A Kitwe based youth and ICT guru Michael Sinkolongo says Zambians are very much capable of making 'apps' like whatsapp unfortunately they mistrust their own products.
Mr Sinkolongo who is also creator of 'Twishe' - a social networking app says if a Zambian made an app like whatsapp, Zambians themselves would shoot it down as error prone, sluggish and insecure, even if it is because they are using platforms that are too old to support.
He adds that in Zambia, if one wants to make it big in the ICT industry as at now, they must target corporate clients and have good connections.
“If you make a product that is targeted for the general populace, it will mostly fail, or struggle for quite a while before you manage to woo a constant string of clients,” says Mr Sinkolongo.
Mr Sinkolongo alleges that ordinary people of Zambia have no money for extras.
“They barely make enough money to get by in a month and therefore cannot afford to spend it on 'non-essentials' like apps which they can mostly do without. When I talk to my friends about this, they suggest I make a product for corporate clients. I will probably do that some day, but I have no interest at present. Not all of us can and are interested in serving corporate clients. Our hearts are in serving ordinary Zambian people, because for the most part, we are ordinary,” he explains.
Mr Sinkolongo further says with the major update by whatsapp to stop supporting the defunct but still popular Blackberry and Symbian platforms, most Zambians are anxious.
“They are already talking of an alternative solution and my friends have suggested coming up with a solution to replace whatsapp. All I do is ask: How many Zambians have paid a single dime to support whatsapp?” he wonders.
He says if whatsapp was Zambian, with its monetization model, it would have crumbled a long time ago.
“Like I said, most Zambians don't have extra money to pay for anything which falls out of that which they deem essential. The almost nill revenue whatsapp makes from Zambia is compensated for by paying clients elsewhere,” Mr Sinkolongo laments adding that if one has such an app, the best they can do is inundate it with adverts so that even if Zambians don't pay, they will pay for it by their presence on it.
Mr Sinkolongo notes that Zambians are very much capable of making something like whatsapp, but the Zambian market isn't ready to receive it and support it yet.
“Because the majority of people are still illiterate concerning e-commerce. Most people don't know what VISA is, and if they do, they think they will lose their money if they use it. Unless people can pay for your app the way they pay for tomato, you are doomed,” he expresses displeasure.
He further discloses that IT projects usually come with a huge overhead, financially and labour wise.
“Huge amounts of money and labour have
to be thrown into these projects with no guarantee of success and the average Zambian has no such muscle, and with little support, they are almost bound to fail,” says Mr Sinkologo.
Mr Sinkolongo explains that most companies that want to finance startups want a viable idea that is already working, but the greatest challenge is setting up a team and processes to get things started.
“And if they do choose to finance a startup, they want the majority of shares, thus eclipsing the visionaries,” he laments adding that “ICT is a tough industry, but that will still not deter us from trying, and when the Zambian market is ready, we shall be ready too.”
No comments:
Post a Comment