This year, Chinese company Huawei launched an $80 Android phone, the IDEOS, through Kenyan telecom Safaricom. According to sources, the phone has sold over 350,000 units in Kenya, “a staggering statistic considering nearly half of Kenya’s population lives on less than two dollars per day.”
We thought it important to take a closer look at this relatively low-cost device and the larger issues and questions that arise from it.
The Android Edge?
An article on Singularity Hub suggests that while affordability is a key driver for adoption, a larger issue with the IDEOS phone is the competitive edge of Android phones:
Demand Dignity: Amplifying Voices Across Multiple Platforms data sheet 3128 Views
Amnesty International has launched a campaign to amplify the voices of poor people around the world. Demand Dignity is an economic, cultural, and social rights campaign for the organization and the online platform, DemandDignity.org, was launched in May 2009. Since then, the site has collected 57,384 comments, or “voices,” from people around the world, via SMS, Twitter, and on the Demand Dignity website.
The campaign attempts to give a voice to people who are living in poverty or who have had their human rights violated, said Sarah Pyke, communications coordinator of the campaign. It enables people to be able to access their rights, hold their governments to account, and to be able to make their voices heard. These aims led to the creation of the DemandDignity.org platform, an interactive website where people can submit audio, video, or text reports and answer prompted questions such as What does living in dignity mean to you?
One response to this question, from Kenya, was, "living somewhere comfortably in terms of shelter, good health care and having sustainable education."
MobileActive.org spoke with Pyke and with Shehzaad Shams, Project Coordinator for onnline communities and e-activism, to hear more about the platform and how it leverages mobile tech.
How It Works
Shams and Pyke said that Amnesty International wanted to make use of the latest technologies in terms of social media, specifically in how technology could be used to amplify voices. The DemandDignity.org platform itself is available in four languages -- English, Arabic, French and Spanish -- and “voices” can be submitted in any language.
PoiMapper: Mobile Data Collection Through Points-of-Interest in Kenya data sheet 3315 Views
PoiMapper, a product from Pajat, is a mobile application for data collection, hosting, and sharing. It works on a feature phone with Java capability and allows a user to design a case-specific questionnaire to collect field data, including numbers, text, and photo images. Through this, it supports the collection of point-of-interest (POI) data -- hence the name, PoiMapper -- and is currently being tested in this capacity in Kenya in collaboration with Plan Kenya, Plan Finland, Helsinki University of Technology, and University of Nairobi. The pilot is ongoing and an evaluation is to be done a month from now.
Can you find me now? Refugees United Goes Mobile to Help Reunite Refugees data sheet 3915 Views
As part of a pilot project in Uganda, Refugees United is using mobile tools to help connect refugees who have been displaced by war, persecution, and natural disasters. Refugees United is a Danish NGO that designed and runs a web-based program to help people directly reconnect with missing loved ones. For the mobile pilot, it is working in conjunction with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), mobile phone maker Ericsson, MTN, a mobile telecommunications company in Africa and specifically MTN Uganda, as well as other partner organizations on the ground.
Drop by Drop Gets the Pump: KickStart’s Mobile Layaway Service for Small-Scale Farmers data sheet 6058 Views
Update: In July 2011, KickStart reached a milestone by registering its 100th mobile layaway customer. (When we last chatted with Chen, KickStart had 9 such customers.) The group is preparing to launch the service across Kenya next month.
Electronic Delivery of Social Cash Transfers: Lessons Learned and Opportunities for Africa data sheet 1895 Views
Author:
Katharine Vincent
Publication Date:
Feb 2010
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
The electronic delivery of cash can be achieved through a variety of mechanisms - debit card, smart card or cellphone, using a range of financial infrastructure -banks, automated teller machines (ATMs) and point-of-sale (POS) devices. This brief outlines recent experiences from across Africa, with a focus on Kenya, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland.
The benefits of electronic delivery systems to both governments and recipients are well known in terms of improved cost efficiency and flexibility of access, so this brief emphasises issues that are relevant to private sector partners, who are vital to the introduction of such systems.
The rapid penetration of cellphones in Africa, including both signal coverage and handset ownership, makes distribution of cash transfers by cellphone an increasingly viable proposition, as shown in Kenya through the M-PESA mechanism. Additionally the availability of cellphone signal has been instrumental in facilitating use of ofline smart cards for electronic delivery of cash transfers in Malawi and Namibia.
