GetGloby leverages JAGA – GetGloby’s proprietary technology which is capable of understanding specific nuances in local markets – to instantly translate ads and marketing assets into more than 100 languages with high-performing results.

Founded by former Googlers, Diego Antista & Juan Fusoni, GetGloby empowers brands to expand into new markets and improve the performance of their ads in existing markets, while significantly reducing their costs.

GetGloby created JAGA after identifying that most available translation engines are general purpose, meaning that they translate to a given language but not to match a specific audience terminology.

This works for most industries as people tend to understand the translation even though it may not have the most common words used in that location.

Word-for-word translations, which are often used by advertisers, can be an expensive and time-intensive activity, and often leads to campaigns that aren’t aligned with local audiences. Instead, GetGloby’s translation technology generates translations that adapt to the audiences and maintain the tone and intent of the original message, as it takes into consideration the cultural nuances of the location the user is targeting, the brand’s identity (from landing pages and other sources), industry specifics, the platforms compliance requirements (character limits, negative keywords, etc), and many more.

This methodology is called Transcreation, a technique that localizes content within a cultural framework. It allows businesses to relate to an audience like a local, incorporating regional customs and dialects without compromising your brand voice. Transcreation is a cultural adaptation.

As part of the partnership, Aleph will leverage GetGloby’s technology – including JAGA –  to efficiently and cost-effectively localize its partners’ ads and marketing content to resonate with any given market, region, country, or audience.

GetGloby’s technology will work alongside Aleph’s scalable technology platform to enable advertisers to reach segmented audiences and deliver meaningful results. Globally, Aleph supports more than 22,000 advertisers and services more than 45 of the world’s largest platforms.

Diego Antista, GetGloby CEO said:

“As a company leveraging AI to break down language barriers, we are pleased to partner with a global enabler such as Aleph. We are hopeful this partnership will help us reach more advertisers worldwide, and push forward our mission of empowering global commerce for businesses of all sizes, in every corner of the world.”

“We’re pleased to partner with GetGloby and enhance our technology-driven solution for advertisers around the world.” commented Rabin Yaghoubi, chief corporate development officer at Aleph and added: “Understanding local audiences, and adapting accordingly to deliver a relevant campaign at the right time is critical for generating tangible results. This partnership will enable Aleph to offer a more holistic translation to our partners and support their overall growth objectives.”

Many African countries are building their own equivalents of Silicon Valley and tech companies from all across the world have been setting up offices and launching themselves into markets across the continent.

And in addition to growing their customer bases, these companies are also committing to making affecting change in Africa.

Here’s how. 

They are Investing in communities and equipping people to become entrepreneurs

Last year Airbnb announced a three-year commitment to South Africa to address barriers to becoming a tourism entrepreneur, and to help rebuild a more inclusive and resilient domestic tourism economy.

The commitment focuses on infrastructure, training and investment and builds on Airbnb’s 2017 USD $1 million commitment in Africa to boost community-led tourism projects, and the Africa Academy, which has trained more than 300 Hosts. 

As part of this commitment, Airbnb announced its partnership with the University of Johannesburg School of Tourism and Hospitality to expand the Airbnb Academy programme to at least 1000 students over the next three years. 

They are assisting in developing quality journalists and newsrooms

Over the years, Google, perhaps the biggest tech giant in the world, has been doing its fair share for small businesses, content creators and business owners across Africa. And just recently the company announced that five South African recipients have been selected as part of  Google’s News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Challenge.

The GNI Innovation Challenge is aimed at helping the journalism industry thrive in the digital era. Their projects are among 34 chosen from 17 countries, to receive a share of $3.2 million in funding. The recipients, among them 21 journalists and publishers from 10 countries in Africa, were selected for their work in promoting diversity, equality, and inclusion in the journalism industry.

The GNI Innovation Challenge is part of Google’s $300 million commitment to helping journalism thrive in the digital era and has seen news innovators step forward with many exciting initiatives demonstrating new thinking.

Companies are nurturing talent from a young age

“At Huawei South Africa, we have long been committed to cultivating ICT talent and discovering new ways to harness technological innovation to advance sustainability,” says Vanashree Govender, Media and Communications Manager for Huawei South Africa. “Last year, we launched our Tech4Good Global Competition as part of our Seeds for the Future talent development programme, which exposes learners to courses on the latest technologies like 5G, Cloud, AI and IoT.

The Tech4Good competition gets students to think about how to use technology to address social and environmental issues. Through this programme, participants boost their creativity, hone their entrepreneurship skills, and develop a sense of social responsibility. This is a fun team effort, with coaching by Huawei experts and world-renowned social impact leaders”.

Huawei also runs a Tech4All program globally in which Huawei works with partners to create real change through connecting the unconnected, empowering underserved communities and protecting the planet. In South Africa, Huawei’s DigiSchool project in partnership with operator rain and educational non-profit organisation Click Foundation, has connected over 100 urban and rural primary schools to the internet using 5G technology.

