BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) has announced that it has trained 70 Nigerian youth entrepreneurs at a developer training forum.
The 70 entrepreneurs were trained on developing mobile applications, aimed at helping the developers gain interest in designing applications for the forthcoming BlackBerry 10 platform.
This is according to the regional director, East, West and Central Africa, for Research In Motion, Waldi Wepener, while speaking at the close of the training in Lagos Nigeria.
“RIM has transformed the developer experience with BlackBerry 10 by creating an open platform to enable developers to leverage their range of existing skills,” said Wepener.
The training also provided the participants with tools to simplify the development process.
“Whether the developers choose to develop HTML5 apps or native apps, our environment will enable them to use their best skills to quickly create apps with great user experiences,” he added.
BlackBerry has in the recent past lost its market share in the globe, as android has come in and taken over from the brand. However, reports indicate that BlackBerry device is now becoming more popular in Nigeria, with the latest reported figures standing at 2.4 million devices as at Dec 2011.
BlackBerry has also come across as one of the most respected brands in Nigeria campuses an teenagers as a whole, with many citing its chat and direct email capabilities as their main attraction.
Currently, smartphone users stand at 5 million out of Nigeria’s 100 million mobile users. Out of the 5 million smartphones, BlackBerry takes half of the share, and still growing.
The decision to train more developers in the development of Blackberry apps might be seen as one of RIM’s strategy to increase BlackBerry usage in Nigeria, currently Africa’s largest mobile market.
