Originally posted on the GBI Portal – Page 33

ICTworks Profile of Esoko: Bringing the Market to Africa’s Fingertips

It was a normal day by Accra standards. I walked out of the house ready to make my way to the center of town for an interview with a homegrown tech company; Esoko. I hailed a taxi and started haggling with the driver, once we had settled on a price, we were off on the traffic-ridden roads into central Accra. An average of 3-15 street vendors would emerge at the larger intersections and red traffic lights trying to sell us anything from fruits, jewelry, books, to shoes (don’t ask me how/who would try on shoes while driving!).

Thanks to our zealous vendors, the market played out right outside the taxi windows accompanied by the sounds coming from the taxi radio speakers: Ghanaian Hiplife music and commentary on everything and anything on life in Accra. In those moments, I was immersed in the familiarity and novelty of the experience, completely unaware how my perspective on the market, media and communications in Ghana was about to change in the next few hours.

Below I detail what I learned from Sarah Bartlett (Communications Director) and Andrea Biardi (Technical Manager) who graciously sat with me and described the ins and outs of Esoko (Electronic Market, Soko = Market in Swahili), it’s role in Information and Communication Technology for Development and why it could be changing markets in Africa in unprecedented ways.

How did Esoko begin?

A decade ago Mark Davies, a Welsh-South African, fresh from the dot com boom made plans to travel across West Africa on his motorcycle. During this trip he interacted with both rural and urban communities and he kept thinking how life would be different for the people he was meeting if they had basic technology and infrastructure like stable power, printing services and internet; basically, services that people in the west took for granted. What kind of opportunities and innovation would arise from that consistent access to technology? Thus BusyInternet was born; initially an Internet Café, Internet Service Provider and a business incubator run in partnership with the World Bank.

BusyInternet provides basic technology services to the public and has grown into a successful technology hub located in Accra amongst the hustle and bustle of the Kwame Nkrumah circle. As it grew into the largest technology center in West Africa, Mark immersed himself in a new challenge. With mobile phones spreading rapidly and with so much data that needed to be collected and shared, especially in rural areas dominated by agriculture, it seemed the missing link was a technical platform that could facilitate.

The idea of using mobile phones as that platform was obvious, as in Ghana the penetration rate for mobiles was upwards of 85% in city centers and averaging at 60% across the country. And it has continued to grow since: the International Telecommunication Union reported at the end of 2010 cellular penetration reached 75.4% across Ghana.

So in 2005, Mark and a few software developers started a new R&D company focused on local solutions to local problems using new technologies. Mobile phones played a key role. They created a plan to facilitate agricultural e-commerce under an endeavor they called ‘TradeNet’. Their first product became an application that enabled the dissemination and collection of price information for market commodities like grains and vegetables using simple SMS.

This information was accessible to anyone through the Internet but what made the tools from Esoko powerful and innovative was that you did not need a computer or the Internet to interact with the wealth of pricing information housed on the web server. With the simplest mobile phone, using basic SMS text you can access a world of pricing information. With the click of your mobile’s keypad or through auto-alerts customized for your needs the information would appear on your phone on a periodic feed. You therefore have access to the most up-to-date price information for the commodities of your choice be it coffee, cassava or wheat, at the tip of your fingers.

Mistowa and TradeNet: Before Esoko

In 2006 a partnership was formed between TradeNet and Mistowa, a regional program funded by USAID that aimed to remove trade obstacles in West African markets. Through this partnership, TradeNet emerged to provide an electronic agribusiness information exchange platform that enabled peer-to-peer trading. The initiative was able to offer access to real-time market information including commodity prices, offers to buy and sell between farmers, merchants and traders as well as business contacts on more than 300 products, from over 500 markets throughout West Africa.

TradeNet’s work with Mistowa brought to light the kinds of applications that would fulfill the needs of the agribusiness sector. And with 60% of Africans earn their living from working in agriculture, a sector so underserved in terms of technology solutions, it made sense for TradeNet to continue in that area. TradeNet started hiring more software developers, and the applications started getting more interesting.

By this time, there was a growing global trend in using mobiles/ICT to exchange information in a new way, shorten supply chains and get people better money for their crops. It had become resource-consuming to obtain information through the classical methods – collecting forms, using landlines, travelling to locations etc. Many projects and businesses were trying to create electronic systems to solve supply chain problems but were not technology experts or developers themselves.

Around this time, TradeNet re-branded itself as ‘Esoko’ or Electronic Markets (Soko is the Swahilli word for market) and became one of the pioneers in this growing field of African mobile innovation joining the likes of Ushahidi, Frontline SMS and SlimTrader, companies that are creating innovative mobile solutions specifically for the African customer. Esoko focuses on tools for market and agricultural information and is expanding its efforts into other realms whereas other companies in the sector focus on m-money, m-banking, crowd-sourcing disaster/phenomena data and so on. In a continent with such growing demand for mobile technology, it is exciting to see the variety and growing number of such technology companies creating solutions for the specific needs of the African customer.

Development Work, Local Interests and Sustainability

Several development projects have used the platform and Esoko hopes they will continue to do so in the future; it’s a perfect fit for projects that have a central mandate to integrate information and communication technologies into their projects. Esoko can serve as an ‘out of the box’ market information platform while providing training and support. This means that while Esoko is not part of the core structure that is built for any specific project, organizations can bring in Esoko as an outside expert for the tools they need rather than re-inventing the technology wheel each time.

Many donor-funded development projects have similar challenges surrounding sustainability. Typically, when a project closes down, Esoko looks for a new partner in a new location. In many cases, these new partners have a different value chain or mandate and may be working with different end-users e.g. traders versus farmers.

In other scenarios somebody has to take over and continue to provide the services the community has grown accustomed to instead of a complete dismantling and scrapping of many months and years of work. In a new model, the project starts with government or donor funding and then transitions into a business; a franchise that can grow into a sustainable company. The first franchise launched in Ghana in January, 2011, will be a good model to pilot this potential solution toward sustainability.

