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The impact of mobile phone and economic growth in developing countries
Abstract
The articulation of this paper is to examine key issues of a mobile phone facing sub-Saharan Africa to a country's technological progress and is capable of generating knowledge-driven economic growth, improve productivity and raise quality. The main objectives of this paper are considerable evidence that new forms of telecommunication can bring both macroeconomic benefits accruing to national economies and microeconomic benefits accruing to individuals, both in developed and developing countries. There is also some evidence that lower-income groups can benefit particularly from access to mobile phones, through improved work and business opportunities and productivity gains. The paper defines the mobile phones in less developed economies to be playing the same crucial role that fixed telephony played in the richer economies in the 1970s and 1980s. The purpose of this paper is to know how mobile phones transformed lives in low-income countries faster than ever imagined. The effect is particularly dramatic in rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, where mobile phones have often represented the first modern infrastructure of any kind. There is a long tradition of economic research on the impact of infrastructure investments and social overhead capital on economic growth. Studies have successfully measured the growth dividend of investment in telecommunications infrastructure in developed economies.
... Africa countries are becoming the fastest growing mobile market in the world with mobile penetration rate in the region ranging from 30% to 100% [Ghirmai and Kefela, 2011]. Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt are the fastest growing telecom markets with progressive growth that is not only exceeding the expected growth, but creating a radical shift in the telecom industry [Ghirmai and Kefela, 2011]. ...
... Africa countries are becoming the fastest growing mobile market in the world with mobile penetration rate in the region ranging from 30% to 100% [Ghirmai and Kefela, 2011]. Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt are the fastest growing telecom markets with progressive growth that is not only exceeding the expected growth, but creating a radical shift in the telecom industry [Ghirmai and Kefela, 2011]. The telecommunication sector in Nigeria is a foremost contributor to the nation's Gross Domestic Products (GDP) accounting for 10.11% in the first quarters of 2019 which is slightly higher than 9.85% recorded in first quarter of 2018 [National Bureau of Statistics-NBS, 2019]. ...
... Telecom services presently available in Nigeria comprised of fixed telephony, mobile communications, VSAT satellite transmission, microwave, and fiber optic backhaul, and internet services among others. Contrary to what is obtainable in most developed nations, mobile subscriptions in Africa countries is largely on prepaid, because of the fact that pre-paid subscription platform is more open to people who do not have the prerequisite bank account and self-identity documentation mandatory to enter into a contract billing arrangement [Ghirmai and Kefela, 2011]. As reported by Statista [2011], roughly 95.7% of telecom subscribers in Africa are on prepaid platform. ...
This study investigates brand equity dimensions and customer retention of the Nigerian telecommunications industry. Cross-sectional research design was adopted to survey 368 postpaid subscribers. The respondents were selected through multistage sampling techniques. The four dimensions of brand equity (brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, and brand loyalty) were found to be correlated with one another and with overall brand equity. Similarly, the four dimensions were correlated to and significantly predicted customer retention. The study concluded that improvement of all the four dimensions of brand equity is indispensably vital to customer retention in the mobile telecom industry. The study recommended that telecom operator that is desirous of sustaining high brand notch in the marketplace should intensify their effort to improve on all the four dimensions of brand equity to enhance subscribers’ retention. Findings of this study fill important gaps and contribute to the body of literature related to brand equity dimensions and customer retention from customers’ perspective.
... Small business owners in underdeveloped countries may now sell their products and engage with customers more effectively owing to mobile phones. For example, in the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa, one may see various homemade signs offering services such as house painting and gardening, as well as cell phone numbers ( [17], 2011). However, mobile communications have risen more than twice as fast in low-income nations as in high-income countries in recent years. ...
... However, mobile communications have risen more than twice as fast in low-income nations as in high-income countries in recent years. As a result, low-and middle-income countries now account for more than 20% of the global mobile market, despite significant disparities in mobile phone prevalence and use across countries ( [17], 2011). The results of this study are in accordance with research conducted by [21]; [11]; [20]; [8]; [10]; [4]; [25]; [2] which shows the significant and positive influence of the telephone user variable. ...
... Technology has proved itself to play an important role in the economy of nations all over the world. Indeed, Economic development has been in rapid acceleration with the advent of technology particularly in industrial and developed nations (Kefela, 2011). (Lum, 2011) found that cell phones have a significant impact on economic growth. ...
... The role of cell phones in the personal and professional life of everybody has been dramatically increased since the beginning of the 21st century (Kefela, 2011). Thus, more demand for better coverage has led mobile companies to increase installation of towers in residential neighborhoods for providing better services and competition among cell phone companies plays its own role too (Lee & Gardner, 2011). ...
