23 Sept 2010 // The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa has intensified its Dr Math tutoring service on the popular mobile phone platform Mxit after a nationwide teachers' strike has left students unprepared for final exams.

Students can download study materials from MXit as well as exchange messages with tutors.

"MXit is cheap and efficient," said Laurie Butgereit, who is overseeing the tutoring effort. More than 1,000 MXit messages can be sent for one rand, about 15 U.S. cents.

A three-week strike by teachers and other civil servants ended Sept. 6. Since then, students have protested across the country, complaining they had not had enough time to prepare for exams. Last week, a police officer fired on one group of protesting students, killing a 17-year-old girl.

Over 100 volunteers from around the country have registered to help out from Sundays to Thursdays, with the service being available from 2pm until 10pm. Dr. Math is currently helping 12,000 learners on MXit, and the organisers are hoping to expand the service by recruiting more volunteer tutors.

 To access the program, users have to log on to MXit using a mobile phone with internet access or a computer and find the Dr. Math option under "MXit Cares."

Full article at Yahoo: http://yhoo.it/cxNU8J

MXit: http://www.mxitlifestyle.com/

The mobile app industry is starting to explode in Africa, according to reports from Nokia and Ovi Store this month. There’s two parts to this: the number of apps that people are downloading and buying; and the number of developers creating new apps.

Since July 2010 (three months ago), the number of Ovi Store downloads by African consumers has grown by 50%, with the number of active users growing by 20%.

In South Africa, which appears to be the most mature market in the region, purchases from Ovi Store have grown by a whopping 438% since June. This massive increase followed the introduction of operator billing for apps, which clearly makes people far more likely to purchase compared to pulling out their credit cards or other alternatives. The introduction of operator billing to an area results in 13 times as many sales on average compared to credit cards.

Developer registrations on Forum Nokia from Africans have also grown by 60% over the same three months. East Africa is becoming a centre for the rapidly growing area of mobile money, with players such as M-PESA, Zap, Yu-Cash, MTN Money and Orange Money collecting an estimated 12 million subscribers in the area between them.

So how long before Africa beats the current top continents for downloads and new apps? At this rate of growth, it might not be long.

Full article from Nokia Conversations:

http://conversations.nokia.com/2010/10/04/africas-fast-growth-app-economy/