Mobile Technologies in East Africa: new opportunities for economic growth

Abstract

The article analyses the information and telecommunication technologies (ICT) in East Africa countries as a technological platform which carries great potential in its social and economic development. The region has experienced a boom in mobile phone use. The author underlines that a mobile phone nowadays is more than a way of communications but a way of life for Africans: many people lack access to electricity and running water but have mobile phones. Over time the mobile phone has became a technological platform that allowes to develop services. The author provides an analysis of mobile technologies transforming economy and fostering development in East Africa countries. The study reveals that despite the progress there is a huge gap in the development of East Africa ICT infrastructure compared to the rest world. Also there is a deep digital divide between the countries in the region. There are sharp contrasts between the ICT wage in towns and rural areas. Mauritius, Seychelles and Kenya are among the most dynamic in ICT development in East Africa. Mauritius has long been a pioneer in the telecom sector. It was the first in the region to provide a 3G service, the first in the world to develop wireless broadband network. The author focuses attention on great mobile technologies impact in business. The Smart Cities project in Mauritius stimulates innovative scientific and technological activities. The government has set a package of attractive fiscal incentives to investors for the development of «smart cities» across the island. The article underlines an increasing mobile technologies penetration into rural areas. They lead to cause significant benefits for rural households as they provide villages and farms with access to information, education and improve access to healthcare. They are used used to spread information about farming, to lower marketing costs and to boost profit. The author the concluds that ICT and mobile networks introduction have the potential to influence economic and human development in remote and isolated villages and farms in rural Tropical Africa with its extreme poverty, heavy burden of infection diseases and insufficient infrastructure in water, roads and power. The article shows that the mobile money service is transforming Africa. This service is authentically African technological revolution. Service M-Pesa created in Kenya continues to expand into other countries and beyond the continent. Mobile payments in East Africa has become the form of payment. About 100 millions people in the world use mobile money: 40 millions of them are in Africa and 26 millions in Kenya. The author stresses the huge mobile technologies impact on the real sector of the Africa countries economy.