Lunna Beta 1.11.5

This platform effectively addresses the needs of the informal sector, which constitutes over 80% of the economy, facilitating its participation in the African digital landscape.

Features:

• Jamii Soko:

  A user-friendly virtual marketplace designed for buyers and sellers. Sellers can effortlessly create and promote their products, benefiting from a well-organized categorization system that enhances discoverability. The marketplace includes diverse stalls such as local food kiosks, grocers, fashion outlets, and artists, with the latter having the ability to showcase their virtual galleries and connect with frame makers.

  Grocers can leverage a straightforward set of tools to set up their virtual stalls quickly, enhancing visibility. Market clusters are further supported by free Wi-Fi zones (Lunna Planets). Customer ratings for sellers and products after transactions add a layer of trust and accountability.

• Service Directory:

  An efficient tool that connects customers to service providers, increasing discoverability. Service providers can promote their offerings and submit credentials for verification, which are prominently displayed on their profiles. This verified status enhances visibility in listings, and customer ratings following transactions contribute to building credibility.

• Communities:

  Users are invited to engage in niche forums curated by domain experts, fostering rich discussions on various topics. Moderators ensure content relevance and appropriateness, creating an environment conducive to skill sharing and learning. Job opportunities can be advertised within these communities to assist job seekers.

• Digital Farms:
• Chat:

  The platform offers a chat module encompassing text, audio, and video communication through secure end-to-end encryption. It includes localized African emojis along with upcoming filters, stickers, and GIFs that celebrate cultural diversity. Group chats feature expiration dates and task management tools, supplemented by an embedded notepad and calculator for user convenience.

• Hornbill:

  This micro-blogging service keeps users informed of trending topics and breaking news, promoting products indirectly through tagging options. Designed to be free from bots and spam, it allows users to report inappropriate content, thereby reducing misinformation and cyberbullying.

• Fireplace:

  A platform for viewing entertaining and educational videos while learning new skills. Users can optimize data usage by channelizing their views and also report any inappropriate or false content to help mitigate abuse and misinformation. Additionally, Fireplace supports event listings to attract more customers.

• Discover (Applet Store):

  A curated selection of lightweight applets providing access to essential digital services, including supplemental educational resources tailored for children in the informal sector. Many applets are usable offline once downloaded. Lunna encourages collaboration among developers, designers, and domain experts to create monetizable applets on the platform.

• Peeks:

  A feature allowing users to share ephemeral content such as photos, videos, GIFs, links, and text that vanish after 24 hours. Users can also utilize an embedded camera to capture moments for sharing with friends and family.