They are building the right skills through access to digital media education 

Today, there are local entrepreneurs in fields as diverse as fashion, healthcare, and decor who have proven that with more equal access to the digital marketing ecosystem, it’s possible to expand regionally and internationally.  

In order for that to happen at scale, they also need the requisite skills to market themselves online in the markets they want to reach. At the very least, those entrepreneurs should have easy access to people with those skills.

It’s important to note here, that these aren’t just fundamental digital marketing skills, but ones that relate to the specifics of marketing on the world’s leading digital advertising platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat, and Spotify where people across the globe spend most of their time online. With the right types of messages, these platforms are the most effective places to reach new customers across a broad range of markets. 

“This is something that we’re passionate about, and recently, Ad Dynamo by Aleph launched a free Digital Ad Expert programme  for young people in Nigeria and Ghana, which aims to educate, certify and connect thousands of Africans with the digital skills needed to succeed in a rapidly digitising economy. While it’s entirely possible that someone with the right degree of determination and curiosity could develop those skills on their own, it’s critical that more and more resources are accessible to build them up at scale,” says Elyse Estrada, Global Chief Marketing Office, Aleph Group. 

This is crucial to ensuring that markets such as Ghana and Nigeria aren’t just growth targets for international companies, but incubators for a new generation of entrepreneurs capable of competing on a global level themselves. 

They are creating access for everyone 

MFS Africa, the continent’s largest omnichannel payment gateway, believes in a “borderless world” in which everyone has access. Their comprehensive digital networks link 320 million mobile wallets, enabling cross-border payments remittance firms, financial service providers, and worldwide merchants.

MFS Africa CEO and Founder, Dare Okoudjo believes that interoperability is crucial in allowing customers of different mobile financial services providers to interact with each other. This can be done by making direct payments from the mobile money account of one provider to the mobile money account of another provider.  

To do this, MFS Africa acquired Global Technology Partners (GTP) recently, broadening its bank and fintech base and supplying tokenisation in the mobile money space by connecting with established card ecosystems like Visa and Mastercard.

The ultimate objective is to give millions of mobile money users on the continent access to the global digital economy and new possibilities.

For its partners, these new capabilities enable scalability, security, and new markets and consumers as technology innovation continues to penetrate and reshape societies.

Until recently, getting to that point was reserved for a select few who manage to expand outward after saturating their home markets. 

Today, thanks to ecommerce and digital marketing in particular, even entrepreneurs in niche fields can build a global customer base.

Whether they’re building an online fashion empire or selling handcrafted designer decor, an entrepreneur in Accra or Lagos can compete on a global scale with their counterparts in Paris or New York. 

To ensure that they have the best chance of doing so, however, it’s critical that they market themselves on the most relevant online platforms with the highest reach of potential consumers. 

The growth potential of emerging markets 

This growth opportunity is especially true for entrepreneurs targeting emerging markets with rapidly growing online populations.

Nigeria, for example, is set to add 35 million new internet users by 2026, according to Statista.

In Ghana, meanwhile, World Bank figures indicate that 58% of the population is online, with the number of internet users having grown more than six percent between 2020 and 2021. 

Not only does this opportunity for growth exist from industry momentum, it also exists from demographic dynamics. Both of these markets have incredibly young populations. In Ghana, the median age is 21 and in Nigeria, it’s a shade over 18.

As populations in the rest of the world age out, it’s to these often underserved markets that businesses around the world will look to for growth. 

This young population is increasingly becoming tech-savvy and connected. They want and expect the same kinds of consumer experiences they see their counterparts in other parts of the globe having.

This means that with the right messages on the right platforms, businesses can reach these consumers and make sales, no matter where they might be based. 

But these young people are also looking to develop their digital skills so they can seek careers in the high-growth industries that promise economic advancement.

In Nigeria, for example, the Digital Development Program Trust Fund estimates that 35% to 45% of jobs will require some level of digital skill.  

These same young people are also entrepreneurial and have a growing pool of successful entrepreneurs from across the region and continents to draw inspiration from.

Outside of the tech unicorns like Flutterwave, Jumia, and Wave there are local entrepreneurs in fields as diverse as fashion, healthcare, and decor who have proven that with more equal access to the digital marketing ecosystem, it’s possible to expand regionally and internationally, ultimately building businesses that thrive at a bigger scale and enrich the rest of the world through their products and services.  

Building the right skills through access to digital media education  

In order for that to happen at scale, they also need the requisite skills to market themselves online in whatever markets they want to reach. At the very least, those entrepreneurs should have easy access to people with those skills. 

It’s important to note here, that these aren’t just fundamental digital marketing skills, but ones that relate to the specifics of marketing on the world’s leading digital advertising platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat, and Spotify where people across the globe spend most of their time online. With the right types of messages, these platforms are the most effective places to reach new customers across a broad range of markets. 

