Season 5 of MTN Apps Challenge Launched

MTN Ghana has launched Season 5 of the MTN Apps Challenge to provide a platform for local mobile app developers to showcase their talents.

The competition, dubbed, “Empowering the Youth in Developing innovative Digital Projects” is opened to freelance software developers, Tertiary and Senior High School students.

Mr. Asher Khan, the Chief Marketing Manager at MTN Ghana, speaking at the media launch said the modern way of doing things shows that we have to be abreast with time and be digitally savvy so we are not left behind.

He said Apps are the order of the day. Therefore, for the early adapters, the dependency on Apps cannot be overlooked.

“In our part of the world, we recognise the abundance of burgeoning app developers across the country and the challenges they face”.

“We believe that given the right platform and opportunities, our local App developers are bound to succeed beyond expectations, and this is one of the drivers of the MTN Apps Challenge”, he explained.

He also revealed that v5.0 has two additional entries of Best Female Project Developer and the KatAppult Initiative in addition to the Inventor Category of the Internet of Things (IoT), Mobile Apps and animated videos.

According to him, these additions were as a result of evaluations made of the previous versions that showed the MTN Apps Challenge over the years has been male-dominated and therefore the need to encourage female participation.

The MTN Apps Challenge since its inception in 2013, has churned out various interesting and fascinating apps such as Buzztrick, Oware 3D, wheelo and the recent addition “Amatsii” which has seen over one thousand downloads.

MTN believes that the only way Ghana can participate in the digital revolution is to develop local talent and local content.

Ettel Cofie, Founder, Women in Tech Africa and a jury for the Apps Challenge said, their expectations for v5.0 is the market viability.

She emphasized that there will be more diversity and the jury will not only concentrate only on the technical aspects, but more on the commercial viability.

“We want this to be a sustainable business after the competition”, she said.

Winner of the MTN App Challenge will take home GHC 20.000.00 and a job opportunity. Participants can log on to www.appchallege.mtn.com.gh and register.

By: Abdel-Hanan Adam