تهدف هذه الورقة إلى استكشاف الأثار الاقتصادية لأبراج الاتصالات التي توضع فوقالبيوت،تم اختيار اربيل كمنطقة دراسة حالة لكشف تأثير هذه الأبراج على أسعار البيوت وكذلكوعي الافراد فيما يتعلق بهذه القضية، تم استخدام نوع البيانات الأولية في هذه الورقة من خلالانشاء و توزيع استمارة استبيان على مائة وعشرين ومكاتب عقارية في اربيل للحصول على)SPSS( البيانات اللازمة لاستخلاص والاستنتاج وجمعها، تم استخدام حزمة البرامج تسمى لتحليل البيانات التي تم جمعها من المكاتب العقارية، لتوضيح ما إذا كانت ابراج الاتصالات لهاتأثيرات إيجابية وهامة على اسعار البيوت، علاوة على ذلك، توفر الدراسة سياسة للحد من الاثارالجانبية لأبراج الاتصالات.
... In developing countries farmers use short message services (SMS) in mobile phones for updating of weather forecast and use of pesticides in their farms. Kefela (2011) [8] reveals that farmers from Bangladesh directly contact buyers to get the rice, vegetables, and coffee prices from international traders. Two decades ago it was very difficult for farmers to know information about their productions from the market. ...
... In developing countries farmers use short message services (SMS) in mobile phones for updating of weather forecast and use of pesticides in their farms. Kefela (2011) [8] reveals that farmers from Bangladesh directly contact buyers to get the rice, vegetables, and coffee prices from international traders. Two decades ago it was very difficult for farmers to know information about their productions from the market. ...
In India, the vast majority (85 percent) who indulge in farming constitutes small and marginal category only. The small and marginal farmers accessing less information and from fewer sources than did medium and large-scale farmers. Due to lack of right information in right time, the farmers were worst affected by poor yield and poor returns from the farming. To take vital farm decisions, timely farm information is imperative and thereby the communication channels play the pivotal role in farm information dissemination. A study was conducted to explore the communication behaviour among the banana growers in Trichy district of Tamil Nadu. Among the respondents, one-third of farmers (32.5 per cent) were consulting and receiving agro information from their relatives and friends where as banana grower association serving 29.5% of the farmers and 27.6% of the respondents getting information from media.
... Equally critical, data sharing technologies exist to support dynamic management [33]. Low-technology communication via radio or email is readily available and more complex communication systems through mobile technology (e.g., smartphones and tablets), and corresponding satellite and cellular data capabilities, are rapidly improving and declining in cost [34,35]. These technologies are more than adequate to engage ocean users in the two-way data sharing required by dynamic management approaches. ...
... The processing and analytical capability now exists to integrate disparate datasets, to produce reliable forecasts at appropriate timescales, and to communicate with vessels at sea, permitting resource users to adapt to management measures in near real time. Even in developing countries, the expansion of low-cost cellular coverage makes the application of dynamic management applications feasible [34,35]. While most applications of dynamic management revolve around fishing and shipping industries, its application can be expanded to include other marine resource sectors including marine renewable resources, additional military applications, and perhaps most critically, mobile marine protected areas. ...
Most spatial marine management techniques (e.g., marine protected areas) draw stationary boundaries around often mobile marine features, animals, or resource users. While these approaches can work for relatively stationary marine resources, to be most effective marine management must be as fluid in space and time as the resources and users we aim to manage. Instead, a shift towards dynamic ocean management is suggested, defined as management that rapidly changes in space and time in response to changes in the ocean and its users through the integration of near real-time biological, oceanographic, social and/or economic data. Dynamic management can refine the temporal and spatial scale of managed areas, thereby better balancing ecological and economic objectives. Temperature dependent habitat of a hypothetical mobile marine species was simulated to show the efficiency of dynamic management, finding that 82.0 to 34.2 percent less area needed to be managed using a dynamic approach. Dynamic management further complements existing management by increasing the speed at which decisions are implemented using predefined protocols. With advances in data collection and sharing, particularly in remote sensing, animal tracking, and mobile technology, managers are poised to apply dynamic management across numerous marine sectors. Existing examples demonstrate that dynamic management can successfully allow managers to respond rapidly to changes on-the-water, however to implement dynamic ocean management widely, several gaps must be filled. These include enhancing legal instruments, incorporating ecological and socioeconomic considerations simultaneously, developing 'out-of-the-box' platforms to serve dynamic management data to users, and developing applications broadly across additional marine resource sectors.
... Equally critical, data sharing technologies exist to support dynamic management [33]. Low-technology communication via radio or email is readily available and more complex communication systems through mobile technology (e.g., smartphones and tablets), and corresponding satellite and cellular data capabilities, are rapidly improving and declining in cost [34,35]. These technologies are more than adequate to engage ocean users in the two-way data sharing required by dynamic management approaches. ...
... The processing and analytical capability now exists to integrate disparate datasets, to produce reliable forecasts at appropriate timescales, and to communicate with vessels at sea, permitting resource users to adapt to management measures in near real time. Even in developing countries, the expansion of low-cost cellular coverage makes the application of dynamic management applications feasible [34,35]. While most applications of dynamic management revolve around fishing and shipping industries, its application can be expanded to include other marine resource sectors including marine renewable resources, additional military applications, and perhaps most critically, mobile marine protected areas. ...
