Three teams from Africa are among the semi-finalists of the global Ericsson Application Awards, competing for prize money of €25,000 against teams from Europe, the Americas and Asia.
The three teams include two from Ghana – Team Trokxi and Team Nimdee Mobile – and one from Kenya – TeamKenya.
Other qualifiers include teams from China, the United Kingdom, USA, Romania, Poland, Portugal and Brazil.
The contestants in the 2013 Ericsson ”Apps for City life” Application Awards aim to promote innovation towards connecting people, things and places, thereby empowering individuals and their societies.
According to Ericsson’s Sub-Saharan Africa marketing and strategy head Shiletsi Makhofane the applications will help improve the quality of life of town dwellers in Africa and worldwide.
“We are proud to have three teams from Africa among the semi-finalists. From politics to business and transportation, these teams have developed applications that will improve the quality of life on the continent and beyond. Africa is a mobile continent, and application development is one of the continent’s growing industries,” he said.
TeamKenya’s application allows the electorate to engage with political aspirants easily, educates them about laws related to elections and offers the latest news and events relating to elections.
Team Trokxi has developed an application that helps passengers move around more easily by providing information regarding estimated fares and time and minimising transport-related frauds, while Team Nimdee’s application enables African traders to access the continental and intercontinental market, while allowing them to search for potential customers from the same platform.
The applications, which all run on the Android platform, will now be reviewed by approximately 900 users from nine cities from different parts of the world, including New York, Johannesburg, Sydney and Shanghai.
The winning four apps will then proceed to the finals.
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