Zweli Mokgata

Zweli Mokgata

Local website afrigator.com has been listed by prestigious US magazine Business 2.0 as one of the top Web 2.0 start-ups in the world.

Afrigator director Mike Stopforth said: "We wanted to give voice to African bloggers. It was fun to begin with, but it became more serious as time went by. It's getting to the point where there aren't enough resources to run the project and grow it."

Business 2.0 said Afrigator fills a void left by successful aggregator sites such as Technocrati.

A blog media aggregator is an automated news feeder that allows users to register their web sites, and the programme "aggregates" or collects syndicated web content (for example news content, blogs and podcasts) in a single location.

Existing aggregators are often dry in appearance serving a specialised market, but Afrigator has opted for a more dynamic design that represents Africa's identity.

"A lot of people in South Africa are doing what they see overseas, but staying with the African feel," commented Afrigator chief executive officer Justin Hartman.