• musings
  • poems
  • tech thoughts
  • work
Sena Q.

African developers should produce more mobile applications

Published on April 27, 2016

There are lots of reasons why African developers should start to develop applications for the various existing Apps Store.

Screenshot from "Anansi - The Origin" game by Leti Arts a group of African developers

Here are 5 that I consider to be the most relevant.

  1. Development of mobile applications requires very little human resources: One developer alone can develop a mobile app in no time.
  2. Lack of African content online: To date, Africa still has very little presence online compared to other regions. It is an opportunity to become a pioneer. There is room for everyone and everything when it comes to online content especially in Africa. Since 2012, there has been a significant increase in the number of African applications in various appstores and even some few Africa-specific appstores, but there is room for more apps to be created. However, when I talk about apps here, I am obviously talking about well-crafted mobile apps not the shifty stuff clogging appstores at the moment.
  3. Mobile penetration in Africa is rising fast. As more and more African are getting used to mobile devices, the need to develop for such a particular platform is even more important now that it was before. Kenya’s mPesa services show a heightened use of mobile phones in Africa that was later exported to other countries in the subregion and even India.
  4. Easy to put on the market. Just upload it to the appropriate “store”.
  5. You do not need a sales team to start. Many platforms (for example Google’s PlayStore and Apple’s AppStore) allow you to promote your app with integrated tools. And other niche blogs list applications outrightly, linking back to the various stores.

Finally because it does not cost much to develop an application that can solve a recurring problem identified in Africa. Unless you want to stay user.

And you, do you think there are other reasons? Which ones?

Cover Image via Afritorial

CodingDevelopersMobile AppsOthers
Posted in tech thoughts.
Share
PreviousWhy most African companies are not on the web
NextWhy I kept my website ad-free

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

  • May 22, 2017

    Google wants to keep winning Africa with Android Go, here are 6 reasons why it can

    The Google I/O event is always an interesting one for me. I am more than just a Google/Android fanatic, I hate Apple OS with a great passion and my friend and colleague, Kwame Boakye, will testify to how much I preach Android over iOS. So yeah, the Google I/O is always a thing to look forward …

  • July 12, 2017

    China moves to block VPN access, a service used by millions including Africans to connect to social…

    An African man uses a laptop (AFP / BBC.co.uk) A report by Bloomberg says the government has given a deadline of February 2018 to telecommunications carriers in the country to block access to virtual private networks (VPN). The new directive will block global access to free internet in the country. China has one of the …

  • May 24, 2017

    “Smart” Ghanaian drivers find cunning ways to shortchange Uber on its 25% charge

    Uber won’t budge on charging drivers 25% on all trips, so the drivers found ways to pay Uber less Uber may be facing a litany of legal (and moral) issues outside Ghana, but the non-transportation company is about to face a new slew of issues in the West African country. The technology has been in Ghana …

© 2021 All Rights Reserved
  • musings
  • poems
  • tech thoughts
  • work