How the Mobile Phone Changed Kenya

Over 260,000 people live on the outskirts of Nairobi (the capital of Kenya) in the slum of Korogocho. A decade ago, the digital gap between the developing and developed worlds was widening, where Sub-Saharan Africa had limited landlines and broadband. Most people had no access to banks and economies relied on cash.

At first, mobile phones seemed as if they would always be as inaccessible to poor Africans as other technology had been. In 2002 Kenya had just two mobile phones for every 100 of its 38 million people.

To transfer money, Kenyans would travel over a day to purchase orders for their businesses or give money to families. The only way to send money home was via a minibus taxi, which was inconvenient, time-consuming and open to theft.

Between 2002 and 2006 the number of mobile phones in Kenya increased from 1 million to 10 million.

Multinational telecom companies arrived and, with few planning restrictions, quickly erected mobile-phone masts, even in remote areas. Cheap handsets – generally second hand and always basic – became available. Although the prepaid service that most subscribers used were costly for ordinary Kenyans, they enabled contact with villages half a day away, unreachable by road, and without water or electricity. This transformed both business and social and family life.

Now, everyday millions of Kenyans transfer money using M-Pesa (mobile money) readily through text messages.

- Riana

Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/how-the-mobile-phone-changed-kenya-1.2646968