Local businesses in Ghana are now using Esoko; utilizing some of their apps and services the same way that larger projects do. This kind of local interest also gives credence to the franchise model as there is demand in local markets for the products. Esoko has set up a shortcode across all the mobile operator services in Ghana on the phone line ‘1900’.; shortcodes in other countries have also been set up. Franchises in Nigeria and Mozambique have secured funding and are well on their way to launching. The USAID funded Market Linkage Initiative in Malawi is also working to develop a franchise as a part of its efforts.

In other countries, government entities like the Ministry of Agriculture in North Sudan and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in Nigeria have tried to integrate the Esoko platform into their own methods. This will undoubtedly contribute to a sustainable presence of these services as they continue to evolve and integrate into how communities do business.

Sustainability through Best Practices and Failure

Over time, Esoko’s driving principle has evolved into actively seeking feedback from users and stakeholders to drive improvements and new product development. This ‘innovation driven’ approach allows the company and its products to stay relevant as it continues to bring real value to its customers. This ultimately leads to better sustainability and profitability.

This approach introduces a different accountability schema than is common in the development sector because as a business, Esoko is accountable to its bottom line – profit. This is very different from being accountable to the interests and discretion of donors who regulate the access and flow of steady funds. For this reason, Esoko would want to tell its stories of failure along with success so it can understand its own pitfalls and evolve more rapidly to meet customer demand.

User feedback from one partner to better the platform for their specific needs oftentimes ends up benefiting multiple partners. This is true for some of Esoko’s main offerings (the stock tracking application was initially designed and created for Esoko’s Sudanese partners) as well as small enhancements to the platform, like adding tagging and comment boxes to the price upload page. These comment boxes ended up transforming the tool into a sophisticated aspect of the price information product; introducing comments about quantitative price data took the product from a simple system to access price data to something that was stand-out from anything that was available in the market and can inform the user about markets in a multi-dimensional way. The product was simple enough to use, but also very powerful for its ability to provide qualitative price data such as explanations about price hikes and other price-related occurrences. Enhancements like this are continuous and Esoko’s partners are the driving force behind them.

Presence across the Continent: Esoko in Africa

The network is available across Africa with public data being available to all users. When Esoko representatives are out in communities doing training and in meetings, most users express their excitement about the technology; their reactions show the technology to be something they have long been waiting for and that feedback only adds to the excitement in Esoko’s main office. Once the technology is deployed, Esoko works closely to help local partners customize to the specific needs and cultural idiosyncrasies of that community.

Monitoring and Evaluation for Mobile Tech in Development

In November 2010 a survey of 62 farmers in Northern Ghana who have been receiving price alerts for one year confirmed that they have benefited from the service, with an average improvement of 40% on reported deals and revenue. 68% said they would be willing to pay around $1.30 a month, with another 29% suggesting they would consider it, and only 3% saying they would not. The users of the products have been able to make more informed decisions about negotiating better prices, selling farther away, selling as a collective and sending products to Accra on a mass scale. These findings and others about mobile usage have been building momentum for mobile tech and its role in development helping Esoko realize the importance and power of M&E data in telling the story of mobile tech in Africa to the world.

To go beyond anecdotal reports, Esoko has invited researchers to design third party evaluations for these SMS tools. The surveys would obtain quantitative data for M&E that could be very useful in showing how the tools are changing people’s lives as well as the supply chain. CIRAD, a French organization, did 600 surveys; 300 people who have been using Esoko tools for two years and 300 that have not but live in a similar community and similar conditions. Those results will be out at the end of 2011. In July of 2011 NYU’s CTED in Abu Dhabi began a study to evaluate the effectiveness of SMS-based market, taking three years to evaluate the impact of using Esoko tools on farm-gate prices and livelihoods (household assets and children in school), farmer marketing behavior (search behavior, bargaining power and market contracts) as well as the trust of other market players, especially traders. They will also gather data to find out how information spillovers and technology adoption occur among rural farmers in Africa.

Mobile Tech is a field replete with opportunities for research. There are many questions that would help understand the technology landscape, its impact and inform approaches when designing new mobile technology interventions in African markets. What is the correlation between mobile technology and development? How does the introduction of mobile technology affect communities and market systems? These questions are of interest to the larger global community as well as to local communities. Two research evaluations already done in India and Niger show that the introduction of mobile technology (voice-only) increased revenues to actors along the supply chain. These findings are cited countless times and have driven innovation as well as policies. New research about data-focused technology can lead to findings and similar implications.

Made in Africa by Africans

Esoko’s employees are mainly Ghanaian and West African, with 3 African diaspora employees and 4 US/European expats. Visiting employees typically come for 6 months to bring in knowledge about the latest technology. Currently there is a group of 60 young professionals at Esoko by building and supporting the technology. The truly exciting thing about the work Esoko is doing is that it is coming from Africa, and that it is complex technology. Esoko today has a solid user interface, a strong API to communicate with all the different mobile providers to get data from the field processed and then sent out via SMS to end users, and a complete setup of staff and developers comparable to a tech company anywhere in the world.

Impact: Business for Profit & Social Value – Disrupting the Market

According to Esoko, it is a company for profit and for social good because the two come hand in hand. The company has the intention of enabling better transparency, heightening efficiency across value chains and spreading information as well as helping organizations, businesses and individuals get to their bottom lines faster.

As far as innovative technology, the products are designed not to totally reinvent the market, but to make markets more efficient through the presence of the right tools. These tools and solutions are enablers that let people access information more quickly, easily and cheaply by putting the power for decision back in the hands of the customer. This will likely affect the way people do things, however, it is difficult to say how exactly it will change the market.

