Challenges Botswana’s Mobile Application Developers Encounter: Funding, Commercial and Technical Support

Abstract

Smart phone usage in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to constitute more than half of all mobile connections by 2020. Therefore, it can be expected that mobile applications will change the way business is conducted and that mobile applications to address community needs would be developed by growing a mobile based entrepreneurship ecosystem. Departing from the literature on mobile-based entrepreneurship ecosystems and specifically the research on Kenya, this study investigates the case of Botswana. We focus on three of the most pressing challenges, within Botswana’s mobile application ecosystem, namely the state of funding, commercial and technical support. This interpretive research study comprises a descriptive research design conducted with mobile application developers in Gaborone, Botswana to gather information concerning the current challenges faced. As part of a larger study, the paper provides an overview of Botswana’s mobile application industry from a developer’s perspective and recommendations for improving the state of funding, commercial and technical support for mobile application development. Furthermore, the research contributes to a better understanding of the mobile-based entrepreneurship ecosystems in the region of Southern Africa.