Most spatial marine management techniques (e.g., marine protected areas) draw stationary boundaries around often mobile marine features, animals, or resource users. While these approaches can work for relatively stationary marine resources, to be most effective marine management must be as fluid in space and time as the resources and users we aim to manage. Instead, a shift towards dynamic ocean management is suggested, defined as management that rapidly changes in space and time in response to changes in the ocean and its users through the integration of near real-time biological, oceanographic, social and/or economic data. Dynamic management can refine the temporal and spatial scale of managed areas, thereby better balancing ecological and economic objectives. Temperature dependent habitat of a hypothetical mobile marine species was simulated to show the efficiency of dynamic management, finding that 82.0 to 34.2 percent less area needed to be managed using a dynamic approach. Dynamic management further complements existing management by increasing the speed at which decisions are implemented using predefined protocols. With advances in data collection and sharing, particularly in remote sensing, animal tracking, and mobile technology, managers are poised to apply dynamic management across numerous marine sectors. Existing examples demonstrate that dynamic management can successfully allow managers to respond rapidly to changes on-the-water, however to implement dynamic ocean management widely, several gaps must be filled. These include enhancing legal instruments, incorporating ecological and socioeconomic considerations simultaneously, developing 'out-of-the-box' platforms to serve dynamic management data to users, and developing applications broadly across additional marine resource sectors.
... Mobile telecommunication services play a crucial role in developing countries in which fixed telephony networks are under-developed, to cover the uncovered area and to leapfrog the fixed network. With its less expensive roll-out costs and the fixed-line penetration decline, mobile telecommunication is becoming the primary means of communication in developing countries (Arakpogun et al., 2017;Kefela, 2011;Loo and Ngan, 2012). As the primary means of communication, its role in developing countries' development is more significant than in developed countries. ...
As a primary means of communication, the role of mobile telecommunications networks is important for a developing country's economic and social development. However, especially rural areas in low-income countries still lack mobile coverage. In the academic literature, only segmented solution strategies for this mobile coverage problem in rural areas are proposed. These are either technological, regulatory, or organizational solutions, whereas solving the mobile coverage gap requires an integrated approach to develop arrangements for mobile network rollout in rural areas. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the causes of the lack of mobile coverage, the available solutions, and how they can be combined. Based on this overview, the paper proposes a decision support scheme for selecting a suitable arrangement for solving the mobile coverage gap. In this decision support scheme, the technical, organizational, and regulatory solutions are combined to develop a set of arrangements that match the local key causes of the lack of mobile coverage and that fit with the local context. In the last phase of the decision support scheme, the relevant stakeholders are involved in selecting the most suitable arrangement. We demonstrate the decision support scheme by applying it to the case of an unserved rural village in Indonesia, Unipa on the island of Papua, to show how it can guide a developing country to initiate the process of developing a solution for mobile coverage problems in rural areas.
... Mobile phone services (SMS) are important because the growth of cell phones in Nigeria, and Africa in general exceeds 65% and is considered one of the fastest in the world [33]. Research shows that in typical rural district of Africa, about 80% of households make regular use of phones. ...
Counterfeit drugs impose risk to human life and properties. Many organizations globally are involved in campaigning for counterfeit drugs control. Almost all these efforts are focused on control at various stages of production and supply chain, while less or rare efforts are invested at terminal intervention by the end users. In this paper, a historical background of some of the existing applications of ICT to counterfeit drug control is presented. These basically revolve round the Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM), mainly voice and text; Internet technology is faintly mentioned. The paper is expected to provide background resource for an efficient and effective information system capable of preventing and/or minimizing the risks resulting from counterfeit drugs. The ultimate goal is to develop products which will assist counterfeit drug control agencies and health information related agencies.
... It is difficult to infer how different (and in which characteristics) the users of the current study are from a total Zombies, Run! population. Even though mobile phone usage is becoming prevalent in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Ranasinghe et al., 2019;Kefela, 2011), improving physical activity levels is also highly relevant in the lower GDP countries because of the significant increase in physical inactivity worldwide (Ranasinghe et al., 2019). Smartphone-based interventions could therefore hold huge potential and promise as they could promote physical activity on larger, population-based scales. ...
Full thesis: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10150972/
Introduction: Sufficient physical activity (PA) reduces the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and improves physical and psychosocial health. The levels of PA in the UK and elsewhere in the world remain low for all age groups. Novel strategies for engaging people in PA are required to tackle the epidemic of inactivity. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is computer-generated, interactive 3D environments that offer users unique immersive experiences of PA. / Aims: The aim of this mixed-methods, staged research project (vEngage) was to test the potential of VR and AR to engage people in PA. This work was a Medical Research Council (MRC) funded partnership between academic researchers (UCL, Coventry, and Anglia Ruskin Universities) and an industry partner ‘Six to Start’. / Methods: I surveyed and interviewed the users of the world’s most popular running app Zombies, Run! (ZR) (Studies 1 and 2). I then conducted a scoping review in a form of a qualitative analysis of game reviews on popular VR exercise games (exergames) and described positive and negative features, current players of VR exergames report, as important motivators for exergame playing (Study 3). In parallel, the vEngage team set up a steering committee of adolescents (13-17 years) and their parents and interviewed both groups about PA, VR, AR, and exergaming (Studies 4a and 4b). We used the results from these studies to inform our VR exergame intervention (a game called Walls - Study 5) which we developed together with expert games designers Six to Start. / Results: VR is a promising strategy for engaging adolescents in PA but barriers to use remain, including awareness, availability, affordability, and accessibility. The results showed people have a positive attitude to exergaming, with a preference for narratives (engaging story, role-play). This was particularly supported by both ZR studies, where the narrative was the most motivating factor for engagement in PA for all age groups. VR and AR exergaming can distract people from the negative aspects of performing PA such as pain or repetition. / Conclusions: This research project was the first VR study that used principles of co-design in creating a digital VR exergame intervention for adolescents, by engaging adolescents themselves in the exergame design. AR and VR exergaming has great potential to engage a wide range of people in PA and can be particularly useful as means for PA engagement in a time of world pandemics such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic, where gym and fitness facilities are not accessible for unspecified periods of time.
