Ghana to hold 2012 Apps4Africa brainstorming session

In order to get strong and ‘wild’ applications, Ghana will on December 1, 2012 hold a brainstorming session on the 2012 Apps4Africa competition which was launched in October 2012.

Officials say the event, which takes place at the Kofi Annan ICT Centre, will “discuss and develop potential submission” for the competition which Ghana placed third in West Africa during the 2011 edition. Victor Ogo Ekwueme from Nigeria won the first prize followed by the team in Senegal while the team from Ghana made up of Alloysius Attah and Emmanuel Owusu Addai took the third prize for developing a mobile and web-based system known as “Farmerline” that furnishes farmers and investors with relevant agricultural information to improve productivity and increase income.

But Farmerline went on to win the 2012 World Summit Youth Award in Canada in October this year.

According to a statement released by the US Embassy in Accra, the team from Farmerline will be at the brainstorming event to “share their experience”.

The statement called on ambitious technologists, young developers, entrepreneurs, businesses, startups and NGOs that support technology projects to attend.

The 2012 edition of Apps4Africa competition will put focus on promoting economic opportunity and development in Africa.

The 2011 edition was on climate change while the 2010 one was a civic challenge.

Sponsored by the US State Department, the event is an Africa-wide competition meant to encourage the development of mobile, web, and desktop applications (“apps”) that help address the challenge of youth unemployment in Africa.

The competition is opened to the following countries; ganda, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Ghana, Senegal, and Nigeria.

By Ekow Quandzie