Mobile apps for the illiterate

Mobile phones and web digital tools contribute to the personal development of the individual and his or her capacity to develop initiatives e. g. for economic growth. Yet, many people cannotbenefit from new technologies as digital services in sub-Saharan Africa are mostly configured in foreign languages. Illiteracy and language barriers remain a major challenge for digitalization inAfrica. However, the case of Yoruba illiterates in the central Republic of Benin shows that indigenous people are innovative and create new procedural knowledge. They have developed alternative strategies to benefit from information and communications technology (ICT). Based on approximately 50 interviews with traders, peasants, art craft (wo)men, and members of convents, my ethnographic research explores how the Yoruba people of Benin utilize mobile phones in their mother tongue.

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The Emerging Market of Sub-Saharan Africa and Technology Adoption

International Journal of ICT Research and Development in Africa ◽

10.4018/jictrda.2012010102 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 14-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Alice S. Etim

Keyword(s):

Mobile Phones ◽

Personal Development ◽

Emerging Market ◽

The United States ◽

Emerging Economy ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Information And Communication ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Study Participants

In the United States, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and several emerging economies in Asia, mobile technologies have become ubiquitous and core to everyday lives. The same cannot be said for many countries in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). The availability, affordability and use of information and communication technology (ICT) continue to pose a major challenge to the progress of this important emerging economy and their participation in a networked and “flat world.” Writers (Bishop et al., 1999; ADB, 2003; Fisher et al., 2004; Elijah & Ogunlade, 2006; Etim, 2009; Ssewanyana, 2007) argue for the use of ICT to enable the SSA population in the area of economic and personal development. This paper examines the emerging economy of SSA adoption of mobile technologies in comparison to the U.S.A and reports a study on the features that SSA students desire in mobile phones. The key finding was that study participants desired Internet access via mobile phones.

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Mobile Phones, Livelihoods and the Poor in Sub-Saharan Africa: Review and Prospect

Geography Compass ◽

10.1111/j.1749-8198.2012.00484.x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 6 (5) ◽

pp. 241-259 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Gina Porter

Keyword(s):

Mobile Phones ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

The Poor ◽

Sub Saharan

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A Strategy for Technology Development for Semi-Arid Sub-Saharan Africa

Outlook on Agriculture ◽

10.1177/003072709802700305 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 157-161

Author(s):

John H. Sanders ◽

Barry I. Shapiro ◽

Sunder Ramaswamy

Keyword(s):

Development Strategy ◽

Water Availability ◽

New Technologies ◽

Technology Development ◽

Organic Fertilizer ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Inorganic Fertilizers ◽

Strategy Evaluation ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Semi Arid

This article proposes a strategy for agricultural technology development for semi-arid West Africa. The strategy evaluation consists of two aspects: a) a review of the successes in the region; and b) analysis with mathematical programming of the potential impacts and constraints to various new technologies tested in the region. The technology development strategy indicates how further productivity gains can be made by responding to the two principal constraints of water availability and soil fertility. These constraints must be simultaneously resolved but the strategy needs to be adapted for different soil characteristics and economic environments. The major emphasis is on the importance of the rapid introduction of inorganic fertilizers combined with techniques to increase water availability; organic and inorganic fertilizers need to be considered complements in the semi-arid regions. Farmers are already introducing labour intensive variations of these techniques in the most degraded regions. The policy concern is to encourage government policymakers to put a high priority on fertilizer and increase the availability of inorganic fertilizer while research efforts continue to develop improved methods for complementary use of organic fertilizer.

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Literacy: Gateway to a World of Exploits

International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies ◽

10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.9n.1p.96 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 96

Author(s):

Biale Zua

Keyword(s):

Personal Development ◽

National Development ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Contemporary Society ◽

Access To Information ◽

Low Literacy ◽

African Countries ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

National Governments

The importance of literacy to the personal development of an individual and existence of any nation cannot be overemphasized. Literacy is the foundation for meaningful development of any nation. It is not a single entity but an interconnection of several fields―education, health, agriculture, and more. For example, a literate individual can have access to information relating to her career or business. However, not every individual in the society is literate enough to contribute to national development. Thus, strong literacy skills are necessary to function in today’s contemporary society. This research examines literacy across African countries with a view of determining countries with high literacy rates. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa have low literacy rates with gender and regional disparity. Therefore, sub-Saharan Africa national governments need to develop strong literacy skills in their countries to participate effectively in the globalized society.

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Community Education in New HIV Prevention Technologies Research

Handbook of Research on Technoethics ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-022-6.ch022 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 328-338

Author(s):

Busi Nkala

Keyword(s):

Hiv Infection ◽

Community Involvement ◽

New Technologies ◽

Community Education ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Contributing Factors ◽

Survival Sex ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Living With Hiv ◽

Health Programmes

An estimated 39.5 million people are living with HIV worldwide. There were 4.3 million new infections in 2006 with 2.8 million (65%) of these occurring in sub-Saharan Africa with important increases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where there are some indications that infection rates have risen by more than 50% since 2004. In 2006, 2.9 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses (UNAIDS, 2006). The continued increase in new HIV infection is a call for concern. It is imperative that more innovative ways of combating the infections are found sooner. There is an enormous body of evidence that HIV infection is caused mainly by sexual contact. There is also undisputed evidence that there are other contributing factors such as extreme poverty, survival sex, gender inequality, lack of education, fatalism, religious barriers and others. This chapter seeks to support the need to do more research in finding new technologies and innovative ways of dealing with the spread of HIV. The chapter suggests that the involvement of researched communities be effectively involved. Involving communities in finding solutions will help, in that research protocols and health programmes will take into account the cultural acceptability of the new technologies and systems and ensure that recipients of health services become effective organs of change. The chapter seeks to highlight the fact that, if the recipients are involved in all stages of development of health programmes, including technologies, we may begin to see changes in how new technologies are taken up or may shift toward getting technologies that are acceptable. There are various suggested and implemented ways which aid in achieving the protection for individuals and communities; such as community involvement, community participation and community education (Collins, 2002; Gupta 2002), this chapter will focus on community education and a proposal for a community principle.