... For instance the Bangladesh farmers directly contact with buyers and get the information about rice price and vegetables while some of them inquire about the price of coffee from international brokers Countries. Two decades before it was very difficult for farmers to take information about their production from market within minutes from their villages (Kefela, 2011). For effectiveness of ICTs (WhatsApp), Raksha et al. (2017) suggested that the strategy was planned in an integrated manner covering the important aspects like polices, institutions, stakeholders, ICT knowledge centre, ICT infrastructure, content development, blending, innovative leaders, ICTs upgradation, refinement and innovation and monitoring and evaluation. ...
On Farm Trials, in farmers’ participatory mode, were conducted to assess the effects of application of Zinc
(ZnSO4.7H2O) as basal in combination with Iron (FeSO4) as foliar spray on yield and profitability of wheat during
winter/rabi seasons of 2011-12 and 2012-13 at farmers field in Bhiwani District of Haryana state, India. The
technology under assessment viz. application of Zinc @ 25 kg ha-1 + two foliar sprays of Iron @ 0.5 per cent
at tillering and 10 days after first spray in wheat significantly increased the yield attributes viz. number of tillers/
m2, grains/spike and 1000-grain weight by 2.2, 5.3 and 3.5 per cent, over farmers’ practice (no use of Zinc and
Fe) respectively, reflected by 10 per cent higher grain yield of wheat over two years of study. The technology also
proved more profitable with higher net returns (Rs. 59669 ha-1) and B: C (2.92) ratio in comparison to Rs. 51552
ha-1 and 2.72, respectively, under farmers practice i.e. no application of Zn and Fe in wheat.
Keywords: Productivity, Profitability, Technology gap, Wheat, Zn and Fe
... Interestingly, technological path dependency may accelerate this process, especially amongst countries that have not followed the management pathways typical of developed economies. As demonstrated by telecommunications (Kefela, 2011) and microgrid electrical systems (Aklin et al., 2017), nations or regions who can begin with newer technologies (e.g., emerging economies) can leapfrog many of the steps that had been necessary in developed economies to reach the same point, achieving faster distribution of more efficient technologies and more creative innovations. Furthermore, once uptake passes a critical transition, the technology can spread rapidly into new locations due to increased awareness. ...
The rate of change in marine ecosystems and the speed with which pressure on those systems is escalating are much faster than rates of institutional change or management responses. The continued promulgation of a century‐old management approach (i.e., single species maximum sustainable yield), despite decades of scientific warnings regarding its flaws, highlights how fisheries management and science can be constrained by path dependency and psychological traps. Major disruptions to the functioning of fisheries created by climate and SARS‐CoV‐2 (COVID‐19) present an opportunity to take a step back and introduce alternative approaches more appropriate to the extant conditions in the majority of global fisheries. This reset point, in combination with a proliferation of cheaper technological options, provides the opportunity for fisheries in emerging economies to reach a sustainable position without retracing the steps, or holding to the assumptions behind the fisheries management approaches applied in regions such as Europe, North America or Australia.
... For instance the Bangladesh farmers directly contact with buyers and get the information about rice price and vegetables while some of them inquire about the price of coffee from international brokers Countries. Two decades before it was very difficult for farmers to take information about their production from market within minutes from their villages (Kefela, 2011). For effectiveness of ICTs (WhatsApp), Raksha et al. (2017) suggested that the strategy was planned in an integrated manner covering the important aspects like polices, institutions, stakeholders, ICT knowledge centre, ICT infrastructure, content development, blending, innovative leaders, ICTs upgradation, refinement and innovation and monitoring and evaluation. ...
Mobile phones have reduced the gap among farmers and buyers, now farmers directly communicate with customers and get price of their products from market. Mobile phones have also provided new approach to farmers to get latest information from meteorological department for weather conditions before using pesticides in their farms. However, internet is also disseminating information regarding price and marketing of goods and farmers are receiving information within minutes from all over the world. Into consideration of the above fact the study was conducted to examine the knowledge level of farmers about using mobile phone in the Milkipur tehsil of Ayodhya district, Uttar Pradesh during the agricultural year 2015-16. Selection of the respondents had done by simple random sampling method and 25 respondents from each village had taken to make a total sample size of 250 from the list of ten purposively selected villages for collection of primary data.