For businesses, this means tools so they can do business better; source goods locally, tighten supply chains, and make real time decisions based on quickly sourced field information. For individual farmers who have begun using Esoko, the tools have started skewing the market in ways that are easy to recognize because there is a high level of isolation typically experienced by rural producers. If a farmer has pricing information for regions more than two markets away she might forgo selling her products through several middle-men traders that would buy from her and sell at a different market. With the information at hand she could make a cost-benefit analysis to decide if it is best for her to sell her commodities far away herself or to trade with the middle-men. This decision might eliminate her need to work with middle-men who could take her product and sell it for a larger margin of profit or exploit her for their benefit. Armed with the correct pricing information, she can also negotiate a better price with the middleman. This would likely disrupt the market in unprecedented ways because none of the tools are designed to manipulate the market in any specific way. The tools are simply enabling access to information that would put the power for decision back in the hands of the customer.

Cultural Considerations

Each country may have specific user interaction needs, which translate into Esoko helping both projects and businesses deploy properly in their markets. For example Ghana has market queens for each commodity where merchants work under the main queen. Enumerators, who collect price data from markets on a regular basis for the franchise, go into each large market and approach the queens. The queens then have to be ‘courted’ and shown how they can also benefit from allowing Esoko in the market; the goal being that the queen would give approval and Esoko can become operational in that market. The enumerators continue to visit the queen and the markets enabling Esoko to culturally integrate with the market.

In one instance that illuminates the cultural elements and the benefit of ‘design for the customer’ approach, Kumasi’s market queen was putting high taxes for importing onion from Burkina Faso leading to the creation of a renegade onion trade happening on the streets to forgo the market. While the queens have the power to slightly fix the price in Ghanaian markets, Esoko is able to use features like comments on pricing data to describe the dynamics that play into the fluctuation of prices. This qualitative data helps makes sense of the quantitative price data as well as the cultural and socio-economic context of events in the market.

Esoko is a new inventive breed of African technology company. As the demand for cellular technology continues to grow rapidly, the relevance and impact of mobile innovators will also grow for the African market. With a projection of 170% growth for mobile phone usage (85% growth in smart phone use and 150% in non-smart phones) across Africa in the coming 5 years, technology innovators have the opportunity to impact the market in unprecedented ways that increase transparency, simplify supply chains and maximize benefit to the users. It is becoming increasingly hard to imagine that this kind of technology would not have a significant impact on Africa’s development.

October 5, 2011/by actualize

GBI Highlights, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Fall Internship Underway

GBI Fall 2011 Interns. L-R, Fabrice Musoni, Christy Gillmore, Benjamin Addom

GBI is pleased to welcome the 2011 class of Fall Interns! After a very competitive selection process, three interns have been selected for the GBI 2011 Fall Program, which began on September 19. The group represents Georgetown, Syracuse and Clark Universities.

Fabrice Musoni, a graduate student in the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) program at Georgetown University and was the 2010-2011 Yahoo! Junior Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. Fabrice previously worked as a consultant on another USAID project called Programme Paix et Gouvernance (PGP) implemented by AED in Senegal, for Search for Common Ground’s (SFCG) youth project in Burundi and as a researcher at the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC) in Rwanda. Musoni holds a B.A. with honors in Political Sciences and Communication Studies from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. A Congolese-born Rwandan citizen, Musoni speaks fluently Kinyarwanda, Swahili, and French. Musoni’s focus is on International Development with a keen interest in sub-Saharan Africa. He will be writing for the ICT4Democracy and Governance and ICT4Cross Cutting sites.

Christy Gillmore recently received her MA in International Development and Social Change from Clark University with a concentration in human rights and peacebuilding. She has served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali working on health and environment development projects and has worked in refugee resettlement coordinating healthcare for clients. She served as a Peace Fellow for The Advocacy Project where she worked with a Kenyan NGO in Nairobi to develop an ICT strategy as well as blog about issues and projects within the slums of Kenya. Currently she works at Free the Slaves, managing the anti-slavery organization’s programs in Ghana. She will be writing for the ICT4Health, ICT4Democracy and Governance, and ICT4Cross Cutting sites.

Benjamin Addom is a knowledge management specialist with training and experience in the use of ICTs for development. He has a good knowledge of the history of rural development and agriculture; farming systems approaches; agricultural extension reforms; and approaches to food security and vulnerability mitigation. Ben has over 9 years of experience in the field of agriculture, food security, ICT4D, teaching, training, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation. He holds a PhD in Information Science and Technology from Syracuse University School of Information Studies, masters in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University, and a bachelors in General Agriculture from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Ben will be contributing to ICT4 Agricultural Development, Connectivity for Development, and ICT4 Environment sites.

October 4, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Climate Change, Food Security, Irrigation and Water, Land Management, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

IFAD President: Africa can ensure its own food security

Photo Credit: Zunia

The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Mr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, hosted a virtual press conference from his Rome office yesterday, September 29 to discuss why he believes Africa can ensure its own food security through investment in agriculture, with particular focus on West Africa.

The interactive press briefing touched on a number of pressing and interesting issues relating to African agriculture. According to Mr. Nwanze, reducing rural poverty in Africa is a high priority for IFAD, and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains IFAD’s highest priority, absorbing as much as 40% of new commitments. IFAD investment in Africa and SSA is more than 50% of IFAD’s total investment worldwide. With years of investment and working relations with African experts and governments, IFAD has accumulated a rich experience of what works and doesn’t work in Africa.

The agency has identified with the great challenges facing African agriculture including volatile food prices, changing climate, the challenge of feeding its populace, land grabbing, among others. But at the same time, sees great promise for Africa in the face of all these challenges. Africa has the highest share of the world’s arable land for agriculture, with West Africa alone holding about 284 million hectares of arable land available for investment. Out of this, only 60 million are currently in use. In addition, the region has more than 10 million hectares of land that could be irrigated, but it barely uses 10% of this to its full value. About 60% of Sub-Sahara African is under 25 years of age with high skills and training to be tapped for agricultural growth.