The growth of financial infrastructure and opportunity for banks to increase their market share has increased the favourability with which banks view potential participation in government-to-person cash transfers.
Evidence from Malawi and Swaziland shows that cash transfer recipients who are provided with bank accounts to receive their cash transfers tend to then use them to save money and to receive person-to-person transfers (e.g. remittances) – thus making further use of financial infrastructure and services. In terms of scalability of electronic delivery systems, the time- and cost-intensive nature of the payment mechanism setup relative to the operating costs means that the incentive for private sector partners to engage is much greater for long-term programmes than short-term pilots.
Undertaking cash transfer programme registration formalities concurrently with private sector partner registration procedures (in terms of opening bank accounts or distributing SIM cards or smart cards) thus makes sense, wherever possible. It is also imperative that contractual obligations for the government implementer and private sector partner be agreed upfront, smart cards) thus makes sense, wherever possible. It is also imperative that contractual obligations for the government implementer and private sector partner be agreed upfront, desmart cards) thus makes sense, wherever possible. It is also imperative that contractual obligations for the government implementer and private sector partner be agreed upfront, defining respective roles and responsibilities, together with a grievance procedure in case of non-compliance.
As well as the growing base of evidence from projects and programmes in Kenya, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland, other countries that have expressed interest in the use of electronic delivery systems include Ghana, Lesotho and Mozambique.
Mobile Quizzes For HIV/AIDS Awareness: Zain and Text to Change data sheet 6428 Views
In Kenya, a partnership between the non-profit organization Text to Change and the telecommunications company Zain used SMS mobile quizzes to keep Zain’s employees up-to-date on the latest HIV/AIDS information.
For four weeks in November and December of 2009, Zain’s Kenyan employees were part of a pilot program for SMS mobile quizzes. Employees received three multiple choice questions each week that focused on different aspects of HIV/AIDS such as prevention and treatment. The quizzes also directed participants to testing centers in order to learn their HIV/AIDS status. Says Bas Hoefman, co-founder and managing director of Text to Change, the choice to partner their mobile program with a telecommunications company was logical: “We thought, ‘why isn’t Zain using its own products – mobile telephony and SMS – to educate its own employees?’ Use your own product for your own employees.”
Can text messages help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS? Text to Change (TTC), a Ugandan NGO, thinks the
answer is yes. To prove it they have teamed up with Zain to launch an innovative project that utilizes a technology that has been rapidly expanding to make sure that HIV/AIDS does not do the same.
Cash Transfers through Mobile Phones: An Innovative Emergency Response in Kenya data sheet 3672 Views
Author:
Dipankar Datta, Anne Ejakait, Kim Scriven
Publication Date:
Aug 2009
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
Kenya was one of the first countries to use mobile phones for cash transfers; through a service called M‐PESA, developed by Safaricom Limited. Concern Worldwide has pioneered the use of M‐PESA for emergency cash transfers in Kenya. This paper highlights Concern’s experience, which shows that despite initial software and logistical challenges, mobile phone technology offers a unique and empowering approach to efficiently deliver assistance to the most vulnerable people living in insecure and remote rural areas.
Experience also shows that cash transfers are a better option than food distributions in areas where adequate supplies of food are locally available. In addition, the partnership between Concern and Safaricom demonstrates that the private sector has significant and unique abilities to enhance the effectiveness of emergency response, and more importantly they can do so while maintaining their core business principles. The case study also demonstrates how technology can empower poor, marginalised and vulnerable people.
ChildCount: Monitoring Children's Health Through SMS data sheet 7415 Views
Many mobile projects struggle with scale and impact. While a mobile health project may run well with a small number of patients in one hospital, expanding the scope of a project until it is large enough to have real impact takes money, time, and widespread support of key stakeholders in a given community. ChildCount is well on its way to show scale and, so we hope, significant health impacts using mobile technology for patient support.
In a little over eight months, ChildCount has enrolled nearly 10,000 children under five in their catchment area into the ChildCount health monitoring system – an acceptance rate of more than 95%.
Surviving in the ‘Dual System’: How M‐PESA is Fostering Urban to Rural Remittances in a Kenyan Slum data sheet 3128 Views
Author:
Olga Morawczynski
Publication Date:
Jan 2008
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
The ‘dual system’ thesis has been used to describe the continuing commitment of urban migrants to the village in various African countries. According to literature, urban workers maintain strong ties with the rural area, even after spending a substantial amount of time in the city. One way in which these ties are maintained is through urban‐to‐rural remittances.