... Forinstance, the Bangladesh farmers directly contact with buyers and get the information about rice price andvegetables while some of them inquire about the price of coffee from international brokers Countries. Twodecades before it was very difficult for farmers to take information about their production from market withinminutes from their villages (Kefela, 2011). There is no doubt the mobile phones technologies were used in283different sectors of the society such as in health, education, rural development and in agriculture for theeconomic growth in developing countries (Chhachhar et al.,2014). ...
Research in the social-sciences have become very much inter-disciplinary with the growing needs of the society. The era of fourth Industrial Revolution, where Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and advancements in Bio-technology are taking us to the next level of development, has opened-up new areas of studying their impact on human behaviour and the society. Technological Developments have led to the automation of work, however they directly affect the sustainability and productivity, and may lead to inequalities in the society. Hence, there is a desperate need of multi-disciplinary research in the field of social sciences to support the creative and innovative solutions for fostering sustainable development. Present book has examined the different aspects of social-science research with specific focus on Business Management, Economics and Trade, ICT, Rural Development, Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment. This will certainly serve as an excellent reference for the policy makers, business leaders, researchers and academicians.
... For example, growers in Bangladesh communicate directly with consumers and obtain new information regarding vegetable and rice prices, and some of them ask about the value of coffee in international countries. For the past two decades, it has been problematic for growers to obtain new information or new skills about agricultural production from the market within minutes of the community (Kefela 2011;Ashraf et al., 2015).There is no uncertainty the cell phones were used in various departments of the community such as in education, health, rural progress and farming for the financial development in advance nations. The effect of mass media empowers growers' societies in remote areas and sent access to information about the market. ...
In order to obtain information about related difficulties, problems and their solutions, information and communication technologies between multiple communities are constantly being enhanced. Regarding agricultural development, mass media have played a very important role in emerging countries. Many emerging countries have achieved better results in the latest technologies. Newspapers, radio, television, smartphones and the internet are the most important communication devices that provide farmers with knowledge and information about agriculture. By using these modern technologies in several countries, it has been observed that the use of these new technologies has generated positive outcomes in agricultural development. In rural areas, radio is still the most popular communication tool. It can broadcast many programs about agriculture, and television has also contributed greatly to the dissemination of agricultural information in emerging countries. In addition, smartphones have reduced the distance between growers and consumers and now growers can communicate directly with customers and get product prices from the market. Mobile phone technology also offers growers a new way to get up-to-date information about weather conditions from the meteorological department before using pesticides and other related materials on their farms. But the internet is strewn with the latest information on commodity prices and marketing, and growers are getting information from around the world.
... For instance the Bangladesh farmers directly contact with buyers and get the information about rice price and vegetables while some of them inquire about the price of coffee from international brokers Countries. Two decades before it was very difficult for farmers to take information about their production from market within minutes from their villages (Kefela, 2011). The impact of information and communication technologies to empower farmers' communities in rural areas and provided access of marketing information. ...
Mobile phones have reduced the gap among farmers and buyers, now farmers directly communicate with customers and get price of their products from market. Mobile phones have also provided new approach to farmers to get latest information from meteorological department for weather conditions before using pesticides in their farms. However, internet is also disseminating information regarding price and marketing of goods and farmers are receiving information within minutes from all over the world. Into consideration of the above fact the study was conducted to examine the knowledge level of farmers about using mobile phone in the Milkipur tehsil of Ayodhya district, Uttar Pradesh during the agricultural year 2015-16. Selection of the respondents had done by simple random sampling method and 25 respondents from each village had taken to make a total sample size of 250 from the list of ten purposively selected villages for collection of primary data.
... Research studies reveal that mobile phone use in family literacy and family learning has far reaching end in less developed countries (Kefela, 2011). UNESCO (2015reports three mobile phone projects-in Afghanistan, Niger and Pakistan that complemented existing non-formal community–based literacy programmes in those countries. ...
This article explores how mobile phones are used in enhancing family literacy practices-oral literacy, numeracy, reading and writing, technology literacy and leisure activities engaged in by family members on a daily basis. The qualitative research obtained information through interviews and observation from Gayaza Family Learning Resource Centre beneficiaries. Further information was obtained through document analysis. Previous studies on mobile use mainly focused on literacy outcomes mainly school oriented consequently ignoring literacy practice within the context of the family. The findings generated three major themes in which beneficiaries demonstrated how they use mobile phones to enhance family literacy practices, namely: family literacy through instant messaging and phone calling; fostering family literacy through mobile phone entertainment application and using mobile phone internet and web for family literacy. Literacy as social practice was a theoretical perspective whose lens was used to illuminate the literacy practices enhanced by use of mobile phones. The findings make an original contribution in the field of digital literacy versus social practice of literacy. The study recommended that family literacy providers embrace both traditional and modern approaches as merging them would make family learning and literacy practices more fascinating to participants.