I asked Mr Nwanze what IFAD’s view is on policies that ensure investment in ICTs for agricultural development in Africa. He referenced the on-going Agricultural Knowledge Share Fair (AgShareFair) in Rome with support from IFAD and other UN agencies that brought together people from all over the world including Africa with innovative information and communication technologies for knowledge sharing. IFAD is also supporting many projects in the area of mobile telephony, mobile banking, last mile etc. that are helping in the advancement of agriculture in Africa. Also the use of this virtual press briefing by the President, which made possible for people to participate remotely attests to IFAD’s recognition and commitment to ICTs for development. On policies guiding the creation and administration of Universal Service and Access Funds (USAF) in African countries, Mr. Nwanze recalled a recent meeting by ITU that brought together telecom regulators together to deliberate on its application for development.

Responding to another question from the press as to why Africa is starving, the President stated that Africa is not starving. He cited booming economies in Africa such as Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia where African governments are pursuing sound economic policies thereby enabling the growth of their economies. He cited Ghana as an example that made enormous stride and has great promise for growth with the possibility of transitioning into middle-income country in the near future. He was quick to state, however, that he is ‘no prophet of the future’ to tell how things will turn in these countries. Referring to the crises at the Horn of Africa, the President said agriculture must be made a priority in Africa by all who are interested in reducing poverty and ensuring food security. He called on African leaders to “act now: investing in agriculture is the best way to prevent famines.” African leaders must take the lead and invest in agriculture – no people or nation can make progress with sole external support, the President stated.

On the possibility of investing in green energy for Africa’s agriculture, Mr. Nwanze said it depends on how one defines green energy. According to him, African farmers are already practicing green energy in their farm practices through good soil management practices to prevent erosion and the like.

My main take of the press briefing applies to the question of Mr Nwanze’s view on ICTs investments by African people for agricultural development in Africa. Mr. Nwanze pointed some interesting initiatives by IFAD to expand access to ICTs in rural Africa but it is not clear how much of this is being spearheaded by Africans themselves. On the issue of availability of vast arable lands, huge youth population, and skills in Africa for investment, it is difficult to see how that translate into food security and prevention of future famine in Africa. In this era where Africa is experiencing more and more rural-urban migrations, not only the youth but also the older generations, as a result of declining opportunities and lack of incentives for farming, policies should go beyond mere recognition of ‘rich resources’ on the continent. The President did not mince his words by calling on African leaders to act now, but I also think that there is so much to explore outside African governments and political leaders. The call for investing in low-cost and simple technologies such as information and communication technologies for example should be a fertile ground for Africa’s young entrepreneurs. By creating a conducive environment for investment, Africa could see a wave of young investors especially in the ICTs sector.

Mr. Nwanze also responded to questions from the press covering areas of good governance for agricultural development, south-south collaborations for knowledge transfer to Africa, investment in post-conflict countries such as Liberia, the use of subsidies, and examples of successful models of agricultural development in Africa. The session was covered by over 25 different media outlets across the world in the area of radio, TV, magazine, blogs, multimedia press such as Voice of America, Voice of Nigeria, Deutsche Welle (DW), the Organic Farmer, Think Africa Press, and the Global Broadband for Innovation Program of USAID.

September 30, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Health, Health, Maternal & Child Health, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

USAID MAMA initiative leading the way in mobile for maternal health projects

The USAID-initiated MAMA (Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action) project that utilizes cell phones to improve maternal health in developing countries gave an in-depth update at the latest mHealth Working Group meeting.

The pilot initiative, announced in May by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and co-sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, has begun work in Bangladesh. MAMA seeks to achieve “scale, sustainability and impact” by creating a replicable model of reaching low-income mothers and household decision-makers (husbands, mothers-in-law) through increasing the impact of current mHealth programs, providing technical assistance to new mHealth models, and improving methods of applying mobile technology to improving maternal health.

At the working group meeting, Sandhya Rao of USAID and Pamela Riley of USAID’s SHOPS (Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector) program discussed the status of Aponjon, the MAMA project in Bangladesh. Aponjon provides vital health information through mobile phones two times a week to expecting and new mothers, reminding them of when to receive checkups and how to stay healthy during the pregnancy. Bangladesh was chosen to pilot the project because the country’s government has been a leader in promoting and expanding access to ICTs and is very active in mHealth.

Photo credit: Council on Foreign Relations

In order to bring it to a national scale, the burgeoning MAMA initiative has established private, public, and NGO partnerships to help implement its activities, and is carefully monitoring its methods and practices to ensure that the project is reaching its target goals. For example, Aponjon is constantly tweaking the content of its phone messages so that mothers and decision-makers understand, retain and relate to the information given.

Photo credit: Highmark Medicare Services

Another aspect of the project that MAMA will be monitoring is its business models to determine which are the most sustainable and effective. Currently, customers pay service providers to retrieve the phone messages. Text messaging is the cheapest method for remitting information in most developing countries, but many of the poorest clients are unable to read the texts. The alternative is interactive voice response (IVR) through which customers can hear recorded messages at a much lower cost than call centers but more than texting. MAMA and its partners are experimenting with different pay schemes, such as subsidizing rates, working with service providers to offer low rates or donate funds to the project, and charging fees based on usage.

It will take the new initiative years before sustainable, reliable, and replicable models are in place. What is clear is that the potential for improving maternal and newborn health through the use of mobile phones is being tapped.

September 29, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Notes from ITU’s ‘Measuring the Information Society 2011′

A couple of weeks ago, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), regarded as the source for Internet statistics, released a report on Internet usage habits in 152 countries around the world. The title: “Measuring the Information Society 2011.” Of interest to many is the ICT Development Index which ranks nations by number of subscriptions, type of subscription, broadband availability, cost of access, and level of education. This ranking only goes so far, however, and the value of comparing African ICT benchmarks with global stats is marginal.

