Apps
Saya – Ghana based mobile app making rapid gains outside Africa
Robert Lamptey, CEO and co-founder of Saya Mobile
Ghana-based chat application Saya has gained a huge following among mobile phone users across the globe. Founded in 2012, Saya is a replacement for text messaging much like WhatsApp, but built for feature phones.
Robert Lamptey built Saya to solve the problem of expensive SMS messaging which most feature phone users face.
The app has gained users in 35 countries across the globe and is actively used in developing countries outside Africa such as Syria, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Lamptey notes that Saya has been popular among users in the revolutions in Egypt, Syria and Libya. The service initially offered group messaging for non-smartphones but has now expanded to the smartphone market.
The Saya app went viral, with over 400,000 downloads within 2 months of its release early 2012.
Read more: HowWeMadeItInAfrica