... We also counted the number of mobile phone subscription per 100 people to proxy information and communication technology and to see its impact 1 Voice and accountability shows civil liberties and political rights of citizens to participate in government selection and replacement process 2 Government effectiveness assesses the bureaucratic quality to provide public service and the independence of civil service from political pressure, and the credibility of the government's commitment to policies to be drafted and implemented 3 Political stability and absence of violence refers government stability, internal and external conflict and ethnic tensions 4 The ability of government to fight against corruption 5 regulatory quality reflects the perceptions of the ability of the government to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations that are conducive to private sector development 6 Rule of law shows legal institutions, including access to non-discriminatory judiciary that are supportive of the principles of the rule of law on TFP and real GDP growth. Kefela (2011) and Hyde-Clarke (2013) used mobile phone as communication technology to analyse the impact of information technology on economic growth. Finally, domestic credit to private sector to GDP and net inflow of FDI are among the variables used in the models. ...
Using two-step system GMM estimator we analyze the impact of Africa-China trade openness on TFP and economic growth for 38 African countries for the periods 1995-2013 after controlling for edogeneity. The findings of this study reveal that Africa-China trade openness has robust positive effect on GDP growth of African countries. When Africa-China trade openness is interacted with the institutional quality and human capital of Africa, its effect on TFP is positive and significant. Hence, it needs strong domestic absorptive capacity of Africa to reap technology improvement effect of trade with China. These findings, therefore, provide evidence that Africa-China trade openness is an important contributor of economic growth for Africa.
... Figures and their evolution suggest many implications, but both quantitative/ statistical and qualitative studies are lacking, in a general framework and making reference to a specific country. Some exceptions exist, such as some studies referring to the general impact (Aker & Mbiti, 2010;James, 2015;Kefela, 2011). In addition, the sectoral investigation is scares -see a few studies mainly on the impact on agriculture (as for instance Mittal, Gandhi, & Tripathi 2010 on the impact on the Indian agriculture) or healthcare (see West, 2012 on a general evaluation). ...
The present article aims to advance a comparative analysis among three countries - India, Romania and the United States - placing mobile devices, internet infrastructure and m-commerce at the core of the investigation. The scope of the study simultaneously covers the landscape and dynamics of m-commerce and of related objective indicators, bringing to the fore figures, facts and forecasts corroborated from the latest reports, statistics and articles. In this respect, it adds up to the extant literature by systematizing report outputs in a unitary comparative framework and by generating inputs for further research endeavours on the subjected factors associated with m-commerce evolution.
... The poor in SSA tend to use public access facilities and share phones, so low tele-density figures can mask the extent to which the poor accesses telecommunications and banking services. Kefela (2011) shows that in "typical" rural districts of SSA, about 80 per cent of households make regular use of phones. One of the key features driving growth in mobiles is that when poor and vulnerable populations are mobile with airtime they can be also mobile with their bank accounts. ...
... The poor in SSA tend to use public access facilities and share phones, so low tele-density figures can mask the extent to which the poor accesses telecommunications and banking services. Kefela (2011) shows that in "typical" rural districts of SSA, about 80 per cent of households make regular use of phones. One of the key features driving growth in mobiles is that when poor and vulnerable populations are mobile with airtime they can be also mobile with their bank accounts. ...
Poor, vulnerable and low-income households in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries often lack access to bank accounts and face high costs for conducting basic financial transactions. The rapid growth of mobile phones usage with E-banking can bridge the economic transformation and increase the bancarisation rate. This paper aims to discuss how mobile phones can be used to extend banking services to the unbanked, poor and vulnerable population. Regression analysis was applied to identify the effects of mobile phones on bancarisation rate and, on poor and vulnerable populations. Mobile phone is statistically significant at 1 per cent level, showing that the level of the mobile phone utilization in an economy at any given time impact the bancarisation rate. The coefficient of the explanatory variable shows that increasing in mobile phone result to about 46.8 per cent increasing in the bancarisation rate. Mobile phone is a specific electronic financial channel using in the 30 selected SSA countries to bank the unbanked. The mobile phone presents a great opportunity for the provision of financial services to the unbanked. In addition to technological and economic innovation, policy and regulatory innovation is needed to make these services a reality.
... For instance the Bangladesh farmers directly contact with buyers and get the information about rice price and vegetables while some of them inquire about the price of coffee from international brokers Countries. Two decades before it was very difficult for farmers to take information about their production from market within minutes from their villages (Kefela, 2011). There are no doubt the mobile phones technologies were used in different sectors of the society such as in health, education, rural development and in agriculture for the economic growth in developing countries. ...
Information and communication technologies are increasing day by day among different communities for obtaining the information about related issues, problems and their solutions. In the context of agriculture development, information and communication technologies have played important role in developing countries. Most of the developing countries have got fruitful results of the technologies. Internet, mobile phones, radio and television are most important tools of communication providing knowledge and information to farmers about agriculture. By using these technologies in different countries it was found Positive results in agriculture development have been found by using these technologies. In remote areas radio is still favourite tool of communication which broadcasts many agriculture programs while television also contributes much in disseminating information about agriculture in developing countries. Furthermore, mobile phones have reduced the gap among farmers and buyers, now farmers directly communicate with customers and get price of their products from market. Mobile phones have also provided new approach to farmers to get latest information from metrological department for weather conditions before using pesticides in their farms. However, internet is also disseminating information regarding price and marketing of goods and farmers are receiving information within minutes from all over the world.
