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Could you recommend me some articles on the "mobile phones vs. safe water" thing and/or "paying via SMS"? That sounds very interesting.

by barosl 12y ago

Swizec 12y ago
I don't have any specific articles. It's more of a general trend I've picked up on while reading other stuff. But if you google for pay by sms, you'll see there are A LOT of services for that. Also here's an article with some statistics: http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/02/13/emerging-nations-embrace-internet-mobile-technology/ http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/02/13/emerging-nations-embrace... In Kenya, for instance, 68% of phone users make/receive payments on their phone. And 76% of them use their phones for social networking. At the same time, 82% of Kenyans have a mobile phone. But only 59% have access to clean water. -> http://water.org/country/kenya/ http://water.org/country/kenya/ So that's .82*.76 = 62% of Kenyans with social networking vs. only 59% with clean water.
eru 12y ago
Try looking up mpesa.
omegavesko 12y ago
I've seen a bunch of companies in my region use this service: https://www.centili.com/ https://www.centili.com/ I'm surprised it didn't catch on sooner. It's a genius idea for enabling online payments in places where credit cards, PayPal etc. aren't as commonplace as they could be.
edent 12y ago
I looked into the clean water vs phones thing a few years ago https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2011/09/access-to-clean-water-vs-access-to-mobile-phones-in-africa/ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2011/09/access-to-clean-water-vs-ac... At the time, 93% of South Africans had access to clean water and mobile penetration was at over 100%. For the whole of Africa, it was ~46% water to 50% phones. But, as ever, definitions are important. If you have to spend half a day walking to a well for a bucket of water - that counts as access. Similarly, a family who shares a phone each has "access". It's also a lot easier to build a mobile phone network than a water network. Stick up a tower, power it with a generator / solar power, and point it to a back-haul link. Hey presto, you've got wide area coverage.

Could you recommend me some articles on the "mobile phones vs. safe water" thing and/or "paying via SMS"? That sounds very interesting.

by barosl 12y ago

Could you recommend me some articles on the "mobile phones vs. safe water" thing and/or "paying via SMS"? That sounds very interesting.

Swizec 12y ago

I don't have any specific articles. It's more of a general trend I've picked up on while reading other stuff. But if you google for pay by sms, you'll see there are A LOT of services for that. Also here's an article with some statistics: http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/02/13/emerging-nations-embrace-internet-mobile-technology/ http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/02/13/emerging-nations-embrace... In Kenya, for instance, 68% of phone users make/receive payments on their phone. And 76% of them use their phones for social networking. At the same time, 82% of Kenyans have a mobile phone. But only 59% have access to clean water. -> http://water.org/country/kenya/ http://water.org/country/kenya/ So that's .82*.76 = 62% of Kenyans with social networking vs. only 59% with clean water.

eru 12y ago

Try looking up mpesa.

omegavesko 12y ago

I've seen a bunch of companies in my region use this service: https://www.centili.com/ https://www.centili.com/ I'm surprised it didn't catch on sooner. It's a genius idea for enabling online payments in places where credit cards, PayPal etc. aren't as commonplace as they could be.

edent 12y ago

I looked into the clean water vs phones thing a few years ago https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2011/09/access-to-clean-water-vs-access-to-mobile-phones-in-africa/ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2011/09/access-to-clean-water-vs-ac... At the time, 93% of South Africans had access to clean water and mobile penetration was at over 100%. For the whole of Africa, it was ~46% water to 50% phones. But, as ever, definitions are important. If you have to spend half a day walking to a well for a bucket of water - that counts as access. Similarly, a family who shares a phone each has "access". It's also a lot easier to build a mobile phone network than a water network. Stick up a tower, power it with a generator / solar power, and point it to a back-haul link. Hey presto, you've got wide area coverage.