In addition to the tables of global rankings, however, are pages of analysis and notes. Recent data hails mostly from 2010 with 2008 used as a reference. Below are some of the nuggets we found useful for painting a picture of how African nations are progressing in terms of Internet adoption:

The ITU revised the definition of wireless-broadband subscriptions in 2010 and group it into three indicators: satellite broadband, terrestrial fixed wireless-broadband, and terrestrial mobile wireless. Terrestrial mobile wireless subscriptions include (a) standard mobile subscriptions with use of data communications at broadband speeds (i.e. mobile-cellular subscriptions with advertised data speeds of 256 kbit/s or greater and which have been used to set up an Internet data connection) and (b) dedicated mobile data subscriptions at broadband speeds. (9)
Approximately 63% of the ICT Development Index is based on 6 factors: International Internet bandwidth per Internet user, Percentage of households with a computer, percentage of households with Internet access, Percentage of individuals using the Internet, fixed-broadband Internet subscriptions per inhabitant, and active mobile-broadband subscriptions per inhabitant. (10)
Kenya has seen a 28% change in IDI value since 2008, making it one of the fastest growing Internet markets. The reason: large cellular subscription growth and an increase in Internet bandwidth capacity (especially from 2009-2010). As of December 2010, Kenya had 10.2 million Internet users, or 26% of the population. (17)
Morocco has witnessed nearly a 300% increase in international bandwidth since 2008. Internet penetration rates are up nearly 50% in thanks to the adoption of mobile broadband, which has gone from 2.3% to 10% penetration over the past two years. Fixed broadband growth is flat, however, in part due to Maroc Telecom’s monopoly. (18)
Comoros saw bandwidth increase 1000% after connecting to a submarine cable in 2010. Madagascar now has over 10x the International capacity it did in 2008. (30)
Mobile broadband subscriptions have doubled globally between 2008-2010. At least 150 nations have 3G mobile broadband networks as of 2010. Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Togo, and Zimbabwe did not have 3G as of 2010. (35,42)
The number of fixed broadband subscriptions decreased in Kenya from 2009 to 2010. Kenya’s Internet penetration rate, as reported by CCK, was 9% in 2008. (37)
All African nations apart from Angola, Gabon, Mauritius, Nigeria, Seychelles, and South Africa have less than 5% of households connected to the Internet. Only Cape Verde, Mauritius, Seychelles, and South Africa have a broadband penetration rate greater than 1%. (41)
Djibouti and Mauritania saw little progress in terms of international connectivity. Djibouti is one of the few nations with under 20% mobile penetration. (43)
Broadband Internet costs 112% of gross national income in developing countries as opposed to 1.5% in developed countries. The monthly cost for Internet in Guinea, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Ethiopia is >10x the average monthly income. (71)
Broadband prices dropped by 96% in Burkina Faso, 51% in Malawi, 61% in Ethiopia, 92% in Nigeria, 47% in Swaziland, 90% in Uganda, 81% in Mozambique, 77% in Kenya, but only 8% in Guinea. The African (non-Arab state) average is 55%. (74,76)
Kenya’s international bandwidth has grown from 829 Mbit/s in 2008 to 202,000 Mbit/s in 2010. (76)
Broadband definition now is 4 Mbps download, 1 Mbps upload. (86)
36% of Ghana’s population is covered by 3G. (87)
Terrestrial backbone networks’ length grew from 466,000km to 646,000km from July 2009 to Q1 2011. 4.4% of the population lived within 25km of a submarine cable landing point. 31% lived within the same distance of a backbone access point. Senegal has a high percentage, and Gabon soon will too. (100)
7% of African nations collect household data on Internet usage habits. (108)
Internet usage is strongly correlated with income. In Botswana (2008), 2% of people in the bottom 75% of income levels accessed the Internet. 19% of people in the upper 25% income bracket accessed the Internet. (113)
In Namibia, 81% of Internet users use a social network. 17% of mobile owners access social networks via mobile application. 23% of mobile owners used their phones to access the Internet. However, only 13% of the population actually uses the Internet. Most using it for the first time still do so on a computer or laptop. (125)
No broadband (fixed or mobile) as of 2010 in: Chad, Comoros, DRC, Guinea, Niger. 1-in-1000 broadband users in Burkina Faso, Swaziland, Togo, Zambia. (154-5)

Also, be sure to read TechZim’s summary of the ITU report’s findings on Zimbabwe. Ghana Business Review wrote an insightful article on how Ghana’s global ICT ranking has changed (actually dropped) since 2008.

Note: Unfortunately, much of the African household survey data is from 2007/2008 when Research ICT Africa conducted extensive research. So, although most of the trends are probably still true, the exact numbers used in the later sections of the report have undoubtedly changed greatly.

September 29, 2011/by actualize

Energy, Environment, Natural Resources Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

ICT4 Greener Economy in Developing Countries: Mini Conference

Credit: Sustain2Green

As the Rio+20 draws near, a number of international conferences and summits aim at deliberating on sustainable environment and climate change across the globe are being convened. One of such is the mini conference on ICT for a Greener Economy in Developing Countries to be held next month (October 25^th) in the Netherlands.

The ‘ICT for a Greener Economy in Developing Countries’ mini-conference is an event that will explore and highlight the key role Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) play in moving towards greener economies. It is being organized on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD). The conference will bring together experts in the area of climate change and ICTs including Kentaro Toyama, the co-founder of Microsoft Research (MSR) India and a prominent scholar in ICT4D with the name ICT4D jester.

The conference will also see the official launching of “Bits4green initiative” which was set up by IICD, the Dutch corporate sector and World PC. The initiative focuses on reducing energy consumption and e-waste in developing countries. By supporting Bits4Green, companies show that they are investing in clean energy and actively working on a global reduction of electronic waste and energy use in developing countries. It also creates opportunities for entrepreneurs in the IT industry to actively contribute to a more sustainable and green use of ICT.

