East Africa Tech: 20 bold young innovators to watch
“Across Africa, we have seen
countless examples of people taking control of their destiny, and
making change from the bottom up.” – President Barack Obama
Like elsewhere, Africa is full of innovators.
However, innovation is often the
easier part. There are two very difficult things in the techology
business. One is making money; a lot of money. There have been a few
cash-rich digital innovations in East Africa, where the most successful
mobile application (it is also among the most successful in the world)
is Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom’s money transfer service, M-Pesa.
The second difficult thing in
innovation is to stay the course; not to give up and keep trying,
trying, and trying again until you succeed. Many have despaired, but
East Africa has a core of young and dedicated innovators who won’t give
up.
Just as well. Beyond
entertainment and games, mobile applications tend to have different
basic life-changing uses in Africa. Already, about 500 million young
Africans, in a continent of 700 million mobile phone users, do business
online.
Widespread poverty and
inadequate infrastructure in health, education, finance and agriculture
opens up possibilities for a whole range of new possibilities, beyond
business, to transform Africa through mobile applications.
Youthful innovators are
providing home-grown solutions to long-standing problems in the
continent. They see mobile phones not just as instruments of
communication, but 21st Century tools for fighting poverty in Africa.
Thus mobile apps could be a
game changer for Africa’s development. Software developers in Africa
have seized on the chance to tweak the technology and unlock the
potential of their communities by creating innovative mobile apps that
can be adapted and applied by users in their day-to-day lives.
In East Africa, the technology
scene is booming with techies who are making a difference in their
communities through creativity and innovation. One of these individuals
might just create the next big mobile app in the region.
We have compiled a list of 20
mobile app developers from East Africa who are highly like to make
headlines in the months and years to come.
These individuals, driven by
their sheer determination to be part of the solution to the challenges
facing their societies, are developing incredibly life-changing mobile
apps in health care, education, finance and agriculture.
JAMILA ABASS, Kenya – CEO, M-Farm
Jamila Abass quit her job as a database specialist
with the Kenya Medical Research Institute to start a tech company of
her own. She co-founded M-Farm, a mobile app that allows farmers to get
real time retail price of their products, buy farm inputs directly from
the manufacturers and find buyers for their produce, thus effectively
cutting off parasitic middle men. Jamila showed her innately
entrepreneurship tendencies since she was very young. “As a child in
north-eastern Kenya, despite the harsh weather, I used to grow coriander
and kales next to our well and sell it to the neighbours.”
SUSAN OGUYA, Kenya – Co-Founder, M-Farm
Eloquent and with a firm grasp
of Africa’s development challenges, Susan Oguya is not the
quintessential tech junkie. She quit her job with Safaricom as an app
developer to help start M- Farm. Susan is driven by her sheer desire to
transform the world through simple practical technology. “With all the
co-founders quitting their jobs to make M-Farm a success, we love what
we do.” It gives her a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that her
parents, who educated her from faming proceeds, use M-Farm to sell
their produce.
ERRIC MUTTA, Tanzania - Founder and CEO, Problem Solved Ltd
With an initial investment of just $27 in his flagship MiniShop app,
the US Department of State awarded Eric $15,000 as winner of the
Apps4Africa Climate Challenge 2011. MiniShop is a user-friendly
accounting and inventory control system for small businesses. “It is
transforming societies by empowering SMEs to maintain better records
which they can then use to access credit,” he says. The software has
been upgraded into a national grain supply chain management system that
monitors the purchase, storage, distribution, and consumption of grain
across the entire country. It is designed to ensure both food and
economic security. “I have to figure out how to turn the $15,000 into
$15 billion in fifteen years…and how to dominate the world of course,”
he chuckles.
JESSIE GAKWANDI BENIMANA, Rwanda – CEO, Sail Ltd
“I think as techies, we ought to
develop simple, sustainable, innovative and efficient apps, in order to
overcome the everyday struggles of our communities.” Sophie sees her
role in Rwanda as a change agent. She wants to contribute to the
transformation of her country into a knowledge based economy, “people
should be able to reserve tables in restaurants, buy electricity or pay
school fees for example, by a simple click on their phones.” Her tech
firm is behind Get-It, an app that enables restaurateurs locate their
favourite eateries in Kigali, it’s a first of its kind in Rwanda. “I
used to see a lot of people frustrated, especially tourists venting on
travel blogs that they could not find Italian or Chinese restaurants in
Kigali.” She offered a solution.
VICTOR MICLOVICH, Uganda – CEO, Kuyu Project
A programmer, an entrepreneur
and a tech-teacher, he says; “I want to see a wonderful technology
eco-system built up in East Africa. Technology can be used to build
markets, encourage better integration as a society and improve
livelihoods.” Miclovich has been down this road before, after having
worked for an MIT professor, taught a mobile programming course for the
UN in Italy and quit his faculty job at Makerere University, he is now
back in the game with StorySpaces,
a digital story telling portal that allows writers to get their voices
heard. Victor’s app “builds on the age-old African tradition of
storytelling.”
