Oju officially launches all 65 Afro emoticons

Powered by Mi-Fone, the first African mobile devices brand, 'Oju', (literally meaning 'faces' in the Yoruba language from Nigeria), has revealed the full range of 65 Afro emoticons at the global launch for the brand late last week.

Oju Africa was established in 2012 and forms part of the premier Mobile Lifestyle Brand company Mi-Group International. The African mobile giant had intended on originally launching the emoticons at the global brand launch, however decided to launch 15 of them early following discussions surrounding #EmojiEthnicityUpdate and subsequent trends on Twitter.

Designed to be used across all Android platforms, the Oju's will be released shortly on iOS and other platforms. Yet the digital space is not the only area they are intended to live. "Oju is an African innovation, an African character that we have no doubt will become an iconic character across the globe. Africa does not have its own Mickey Mouse or Hello Kitty until now with Oju," says Alpesh Patel, CEO Oju Africa and Group CEO of Mi-Group International.

"Oju is a licensed African character which will be licensed out via emoticons in the digital space, and via a traditional character in industries such as FMCG, Entertainment and Fashion. In fact, the launch will be followed by Oju Africa's attendance at the prestigious Licensing Expo 2014 held in Las Vegas, USA from 17-19 June 2014, making us one of the few African manufacturers to be present at the Expo."