Airtel Ghana in partnership with Singtel and Samsung has launched an application challenge for startup developers, designers and geeks to create innovative smartphone applications.
The event held at the Kofi Annan ICT Centre in Accra seeks to attract the ‘next big app developers’ into the Airtel group of companies.
Announcing the competition in Ghana, Data Director for Airtel Ghana, John Claude Domilongo Bope, said that the challenge reaffirms the company’s belief in empowering people.
He said Airtel Ghana is on a mission to build an environment that unearths the power of potential, drives technology innovation and attracts top tier talent.
He explained that Airtel Ghana is exposing young developers to the third biggest market in the world to sell their apps.
“This initiative is a great opportunity for developers in Ghana to come up with innovative mobile applications that directly touch individual consumer needs to be deployed across the network of one of the biggest global telecom brands.”
The challenge is about getting winners from Ghana for the continental challenge and Airtel Africa will provide operational support by running campaign promotions while Singtel and Samsung provide mentorship program for the regional winners as well as the finale in November 2015.
Dr Dorothy Gordon, Director General of Kofi Annan Center of Excellence in ICT described the growing developer talent as the right kind to make use of the opportunities in the digital market. She said the Ghanaian market is expanding which encourages the Ghanaian developer community to access the market of airtel users in Ghana and beyond
“The Ghanaian market for digital apps is really expanding exponentially. There are so many people using smartphones in Ghana. We have to ask ourselves, are Ghanaian developers able to make money from that potential market or will we always be going to appstores and buying apps that were developed in other countries” , she added.
Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs Airtel Ghana, Hannah Agbozo, explained that the App Challenge represents an amazing opportunity for young individuals to be placed in a production situation, apply their knowledge to solving real problems and meet other app developers who are as passionate as they are about what technology can do to help improve our lives.
“She added that, “As a company that has committed itself to leading this age of technological advancement, Airtel has created this competition as a means of identifying and grooming world class application developers who will lead the change in this era.”