The rise of African SIM registration: The emerging dynamics of regulatory change

Kevin P Donovan,Aaron K Martin

doi:10.5210/fm.v19i2.4351

Abstract

The African experience with mobile telephony has been extolled as a defining moment in the continent’s contemporary economic, social, and political development. Yet SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) registration schemes are threatening to throttle the technology’s developmental potential. These mandates, which require the registration of identity information to activate a mobile SIM card, are fast becoming universal in Africa, with little to no public debate about the wider social or political effects. Whereas some authors have explored the motivations behind these drives, as well as their potential economic impacts, this paper focuses its critique on the broader diversity of implications of this regulatory transformation. Viewing SIM registration through a lens that combines surveillance studies and information & communication technologies for development, it examines elements of resistance across a range of actors, as well as other emerging effects like access barriers, linkages to financialization, and Africa’s budding mobile surveillance society.

Highlights

Publisher Rights Statement: “The rise of African SIM registration: The emerging dynamics of regulatory change” by Kevin P
One of the key modalities of Africa’s emerging mobile–centric surveillance society is the rise of SIM registration requirements
Justifying his support of SIM card registration requirements, the executive secretary of the East African Communications Organisation noted that “Our telephones have become a part of our identity.”

Summary

Introduction

Publisher Rights Statement: “The rise of African SIM registration: The emerging dynamics of regulatory change” by Kevin P. SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) registration schemes are threatening to throttle the technology’s developmental potential These mandates, which require the registration of identity information to activate a mobile SIM card, are fast becoming universal in Africa, with little to no public debate about the wider social or political effects. One of the key modalities of Africa’s emerging mobile–centric surveillance society is the rise of SIM registration requirements These regulations require mobile phone users to provide personal identification details in order to purchase and/or use a SIM card. They are in effect in the majority of African countries and have a range of implications for inclusion, surveillance, and development

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Discussion

Conclusion