In March of 2007, an m‐banking application called M‐PESA was introduced into the Kenyan market. This application allows for person‐to‐person (P2P) transfers of e-money via mobile phone, and facilitates urban‐to‐rural remittances. This study will use ethnographic data collected in a Kenyan slum to show that M‐PESA is becoming a tool for the maintenance of urban-rural relations. It will further assert that because it is helping migrants to maintain such relations, it is facilitating survival in the ‘dual system’.
What Makes a Successful Mobile Money Implementation? Learnings from M-PESA in Kenya and Tanzania data sheet 4354 Views
Author:
Gunnar Camner, Emil Sjoblom, Caroline Pulver
Publication Date:
Jan 2009
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
This review considers the differences between the adoption rates of M-PESA in Kenya and Tanzania and tries to highlight some of the reasons that the same service launched in seemingly similar countries has yielded such different results. This paper is intended as a discussion document for mobile network operators considering launching a mobile money service.
Safaricom launched M-PESA in Kenya in March 2007 and has since become the most famous and probably the most successful implementation of mobile money service to date. In May 2008, 14 months after the launch, M-PESA in Kenya had 2.7 million users and almost 3,000 agents. Today, over two years since its launch, M-PESA has gained 7 million registered customers and has 10,000 agents spread across the country. This exceeds the reach of any other financial service in Kenya.
Finaccess 2009 showed that M-PESA has become the most popular method of money transfer in Kenya with 40% of all adults using the service. The same Kenyan survey also shows a dramatic increase in national remittances; from 17% in 2006 to 52% in 2009, which may be attributed to the ease of money transfer through ubiquitous M-PESA agents. Many mobile network operators have been eager to repeat M-PESA’s success in Kenya, but the formula for this success is not yet clear. One year after the Kenyan launch, Vodacom launched M-PESA in April 2008 in Tanzania. The user uptake of the service in Tanzania has been much slower compared to its northern neighbour. In June 2009, 14 months after the launch, M-PESA in Tanzania had 280,000 users and 1,000 agents (Rasmussen 2009).
NAFIS (the National Farmers Information Service) is a voice service that offers agricultural extension information which farmers can access through mobile phones. NAFIS is updated through the web, and the IVR is created automatically through a Text-to-Speech engine in both Kiswahili and Kenyan English.
In Africa alone, one million mobile phones are being added every week. The mobile phone is mostly being used as a person-to-person communication tool and that’s why the Dutch NGO Text to Change came up with the idea to use it as an educational tool on health. When TTC started in 2007 there were no case studies or proofs of concept on text message-based health education programs. TTC started a pilot in Uganda with the help of mobile phone experts, infectious diseases professionals and software developers; and has now expanded its program for a variety of clients and additional countries.
Text to Change (TTC) combines the need for innovative health education with the growth in use of mobile phones. Supported by African mobile providers, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, FC Barcelona and other partners, Text to Change uses SMS to challenge mobile phone users on their health knowledge, refer them to HIV testing sites and gather sex and age data from participants which can be analyzed alongside the location of caller. Text to Change works location-based and is able to involve 20% of the local population in its quizzes. Data analysis show that 60% of respondents have basic knowledge on health with an average age of 19, and 45% female participation. Participants of these free multiple choice quizzes maintain their anonymity. They can win mobile phone minutes and soccer shirts as an incentive for participating. If a participant sends in a correct or wrong answer, he or she will receive a confirmation or correction SMS.
Tool Category:
Runs on a server
Key Features :
Text to Change (TTC) developed software in Uganda to be installed on a FreeBSD server directly connected to the sms connection of a mobile operator. TTC can log on remotely to that server to setup its text message programs. TTC the acquires a zero rated short code, negotiates connections to as many providers as possible and makes the text message services free of charge.
Main Services:
Bulk SMS
Voting, Data Collection, Surveys, and Polling
Location-Specific Services and GIS
Tool Maturity:
Currently deployed
Release Date:
2008-06
Platforms:
Linux/UNIX
All phones -- SMS
Current Version:
1.1
Program/Code Language:
PHP
Organizations Using the Tool:
Text to Change controls the software and hardware and conducts programs for organisations like: -UN-ECOSOC -WHO -USAID -Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs -Family Health International -The Aids Information Center -ZAIN -Kinyara Sugar, Uganda -Kasese Cobalt Company, Uganda
Number of Current End Users:
10,000-100,000
Number of current beneficiaries:
Over 100,000
Languages supported:
English, Runyoro, Luganda, Lutooro
Handsets/devices supported:
All mobile phones that can receive SMS.