The design, production, use and disposal of information and communications technologies (ICTs) are contributing to the global environmental crisis. Even though the ICT sector’s contribution to global CO2 emissions is at the low side compare to other sectors (2–2.5%), it is projected to double by 2020. Developing countries are paying more for ICTs at the end of their life cycles (disposal) where, vast quantities of ICTs become highly specialized waste that includes environmentally hazardous metals like lead, mercury and cadmium, as well as toxic flame retardants and plastics. According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), about 80% of all the e‑waste that is diverted – out of a yearly global e‑waste production of about 40 million tones is exported to developing countries such as China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Nigeria and Ghana.

At the same time, the expectations of developing countries to take advantage of the green economy through sustained growth model which will feature environmental-friendly technologies, use more renewable resources, and reduce green house gas (GHG) emissions, is high. Major developing countries like China have been sparing no efforts in developing green economy, which is widely regarded as a viable way of restoring job growth, reducing poverty and achieving a more sustainable economy. A joint report Why a Green Economy Matters for the Least Developed Countries issued at the start of the 4^th UN conference by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and launched in Istanbul this year also points to the economic and human development opportunities of a green economy transition for the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). The report argues that LDCs face unprecedented vulnerabilities across a range of challenges and a the shift to a global green economy can put LDCs in an opportune position if the right enabling policies are put in place nationally and internationally.

The time to weigh the pros and cons of ICTs and green economy in the developing nations is now!

September 28, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Health, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

AfriHealth Conference, Nairobi, 30 November – 1 December 2011

AITEC announces expert speaker line-up for AfriHealth Conference, Nairobi, 30 November – 1 December 2011

OPENING PLENARY

Consolidating the gains of technological innovation in healthcare through effective management

Professor Yunkap Kwankam, Executive Director, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH), Switzerland

Aiming for a more integrated approach in healthcare delivery at national and local levels

Dr Katherine Getao, Head of eGovernment, Office of the President, Kenya

The economics of eHealth

Professor Maurice Mars, Head, Department of Telehealth, University of KwaZulu-Natal & President, South African Telemedicine Association

Ericsson’s mHealth Solutions – use cases and success criteria to enhance healthcare delivery

Rainer Herzog, Head of Strategy & Business Development mHealth & eHealth, Ericsson

mHealth: Turning hype into delivery

mHealth reaches puberty: Hype & hyperventilation

Bright Simons, Founder, mPedigree, Ghana

Using mobile telephony as an innovative communication channel for family planning

Bas Hoefman, Text to Change, Kenya

mHealth and the required ecosystem in East Africa

John Kieti, mLab, Kenya

PLENARY 2

An overview of latest worldwide trends in telemedicine

Frank Lievens, Board Member & Secretary, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth, Belgium

Addressing the fragile environment of e-health in resource-limited settings

Dr Christoph Larsen, synaLinQ, Vietnam & Kenya

Accessing funding for healthcare initiatives in Africa

Ken Nwosu, eHealth Ontario & McMaster University MSc eHealth Programme, Canada

Pharmaceutical management

Anti-counterfeit systems for pharmaceuticals

David Svarrer, CEO, Digital Age Institute, Kenya

Using IT for improved pharmaceutical care delivery in developing countries: A case study of Benin

Dr Thierry Oscar Edoh,University of Bonn & German Federal Army University of Munich, Germany

Case Studies 2

A Multilingual Expert System for Ubiquitous Diseases Diagnosis (MESUDD)

Dr John Oladosu, Lecturer, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Nigeria

Community-based eHealth promotion for safe motherhood- A case study from Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, Pakistan

Dr Shariq Khoja, Director AKDN eHealth Resource Centre, Aga Khan University, Kenya

Business models for effective service delivery: Rural Health Systems

Changing African healthcare through private sector technology innovations

Steve Landman, CEO, Carego International, Kenya & USA

Leveraging telehealth to improve child maternal health

Iboun Sylla, Business Development Manager, Texas Instruments, USA

National e-health policy development: The Commonwealth approach

Dr Sylvia Anie, Director, Social Transformation Programmes Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, UK, and Dr Adesina Iluyemi and Tom Jones^,Directors, TinTree International eHealth and Consultants, Commonwealth Secretariat, UK

PANEL DISCUSSION

What are the best practice achievements that can be replicated across the continent?

MODERATOR

Professor Yunkap Kwankam, Executive Director, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH), Switzerland

PANEL MEMBERS

Lucy Fulgence Silas, Country Director for Tanzania, D-Tree International

Dr Moretlo Molefi, MD, Telemedicine Africa, South Africa

Dr Catherine Omaswa, Chairperson, National eHealth Committee, Uganda

Dr Wuleta Lemma, Director, Tulane Technical Assistant Program (TUTAP) Ethiopia

WORKSHOP 1

Open source healthcare information systems

Nurhizam Safie, United Nations University, International Institute of Global Health (UNU-IIGH), Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia

Open Source health information systems offer an alternative to proprietary healthcare information systems. Currently, most developing countries have a tight financial budget for their healthcare services and cannot afford the high cost of licence fees imposed by proprietary healthcare information system providers. Therefore, open source healthcare information systems are an attractive alternative to be introduced in the healthcare services of developing countries. By using open source healthcare information systems, the healthcare providers such as hospitals and clinics can improve the efficiency of services, reduce licensing and maintenance costs in managing information systems, as well as catering for future scaleability and growth.

Among the available open source healthcare information systems, MEDICAL has been chosen for this workshop because MEDICAL is a multi-user, highly scaleable and centralised system which provides the following functionality:

Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
Hospital Information System (HIS)
Health Information System

This workshop is intended for users who want to get a better introductory functional understanding of MEDICAL. The workshop offers a thorough knowledge in usability and understanding of two critical modules, namely Patient Management and Financial Management.

