Ten top mobile phone apps made in Africa
By Barry Silah, September 14, 2021Find-A-Med
This location-based mobile application allows users to find the closest healthcare facility.
The app also provides a place where its users can store basic healthcare information in case of an emergency. Find-A-Med is available on both Android and Apple devices.
Should you find that your local health centre is missing in the directory, there’s an option to add it to the Find-A-Med database.
Other features include; search based on proximity and filter through specific healthcare providers, pharmacies, eye care centres, dental clinics.
One cal also reviewsany centre they have visited, helping other users identify highly rated health centres in their areas.
PesaCalc
This is a free Android app that allows users to streamline access to mobile money services in Kenya.
This app is compatible with all Kenya’s top mobile money services. In addition, the app allows users to prepare the correct amount of cash to send, including fees, to both registered and unregistered users.
The app helps users to send money to the right recipient by drawing contacts from their entire phone-book as well as their Sim card.”
PesaCalc is compatible with mobile money services operating in Kenya, including M-Pesa, AirtelMoney and Orange Money.
Slimtrader
This app was founded in 2009 and is popular in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
Slimtrader allows users to perform e-commerce transactions including buying or paying for goods and services.
The app basically allows users to effectively shop by text messages, however, it is only available on Android devices.
In 2015, the leading turn-key e-commerce solution provider for businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa received $1 million (Sh109.8 million) to deepen services.
M-Farm
Launched in 2012, M-Farm helps Kenyan farmers by Keeping them informed of crop prices and other farming-related matters.
The app runs on an SMS-based service and is now available to users in five major towns in Kenya.
This app is only available on Android devices. The mobile tool allows farmers to receive accurate, real-time crop price information daily, six days a week, being sourced from Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret and Kitale.
SnapnSave
This is a shopping app that gives users cash back on their everyday grocery purchases.
The app was recently launched in Cape Town, South Africa, and its developers are hoping that it will influence their consumers to make smarter purchases.
No paper coupons, no plastic cards and no loyalty points. Just real cash back on items that you buy everyday, leaving you with more to spend on the things you want.
When you find an item you want, click the “book offer” button to reserve it for 48 hours. All the items you book will go into “My booked offers”, AKA, your shopping list.
Wumdrop
The South African-made app allows delivery or picking up of packages by requesting a courier.
It also enables one to track services on a map and receive notification of the pending delivery.
These locations may be described by addresses or Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates.
The service is on-demand which means pickup happens as soon as the user specifies a time for pickup or within minutes from placement.
All this is handled by WumDrop tech which is developed in-house. WumDrop not only deals with customer-to-customer (C2C) deliveries but does business to customers (B2C) and also business-to-business (B2B).
Voicemap
Voicemap allows users to explore places such as Cape Town with the help of its walking tour setting.
These audio walking tours are available in voices belonging to expert correspondents, veteran broadcasters and passionate locals. This app is available on both Android and Apple devices.
Kids First Aid
This app gives parents and teachers access to emergency first aid information when they need it.
Ideally, this app will be able to give information to parents when they are traveling in a place where they do not speak the local language or when help is not readily available. This app is available only on Apple devices.
Suba
Suba is a location-based group photo album that creates a group photo stream. Once the stream is created, users can add pictures and send invites to others.
Suba that was created in Ghana is available on both Android and Apple devices.
Suba helps you meet the most interesting people at events you attend. Six years ago, Suba emerged as winner from the app developer competition held at the Mobile West Africa event in Lagos, Nigeria.
Safari Tales
Safari Tales was developed in order to eliminate the shortage of books in Kenya. The app is interactive and available in multiple languages.
Safari Tales offers African stories that may not be easily found in countries that lack educational books for children.
Every time your child plays, a Safari Tale is created, which captures their game activities in pictures and words, and presents them in classic storybook form within the game.
The game combines a fun exploratory world with a beautiful Storybook to encourage your child’s reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.
Set your child’s reading age so that the language is always targeted appropriately.