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Mobiles, innovation, Africa

“Innovation around the mobile phone is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity”.

Over the past week, the BBC have been covering the arrival of the Seacom fibre optic cable off the coast of East Africa, focusing on Kenya initially and today moving on to Rwanda. Their excellent coverage – video, news, blogs, photos and opinion – is all brought together in a new “Connected Africa” section of their website.

BBC Online

A few weeks ago, the Editor of the BBC News Technology site asked if I could contribute an article highlighting the innovative use of mobile technology in East Africa. With all the excitement around the new bandwidth revolution, it might have been easy to forget the mobile revolution. As the BBC put it, “If you want to see how east Africa may respond to the arrival of high-speed internet links, look no further than the mobile phone market”.

The featured article, or ‘Viewpoint’ – “Mobiles offer lifelines in Africa” – can be read here.

24 comments

1 Tweets that mention Mobiles, innovation, Africa | Build it Kenny, and they will come... -- Topsy.com { 09.17.09 at 9:40 am }

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Afrika Kabissa. Afrika Kabissa said: RT @kiwanja:"Innovation around mobile is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity" http://is.gd/3n74g [...]

2 changefeed { 09.17.09 at 9:46 am }

->@kiwanja: Mobiles, innovation, Africa http://bit.ly/11tkLa

3 @mikegechter's RSS { 09.17.09 at 10:55 am }

Mobiles, innovation, Africa: Over the past week, the BBC have been covering the arrival of the Seacom fibre opti.. http://bit.ly/11tkLa

4 mikegechter rss { 09.17.09 at 10:55 am }

Mobiles, innovation, Africa: Over the past week, the BBC have been covering the arrival of the Seacom fibre opti.. http://bit.ly/11tkLa

5 Todd Diemer { 09.17.09 at 11:17 am }

RT @kiwanja: "Innovation around mobile is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity" http://is.gd/3n74g

6 todddiemer { 09.17.09 at 11:17 am }

RT @kiwanja: "Innovation around mobile is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity" http://is.gd/3n74g

7 lovisa { 09.17.09 at 11:35 am }

RT @kiwanja: "Innovation around mobile is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity" http://is.gd/3n74g

8 lovisatalk { 09.17.09 at 11:35 am }

RT @kiwanja: "Innovation around mobile is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity" http://is.gd/3n74g

9 teval { 09.17.09 at 11:42 am }

RT @kiwanja: "Innovation around mobile is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity" http://is.gd/3n74g

10 Josef Scarantino { 09.17.09 at 11:50 am }

RT @kiwanja "Innovation around mobile is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity" http://is.gd/3n74g

11 jscarantino { 09.17.09 at 11:50 am }

RT @kiwanja "Innovation around mobile is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity" http://is.gd/3n74g

12 e-Agriculture { 09.17.09 at 12:18 pm }

RT @kiwanja: "Innovation around mobile is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity" http://is.gd/3n74g

13 e agriculture { 09.17.09 at 12:18 pm }

RT @kiwanja: "Innovation around mobile is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity" http://is.gd/3n74g

14 Mobiles, innovation, Africa | Build it Kenny, and they will come… | Kenya today { 09.17.09 at 12:41 pm }

[...] Read the original: Mobiles, innovation, Africa | Build it Kenny, and they will come… [...]

15 Pete Taylor { 09.17.09 at 1:50 pm }

Great nuggets of information in this article, and short anecdotes (like the one at the top of this post). Really enjoyed it. Thanks!!

16 Brannon Cullum { 09.17.09 at 2:42 pm }

RT @kiwanja "Innovation around mobile is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity" http://is.gd/3n74g

17 bcullum { 09.17.09 at 2:42 pm }

RT @kiwanja "Innovation around mobile is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity" http://is.gd/3n74g

18 Ken Banks { 09.17.09 at 5:10 pm }

BBC guest post up at http://is.gd/3n74g – Mobiles, innovation and Africa as part of the "Connected Africa" series

19 kiwanja { 09.17.09 at 5:10 pm }

BBC guest post up at http://is.gd/3n74g – Mobiles, innovation and Africa as part of the "Connected Africa" series

20 Diane Coyle { 09.17.09 at 6:50 pm }

RT @kiwanja BBC guest post up at http://is.gd/3n74g – Mobiles, innovation and Africa as part of the "Connected Africa" series

21 diane1859 { 09.17.09 at 6:50 pm }

RT @kiwanja BBC guest post up at http://is.gd/3n74g – Mobiles, innovation and Africa as part of the "Connected Africa" series

22 Ken Banks { 09.18.09 at 9:29 am }

BBC Tech News guest post up at http://is.gd/3n74g – "Mobiles, innovation and Africa", part of the Connected Africa series

23 kiwanja { 09.18.09 at 9:29 am }

BBC Tech News guest post up at http://is.gd/3n74g – "Mobiles, innovation and Africa", part of the Connected Africa series

24 Fee { 10.06.09 at 6:31 pm }

Hi all,
You may also be interested in this video demo of an African SMS mobile phone directory.

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