The problem with africa and mobile apps is, that most cellphones there are not capable of running apps. While it would be nice to "capture" the cellphone payment marketshare, it won't work, until africa upgrades its hardware!
I think we should invent cheap smartphones and then spread them there
Haha that would be awesome. NXT/NEM sending africa to the 21th century!
"A sub-$50 no-contract smartphones are already a reality today. The MTN Steppa. Its a pretty bad phone: Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, 2MP camera, single-core processor, 480×320 HVGA screen. But its a genuine smartphone nonetheless, with a 3G antenna, Google Maps, Gmail, Facebook, Opera, and YouTube. And it retails for less than fifty dollars (no contract.) "
www.techcrunch.com/2014/02/08/in-3-5-years-most-africans-will-have-smartphonesIn Kenya, cell phone usage increased by 4,000,000 users last year. Kenyans use cell phones for everything from buying groceries to paying rent. Kenyans pay $20 for cell phones with banking, streaming, and communication capabilities. kenyasocialventures.com
A simple app that can just send and receive NEM would be a great starting point. We can team up with a few entrepreneurs or business students at a local university and donate a few $50 smartphones. I am sure they will find NEM useful for one of there projects.