In a small working room in Ghana’s capital Accra, software developers at tech company mPedigree are busy developing new mobile phone apps for clients.
The Ghanaian company’s main technology product called Goldkeys helps to check for counterfeit products on the market.
The technology secures more products from counterfeiting than any other platform.
Selorm Brantie who is a co-founder of the mPedigree company said full operations started in 2011 but the concept begun couple of years back.
He said “Around 2007 when the concept was being thought of, there was a very big problem of counterfeits in Ghana.
What we realized was that for malaria products for example in Ghana and Nigeria, about 20 to 30 percent of it was being faked.
And the ramifications were that people were going to die, a lot of people were dying from malaria, or spending much more than they should on treatment of very common disease like malaria”.
Protecting consumers
On a continent where many consumers are vulnerable to fake drugs, Goldkeys offers complete brand protection, so customers buying products have no doubt about quality.
The company has grown beyond Ghana and West Africa, venturing into other brand protection services.
Selorm Brantie revealed that “We have moved into different segments of products since 2011 when we began full operations.
We have moved into the area of agriculture where in Kenya and Tanzania, Uganda, we are protecting seeds because one of the biggest things that we care about is the area of health care and the area of food and nutrition.”
Malaria kills 3 people every day in Ghana, according to Ghana’s health service.
Goldkeys mobile technology means consumers buying anti-malaria drugs among others can simply text special scratch codes to a designated short code to check for quality instantly.
mPedigree’s technology is also helping the textile industry in Ghana and within the sub-region.
Consumers can equally know whether the print is fake or otherwise using their mobile phones.
This year mPedigree will launch in 21 countries in Africa and Asia helping to check quality of products in the Agricultural sector.
Selorm Brantie explained that “We have a vision for our system to be able to be used as standards not only in Africa but a lot of the developing world, southern-Asia, latin America.”
That vision seems closer for this multi-million dollar company which is not only interested in making profit but solving societal problems.
Source: Africafeeds.com
