ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Anita Akpeere prepared fried rice in her kitchen in Ghana’s capital as a flurry of notifications for restaurant orders lit up apps on her phone. “I don’t think I could work without a phone in my line of business,” she said, as requests came in for her signature dish, a traditional fermented dumpling.
Internet-enabled phones have transformed many lives, but they can play a unique role in sub-Saharan Africa, where infrastructure and public services are among the world’s least developed, said Jenny Aker, a professor who studies the issue at Tufts University. At times, technology in Africa has leapfrogged gaps, including providing access to mobile money for people without bank accounts.
Despite growing mobile internet coverage on the continent of 1.3 billion people, just 25% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa have access to it, according to Claire Sibthorpe, head of digital inclusion at the U.K.-based mobile phone lobbying group GSMA. Expense is the main barrier. The cheapest smartphone costs up to 95% of the monthly salary for the poorest 20% of the region’s population, Sibthorpe said.
11 hurt in mass shooting that marked a weekend of gun violence in Savannah, Georgia
Alec Baldwin waved gun around on Rust film set before fatal shooting, court hears
Oxford rowers fell ill before Boat Race, but stop short of blaming River Thames pollution
Good News: Stories that cheered us up for the week of 11
Kristen Faulkner bounces back from time trial disappointment to win US cycling road race title
Colorado crime lab scientist accused of tainting DNA data in hundreds of cases
Chef Jose Andres says Israel targeted his aid workers 'systematically, car by car'
Smokefree law changes a 'completely backwards step'
Firearms Minister accused of misleading public on gun stats
Healey's goal in 2nd period gives Boston 4
Tauranga boarding house fails healthy homes standards, owner ordered to pay tenants