Africa's Mobile Revolution
Africa's Mobile Revolution
How the Cell Phone is Transforming the Continent
The mobile phone has evolved from a communications tool to a device, on which much of Africa’s economic aspirations rest. Innovations built around the mobile phone have improved the population’s inclusion in financial markets and have helped to work around the continent’s infrastructure problems. In some regions, more Africans have a mobile phone than have access to electricity. This has opened up opportunities for entrepreneurs and has changed the way business is done in the continent’s banking, agricultural, telecoms and pharmaceutical sectors. But it has also helped to increase transparency in politics as activists use mobile applications to monitor political violence and fight against state control of free speech.
About the Author
Mark Kaigwa is a consultant, technologist and blogger based in Nairobi, Kenya. Technology continues to transform Africa as innovation is accelerated in particular by the breathtaking spread of the mobile phone. Mark leads by advising brands, businesses and nonprofits aiming at impacting the hundreds of millions across the continent. In his most recent work, he led the digital advisory for “MamaYe”, a fiveyear campaign that aims to use information, advocacy and evidence to improve maternal and newborn survival in six Sub-Saharan African countries.