Objectives

Having attended this workshop, participants should be able to:

Understand the concept of open source health information systems.
Understand the functional concepts of MEDICAL modules, namely Patient Management and Financial Management.
Understand the development concepts and architecture of MEDICAL.
Workshop Content

Introduction to MEDICAL and Basic Settings

Introduction to MEDICAL: Vision and Mission
Architecture: Supported operating systems, databases & ERPs
The modular concept framework
The MEDICAL development environment.
Introduction to Sourceforge and SVN
Introduction to Transifex: The translation and localization portal

Patient Management

Patient registration
Emergency department /ambulatory
Outpatient/In-patient
Admission, discharge & transfer (ADT)
Appointment & scheduling
Resource scheduling
Medical record management
Report & statistics

Financial Management

Charging, billing & invoicing
General ledgers
Accounts receivable/payable
Cash book management
Reporting

WORKSHOP 2

Using theCasemix system for health finance management

Prof Dr Syed Aljunid, Professor of Health Economics and Senior Research Fellow, UN University International Institute for Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia

This workshop is designed to introduce participants to the Casemix system for enhancement in quality and efficiency of healthcare services . Casemix experts from the UN University International Institute for Global Health will share their experience in implementing Casemix systems in a number of developing countries globally. The workshop will provide an overview of Casemix, its evolution from the first version introduced in the 1980s by Professor Robert Fetter from Yale University, to the present day where the system has been implemented in more than one hundred countries worldwide. Minimum dataset requirements for Casemix systems will be discussed in detail, including requirements for diagnoses and procedures coding using the ICD classification system. Benefits of using Casemix as a prospective provider payment mechanism under social health insurance programmes will be presented in this workshop. Software currently available to support implementation of Casemix system will be demonstrated including the recently launched the UNU-CBG Casemix Grouper, a universal, dynamic and advanced grouper software. Proposed plan for implementation of Casemix system under the UNU-IIGH programme will be presented in this Workshop.

Workshop Objectives:

At the end of the workshop, participants should be able to:

Understand the concept of the Casemix system
Appreciate the role of Casemix in enhancing quality and efficiency of healthcare services.
Design the basic minimum dataset package for Casemix Implementation.
Have basic knowledge on the use of UNU-CBG Casemix Grouper

Workshop Content:

Casemix:: An introduction
Minimum Dataset for the Casemix system
Supporting software for Casemix
Implementation of Casemix in developing countries for health financing

To register as a delegate, log on to www.aitecafrica.com or email info@aitecafrica.com

September 28, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

iPads in Rural Agriculture: Glitz Toys or ICT4Ag Business Tool?

This month’s Technology Salon ICT4Ag – Enriching rural coffee farmers via iPads raised a couple of eyebrows from the outset. How can Exprima Media and Sustainable Harvest realistically improve rural coffee farming via iPads?

Initially, it struck me as another attempt to use the latest and greatest technology to tackle longstanding challenges within the value chain, rather than making use of simple and often effective locally generated tech as we have seen with M-Pessa and other innovations.

But there’s more to this project than merely exporting a glitzy trend to coffee farmers and suppliers in far-flung places. Two features appeal to me most: a) the range and utility of the apps; and b) the business model.

Relationship Information Tracking System App

Exprima Media and Sustainable Harvest partnered to develop a suite of traceability and efficiency tools called a Relationship Information Tracking System (RITS apps). The RITS Producer app promises to rapidly improve the operations of coffee co-ops. It functions as a set of supply chain management tools designed to record and track who produced specific quantities of coffee, how they produced it, how it is milled and where it ends up.

This is transformational because logistics is one of the more intractable challenges in the value chain. These traceability functions will enable better quality control because farmers who need to improve production practices can be pinpointed and aided.

The suite of apps also tackles the need for improved training opportunities for coffee farmers and co-op personnel. The RITS Ed app delivers instructional content in video format. Video is a great educational tool because it eliminates the risk of lessons being lost in translation. This exposure to best practices in agronomy, organic compost production, financial literacy among other topics, is likely to improve the quality and quantity of crop yields. To top this off, there’s the RITS Matrix app which simplifies and walks coffee farmers through the often complex organic certification process.

The RITS app design highlights the value of an anthropological approach to ICT4D. The apps were specifically fashioned for cross-cultural use (varied languages, cultural and industry imperatives considered).

Furthermore, the iPad was chosen because its the most intuitive and rugged platform to get the big benefits of computing (automation, info sharing) in the hands of farmers. The simplicity of the user interface also enhance usability by those with limited computer literacy, thereby reducing the need for heavy investment of scare resources (money and time) in training.

RITS App Business Model

However, it is the business model that appeals to me most. According to the project pioneers, “iPads are not expensive toys, they are a business tool”. The iPads are expected to pay for themselves in increased co-op productivity (supply chain management and higher quality coffee).

The project doesn’t aim to get an iPad in the hands of every coffee farmer. In fact, the aim is to place it within existing infrastructure. For instance, equipping cooperatives and extension centers, which will enable greater support for farmer training, advisory services, cooperative planning and management.

Though still a centralized model, this approach tackles the seminal issue of affordability. While the cost of an iPad might be onerous for an individual coffee farmer, a co-op would fare better: Two bags of coffee weighing roughly 300 pounds, contributed by a large group, is equivalent to the cost of an iPad.

But the issue of cost goes deeper. App creation, especially on the iPad, is still expensive. The suite of RITS apps boasts a price tag of several hundred thousand—far too expensive for the co-ops to afford. Sustainable Harvest is looking to subsidy from its partners (software developers, coffee buyers etc) to combat this.

September 28, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

‘Smart Regulation for a Broadband World’: Implications for ICT4D

Credit: FTC

The 11^th annual Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) ended in Armenia City, Colombia on Friday September 23^rd with the adoption of innovative regulatory measures labeled as “smart regulation for a broadband world” to promote the roll out of Internet broadband globally.