Malaria disease impose risk to human life and health status. In this paper, a historical background of some of the existing applications of ICT to predicting Malaria Disease is presented. Many organizations globally are involved in campaigning for reducing Malaria disease and equally controlling it. Almost all these efforts are focused on control at various stages of the lifecycle, while less or rare efforts are invested at terminal intervention by the end users. These basically revolve round the smart phone, mainly text parameters; with Internet technology it’s also mentioned. The paper is expected to provide background resource for an efficient and effective information system capable of predicting and/or minimizing the risks resulting from this dangerous illness. The ultimate goal is to develop products which will assist in early detection and for use by health-information-related agencies.
The three main components of economic growth are capital accumulation, population growth, and technological progress. One form of technology that is experiencing rapid development at the global and national levels is information and communication technology (ICT). ICT plays an important role in supporting the activities of actors in increasing output in the form of goods and services. This research aims to analyze the impact of ICT on economic growth in the western region of Indonesia (KBI) and the eastern region of Indonesia (KTI) using descriptive analysis and the Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) model during the 2016-2020 period. The research results show that the ICT variables for landline telephones, cellular telephones and government ICT spending have a significant effect in driving economic growth in the eastern region, while for the western region the ICT variables do not have a significant influence on economic growth. The western region has not been able to make maximum use of the implementation of cellular telephone technology or ICT spending in improving the economy. To obtain the benefits of ICT as an economic driver in each region, the role of policy makers is needed in encouraging ICT adoption in the productive sector and providing access and technological infrastructure that can reach all regions and all levels of society.
A larger part of the populace in India is occupying horticulture. With regard to horticulture improvement, data and innovations have assumed a significant part in agricultural nations like communication technology, fuzzy logic, pesticides, etc. And also the livestock sector is one of the important sectors in agriculture. It contributes significantly to the economy. In any case, animal creation frameworks in India depend intensely on customary practices. The absence of information with respect to logical practices is a significant limitation to work on the efficiency of livestock. However, various communication technologies like the Internet, mobile phones, radio, and television are most important tools for communication providing knowledge and information to farmers about agriculture. Mobile phones can reduce the distance between the farmer and buyers. Now farmers directly communicate with buyers. Television is contributing much to circulating data around cultivation in emerging kingdoms. Internet is also playing the main role to communicate with people all over the world. The use of chemical pesticides both occupationally and ecologically causes a range of human health problems. Many pesticides are not degradable; they persist in soil and leach to groundwater. In India pesticide from proper utilization of livestock waste is a good pesticide for crop without any side effects. Economic sectors are carried act by public sector agencies; centralized extension services have rarely made transmission of information on livestock production. By that time, various information and technologies are associated with the development of agriculture and livestock.
Over the past few years, poor communities in developing countries have increasingly come to use mobile phones. There are many ways in which mobile phones can contribute to livelihoods and quality of life among the poor in developing countries. Despite this, the relationship between mobile phones, livelihoods and the poor has not been sufficiently understood, partly due to mixed interpretations of the concepts of sustainable livelihoods and the poor and an inadequate understanding of the impact of mobile phones. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of mobile phones to livelihood outcomes amongst the urban poor in South Africa. This study involved a questionnaire administered to 89 respondents from 4 townships in the Western Cape. Using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework as a theoretical foundation, an analysis of the answers obtained found that mobile phones have a positive contribution towards the improvement of the livelihoods of township inhabitants. In respect of Social and Human Capital: improving relationships with relatives and friends, arranging social functions, obtaining assistance in cases of emergencies, cutting down travelling and transport costs and improving efficiency of daily activities. However, mobile phones were found to have played a minimal role in respect of Financial and Socio Political Capital, such as sending money, improving neighbourhood security, improving household income, and communicating with government.
This paper reflects on a study that investigated how the engagement between rural communities and their relevant government authority can be improved through bilateral information flow. In a case study of seven communities in two municipalities in South Africa, an ICT system was designed using a co-design approach that allowed all stakeholders to engage through various fora. The system that emerged through this process was characterized by its simplicity. Following the suggestions of the co-designers (community members, government authorities and experts) one of the profound aspects to implementation was the ability to engage with the government in a “free-at-point-of-use” system. The constraint of not having a recurrent IT budget in the municipality to facilitate system development or maintenance became a design requirement.
The system addressed the process of citizens’ complaints and the tracking of the municipalities’ responses to complaints. Most of the complaints required an intervention and action from each municipality, which resulted in a requirement to improve the internal workflow and the service delivery processes. Findings of the study showed that within 2 months of usage, the engagement between municipalities and communities changed. Citizens’ queries and complaints increased due to the system reducing the difficulty of raising a request. The municipalities used the system to manage their internal workflow.
