On January 15th of this year, Yomi wrote a piece that I personally think deserves an award. He actually told manufacturers, developers and others who do not support Nigeria to go to blazes. It was a really bold and daring move, and I must say that I salute Yomi for standing against such nonsense.
Whether you think that the opening up of Blackberry AppWorld to Nigeria was directly linked to that article or not is irrelevant. The fact remains that it was opened up after the article was written and Nigerians are the better for it.
Google’s Android Market is another system that has remained partially closed to Nigeria. You see, while users of Android devices in Nigeria can download free apps from the market, they are unable to buy paid apps because Nigeria is not on the list of supported countries.
Recently, however, I visited the web version of the Android Market and noticed that not only was I able to view paid apps, the prices of those apps were listed in Naira, with the Naira image properly displayed.
Of course, I was still not able to pay for apps (I was presented with a PayPal payment page when I clicked through to purchase but have no PayPal account). Perhaps any of our Android fans here with a PayPal account can give it a shot?
Note that you need to have an Android phone currently associated with your Market account or you will be asked to sign in with a different account.
Can we take this as a sign of progress?
This post was written by
Dayo Olutunfese is a mobility consultant and seminar facilitator. He is on the staff of Mobility.
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March 28th, 2011 at 12:51 am Browsing with
I think this is a step in the right direction for the Android Market. They stand to gain from this move while nigerians will also benefit. However, they should extend the gesture to the market app in our android devices and present other payment plan options like mastercard and visa.
Good move
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March 28th, 2011 at 7:58 am Browsing with
This is a great sign.
But they need to introduce Cards.
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March 28th, 2011 at 8:09 am Browsing with
Just checked out the Android Market.
Saw the Naira sign but it didn’t take me to the pay-pal page because I don’t have an Android device associated with my account.
If they can display the amount in Niara, it will be great and ground breaking if they accept ATM straight up.
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March 28th, 2011 at 4:38 pm Browsing with
As far as I’m concerned, the market is still closed to Nigeria. Why set Paypal as the only payment medium when Paypal does not even support Nigeria? Get my drift?
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March 29th, 2011 at 8:38 pm Browsing with
@Dayo,
Funny thing. I still get only free apps in the Android Market on my laptop. Am I in the wrong Market or my market is put together for me because I signed into it with my Gmail account?
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March 29th, 2011 at 9:04 pm Browsing with
@deoladoctor, I honestly cannot answer that question. What browser did use in accessing the market?
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March 29th, 2011 at 10:05 pm Browsing with
Internet Explorer on Windows 7 ultimate. Will try chrome browser later today to see if there will be a difference.
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March 30th, 2011 at 2:00 pm Browsing with
WHat happened to my posts??
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May 23rd, 2011 at 4:40 pm Browsing with
it is very good that we are going to be able to buy apps from android market!but can Google make an arrangement so that we can be able to pay with credits(MTN,GLO,AIRTEL,STARRCOMS,VISA,ETISALAT…..) equivalent to the price of the app.
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May 24th, 2011 at 1:27 am Browsing with
@nura thats the same thing i was thinking it would be easy for Google regarding the fact they have very good relations with other network operators abroad
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