MESSRS Edem Joseph Morny, Prince Mensah and Adinan Alhassan on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 emerged the overall best winner in the fourth edition of Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN) Applications (Apps) Challenge (V.4.0) with their App ‘Amatsi.’
The MTN Apps Challenge, which was launched in 2013, has so far discovered some very innovative local Apps.
Notable among them are Setriakor Nyomi’s ‘Oware 3D’ App and Nana Ekow Taylor and friends’ ‘Buzztrick’ App.
They emerged winners of Versions 1.0 and 2.0 of the competition, respectively with the Oware 3D app so far receiving over 50,000 downloads.
The 2017 Challenge, V.4.0, launched in September last year, was geared towards the search for mobile applications that focused on four categories namely business, lifestyle, games and entertainment and animation.
There were also four category winners made up of Gold, Silver and Bronze winners for each category out of which the overall winner for MTN Apps Challenge Version 4. O emerged.
Each category winner took home an amount of GH₵20,000 while the runners-up for the categories took home GH₵15,000 and GH₵10,000, respectively.
The overall winner received an additional GH₵20,000 as his prize.
The competition saw Messrs San You Aaron emerging as the overall winner under the Games and Entertainment category with an App titled: ‘Counters Ball Pro.’
Samuel Ofori Kiti won the Silver in the category with an App titled: ‘Youplay’ while Nana Ghartey won bronze with an App titled, ‘Alikoto.’
The newly introduced Animation category was won by Messer’s Tony Svanekaier, Nii Ofei Kyei-Dodoo and Sarpei Kwadey for an App titled ‘Bird and Kite.’
The overall winner in the Lifestyle category was won by Mr. Bubunyo Nyavor and Kofi Hayford with an App titled: ‘AF Radio.’
In an address, Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Ghana, Mr. Asher Khan, pledged the commitment of MTN, as the leading mobile telecommunication company in Ghana, to ensure that Ghana played a significant role in the Apps development industry.
Mr. Khan noted that in today’s digital economy, internet usage was driven by the use of mobile applications, especially as a result of the increasing number of smart devices on the market.
He said animation was included in the competition as a new area for developers to explore because of the realisation that there was the need to develop applications with animation support to aid individual businesses and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
He added that, most SMEs in recent times interact with their customers using animations thus the need to blend it with mobile apps to act as an additional channel of advertising.
He congratulated the finalists, and especially the ultimate winners, for their innovation and commitment to contributing to the telecommunication industry in Ghana, and expressed appreciation to the work done by the panel of judges and the project team.
Mr. Khan disclosed that MTN’s acquisition of the 4G LTE coupled with other investments in the technological sector should propel and encourage App developers to come out with innovative and user friendly projects that will satisfy its customers.
He mentioned that more than 60 sites had been acquired and were currently being tested in four regions in the country.
This, he said, was expected to provide the fastest internet connectivity in our time, adding that robust internet connectivity was a prerequisite for the exploration of the full benefits of mobile apps.
He disclosed that to further enhance service delivery and customer experience, MTN will be investing substantive investment in network improvements including LTE and IT infrastructure for the year 2017.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.
