Mobile phone technology has contributed much in the development of many African nations. Through this innovation in communications, more communities, including those located in isolated areas, have been provided access to valuable information regarding health, education, agriculture, and the economy. With the availability of such information for the poorer and remote villages, researches have concluded that the use of cellular phones and the more advance mobile internet devices have been beneficial in introducing equality in political and economic spheres of many Africans. In fact, non-government organizations involved in development work in many rural areas in different countries in the continent have made us of mobile communications technology in order to serve their beneficiaries better.
Africa has been suffering from a health care crisis for a long time. The continent is beset with many dangerous diseases but the most fatal of these is HIV/AIDS. In South Africa, relatively the continent’s more progressive economy, about 30% of the population in certain age groups has been infected with HIV. Big and efficient machinery for disseminating information in order to combat this disease has been the objective of many African governments. However, in its absence, NGOs and government agencies have utilized mobile phones in the information drive. Aside from this, mobile phone technology has also been used to monitor the conditions of thousands of patients that could not be handled by a few health workers.
Education has also received a boost with the help of mobile devices. Young Africans find their interest in learning how to read, write, and do math raised with the use of mobile messaging as medium. The MXIt is a prime example of how modern technology can actually serve the educational needs of children in the more isolated areas. A mobile messaging company and a social networking client, the MXIt has been building partnerships with the government’s education departments in developing means of making education easily available by both the students and the teachers. It has also forged links with private institution, including mobile phone giant Nokia in many of its projects.
The economic conditions of the population in the rural areas have been alleviated with the contribution of mobile technology. People engaged in farming and livestock-raising usually ended up with unfair deals before because they were not informed of the prices in the markets, which are based in the urban areas. With the use of mobile technology, however, they can now easily access such information and are in a better position to negotiate and achieve fair deals.
All these developments are being made possible by the advances made in mobile technology. While mobile phones have been providing much entertainment in the more advanced countries in the world, in Africa these actually fuel national development.
You must log in to post a comment.