%0 Journal Article %1 Etzo01102010 %A Etzo, Sebastiana %A Collender, Guy %D 2010 %J African Affairs %K africa ml4d mobile mobiles %N 437 %P 659-668 %R 10.1093/afraf/adq045 %T The mobile phone 'revolution' in Africa: Rhetoric or reality? %U http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/109/437/659.full %V 109 %X ONLY SUPERLATIVES SEEM APPROPRIATE TO DESCRIBE the mobile phone 'revolution' – its impact and its potential – in Africa. Mobile phones are almost always the cheapest and quickest way to communicate, particularly when fixed-line phones and broadband internet are underdeveloped and dependent upon expensive infrastructure. The continent is home to 350 million mobile phone subscribers,1 and their numbers are growing faster than anywhere else in the world. The ubiquity of mobiles is matched only by the ingenuity of their users. From shantytowns to remote villages, mobile phones are being used to transfer money, monitor elections, and deliver public health messages. A large informal economy has also emerged to support the mobile sector, with people selling airtime, charging and fixing mobiles, and renting them out. Africa is truly a crucible for mobile phone innovation and entrepreneurship. Unsurprisingly, the rapid adoption of mobile phone technology by Africans and its dramatic benefits have frequently been described in unrestrained terms as ‘staggering’, a ‘remarkable phenomenon’, and a ‘revolution’.2 This transformation is all the more exceptional because it was largely unanticipated by the business or research communities. Notwithstanding the socio-economic advantages associated with mobile telephony, the industry also faces notable challenges and unintended consequences. Penetration rates (mobile subscriptions per 100 people) vary from under 10 percent in Ethiopia to nearly 100 percent in Gabon,3 with an average of over 33 percent for the whole continent.4 The accessibility and use of mobile phones can also entrench and exacerbate unequal power relations between men and women, and between employers and employees. This briefing, therefore, strives to bring balance to the mobile debate, identify information gaps, and also to suggest that understanding the limitations of mobile telephony is a prerequisite when formulating policy to ensure this dynamic technology is harnessed to its best effect.

@article{Etzo01102010, abstract = {ONLY SUPERLATIVES SEEM APPROPRIATE TO DESCRIBE the mobile phone 'revolution' – its impact and its potential – in Africa. Mobile phones are almost always the cheapest and quickest way to communicate, particularly when fixed-line phones and broadband internet are underdeveloped and dependent upon expensive infrastructure. The continent is home to 350 million mobile phone subscribers,1 and their numbers are growing faster than anywhere else in the world. The ubiquity of mobiles is matched only by the ingenuity of their users. From shantytowns to remote villages, mobile phones are being used to transfer money, monitor elections, and deliver public health messages. A large informal economy has also emerged to support the mobile sector, with people selling airtime, charging and fixing mobiles, and renting them out. Africa is truly a crucible for mobile phone innovation and entrepreneurship. Unsurprisingly, the rapid adoption of mobile phone technology by Africans and its dramatic benefits have frequently been described in unrestrained terms as ‘staggering’, a ‘remarkable phenomenon’, and a ‘revolution’.2 This transformation is all the more exceptional because it was largely unanticipated by the business or research communities. Notwithstanding the socio-economic advantages associated with mobile telephony, the industry also faces notable challenges and unintended consequences. Penetration rates (mobile subscriptions per 100 people) vary from under 10 percent in Ethiopia to nearly 100 percent in Gabon,3 with an average of over 33 percent for the whole continent.4 The accessibility and use of mobile phones can also entrench and exacerbate unequal power relations between men and women, and between employers and employees. This briefing, therefore, strives to bring balance to the mobile debate, identify information gaps, and also to suggest that understanding the limitations of mobile telephony is a prerequisite when formulating policy to ensure this dynamic technology is harnessed to its best effect.}, added-at = {2010-10-29T14:59:21.000+0200}, author = {Etzo, Sebastiana and Collender, Guy}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/280442f580320944fac8ce5d4ccdfbe90/yish}, doi = {10.1093/afraf/adq045}, eprint = {http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/109/437/659.full.pdf+html}, interhash = {b7443f70a86b0b0ad56cbdeecdae303e}, intrahash = {80442f580320944fac8ce5d4ccdfbe90}, journal = {African Affairs}, keywords = {africa ml4d mobile mobiles}, number = 437, pages = {659-668}, timestamp = {2010-10-29T14:59:21.000+0200}, title = {The mobile phone 'revolution' in Africa: Rhetoric or reality?}, url = {http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/109/437/659.full}, volume = 109, year = 2010 }