Kenya’s Quiet Mobile Phone Revolution

Where has the world’s technology always come from? The U.S., Japan and Western Europe, of course. Where has the world’s technology come from more recently? India, China and Brazil. Maybe. Where will the world’s technology come from, tomorrow? That question remains to be answered and there are a large number of contenders in the race. With cross-country acquisitions and partnerships, the answer most likely won’t lie in one geographical location in the future. But amidst all this chaos, one country is slowly but surely emerging as a strong mobile technology hub – Kenya.

African telecom company Safaricom launched an app called M-PESA back in 2007. This app turns any phone into a credit card or bank branch, allowing users to carry out numerous types of transactions. The U.S. only caught up with these app features in 2011. Google recently gave seed money to the iHub project, an endeavor to bring investors, budding tech entrepreneurs, mentors and potential partners together by using the genius of the mobile phone.

A Kenyan crowd-mapping app was used by American news media like The Washington Post and Huffington Post just a few months ago in their coverage of a blizzard and of the U.S. 2012 election, respectively. Kenya is exploring the social utility of phones as well. An app called “M-KOPA” provides solar energy to homes, so that they can keep their phones powered up. Another ingenuity titled iCow tells the farmer when his/her cow needs vaccination and marks the period of lactation!

Kenya, and most of Africa, is deeply riddled by infrastructural issues like lack of electricity, roads, computers, etc. In spite of this, there is resurgence in the number of phones being used – even in the most rural villages. Kenyans are becoming increasingly tech savvy and boasting of higher consumption owing to better purchasing power. This is therefore the ideal time for a boost in mobile technology in the country and its neighbors, and Kenyan developers are pouncing on this opportunity.

Safaricom CEO, Bob Collymore, truly believes that the future of telephony will come from Africa and was quoted saying that Kenya holds the potential to produce the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. He takes delight in the fact that Kenyans are proudly celebrating the success of their homegrown mobile apps, as the country’s reputation shifts from that of a simple commodity producer. The disappearance of geographical limitations in the tech world will add to the African innovative movement.