This is something that we’re passionate about at Aleph Group and is the reason we launched our Digital Ad Expert programme, which aims to educate, certify and connect thousands of Africans with the digital skills needed to succeed in a rapidly digitising economy. While it’s entirely possible that someone with the right degree of determination and curiosity could develop those skills on their own, it’s critical that more and more resources are accessible to build them up at scale. 

This is crucial to ensuring that markets such as Ghana and Nigeria aren’t just growth targets for international companies, but incubators for a new generation of entrepreneurs capable of competing on a global level themselves. 

Turning small businesses into international players 

Fortunately, there is a strong base of small businesses across the region with untapped potential. With the requisite skills, those businesses will be ready to take the next step and globalise their customer base.  

In Nigeria, for example, SMEs contribute 48% of national GDP, account for 96% of businesses and 84% of employment. And in Ghana, it’s estimated that more than 90% of the country’s businesses are SMEs, employing 60% of the labour force and accounting for 70% of the country’s GDP. If even just a small fraction of those SMEs are able to build international customer bases they’ll unlock and drive economic growth in these growing countries, bringing momentum for the next wave of entrepreneurs.

Thanks to currently available digital marketing tools and increasing access to digital marketing skills, that’s entirely achievable too. 

Coming fresh off the back of its recently announced expansion in the country, the programme is designed to equip young Nigerians with the skills they need to succeed in digital marketing.

Hosted on the Aleph Group’s proprietary learning platform, Digital Ad Expert is a peer-to-peer learning programme that aims to educate, certify, and connect thousands of Africans with the digital skills needed to succeed in a rapidly digitising economy, allowing them to compete at a global level for jobs in this growing industry.

“Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and is also digitising rapidly,” says Sean Riley, Ad Dynamo CEO. “With Digital Ad Expert, we want to ensure that young people have the best possible chance of benefiting from the opportunities presented by that growth and expansion.”

It’s estimated that an additional 35 million Nigerians will come online by 2026, meaning that digital marketing will be a significant growth industry. It will also have an important role to play not only in reaching ordinary consumers but also in helping businesses across the country grow and thrive.      

Aleph has set a goal of using Digital Ad Expert to educate 50,000 digital learners worldwide with digital marketing skills, and Nigeria is a big part of this ambition.

People participating in the programme get an introduction to digital marketing, as well as modules covering strategy, analytics, and content creation.

Additionally, they learn the ins and outs of advertising on specific platforms including Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and TikTok.

The programme also gives participants an overview of job opportunities and the labour market.  

“We have no doubt that Nigerian youth have immense digital potential,” Riley concludes. “We’re proud to play a role in ensuring that they’re given the necessary help to unlock that potential.” 

How to apply

Applications for Digital Ad Expert opened on 27 June and will run until 18 July. The first cohort is then scheduled to kick off on 25 July 2022.

Candidates can apply to complete a free three-month comprehensive digital ad degree here.

The company’s expansion comes off the back of its acquisition by Aleph Group in January 2022, a leading global enabler of digital advertising in emerging markets.

The 100% acquisition, which was completed in early 2022, gives Aleph Group an important footprint in Africa where Ad Dynamo has a long and successful history of over a decade exclusively representing Twitter, Spotify, Yahoo, and Snapchat in the continent’s largest online market. 

The next step in Ad Dynamo’s Nigerian investment is to open up Aleph’s signature education program, Digital Ad Expert, hosted on the group’s proprietary learning platform.

“With a national GDP exceeding $400bn and a large share of youth in the local population, we seek to equip thousands of Nigerians with the tools needed to succeed in a rapidly digitizing economy”, says Ad Dynamo CEO and founder Sean Riley.  Aleph has set a goal of educating 50,000 digital learners worldwide with digital marketing skills, and Nigeria is a big part of this ambition. Aleph’s educational programs are free and will be accepting applications for Nigeria’s first 12-week peer-to-peer learning program between June 27-July 18, 2022. The first cohort is scheduled to kick off on July 25, 2022.

“We’ve always understood that Nigeria has the potential to be one of the world’s greatest internet markets,” says Riley. “It’s been a privilege to witness its growth over the past 10 years and to help advertisers reach their consumers with impactful messaging on the right platforms. With the backing of Aleph Group, we plan to grow even further in Nigeria in the coming years.”

Ad Dynamo sets itself apart from other digital media sales houses by offering dedicated sales teams for each partner it represents. It also doesn’t charge a markup on any media, meaning that ad buyers have price transparency across all advertising investments.

“With more than 35 million additional Nigerians set to come online by 2026, effective digital marketing will become more important than ever,” says Gaston Taratuta, Founder and CEO of Aleph Group. “We’re incredibly proud that Ad Dynamo, as part of the Aleph family, will play a major role in ensuring that brands across Nigeria have the best possible marketing presence on some of the world’s biggest technology platforms.”