The “end of isolation” for the world’s poor – From 2005 to 2010, cell phone use tripled in the developing world to nearly 4 billion mobile subscriptions, according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Nowhere was the growth faster than in Africa, which saw mobile use grow more than 400% during that time frame, according to ITU. That means more money — a 2006 University of Michigan study found that every 10% increase in cell phone penetration grows the local economy by 0.6%.
The simple ability to make a phone call has far-reaching economic consequences, note economist Jeffrey Sachs said.
“Places where traditionally, people would walk livestock for a week or two without knowing what kind of price they’ll fetch — should they go to Khartoum, Nairobi or Port Saeed? Now they can call ahead and find out where to get the best price,” Sachs said.
The low cost of setting up mobile towers and plunging costs of handsets has allowed cell phone coverage to grow even in poor, rural locations, said Michael Joseph, former CEO of Safaricom, a Kenyan telecom provider which grew from 17,000 users when he started in 2000 to more than 18 million when he stepped down in 2010. “There’s probably more pervasive coverage in Kenya than in many areas in Europe,” Joseph said.
Business models set up for selling services to the poor — such as buying pre-paid phone service and charging by the second rather than the minute — made cell phone use affordable, but Safaricom’s development of banking services via cell phones revolutionized the telecom business in poor countries.
Full CNN story http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/09/tech/mobile/mobile-phone-poverty/
Tags: Anti-poverty strategies, Change, Featured, Mobile, Phone, poverty, Systemic change
Although the mobile phone is a great boon to developing countries, we need to keep our eyes equally fixed on the necessary intermediate technologies: electricity, communications backbones, health-care, water, sanitation and general infrastructure so sadly lacking (see http://www.economist.com/node/10650775) If we don’t, developing countries will continue to be dominated by first world aspirations and cultural norms. For example, why is a cash economy better than or preferable to a traditional rural barter economy during a time when a nation is stabilizing and emerging? Why, as the article notes, should the appearance of a “hair-straightening product form women” in Uganda be seen as a plus? From whence came this norm of beauty? The impact of technology always has its plusses and minuses.
That being said, what a wonderful possibility to eliminate the “formational isolation” of large numbers of the Vincentian family in rural areas all over the globe! How the VinFam in the so-called “developed” world would benefit from the experience, heritage, and inculturation of the charism that has been occurring since Vincent first sent missionaries to Madagascar!
One smartphone per child initiative? Here’s a similar perspective to the post, with an intersting twist. “You have probably heard of One Laptop Per Child, an initiative to get cheap, sturdy, functional laptops into the hands of poor children throughout the world.
It’s a great program that could change lives. But perhaps more than a cheap laptop, a cheap smartphone has the power to transform poor countries and bring their citizens into the Internet age — and that could have broad and positive social, political, and economic implications…”
Thanks for two very insightful comments!
CHRISTech MOBILE TV NETWORK is launching soon. We are developing a Christian network to help address violence, systemically and personally. We are addressing PTSD, bringing healing directly to victims, with a Network and Mobile Device, which are our patents.
I am the Ceo and Founder and a Member of the Vincentian Family. I was recently inducted into the Ladies of Charity in Florida.
I look forward to learning more about this website and especially how our global Network and new cutting edge science and technology may help address poverty and the deep rooted issues of violence, together with my new Family in Christ.
In the Name of Jesus,
Marcia Lynn Eichenauer, Ceo, Founder
Bonita Springs, Florida, USA