

Kenya’s mobile telephones: Vital for the poor - denzil_correa
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21566022-report-describes-sacrifices-poor-make-keep-mobile-phone-vital?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/pe/vitalforthepoor

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davycro
> Almost half of those surveyed were using internet-enabled smart or “feature”
> phones. The scratch cards that many Kenyans use to charge their mobiles have
> recently begun to advertise their value in terms of data rather than talk
> time. Meanwhile, mobile-phone operators have been giving free access to
> sites such as Wikipedia to entice customers.

> Still, only 16% of respondents said they were using their phones to browse
> the internet.

The iHub report I read said that 88% of Kenyans browse the Internet with their
mobile phone instead of 16%. The same report says that 99% of Internet access
from Kenya is through a mobile device. I think the Western world assumes
people in developing countries are dependent on computers for Internet access
because of the popularity of the One Laptop Per Child program. I think we
should recognize that the developing world will probably never have the
resources or desire to adopt laptops or personal computers and so we should
instead focus on providing them with web-content sized for their devices and
hardware organizations such as OLPC should look into reducing the cost of
smartphones. In my personal experience an android device in Africa costs at
minimum of $200.

Reading this article reminds me that there is a huge demand for mobile
Internet in developing world and few companies are capitalizing on this.

~~~
okal
You have personal experience with "Africa"? African countries have much less
in common with each other than non-Africans tend to imagine. That being said,
I agree with you regarding computer adoption.

A new, low end Droid can be had for roughly $50 contract-free in my city,
Nairobi.

~~~
stcredzero
What percentage of the populace could afford such a device and the data plan?
For what percentage would that be true for with a $25 device?

~~~
okal
To add to what davycro said, entry level Android devices are becoming price
competitive with feature phones. Phones are seen as a long term investment, so
poorer families often make sacrifices to acquire them. It wouldn't be unheard
of for one to spend up to half their monthly income on the purchase.

Mobile data costs KSH. 8/MB, about 10 US cents at its most expensive. This is
still out of reach for a sizeable portion of the working population, but the
situation is rapidly improving.

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denzil_correa
> _The real breakthrough in the Kenyan market has been in people’s ability to
> send and receive money, with more than two-thirds doing so by phone. East
> Africa’s biggest success has been M-Pesa, a mobile-based money-transfer
> system pioneered by Safaricom, a leading Kenyan operator. Its simple
> interface, which works on any phone, has brought financial services to
> Kenya’s poor majority, enabling the movement of some $8.6 billion in the
> first half of this year._

These examples show that applications of any particular technology can vary
from a developed country to a developing or a poor country. I also think such
solutions will help reduce latency, corruption and inconsistencies leading to
much better governance.

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namank
_Meanwhile, mobile-phone operators have been giving free access to sites such
as Wikipedia to entice customers._

This is great!

~~~
revelation
Am I being pessimist in thinking that this is just a test for "value-added"
services that will in the future charge you for access to select websites or
services?

Net neutrality dies with free wikipedia and blocked Skype.

~~~
namank
No, you aren't but one step at a time!

Although, wouldn't Facebook better serve that purpose assuming FB is as
popular there as it is here?

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barking
I often wonder why we can't have something similar here already. Seems like
the perfect way for parents to send their kids money at short notice.

~~~
jarcoal
Well, we do have some options here, but part of the reason why it was so easy
to setup over there is lack of laws around the movement of money.

~~~
guylhem
As usual, laws prevent innovations to protect the incumbent (banks and credit
card companies)

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npguy
Here is something we spotted: that one-fourth of Kenya's GDP flows through
this mobile payment system called mPesa

[http://statspotting.com/2011/04/kenyas-m-pesa-the-
unbelievab...](http://statspotting.com/2011/04/kenyas-m-pesa-the-unbelievable-
success-story-in-numbers/)

~~~
denzil_correa
TFS - I see you draw heavily from a report from Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation [0]. I found this part very interesting.

> _Safaricom also benefited from launching the service in a country which
> contained several enabling conditions for a successful mobile money
> deployment, including: strong latent demand for domestic remittances, poor
> quality of available financial services, a banking regulator which permitted
> Safaricom to experiment with different business models and distribution
> channels, and a mobile communications market characterized by Safaricom’s
> dominant market position and low commissions on airtime sales._

If these indeed are the parameters, one should make a list of countries which
satisfy these requirements and do some compare/contrast study.

[0]
[http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.43376/Mob...](http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.43376/Mobile%20Payments%20Go%20Viral_M-
PESA%20in%20Kenya.pdf)

