Digitally Improving Africa

In the past few years we have seen how digital technology has improved the lives of many Africans. Take for example M-PESA in Kenya, which is a mobile payment solution that enables customers to make simple financial transactions by mobile phone.  This has removed a huge barrier of entry; now a farmer in the most remote village of Kenya can receive money without a bank account. With the expansion of mobile use in Africa “Mobile financial services in the developing world could be worth $5bn by 2012” (BBC).

The Grameen Foundation’s have developed an innovative application in Uganda, using Google SMS Search. Some of the features include Farmer's Friend, a searchable database with both agricultural advice and targeted weather forecasts; Health tips which provides sexual and reproductive health information and Clinic Finder, helps locate nearby health clinics and their services

Google is also involved in this space with Google Trader which intends to match buyers and sellers of agricultural produce.

As we saw in the presidential election, Obama used the web to engage many Americans and he is also now doing the same with Africa. His trip to Ghana this week shows Obama’s media strategy in full force with the use of online chat and Video and other digital channels of communication.

These types of projects are significantly improving Africa technologically and democratically and hopefully there will be many more projects in the future.

Image courtesy of Many Possibilities