Innovation Out Of Necessity: Mobile AppDevelopment In Africa

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Oct 6, 2014 8:00:00 AM

While it's perhaps hard for the rest of the world to imagine how Africa could be technologicallyadvanced in terms of mobile apps, they don't understand what's happening on the ground there.

Mobile truly changes lives for the better in Africa.

In a country where life can be very hard, and the environment extreme, mobile apps can help make lifeeasier.

Keep reading as we explore why mobile app development in Africa so special and important, and howthe apps differ from those commonly used in the West...

Mobile App Development In Africa Is Like The Wild West

There's a gold rush happening in Africa! Just as folks migrated to make their fortune from gold in theold Wild West, today African mobile app makers are scrambling to release more and more apps; manyof which are especially aimed at the African market !

These apps are tailored specifically to improve the lives of local people, and take some unusual, orunexpected forms.

The question is, will this gold rush fail in the same way as it did in the Wild West, or are mobile appshere to stay in Africa?

African Mobile Apps Vs The West

Most Western people spend a lot of time updating their statuses on social network apps, such asFacebook, Instagram, and Twitter. However I feel that mobile apps for Western users tend to leantowards being mainly about networking, news, and communication.

If you're a western reader, how often have you used an app which truly made a difference to yourlife? Is liking content on Facebook, for instance, really making your life better?

For instance, I regularly read the news on my smartphone, and it's a welcome distraction while I takethe bus, or metro. However, I could just as easily read the news on my laptop at home, so is the appreally changing my life for the better?

I think that Westerners take many things for granted, such as banking, health care, access to high-quality goods, broadband at home, and so much more.

But as we know, Africans can't take many, or even any, of these things for granted!

One thing that they do have in increasing numbers in Africa is access to mobile networks, andtherefore mobile internet too.

Of course Africans love many of the 'big' global networking apps, but there is a new breed of app takingAfrica by storm; Africa-centric apps. "Innovation out of necessity," is what we're seeing a lot of themobile app development in Africa geared towards these days.

What Makes African Apps Different?

Innovation out of necessity makes African apps different. Instead of being for leisure, they tend towardsbeing tools that help people to do something that they'd otherwise simply not be able to do.

M-Pesa

Let's take M-Pesa, one of my favourite African apps, as an example.

Many Africans don't have access to a bank . Sounds crazy, right? Perhaps to westerners it might;but Africa, with its vast size, and undeveloped infrastructure, is a far cry from the developed worldwhich has a bank, or ATM on every corner.

M-pesa was a joint venture between Vodafone, and Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom in 2007,allowing users to send and receive money, by SMS, using their phones. You load your account withcash at an outlet, such as a chemist, and then make payments via SMS. The recipient can go toanother outlet, show the SMS, and collect the payment.

So important is M-pesa as a payment system in Africa, that 40% of Kenya's GDP moves throughit using mobile phones (tweet this stat)!

Now not having access to a bank doesn't matter. People don't need to travel for hours to get to a bank,or take the risk of carrying around their cash. This mobile banking is 'innovation out of necessity' at itspurest, and is in fact more advanced than the in the West where mobile payments like this are still intheir infancy! (Read more about M-pesa here).

As the South African journalist Toby Shapshak states in his TED talk on mobile app development inAfrica which you should watch below:

"People are solving real problems in Africa. Why? Because we have to!"

iCow

He goes on to mention mobile apps such as iCow, a simple app that sends SMS information tosubsistence dairy farmers, such as those that have just one or two cows. This allows them to increasemilk production, keep their cows healthier, and to sell their excess milk. Thereby bringing them out ofpoverty, and helping them become business people!

Here is some of the advice that farmers can be expected to receive:

How amazing is it, that an appusing SMS on a feature, orsmartphone, can help farmersto stop living hand-to-mouth,and make a better living?

UN's RapidPro

The UN describe RapidPro asan 'app store for good.'

It's

an open-source platform ofapplications that can helpgovernments deliver rapid andvital real-time information andconnect communities tolifesaving services (source).

This is especially vital in Africa,where communities are underpressure from HIV/AIDS, and more recently Ebola.

MHero

In Liberia, mHero, has just been released on RapidPro, and this app is aimed at emergency workerstackling the Ebola epidemic there. It reports:

New ebola cases

Shares messages about care and prevention

Gives training on tackling the disease

Helps the Liberia ministry of health and the health workers coordinate

This is a grave situation, and shows how apps can be so much more than just for fun.

U-Report

Zambia's U-Report helps to lower HIV (and other STD) infection rates by educating its subscribers, forfree, about possible causes, preventative measures, and more by SMS.

It's to be applauded, as in a poor country, a free educational health resource like this can make a hugedifference!

So you can see how African apps usually work towards solving a problem and making life better. Theymay lack the glitz and the glamour of the Instagrams of this world, but they make up for it in spadesthrough their sheer usefulness!

Do you use any African apps? Which ones, and how doe they benefit you? Please let us know in thecomments.

To use these apps you need a phone, and price is an important factor in emerging markets like Africa.But what if you could have a highly specced phone, at a low price?

Here's where AMGOO, and out range of phones designed for emerging markets comes in. Click belowfor more details on our phones, and their costs, and see how AMGOO could help you today:

pay as you go = african tech from 15 years ago

innovation out of necessity

Topics: Android Apps, Africa mobile industry