Mxit, meet Africa’s 800 pound social network

Paul Stemmet of World Of Avatar, an African focused tech investor, gave a presentation at Mobile Web East Africa (Hashtag: #MWEA2012). In addition to his launch of Shinka.sh – a mobile ad network, he clearly wanted to highlight the jewel in their crown, the obviously popular MxIt. The site now has some 50M users, supports over 3500 different mobile devices (they are planning to make it open platform), and processes round 750 million messages daily. Out of 50 million registered users, 12,500,000 are active, making Mxit truly the biggest African Mobile Social network.

It’s no surprise to see new ventures come online with the ambition to tap into a similar opportunity. One example is Saya Mobile, a Ghanian tech startup that recently emerged from the MEST program. They recently unveiled a mobile chat app they hope will rival the likes of BBM, ZiNG … and of course the 800 pound Gorilla Mxit.