ERIC LWAMBURA, Tanzania - Founder, Crystal Interactive Systems
The government pension fund
awarded Eric $3,000 for developing and implementing a mobile based
information system. Currently, Eric is developing a mobile based
partogram – a graphical record of vital data including cervical
dilation, fetal heart rate and duration of labour – that will assist
doctors in detecting problems during labour so that any deviation from
the norm is treated accordingly. The app targets health centres that
cannot afford sophisticated monitoring equipment. It requires the user
to feed in key data, and the interpretation is done automatically to
determine whether the progress of labour is normal or there is cause for
alarm.
KARIUKI GATHITU, Kenya – Founder, Zege Technologies
As a young boy Kariuki wanted to
invent a telepathic device. He now develops applications that can
transfer money from Turkana to Lamu with the click of a button. Kariuki
is one of the brains behind Equity Bank’s M-Kesho,
an app that enables clients to transfer money from their bank accounts
to M-Pesa. His latest development M-Payer, helps small businesses manage
their payments. “The difference between small businesses and large
businesses is not the product but the payment systems,” he says. Kariuki
thinks techies are the game changers in Africa’s development “they will
overturn the very basis of reason, and challenge the status quo,
pushing the boundaries of innovation for the benefit of society.”
ESTHER KUNDA, Rwanda – CEO, OSCA Connect Ltd
Don’t let her smile fool you –
she is all about hard core tech. Esther was a computer engineering
student at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology when the
entrepreneurial bug caught up with her. She co-founded OSCA Connect with
her classmates to develop mobile apps that would simplify many daily
tasks with easy solutions. Her tech firm is behind Sarura, a mobile app
that provides farmers with weather updates and agricultural advice. “We
realised that normal seasons have been altered resulting in
unpredictable weather which affects famers’ yields. Sarura dramatically
remedies this situation,” she says.
BILLY BRANKS KAYE, Uganda – Founder & CEO, Crystal Interactive Systems
An Ericsson ICT Young Achiever,
Billy has worked on software projects for mega corporations like
Coca-Cola, Diageo and Vodafone. The tech community shouldn’t always be
about money, Billy reasoned. They have a responsibility to give back to
society. “East Africa has some of the world’s youngest populations, if
we invest in education we can eradicate poverty,” he says. Billy is
helping disadvantaged children in Uganda get an education and basic
essentials. His Somesha app
enables registered charity organisations fundraise for needy children
through mobile money. “Most donations made to Africa come from outside
this continent, this does not mean that Africans who have do not want to
give.”
MESHACK ALLOYS, Kenya – Co-Founder, MTL Systems
A USAID merit scholar, Meshack
has been involved in the development of almost every major mobile app in
Kenya. He co-founded MTL Systems when he was an engineering student at
the University of Nairobi. This tech firm is behind M-Shop,
an app that “brings the market to the people and the people to the
market.” Through this app consumers can purchase goods and services and
order for events and travel tickets using their mobile handsets. “The
tech community will play a major role in helping Africa in the
acquisition, adaptation and application of relevant mobile technologies
to eradicate poverty,” he argues.
SAMUEL NGODA, Kenya – Founder, Gorecycler
At only 19, Samuel has two
miserably failed tech start-ups to his name. But what is remarkable
about him is his sheer determination to succeed. He didn’t let any of
that put him down. “Failure taught me many business lessons”, Samuel
says. For him, failure is only a resting place, an opportunity to begin
again more intelligently. The boy refused to throw in the towel and is
now back in the game with Gorecycler, an innovative app that enables
people to sell recyclable waste by locating recycling resources and
institutions near them on a map. Waste management is “something
beneficial to the environment, the economy, and humanity.” Samuel’s
motivation is “to create a better life for someone, to solve problems
and change lives through technology.”
CHRISTINE AMPAIRE, Uganda – Project Manager, Codesync
Kampala
is a city plagued by fuel shortages and spiralling petrol prices.
Christine decided to do something about it; she developed Mafuta Go,
an app which helps users find the nearest petrol station with the
cheapest prices and tells them how to get there. It was an instant hit,
downloaded so many times until it crashed. Christine fixed the app which
went on to win $10,000 at the 2012 Pivot East mobile app competition.
She now wants to develop an SMS based Mafuta Go for the thousands of boda boda (motorcycle taxis) riders in Kampala whose phones cannot access the internet.
JORUM KINUTHIA, Kenya – Founder, Infocentra Ltd
“I have been working closely
with players in the dairy sector, which is replacing tea, coffee and
horticulture as the cornerstone of rural economies in Kenya,” says
Jorum. Being a dairy farmer himself, Jorum wants to make life easier for
small holder farmers in Kenya and in the region using mobile apps.
