Apple App Store And Google Play Store Expand To More African Countries

26/03/2020

American tech company Apple announced that its App Store is launching in 20 new countries this 2020.

Most of the new countries are from Africa and Eurasia.

They include Rwanda as one of the most inclusive, followed by Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Libya, Morocco, Mozambique and Zambia.

Countries from other regions include Afghanistan, Iraq, Georgia, Maldives, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Myanmar, Nauru, Tonga and Vanuatu.

In an announcement published on its website, the firm said that this was part of its strategy to expand to as many markets to serve better Apple users around the world.

"App Store will expand even farther this year with upcoming support for 20 new countries, allowing you to increase your impact and grow your business in new markets," the tech giant said in a statement.

Phone store in Rwanda
Smartphones have their own market in Rwanda. But feature phones are still mainstream in the country. (Credit: JapanVIP).

Apple has long been judged by many for its business in selling iPhones, Macs and other expensive products by prioritizing customers who can really afford its products.

As one of the wealthiest tech company, Apple has been blamed to be care less about its customers elsewhere, like in developing countries and those from the small markets.

But with this expansion, Apple is showing that it is changing its attitude. With new regions being covered by App Store, developers in the regions can finally publish and monetize their apps built with the iOS software development kit on the platform.

The move also allows users of iOS on iPhones, iPod Touch and iPad an exclusive access to Apple's App Store that features more than 2.2 million apps, ranging from free, free with in-app purchase and paid, as well as transferring them to Apple smartwatch or TVs.

With the change, App Store is supported in 155 countries worldwide and registers over half a billion visitors each week, and is generating at least $155 billion in developers' earnings.

And as for Google, the company is known to open up developers and registration on its Play Console once in every few months.

Previously, Google has added access to its developers in Iraq, Bermuda, Palestine, Somalia, and many more nations. With the update, people in the region can start signing up for Google Play and start distributing their apps. And with yet another registration, Google is opening itself up to 17 countries.

They include:

Benin, Botswana, Mali, Mozambique, Togo, Burundi, Congo, Guinea, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Gambia, Liberia, and Sierra Leone for the African countries, and Turkmenistan as the only Asian country on Apple's list.