Several benefits of mobile health (mHealth) technologies have been documented in the literature. However, available literature is not as “extensive” as those in developed countries, particularly on implementation issues and challenges of mHealth interventions. This is worrying, as addressing the usefulness and appropriateness of a mHealth program before implementation is essential. This paper comparatively assessed the ease and appropriateness of implementing a Short Messaging Service (SMS)-based mHealth technology in developing countries of similar settings. The framework of Marshall, Lewis and Whittaker, based on the Bridges’ criteria, was chosen for the comparison. It was found that Burundi has many challenges that need to be addressed first before implementing a mHealth intervention. Zimbabwe enjoys a better funding model with more ‘experience’ in eHealth projects and initiatives, and a successful mHealth intervention is more plausible. This paper highlights the importance of critically assessing the mHealth intervention and the target community before implementation.
There is increasing interest in Big Data analytics in health care. Behavioral health analytics is a care management technology that aims to improve the quality of care and reduce health care costs based capture and analysis of data on patient’s behavioral patterns. Big Data analytics of behavioral health data offers the potential of more precise and personalized treatment as well as monitor population-wide events such as epidemics.
Mobile phones are powerful social sensors that are usually physically close to users and leave digital traces of users’ behaviors and movement patterns. New Apps (application or piece of software) are emerging that passively collect and analyze mobile phone data of at-risk patients such as their location, calling and texting records and app usage, and can find deviations in a user’s daily patterns to detect that something is wrong before an event occurs. Data mining and machine learning techniques are adopted to analyze the “automated diaries” created by the smart phone and monitor the well-being of people. The App first learns a patients daily behavioral patterns using machine learning techniques. Once trained, the App detects deviations and alerts carers based on predictive models.
This paper describes the techniques used and algorithms for reality mining and predictive analysis used in eHealth Apps.
The growing importance of Sub-Saharan Africa in contemporary global business reflects in the impressively robust and steady performance of the several industrial sectors and sub-sectors in the past few decades. Within the service sector, mobile telecoms have since inception in the early 1990s, proven to be among the region’s leading performers, ranking as the fastest-growing industrial sub-sector. Adopting the multimarket competition theoretical perspective, this paper complements the extant literature by examining how the various leading mobile telecoms operators in SSA compete for dominance in the region’s numerous country markets. The paper identifies market size and “oligopolistic reaction” or “bandwagon effect” as key factors affecting competition in the SSA mobile telecoms market, with MTN and Bharti Airtel having the largest regional footprints.
Despite the efforts devoted to overcome differences in ict development level, evidence on this issue is still scarce. Within this context, the goal of this paper is to present new approach in determining development level of ict by using statistical i-distance method. Further, we will not only be able to rank countries but also to assess the differences between them. In a line with this, we will also determine key input variables for the process of ranking and propose some directions for future work.
A cursory glance at wealthy societies would make us think that the lack of access to financial services is a phenomenon only affecting developing countries. This is not the case. Developed countries also have citizens without bank accounts, known as the unbanked.
In this paper we investigate how telecommunications infrastructure affects economic growth. This issue is important and has received considerable attention in the popular press concerning the creation of the "information superhighway" and its potential impacts on the economy. We use evidence from 21 OECD countries over the past twenty years to examine the impacts that telecommunications developments may have had. We estimate a structural model which endogenizes telecommunication investment by specifying a micro-model of supply and demand for telecommunication investments. The micromodel is then jointly estimated with the macro-growth equation. After controlling for country-specific fixed effects, we find evidence of a positive causal link, provided that a critical mass of telecommunication infrastructure is present.
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG - (Telekommunikations-Infrastruktur und Wirtschaftsentwicklung: Ein simultanes Modell)
In diesem Beitrag wird untersucht, welchen Einfluß die Telekommunikations-Infrastruktur auf die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung ausübt. Diese wichtige Frage hat im Zusammenhang mit der Diskussion um "Informationsautobahnen" Aktualität erlangt. In der vorliegenden Studie wird der Einfluß der Telekommunikations-Infrastruktur für 21 OECDLänder für die vergangenen 20 Jahre analysiert. Es wird ein Strukturgleichungsmodell geschätzt, in dem Investitionen in die Telekommunikations-Infrastruktur als endogene Variable erfaßt werden und in einem Mikromodell Angebot und Nachfrage nach Telekommunikations- Investitionen spezifiziert werden. Das Mikromodell wird dann zusammen mit der Makro- Wachstumsgleichung geschätzt. Als Ergebnis stellen die Autoren dann eine positive Kausalbeziehung zwischen Telekommunikations-Investitionen und wirtschaftlicher Entwicklung fest, wenn eine kritische Masse an Telekommunikations- Infrastruktur existiert.
In this paper we investigate how telecommunications infrastructure affects economic growth. We use evidence from 21 OECD countries over a 20-year period to examine the impacts that telecommunications developments may have had. We jointly estimate a micromodel for telecommunication investment with a macro production function. We find evidence of a significant positive causal link, especially when a critical mass of telecommunications infrastructure is present. Interestingly, the critical mass appears to be at a level of telecommunications infrastructure that is near universal service.
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