‘Entrepreneur’ is one of the most commonly used adjectives by people in the business world. The assumption that anybody doing business is of a necessity an entrepreneur rather robs the word (entrepreneur) of its glory. Nevertheless, we cannot blame anybody for that limited understanding of the word because even some dictionaries define an entrepreneur as ‘’someone who “organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business.”
I think an entrepreneur does more than organizing, managing and assuming the risks of any business. This definition is limited to an aspect of entrepreneurship, totally blinding us to the very essence of the existence of such people in our society. By all standards, an entrepreneur should be someone who identifies a problem in the society and takes pragmatic steps at creating a solution to these problems. When this criteria is met, then we can start talking about the aspect of entrepreneurship stated in the afore quoted definition. With this in mind, it does not take a degree in rocket science for one to realize that most Africans lack this gem of a human quality. If we had a lot of people in these parts thinking like real entrepreneurs, who would want to work hard at coming up with solutions to problems and then making money out of them, most of our problems would be solved. There are too many businessmen in Africa rather than entrepreneurs. It is just interesting to read about people in the western world finding new and innovative ways of solving problems in their countries. One of such innovative ways of bringing solutions to people’s doorsteps, is Mobile App Development.
Mobile phones by their nature are handy and can be carried along by users anywhere they go. They have therefore become the medium through which entrepreneurs are able to extend a helping hand to all who need one. This they do by creating applications that solve from basic to extremely awkward problems in the lives of users and the community at large. It is indeed a blessing that Mobile App Development is catching up with Africans. Instead of ranting about how governments are performing poorly in Africa, most Africans are now set to bring solutions to the problems of the continent. Leading in the mobile app industry in Africa is Kenya. The youth in Kenya have set the pace for mobile app development in Africa worthy of emulation by their peers in other African countries.
In Africa, mobile apps are created to provide a solution for the problems of people from all walks of life. There are apps that suit urban dwellers and there are ones that are purposely created for the rural people. It is praiseworthy, the fact that people living outside these rural areas are developing software that address the issues that bother rural people. Amongst the various occupations that benefit from the solutions that mobile applications provide is farming. Farmers can now get rid of their nightmares by getting access to these applications. Farming has been made easy, with the provision of tips and solutions to problems through some of these apps. This is more like taking a more sophisticated approach in solving traditional problems.
Nevertheless, though most people are blessed with the ability to identify problems and come up with mobile apps to solve them, they are unable to push their products to the necessary heights for them to become household names. This is due to lack of certain entrepreneurial skills, that goes beyond identifying and solving a problem to exposing it to the people the solution was made for. This is also a quality present in entrepreneurs that sets them apart from all other innovative people. Marrying innovation in problem solving to entrepreneurship is not an easy task and this has contributed to the failures recorded by some people in this industry. This has necessitated the establishment of an organization as Mobile Web Ghana. A non-governmental organization that seeks to provide the needed guidance and help to entrepreneurs who would like to venture into this industry. Their efforts can be commended since many people are assisted in their quest to extend a helping hand to those who need it.