Mobile Apps: Changing the Face of Africa

Just as recent research suggests that African Americans are using mobile phones to close the digital divide, Africans are also turning to mobile devices to bridge the vast parts of the continent that lack wired Internet access.  I’ll highlight a few of the organizations that seek to transform Africa through the creation of mobile apps.

Apps 4 Africa

Apps 4 Africa is a competition that challenges local developers in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda to design apps for local African communities.  These apps solve problems like getting access to quality healthcare and fighting corruption in government elections.  Voting ended on August 31st, and, during the competition, anyone could login and vote on the ideas (either through the website, Twitter, or a Facebook group).  A panel of judges, including tech luminaries like Anil Dash and Tim O’Reilly, will determine the final winners.  One app idea that seemed promising was a mobile application that sent five questions via text message to students in order to assess the quality of their education.  I also liked an app that provided an SMS shortcode that would connect victims of sexual violence to hospitals as well as legal and mental health advice.

Africa Information Technology Initiative

Africa Information Technology Initative (AITI) is a student organization at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  It exists to help nurture young entrepreneurs and empower them to use technology for the benefit of Africa.  AITI created a program for teaching mobile application development in Java that is taught by MIT students at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in Rwanda and Strathmore University in Nairobi.  AITI has a well maintained blog which chronicles the activities of the organization such as determining the winners of the 2010 MIT-AITI mobile development business competition.  The winning team was composed of a group of Strathmore students who designed iCheki, a program that uses GPS (global positioning system) and SIM cards to provide commuters and freight managers with a location based service that finds the nearest matatu (a Swahili word for taxi).

kiwanja.net

Founded in 2003 by Ken Banks, kiwanja.net was created to help non-profit organizations at all levels of government use technology to fulfill their missions.  By providing tools and resources that enable the use of mobile technologies, kiwanja.net helps developing countries leverage low-cost solutions that positively contribute to the future of poor communities.  Products created by kiwanja.net include FrontlineSMS which provides free software for managing the transmission of large scale text messages.  While most mobile phone users in the United States take text messaging for granted, it is a crucial telecommunication tool in developing countries.  Another mobile product is the Silverbackers game which teaches the importance of protecting mountain gorillas.  Created in response to mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo that have harmed these animals, players take a young gorilla through eight levels to a fully mature silverback.  Along the way, the game teaches facts about gorillas and how to keep them safe.

Although Africa is not often thought of as a hub for innovation, the efforts of these three organizations and others like them may make the continent a leader in the technology industry.  Perhaps the founder of the next Facebook or Twitter will come from one of the nations in Africa.

About the Author
Anjuan Simmons is an emerging technology consultant and freelance technology consultant currently working as a Director at Adverlyze, an online marketing strategy company. Anjuan has previously worked for Accenture and Deloitte. He has an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Texas A&M University. He can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/anjuan and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/anjuan.
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