Mobile Phones in Africa - Quite Different

The mobile phone in Africa is quite different and rapidly changing some cultural and economic aspects. The growth of mobile phones has been the largest in the "developing world" with a massive surge in Africa.

First of all, a new phone costs about $50 and a used one can be found for as little as $10. Instead of a monthly bill, requiring a credit account which is impossible here, people buy Scratch Off cards from street vendors for amounts as little as $1. They enter the code and amount is placed on their accounts. And, it is free to receive calls and quite cheap to make one or to send a text message.

There is significant innovation for how the mobile phone is used. Day laborers will get a message telling them where there is work that morning. There is a growing use of a the mobile phone as a banking process and some systems allow someone to transfer a "micro transaction" from one phone to another. And, the mobile call can keep together a family that has been forced to disperse to various parts of a country due to economics or conflicts.

The mobile phone culture extends to communities without electricity or running water. People can drop their phone off in a vendor to get it recharged from a car battery for a few cents.

There are also some very interesting uses of mobile phones to keep track of patients are using AIDS medicine with daily reminders to take their pills at key times.

Here is an interesting article about Mobile Phones in Africa from MIT: http://prom.mit.edu/whyafrica.html