THE MOBILE PHONE ‘REVOLUTION’ INAFRICA

350 million mobile phone subscribers

Use• transfer money• monitor elections• deliver public health messages

Informal economy • people selling airtime• charging and fixing mobiles• renting them out

Rapid Growth

• based on pre-pay phone cards

• voice• low-end phones

Rapid Adoption

• affordable• portable• multi-functional• ease of use

“the single most transformative technology for development”

Benefits of mobile phones

• incremental (improving the speed and efficiency of what people already do)

• transformational (offering something new)

• related to production (selling mobiles and related services)

pioneering new forms of mobile usage:M-Pesa

Transforming health sector

• collect health data

• support diagnosis and treatment

• disseminate health education in poor settings

Generates benefits within the formal and informal sectors

Limits of mobile telephones & missed opportunities• many people

marginalized/excluded from benefits

• cost and usability problems restrict many from benefiting from the full functionality of mobiles

• government restrictions and state control have also been shown to hinder the growth of the mobile phone sector

• used to devastating effect as a ‘weapon of war’ to circulate destabilizing rumors and hate messages

Conclusion