Nairobi — Steve Mutinda, a graduate of the University of Nairobi who specializes in developing mobile software, tells Katy Gabel how he does it.

I target two kinds of markets. There's the mass market and the corporate market. Mobile products use SMS (short message service), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and new products like 3G (third generation mobile technology). Some of the products I've developed for the mass market are news headline services for mobile phones, financial products – stock information and forex on the phone.

For corporate products I've developed sales force information products and distribution logistics. Sales force information works like this: Some bank wants to sell their credit cards. Instead of having forms and papers to fill out, you can simply have a form on the phone – a cheap phone – and somebody goes around and fills out client information in forms and drop-down menus and then pushes the information to an online database owned by the bank, from wherever they are in Kenya. The bank can now reach those fringe markets.

Distribution logistics information is like this: Let's say Coca-Cola's distributors are trying to make orders for their products. Instead of using the crude method of waiting for the lorries to come and collect their orders, the distributors can place the orders whenever they want and the orders – through text boxes and fancy interfaces – can be pushed using GPRS to a server somewhere at Coca-Cola or East Africa Breweries Limited and the orders will come straightaway with the drinks.

I'm looking to expand some of these products regionally. Some mass market products, like stock market information services, are valuable outside of Kenya. There's no product like this in Africa. The only other product I've seen targets foreign stock exchanges. For each product, expansion is a target. The markets are there. But obviously we're starting with a local target.

Marketing and technical skills are necessary. Young people come out of our universities and colleges with great ideas but they don't have a mind for business. So networking between technical people and the business world is key. Without a business angle, most IT solutions usually fail.

I've seen some people in Kenya trying to do incubators, which is a brilliant idea. Incubators are when some companies set aside some space and they tell some young minds to come and occupy that space. They get all their services for free – telephone, Internet, office space, laptops – everything. After six months, you're supposed to make money and give back to the incubator. I think it's a great idea, enabling us to deliver the ideas we have. I think that's what we lack right now, but we're headed for great things.