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Understanding the Weak Performance of Technology in Urban Management

International Business ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-9814-7.ch044 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 928-947

Author(s):

Claire Simonneau

Keyword(s):

New Technologies ◽

Local Level ◽

Historical Context ◽

Political Support ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Urban Management ◽

Management Tools ◽

Multiple Case ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Land Information System

The article questions the appropriation of existing urban planning and management tools in Sub-Saharan Africa, through a multiple case study: the implementation of a land information system (or simplified cadastre) in three cities in Benin. An ethnographic exploration of the use of the tool is conducted. The first section presents the historical context of the design of land information systems, framed by the urban management paradigm, and unwarranted confidence in new technologies. The second section presents the theoretical framework and the methodology of the research, inspired by public policy analysis and development anthropology. The third section describes findings of the multiple case studies. A vicious circle is highlighted, made up of: lack of political support, obsolescence, and decline of cost-effectiveness. The fourth section discusses the results of the ethnographic inquiry. These are, essentially, the interpretation of the paradoxes, blockages, and conflicts in the implementation of the tool in light of social, political and economic dynamics that take place at the local level, although unexpected by the creators of the tool.

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Mobile Telephony in Sub-Saharan Africa

Encyclopedia of Mobile Computing and Commerce ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-002-8.ch100 ◽

2007 ◽

pp. 605-610

Author(s):

P. Ifinedo

Keyword(s):

Radio Wave ◽

Mobile Phones ◽

Wave Transmission ◽

Mobile Telephone ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Mobile Telephony ◽

Cellular Phones ◽

Mobile Telephones ◽

The World ◽

Sub Saharan

A mobile telephone is a telecommunications device that connects its user to a network using a wireless radio wave transmission technology. In some parts of the world, mobile phones are known as cellular phones. Mobile telephones were first introduced in the mid-1980s (Marcussen, 2002; Sadeh & Sadeh, 2002; Sarker & Wells, 2003). Mobile telephony is diffusing globally due to a variety of reasons, including cost advantages in setting up the system compared to landlines, its small-sized nature, portability, and its ability to foster and enhance social relationships, among others (Plant, n.d.; Marcussen, 2002; Sadeh & Sadeh, 2002; Sarker & Wells, 2003; ITU, 2004; Anonymous, 2006). According to reports by ITU (2004), the percentage of total telephone subscribers that are mobile telephone subscribers has been increasing over the last five years. In 2005, mobile telephone subscribers were approximately 62% of total telephone subscribers for the five regions of the world.

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Refugees, Identity, and the Limits to Inclusion: Revisiting Landlord-Stranger Reciprocity Relations in Contemporary Liberia

African Studies Review ◽

10.1017/asr.2020.51 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (3) ◽

pp. 640-659

Author(s):

Maarten Bedert

Keyword(s):

Life Stories ◽

Mutual Recognition ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Individual Life ◽

Sense Of Security ◽

Reciprocity Relations ◽

Local Patterns ◽

Local Integration ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

The Individual

Abstract:Refugees in sub-Saharan Africa residing among host communities experience the need to articulate belonging in order to generate a greater sense of security. Based on the individual life stories of Ivorian refugees in Northeastern Liberia in 2011, Bedert finds that local patterns of integration between landlords and strangers are foregone by the bureaucratic identity of refugees as imposed by the international community. In addition, local integration is not self-evident, as it entails a degree of reciprocity and mutual recognition. In the eyes of landlords, strangers are evaluated based on what they can bring to the table.

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The Politics of Pentecostalism in Africa

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1379 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

John F. McCauley

Keyword(s):

Social Services ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Spiritual Warfare ◽

African Countries ◽

Pentecostal Movement ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

The Individual ◽

Good And Evil ◽

The Church ◽

Big Men

Charismatic Pentecostalism constitutes perhaps the most important contemporary movement in sub-Saharan Africa, combining extremely rapid growth with an informal political presence. The movement has expanded in Africa by bringing traditional spirituality into a modern setting, offering social and economic hope to both the upwardly mobile and the destitute. Despite having minority status, its messages of pending prosperity and spiritual warfare, and its astute exploitation of mass media, have positioned the Charismatic Pentecostal movement to exert important if informal influence on politics in the region. It is reshaping the channels through which resources flow from Big Men to their followers; it is implicating new and different international actors; and it is allowing followers to live fully within the church through the provision of social services. Perhaps most importantly, the movement has introduced language of national identity—of good and evil, and Christian nations—that captivates just as it divides. Its potential to influence the formal politics of institutions and parties is limited by the absence of organizational hierarchy and a central focus on remaking the individual rather than addressing social injustices. Nevertheless, by informal means, the movement has “Pentecostalized” politics in many African countries.

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