A few years back finding Apps that were developed in Africa was unheard of. Few developers from the continent really focused on building Apps that can be used here in the continent to serve our needs. On any App store you scrolled down reading App after App but none of those was customary built for use in Africa.
This trend has since changed. There is a new era of talented developers in the region who are doing a tremendous job in building Apps that are usable in Africa and are downloadable on app stores across platforms (Android and Mac). The good news is that it can be done and hundreds of young developers are seeing the need we have in society and building apps that can solve lots of our communities problems.
With the rise of smart phones, even those that are specifically built for the African continent – we are yet to see an era where anything is possible. We have already seen how mobile phones have been a part of a huge transformation in this continent – from innovations like mobile money taking over and transforming the way banking and moving money around is done across the continent, to more greater innovations like mHealth where health organisations are using mobile phones to change how people approach medical treatments such as sending people reminders for their medication, especially maternal health and HIV. The opportunity is tremendous.
Last week as part of the AppCircus held in Kampala in partnership with Mobile Monday, I saw a lot of young developers who showed up to pitch their new developed Apps. It is exciting seating on the other side of the table and having an opinion of each of these young people’s Apps.
Thing is, as exciting as it is to see many developers come up with some of the best Apps developed ever, they need to think beyond building Apps. We now have incubators and spaces where these developers need to tap into and really work on the underlying business model of their development.
No Investor will pull out their chequebook and write you a cheque if you don’t show them how they can make money. I know, I know – some apps are not mean’t for business – so they say, but in development, ultimately you have to factor in how you want to see your development evolve and somehow be able to reward you.
Alot of these developers do lack business acumen. It can be seen in their pitches and how they present their Apps to us – the audience who are potential investors.
I was part of the Jury that selected MAFUTAGO – at another similar AppCircus and the potential for this App to scale was enormous. They had a great idea tapping into crowdsourcing and the use of mobile phones to address a problem of gas shortage at the time.
Can you log onto the App and identify the nearest petrol station from where you are? Can you know all the services and prices at this petrol station and be able to compare those with other petrol stations? Again – if you take this and build a great business and execution plan – everyone in my network should be using MatufaGo because I too want to find out where I can buy the cheapest fuel if am in the area. It is usable. The problem is, not much is put into thought when it comes to execution and business planning, which I think is something these developers have to start taking seriously.
My take is that incubators need to take up these developers and really invest in the one most crutial aspect of helping them move beyond Apps to creating solutions that are usable in communities and that people need. When you build an app to solve a problem that people face – then it is a no brainer, you will put in less time trying to get your target audience and more time really focusing on educating people why your App is going to make their lives better.
That is where I want to see the future of development in this continent going. It is possible, we have a lot of talent, now is the time to take it a notch higher.
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By Evelyn Namara, [originally published on her website here]
