THE ROAD AHEAD “Mobile-phone technology is like fire: as soon as a society gets it, it can’t imagine life without it,” writes Rollo Romig, formerly assistant director of the NYU Journalism in Ghana program. Some technophiles even hail the mobile phone as a “silver bullet” for Africa and the “entry ticket for Africans to join the 21st century.” But as with other emerging economies like India, there are now more Africans with access to a cellphone than to a clean toilet or even shoes. Thus the mobile hype needs to be tempered with other socio-economic development trajectories as well. Africa’s globally plugged-in generation expects more of its leadership, and has access to instant information; older African leaders ignore this political dynamic at their own risk, many observers warn. Sixty percent of Africa’s population is under 24. Urbanised youth populations are tech-savvy – and demanding. “Whatever is cutting edge in San Francisco or London today will start trickling through to the market in places like Uganda from maybe a year onwards,” according to Jan Chipchase is a user-experience researcher for Frog Design. And Africa is not just a technology adopter but innovator as well. Awards handed out at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona in February 2011 highlight Africa’s innovation in mobile money products and services -- technology developments that benefit people who do not have access to traditional banks. Most of the continent hovers at between 5 and 15 percent Internet access; SEACOM CEO Brian Herlihy expects that to grow by 50 percent every year. Total Africa-wide spending on IT technology will triple to $150 billion, and downloads and data will drive that. The Africa Center for Strategic Studies has released a report titled “Africa’s Evolving Infosystems: A Pathway to Security and Stability”, written by Steven Livingston. The report details the changing climate of media freedom on a continent with traditionally insular media, and the report appeals for the further development of mobile applications which can further security and stability in Africa. The report found that political instability and biased, often-violent suppression of print, radio and television media has been the norm in many of Africa’s states. The rapid growth of mobile phone use in the African market (65 percent over the past 5 years), and the free access to information via mobile Internet applications can give Africans a chance to promote democratic processes and civil society networks.
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