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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The mobile phone 'revolution' in Africa: rhetoric or reality? |
Authors: | Etzo, Sebastiana Collender, Guy |
Year: | 2010 |
Periodical: | African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society (ISSN 1468-2621) |
Volume: | 109 |
Issue: | 437 |
Pages: | 659-668 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Africa |
Subject: | mobile telephone |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/40928368 |
Abstract: | The rapid adoption of mobile phone technology in Africa and its dramatic benefits have frequently been described as a 'revolution'. However, the industry also faces notable challenges and unintended consequences. Penetration rates vary from under 10 percent in Ethiopia to nearly 100 percent in Gabon (UNCTAD report 2009). The accessibility and use of mobile phones can also entrench unequal power relations between men and women, and between employers and employees. This briefing strives to bring balance to the mobile debate and identify information gaps. The authors argue that, in addition to more research, a close collaboration between different interests (including State, mobile companies, banks and donors) is necessary to improve the socioeconomic potential of mobile telephony. Ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] |