How the metaverse is staying relevant in South Africa

Mic Mann, the founder of the metaverse platform Africarare, has stated that there is still a lot of interest in the technology in South Africa.

Companies and individuals in South Africa are still embracing the metaverse in South Africa. This was said by Mic Mann, founder of Africarare which created the Ubuntuland metaverse, at the ongoing Africa Tech Festival in Cape Town, South Africa. The metaverse is defined as a three-dimensional and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual reality and augmented reality headsets.

In 2022, the Ubuntuland metaverse onboarded some of South Africa’s leading companies including MTN

and Nedbank as they scrambled to join the then-hyped virtual reality technology. According to Mann, although the noise on the metaverse has quieted down, the Ubuntuland platform is still attracting interest. “We have companies like Primedia, one of South Africa’s leading media companies, building out their villages on the platform“, Mann told the panel. “This shows that companies are still cognisant of the attractive use cases of the platform.”

MTN stated they had bought land on the platform to “amplify consumer’s digital experiences and engagement.” Nedbank on the other hand said they joined the Ubuntuland metaverse to “enable Nedbank to engage in the future digital marketplaces, where we believe, we will need to meet and serve our clients.” Both companies bought 144 plots of size 12x12m land on the Ubuntuland metaverse for 0.1499 Ethereum (~$2,045) per plot.

The future of the metaverse of South Africa

According to Mann, the adoption of devices such as Apple’s Vision Pro is going to drive platforms like the metaverse as virtual reality becomes mainstream. “We are currently focusing more on building out our immersive mobile experience, Mann said. “But the excitement towards devices like Vision Pro and AI shows a promising future for the adoption of virtual reality technologies like the metaverse.”

Responding to a question from TechCabal on how Africarare is driving the adoption of the metaverse, which is still a foreign concept to most non-technical people Mann stated several initiatives. These include a free course on building products on Ubuntuland, open-source software which gives more developers opportunities to build on the platform, and putting out content which simplifies concepts of the metaverse.