Plans are underway to introduce Ghana’s BoxBuzz, an SMS alert system that informs owners of Post Office Box addresses when they receive a letter, to Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and China.
Maximus Ametorgoh, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of PopOut, which owns BoxBuzz, told HumanIPO from Accra discussions are currently ongoing with partners in the various markets.
“We are working on new markets Nigeria, Kenya, China, Rwanda and South Africa,” he said. “I have three reps working on that to get franchise for the app. They are citizens there but I can’t disclose full details.”
The platform is yet to be launched even in Ghana, which Ametorgoh said is due to general reluctance towards adoption of technology.
“You know Ghana and delays. We’ve been to more than six meetings,” he said. “Board meeting approvals, getting IT managers and MDs to even pilot it, has been difficult.”
He however said the technology has been recommended to government by the director of posts at the Ministry of Communication and the platform should become operational in the next five months.
PopOut is organising Ghana’s TopApps Awards, which will be held in October.
“There would be a more interactive exhibition and bigger awards. We are already getting quality nominations,” he said.
“It now features quality apps winning the categories, participation and partnership growing, app community believing the awards, media partnerships increasing, creating more competition among app developers.”
Concerning the tech community in Ghana, he said little is being done to get them more involved in daily lives.
“We attend tech events and network with colleagues but little is being done to integrate the solutions into the daily lives of people. More importantly, there is a lack of understanding of the daily lives of people which should inform the development of the apps. I know the likes of Regina Agyare are teaching girls how to code. But our tech problem boils down to market insights and product development,” he told HumanIPO.
