MTN Ghana has awarded winners in its MTN Apps Challenge V3.0 contest at a ceremony at the company’s head office in Accra.
The competition played out on television for several weeks and a trio of mobile applications (Apps) developers, Kwaku Agyei, Marfo Tabiri and Samuel Boadu, emerged the overall winners with their game App called Wheelo.
They were also announced as winners in the Games and Entertainment category. The young men, therefore, got richer on the night by GH¢40,000 as they received GH¢20,000 for the category win and the same amount for being the overall best.
Winners in the other categories were: Gh Payroll (Business) and Donatio (Lifestyle). Each category winner took home GH¢20,000. The runners-up also got GH¢15,000 and GH¢10,000, respectively.
The MTN Apps Challenge V3.0 was launched in September last year as part of the telecom company’s Internet Festival (iFest) month. The main aim was to search for the most innovative and locally relevant mobile apps.
“As the leading mobile telecom company in Ghana, MTN deems it a responsibility to ensure that Ghana plays a significant role in the apps development industry,” the company’s acting CEO, Mr Abbad Reda, said at the awards ceremony.
After a road show in six tertiary institutions to make more young people aware of the contest, hundreds of them entered the competition. About 40 Apps were cleared to vie for prizes in the various categories.
Billions of mobile applications are said to be downloaded daily around the world due to the big role they play in all aspects of contemporary life. There are Apps for almost every facet of activity these days.
“Our objective for this year’s contest has, to a large extent, been met. We have successfully been able to harness local talent in app development and we are excited about the strong affinity built around the apps development community,” the MTN Ghana Acting CEO said.
Guest speaker at the ceremony, Mr Vivek K. Verma, Rector for BlueCrest College, congratulated the winners and advised them to combine entrepreneurial skills with their technical knowledge to enable them to adequately commercialise their products.
The MTN Apps Challenge television series was produced by Farmhouse Productions, one of the leading television content producers in this country.