Reviews/Evaluations:
*UN Foundation/ Vodafone Foundation report: http://www.texttochange.com/mHealth_for_Development_TTC.pdf
* ZAIN: http://www.texttochange.com/ZAIN-TTC.pdf
* The Aids Information Center, Uganda: http://www.texttochange.com/AIC-TTC%20Arua.pdf
Is the Tool's Code Available?:
No
URL for license:
Text to Change is open sourcing its software at the end of 2009
In early 2008 violence errupted in Kenya after the most recent elections there the previous December. Post-election tribal warfare resulted in the death of 1,200 people, internally displaced 400,000 to 600,000 people, and destroyed more than 41,000 properties. The economic cost of the crisis has been estimated at more than KSh 100 billion (approx US $ 1.5 billion), with more than half a milion jobs lost. The World Bank noted that over 2 million Kenyans may have been driven into poverty as a result of the violence. Food security also declined with farmers unable to cultivate and harvest their farms in early 2008.
I have been meaning for a while to respond to a paper Rebekah Heacock, a graduate student at Columbia, wrote last year. Hancock describes in Mobile Activism in African Elections (PDF) three recent elections in Kenya, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, and how mobile technology was used for both crowd-sourced and systematic election monitoring.
She poses that:
The proliferation of mobile phones in Africa is transforming the political and social landscape of the developing world, empowering people to source and share their own information and to have a greater say in what comes to international attention. This paper compares the use and impact of mobile technology in three recent African elections: Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Kenya.
Mobile banking has been touted as such a wild success story for one simple reason: mobile phones have penetrated the market in rural areas of developing countries in the last five years more successfully than traditional banks have been able to over the past 100 years. You can travel to any remote village just about anywhere in Sub-Saharan Africa and it is rare that you will find a bank; far rarer that you will find an ATM. (I remember waiting three and a half hours to use an ATM once in Namibia.) But you are guaranteed to hear ringtones.
Once banks realized that basic financial transactions (deposit, withdrawal, payment, check balance) can all be done over a mobile phone, they understood that the banking services they offer can finally reach customers in places where just a few years earlier they had never dreamed of doing business.
Polling via SMS can be a unique way to engage current supporters and attract new audiences. Polls can ask any number of questions, from opinions about an organization to views on a controversial issue. However, perhaps the most valuable aspect of polling isn’t the feedback that organizations receive directly from a poll, but rather the relationships with constituents and growing mobile support base that polls can help build.
Organizations engage in mobile polling for two reasons:
to generate a list of mobile numbers to use for future communications and engagement
to get an informal sense of constituent views for use on an organization's web site, for generating media coverage, and learn more about a particular segment of its constituency.
Mobile Phones for Polling and Engagement includes a case study of polls conducted by Media Focus on Africa (MFAF) as part of their Election Assistance Campaign, which sought to promote civic participation and discussion of political issues prior to the December 2007 Kenyan elections. Through SMS polling, MFAF asked its constituents some tough questions.
Should politicians accused of corruption be prevented from vying for political seats? Is tribal identity more dominant than the identity of being a Kenyan? Can voting still deliver credible results after the chaotic party nominations and bribery?
The questions were advertised on television, radio shows, and newspaper advertisements. Thousands of Kenyans responded to the polls via SMS on their mobile phones, helping to bring issues of voting and civic participation into the national conversation.
Post-election violence has exploded in Kenya in the wake of the December 27 presidential elections. Ethnic killings -- which today's New York Times suggests may have been carefully planned -- have increased, and estimates of the death toll range from 650 to over 1000. In the midst of this, people both in and outside the country are using mobile phones in innovative ways to communicate political knowledge and circumvent the media blackout.
When most mainstream media report on Kenya's upcoming elections, they focus on the perspectives of people in cities or urban areas. However, since this October citizen journalists using cell phones have reported on news and political perspectives from rural Kenyan communities. A new collaboration between Media Focus on Africa and the Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) gives mobile phones to "Community Information Volunteers" to use as a reporting tool.