In light of the enormous potential benefits of broadband, ‘access’ has become a determining factor for individuals, communities, nations and regions. But what makes the outcome of the Colombia symposium more interesting is the agreement on a range of policy issues that must be addressed as broadband expands. These are summarized in the ‘Smart Regulation for a Broadband World’ idea of the symposium, which brought up some best practice guidelines aimed at advancing the deployment of broadband connectivity worldwide. This includes:

a) M-banking services and the role of regulators

b) Wireless broadband spectrum pricing

c) Satellite regulation

d) Open access regulation

e) Setting national broadband policies, strategies and plans

f) Financing universal access/service

g) E-waste and recycling and the role of regulators

h) Protecting rights, such as intellectual property, of all stakeholders in a digital ecosystem

i) Regional initiatives to foster broadband connectivity

The successful implementation of each of the above nine policy issues in any country depends on the national telecommunication regulatory apparatus of the country. The symposium pointed out clearly how years of regulatory reforms play an essential role in creating an environment where new technologies can flourish. The ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau Director Brahima Sanou stated “the development of robust and flexible regulatory frameworks can help developing countries leapfrog technologies and make the best use of new developments in ICTs”. The ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré also explained that, increased access to the Internet – and broadband in particular – will allow for more effective delivery of services to meet the Millennium Development Goals as e-applications such as e-health, e-education, and e-governance that are able to reach even the remotest corners of the world. The statement concluded that this would only change when broadband becomes more affordable and the GSR can facilitate this by advocating a combination of increased capacity and competition.

Broadband – high speed Internet continues to play a pivotal role as an enabler of change in the global economy by affecting virtually every sector, especially the services sector that rely on the provision of data and information. Countries participating in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have set the ambitious goal of connecting all villages of the world to ICTs by 2015, including establishing community access points, and connecting universities, schools, libraries, post offices, health centers, and local governments. Considered as the right of every citizen, Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband a legal right for every citizen, beginning July 1^st 2010. Every Finn will have the right to access at least 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection and to connect everyone to a 100Mbps connection by 2015.

Internet broadband has the potential to spur rapid economic growth and facilitate job creation. According to a recent UN report, broadband plays an essential role in the creation of ‘Knowledge Societies’, which are based on the principles of freedom of expression; universal access to information and knowledge; respect for cultural and linguistic diversity, and high quality education for all. Access to broadband ensures full participation of all in the Information Society, a major policy goal, and the implementation of which brings all the benefits and transformational opportunities of ICTs.

The Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) is an annual event held in different regions worldwide that is aimed at fostering constructive exchange of information among national regulatory authorities. It is a unique forum to share regulatory best practices at the global level. Held for the first time in Latin America, the eleventh GSR focused on innovative regulatory measures to promote the roll out of broadband globally. This years’ symposium saw as many as 504 participants attending, including 243 representatives from 72 countries and Palestine. In addition, 261 representatives from 42 public and private sector companies as well as regional and international organizations participated.

In a nutshell, Internet broadband in itself is not an end: it is an important means of meeting a wide variety of goals in highly diverse sectors. For the ICT4D dreams to be realized, governments must ensure sound development and implementation of national broadband plans or risk losing the benefits of the global high-speed digital communications. The potential for using high speed Internet technology to help expand access and quality of health care through telemedicine – the delivery of quality health care services through ICTs are valuable than ever. High speed Internet is enhancing every level of education from kindergarten through high school to college to graduate school. It is empowering people with disabilities to become more independent, and the utility of community and public libraries that serve the majority is increased. It has become a catalyst for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the UN.

September 27, 2011/by actualize

Humanitarian Assistance, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

USAID invites the public to join relief efforts in the Horn of Africa

Famine War Drought Relief on a dark background with a red African Map

FWD Campaign Logo

Rajiv Shah, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)—in partnership with the Ad Council, launched last week the “FWD campaign”; an initiative that highlights the devastating effects of the crises in the Horn of Africa and encourages people to spread awareness. You can donate $10 by texting “GIVE” to 777444 famine relief.

FWD stands for Famine, War, Drought: the three root causes of the dire situation in the Horn. The campaign is also a call to action—that people get informed, get engaged and forward this information on to their friends, colleagues, and families.

The FWD campaign is a novel USAID initiative that aims to improve communication with the American public and share information. “Frankly, it’s the first foray the agency is taking into open government, open data, and citizen engagement online,” said Haley Van Dyck, Director of Digital Strategy at USAID. The goal is to make data open and sharable to tell stories about the crisis and the work being done on the ground in an interactive way.

Open government, open data

One of FWD’s objectives is to make information, data and maps easily accessible to online audiences. To this end, USAID provides infographics, interactive maps and tool kits that people can use to learn about the crisis in simple, clear ways—and more importantly share that information with others. The agency builds the maps with open source mapping tools and data sets publicly accessible on data.gov. The six interactive maps available provide details on food insecurity, drought, affected populations, refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) movements as well as USAID’s response.

Citizen engagement

To raise awareness and engage the public using social media, USAID has partnered with Google, Facebook and Twitter to make information-sharing as easy as searching, tweeting or updating one’s status. There’s also a series of Public Service Announcements (PSA) that will air in major media markets throughout the country. These PSA’s will be made available on the agency’s website, as well as on YouTube.

The fundraising component of the FWD encourages people to donate $10 to famine relief by texting “GIVE” to 777444. The agency is partnering NGOs delivering critical assistance in the Horn. General Mills has agreed to match the first 2,000 text donations that come through the FWD campaign, up to $20,000.

A need for urgent response

Alarming facts about the crisis in the Horn should prompt the public to follow in the footsteps of Andrew Andasi, an 11-year-old

Ghanaian schoolboy, who used social media tools to raise $4,000—as of August—for famine victims. The crisis is killing, starving, or displacing over 13 million people. It is the worst drought in 60 years and the worst famine in 20 within a context of continued violence. In Somalia, one child dies every six minutes: the time it will take to finish this piece.

Getting involved is as simple as texting “GIVE” to 777444 to donate $10. More importantly, you can “FWD—forward—the facts” by tweeting, e-mailing, and updating your Facebook status to spread awareness about the crisis. The FWD campaign is an innovative way to engage citizens into action by making data easily accessible to the public.

September 27, 2011/by actualize

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