Mobile Africa: concrete examples
I did a bit of research and found an article listing concrete examples of Africans innovative usages of mobile technologies:
“The ingenuity of some Africans to make sure they have access to communications cannot be underrated. In Ghana some build towers out of wood and stone on hilltops (‘cell phone towers’) and charge callers to climb to the top of the tower to access mobile phone signals that are blocked by the hill.”
The article cites other unusual initiatives, like motorcycle phones, communal phones (one phone for the village, one sim card per citizen), price tracking for farmers, beeping (dialing a number, hanging up before the call is connected to elicit a call back response from the recipient), etc…
See also: Nathan Eagle’s: presentation at LIFT07 on his observations of mobile phone usage in Kenya.
May 3rd, 2007 at 8:53 pm
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Services related to technology are often times inefficient in Africa, and so the people have had to find their own way around difficult situations, all the time. This explains the examples above.
Much part of the continent are not yet covered by cellular networks.
May 3rd, 2007 at 8:53 pm
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Services related to technology are often times inefficient in Africa, and so the people have had to find their own way around difficult situations, all the time. This explains the examples above.
Much part of the continent are not yet covered by cellular networks.