Jorum’s Dairy Sacco app
is part of his research for the University of Nairobi’s ICT for
Development project. The app allows farmers to access information on the
produce they have delivered to their local cooperatives, and use it to
access credit. He says; “I strongly believe that we can develop local
solutions for local issues that face us. Copy and paste does not work in
most of our unique set-ups. Some tweaking is needed.”
MBWANA MBURA, Tanzania – Co-Founder, Niafrika Ltd
He got laid off when his
employer ran into financial troubles. Short of cash and with a lot of
time on his hands, Mbwana desperately needed something to do. Dar Price
was born out of his laziness. “I am too lazy to go window shopping; I
needed to do something about it.” Dar Price is a web and mobile based
shopping portal. Mbwana stays up all night working on his software
projects. “The mobile phone is probably the single most used piece of
technology in Africa today, the tech community should tap into this
opportunity and develop solutions to Africa’s development challenges,”
he remarks.
KEVIN KWIZERA, Burundi – Web Developer, AfriRegister
The skills set of a programmer
and a musician have a certain amount of overlap. They both involve an
abstract concept of “structure”. Kwizera is a great pianist, when not
expressing himself through codes, he expresses himself through chords.
Mobile app development in Burundi is still in its very infancy. There is
a long way to go before the country catches up with the rest of the
region. “There are virtually no mobile apps in Burundi; Ecobank just
recently launched mobile money transfer services in the country.”
Kwizera says the work ahead will be hard. He has his name on Burundi’s
first online shopping portal Burundionline.
MOSES KIHUMBA, Kenya – CEO, Partechs Solutions
“If we can make applications
that can lift our people out of poverty, improve living conditions or
make life just a bit easier for the African people, techies have a real
shot at making a difference,” Victor believes. He founded Partechs
Solution two years ago with a focus on health and financial
applications. His work has been recognised by Africa Com Awards – the
largest ICT gathering on the continent. Victor’s latest application,
Mare-Mare brings back barter trader, but in a more sophisticated
fashion. It connects traders and showcases commodities up for exchange.
Unlike monetary transactions, barter trade is characterized by
protracted negotiations, but Victor reasons this “encourages the
creation of solid ties within the society. This is especially beneficial
in societies burdened with negative ethnicity.”
THOMSON LUTTA, Tanzania - KINU Innovation
An-up-and coming app developer,
Thomson is currently participating in the Google Apps Developer
Challenge for the $20,000 prize. “What’s amazing about mobile apps is
that they can be tweaked to solve many problems facing our societies.”
Thomson says it’s not all about money. He wants to play his part in
easing the hardships Africa faces using apps.
JACOB MWEMA, Kenya – Co-Founder, Fomobi Solutions
With a capital base of $60,000,
this young man is going places. "My vision is to grow my start-up into a
profitable business globally, and influence upcoming developers, in
their passions, to develop relevant and effective solutions,” he says.
Jacob is best known in the tech community for his SchoolBursar, an app
that helps education institutions manage M-Pesa payments. It performs
real-time analysis and generation of reports for each student, sends
reminders to parents and guardians who have fee deficits and alerts
administrators and principals of the same.
GIDEON ALFRED, Tanzania - Founder, The Bridge Ltd
Feeling cheated out of a
lucrative app he developed by his employer, Gideon decided to quit his
job in to start his own tech company. “To be successful in this
business, you must be your own boss. You will be more productive than
when you work for somebody.” He thinks mobile technology is just what
Africa needs to drive growth in the next decade. “Five years ago, money
transfer was a nightmare in Africa; look at what M-Pesa has achieved to
get an idea of where the continent is headed.”
LUTWAMA GEOFREY, Uganda – CEO, MLFocus (U) Ltd
Lutwama wants to help Uganda
achieve one of the UN Millennium Development Goals. He says his Saving
Tomorrow app can reduce child and maternal mortality by an ambitious
75%-85. “We realised children die of simple diseases because there is no
connection between mothers and doctors.” Saving Tomorrow captures the
mother’s medical data and schedules her visits to the hospital and
reminds her of her appointments. It also schedules immunisation and
vaccination dates, and sends nutrition advice via SMS.
NOEL MAKUMULI, Tanzania – Co-Founder, Connect IT
Connect IT is a conference for
the tech community in Tanzania where participants meet other peers in
the ICT industry, share experiences, learn from other professionals, and
build their network. The inaugural conference held last month was a
success with close to 100 techies participating. Noel, currently based
in Finland, has developed software for a number of corporations in
Helsinki. He is now developing a site surveying software for Ekahau – a
company providing real time location systems (RTLS). The software will
be used to survey coverage of wireless networks. Noel is planning on
going back to mobile apps; and we shall also notice when he does.
*The author worked with Nation Media Group’s Africa Project.
SOURCE: http://www.africareview.com
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