Mila Joshua Yona
There are apps and there are APPS. The APPS am referring to are the mobile applications that we need in our daily lives. In some other parlance, they may be described as “Basic amenities”
In a time when we have 8.93 million mobile apps on the planet competing for our attention and giving us upgrades at every turn(rolls eyes and grins), it has become essential to filter them all into the apps that we can’t do without at the moment.
Here is what we filtered:
1. Transportation Apps
In South Sudan, we have either taxi or motorcycle apps that have begun to reduce the stress of a daily commute.
South Sudan’s notorious traffic situation has made such apps as Nileboda and Shilu Ana a necessity. Skipping through early morning “go-slows” or looking for parking space in congested areas is nightmarish enough!
2. Social Media Apps
If you belong to the age group of 10 and 35 or even greater, you must agree with me that;
With an internet-enabled smartphone, the chances that you do not have a social interaction app; whether Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, or Instagram, etc. are very unlikely.
3. Banking Apps
These are becoming necessary to survive South Sudan’s unique brand of stress.
Thankfully, ATMs can be spotted in almost every major location in the country. With the constant push toward a cashless society in South Sudan, there is a need to perform financial transactions even without the hassles of carrying your ATM cards all the time.
The gist of what APPs are giving people headaches and which banks are unreliable but need to be publicly flogged in South Sudan is a story for another day.
4. Mobile Services Self-Care App
The customer is king, especially in the South Sudanese telco space. The South Sudanese consumer is getting even smarter and more demanding, as expected and ingenuity in creating avenues that will satisfy the consumer has become very critical.
For instance, the MyMTN app offers subscribers control over their phone accounts, allows for the monitoring of usage patterns, managing data usage, etc. It has hot deals to try.
Surviving in this extreme South Sudan environment requires all the help you can get from every side, App or not.
Therefore, what are the APPs you can’t do without in South Sudan? Share in the comments.
