For the first time ever, African developers took part in beta testing this new global developer product launch with a company of Facebook's scale. Facebook included Afrinolly (Entertainment, Nigeria) and GumTree SA (Classifieds, South Africa) in the beta testing programme for the launch.
Account Kit, is a framework that lets users sign into apps using a phone number or email address. With Account Kit users can sign in with a phone number or email without the need for Username/Password or the need for a Facebook Account. You just have to acknowledge a confirmation message (either by SMS or email) to sign-in. It is fast, seamless and easy to use without the need to remember a password.
"We are excited to be part of the launch of Facebook's Account Kit and are very proud of our in house developers who made it happen," said Chike Maduegbuna, CEO at Afrinolly. "To be part of a select few which includes the likes of Pinterest and Flipboard to have implemented this product in our app at launch makes us very proud."
Tope Omotunde, CTO at Afrinolly said, "Account kit is a tool useful worldwide, but it is particularly more useful in developing regions, where having a Facebook account is not so guaranteed."
Emeka Afigbo, strategic product partnerships manager at Facebook added: “We believe that local entrepreneurs and developers will be the ones to meet the needs of their immediate community, and we are working with developers to know how we can support them in doing so.
“We are listening to our developer partners in Africa, and the strong showing for F8 is a reflection of our commitment to doing more with our partners across the continent to help them build products and businesses.”
Afrinolly is a mobile content distribution platform which enables African entertainment enthusiasts to watch African movies, short films, series and music videos on their smartphones. With over 3.5 million downloads, Afrinolly has grown to be the most downloaded entertainment app, designed and developed in Africa. It is available for download on Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone.
For now, Account Kit is on Afrinolly for Android but would be extended to other platforms soon.
