ACCRA, Ghana (Reuters) — Ghanaian university student Gabriel Opare wanted to build a search engine that could challenge the dominance of YouTube.
The 19-year-old taught himself how to code by taking online courses in his free time. He is currently a full-time student of Sociology at the University of Ghana, in Accra.
In his quest to rival Google – the world’s most popular search engine, Opare developed Mudclo – a free search engine for videos. Mudclo discovers and streams videos from the different locations on the internet all in one place.
“I believe that my business is good enough and that it can scale globally. It is a legitimate point to say that YouTube is a video hosting website, but they are two different entities. While YouTube is a video hosting website, Mudclo combines the power of YouTube and two other video hosting websites in order to create Mudclo,” he said.
Mudclo’s users most popular searches include adverts, music videos and amateur content.
Opare says his initial inspiration came from other Ghanaians, restless and eager to build businesses at a young age on a continent where opportunities are limited and unemployment is rife.
Mudclo has already caught the attention of some of the world’s big tech companies, including more established video hosting sites although there is some work to be done on Mudclo to fix bugs, boost the features and visual experiences it offers users.
“With all entrepreneurs, they feel that there is a rewarding or gratifying feeling that comes with creating a product or a service that will actually matter to the world,” Opare said.
Experts say information and communication technology could help Africa overcome infrastructure inadequacies, satisfy rising consumer demand, boost regional trade and diversify economies, ending reliance on raw materials.
