Vodafone Ghana Launches The Vodafone App Store For Local App Developers

Among the many app developers in Ghana, one of the major issues has to do with visibility of the content they create on the major app stores for smartphones. It’s almost impossible to have Ghanaian apps landing on featured lists on these stores. Vodafone Ghana, in an effort to bring visibility to more Ghanaian app developers has launched the Vodafone App Store.

“This is a developer friendly app store with a focus on local, relevant content whiles giving subscribers the opportunity to still have access to a global range of popular apps. It will allow local developers to showcase their talent and have the recognition and visibility they deserve.”

The store was launched last Friday at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology and lasted barely 30 minutes. The event was on point and on time, bringing together Vodafone staff, the MEST community, and some Ghanaian developers.

The store houses apps for the various platforms and automatically detects the OS of the store visitor so they download only relevant apps. Another advantage of the store is the low barrier to entry to the store. The removal of the $50–100 cost on hosting apps on the major app stores will help developers host their apps more easily and possibly faster.

Julius Kyeremanten, Head of Strategy and Innovation at Vodafone Ghana launched the App Store last Friday. He added:

In the last couple of years, there’s been a revolution on the ground happening here in Ghana, where a lot of people are developing some very cool apps here in Ghana. However, [it will be a struggle] to get people to name 5 compelling globally successful mobile apps. We at Vodafone have identified an opportunity to support an industry of innovators and developers, [presenting] the Vodafone App Store.

Ekua Odoom, Managing Director of MEST added, “We are very proud of how far we’ve come as a family, we are especially grateful to our partners who have made this growth and expansion happen. Today, we’re applauding you and saying “ayekoo” to the Vodafone team for the bright new innovation also encouraging the developers to showcase your product and get some visibility.”

Eyram Tawia, CEO of Leti Arts, and Winner of the International App Star Competition, expressed his delight at how this particular initiative is of interest to developers like him, to make their apps known to the right target audience. He also expressed his desire for Vodafone to open up APIs for the new Vodafone Cash, Cell-site triangulation, etc.

Vodafone has expressed active interest in promoting the tech community in Ghana. From launching the Mobile for Good competition to an app store this year, the organisation has about 4 more similar initiatives purposed at strengthening the tech and developer space in Ghana.