money, but having passion for it… Some people just design for the money and no passion.

[BA]What word do you have for other aspiring Graphics designers in Africa ?

They should be focused and be the best they can be, because if you are good, money will look for you.

[BA]How can people interested in working with you get to contact you ?

I can be contacted via email: info@ucheugo.net my face book is: UCHE UGO

And also I can be followed on twitter:  http://twitter.com/ucheugo

[BA]Thanks for your time and please give us some closing words

I’m very honored to have you guys, you guys are the best, and great work!

UCHEUGO INTERRACTIVE

UCHEUGO INTERRACTIVE

PITCH MULTIMEDIA

PITCH MULTIMEDIA

SMS NAIJA

SMS NAIJA

NaijaBorn Logo

NaijaBorn Logo

Naija Born T-Shirt

Naija Born T-Shirt

Naija Born T-Shirt

Naija Born T-Shirt

On behalf of the Black Amphi Team, I will like to thank Ucheugo very much for honoring us with this interview.

Letting the cat out of the bag, our next guest here will be Minang Suh Franklin, from within the four walls of the AfroVisioN Group Lab.

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Mambe Nanje has written a total of 15 posts on Black Amphi

Mambe Nanje

I am an African Software Entrepreneur. I speak and write FRENCH and ENGLISH very well and am doing business across the world. I am behind www.afrovisiongroup.com www.naijaborn.com www.villagediary.org and many more. My personal blog: http://mambenanje.blogspot.com twitter: www.twitter.com/mambenanje facebook: www.facebook.com/mambenanje

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