Malawian tech enterpreneur Comfort Kaitane has developed Pampanje, a locally developed social media platform designed to address the challenges Malawian businesses and artists face in the digital space.
Kaitane, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering and boasts over four years of experience in software development, was inspired to create Pampanje after observing the struggles of local businesses with high advertising costs on foreign platforms and the difficulties artists face in monetising their content.
“Two frustrations inspired Pampanje. Firstly, watching Malawian businesses struggle with exorbitant ad costs on foreign platforms and seeing artists lose revenue to algorithms that don’t prioritide local content,” Kaitane explained.
He said: “I wanted a platform where a Lilongwe vendor could boost a post for K10,000 or a musician could monetise songs directly no middlemen,” he explained.
Launched just three months after its conception, Pampanje gained traction, amassing over 1,000 users within six days.
Pampanje distinguishes itself through several key features which include affordability, localised monetisation and enhanced safety measures.
“We advertising options starting at K10,000 and verification services at a fraction of global app costs. We also enable artists to earn directly from their content, with rates such as K1,000 per song, bypassing the hefty cuts taken by international platforms,” he said.
Kaitane said: “We are also implement mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) verification for payments and advertisements, local content moderation to ensure cultural relevance, and data hosting compliant with Malawi’s Data Protection Act”, he said.
The platform has already made tangible impacts.
“A tailor in Blantyre reported doubling her sales within a week of advertising on Pampanje while an unverified artist expressed eagerness to join the soon-to-launch Pampanje Sounds, highlighting the platform’s potential to fill existing gaps in the market”, he said.
Looking ahead, Kaitane envisions Pampanje evolving into a comprehensive digital ecosystem, dubbed the “MpanjeVerse,” encompassing social networking, music streaming through Pampanje Sounds, online shopping and agricultural applications.
The ambitious drive, includes expanding to neighbouring countries such as Zambia and Tanzania, aiming to replicate the model’s success across the region.
“The dream is to have homegrown tech giant proving Africa’s digital future is by Africans, for Africans,” Kaitane stated.
