Hartley, Scott

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The Internet and Democracy ProjectI&D Tools DatabaseAbout UsThis is the team blog for the Internet & Democracy Project, a research initiative at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society atHarvard University.Recent PostsA Picture Is Worth A Thousand TweetsTwitter sees strong growth in RussiaUS Set to Relax Internet Restrictions Towards Iran, Syria and Cuba50 Million Tweets a DayMobile Subscriber Growth in AfricaI&D PublicationsMapping the Arabic Blogosphere: Politics, Culture, and DissentThree Case Studies from Switzerland: Smartvote, Electronic Voting, and Political CommunicationMapping Iran's Online Public: Politics and Culture in the Persian BlogosphereMadison and the Smart Mob: The Promise and Limitations of the Internet for DemocracyDigitally Networked Technology in Kenya's 2007-2008 Post-Election CrisisRole of the Internet in Burma's Saffron RevolutionThe Citizen Journalism Web Site "OhmyNews" and the 2002 Korean Presidential ElectionThe Role of Digital Networked Technologies During the Ukrainian Orange RevolutionH20 PlaylistsTech ToolsTheoretical Democracy SourcesInternet and Democracy SourcesSources from "Madison and the Smart Mob"From Broadband to BreadbasketSeptember 30th, 2009 — Scott HartleyAs addressed in Calestous Juma’s Berkman talk on September 15th, the African continent sits poised on the fulcrum of growth.   Marketinefficiencies exist and are held in stasis until government reforms and deregulation opens floodgates of market opportunity,diversification, and stipulated foreign capital injections that create windfalls of improved accounting standards, corporate governance, andtransparency. And then there’s technology.Building upon rapidly advancing technology, Africa is attempting to leapfrog those previously requisite waypoints for growth.  Mobilephones have eclipsed the need for fixed-line communications.  High-bandwidth cables beginning to encircle the continent, coupled withGoogle’s support of middle-Earth orbit satellites, could lead to a data service revolution, even in rural Africa.  Mobile is trending pastvoice to data, and mobile is trending past communication to transaction.  The greatest threat to the ATM comes not in the form ofbullet-proof glass “mobile banking” units used by Kenya’s Equity Bank, but in the form of hand-held mobile devices. The advent andInternet & Democracy Blog » From Broadband to Breadbasket http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/idblog/2009/09/30/mobile_in_africa/1 of 4 7/16/2010 4:36 PMadoption of transaction services that enable mobile payments such as Safaricom’s M-PESA in East Africa is beckoning obsolescence forbrick and mortar banks.  Though Equity Bank has inspired millions of Kenyans to open bank accounts, and is currently home to over 50percent of all Kenyan accounts, Safaricom’s novelty is groundbreaking and has inspired imitation.For educated and established African entrepreneurs, these changes herald a time that could not be better.  Though capital markets remainunder-developed, investment inflows –comprised of both Development Finance Institute (DFI), institutional, and private capital– arebeginning to fuel expansion.  Operating costs in Africa remain higher than in the developed world, but capital structuring focused onpost-investment management and execution is becoming more viable as Diaspora repatriation is improving education and presumedoperational abilities. But behind the façade of these burgeoning global businesses, it’s still a different story.Behind the capital injections and international press is a continent comprised of Small and Medium size Enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs,informal labor markets, and tremendous agricultural potential.  Companies such as Karuturi –which raises maize, palm, and flowers–aredemonstrating that in East Africa it’s agriculture that can, per dollar of investment, impact the most people via employment. Thoughtechnology will continue to improve the lives of Africans through greater access to information, the advent of broadband and mobile willcertainly change lifestyle, but may not yet change livelihood.  Tech application for agriculture may not be as sexy as mobile banking, butit is these synergies –moving from broadband to breadbasket– that will empower change in both lifestyle and livelihood across Africa.The From Broadband to Breadbasket by Internet & Democracy Blog, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.Posted in Africa. 5 Comments »5 Responses to “From Broadband to Breadbasket”From Broadband to Breadbasket | Education News|Education Blog|Education Video|BOOKCOST.NET Says:September 30th, 2009 at 2:41 am[...] And afterwards there’s technology. Building on fast more advanced technology, Africa i Blog Source LITTLE ELMJOURNAL MOVING TO FRIDAYS (THE LITTLE ELM [...]1.Berkman Center Events & Webcasts » Blog Archive » Internet & Democracy Blog » From Broadband to Breadbasket Says:September 30th, 2009 at 2:22 pm[...] via Internet & Democracy Blog » From Broadband to Breadbasket. [...]2.ทําบุญวันเกิด Says:October 7th, 2009 at 2:16 pmThank you for sharing this info. I love to read it. 3.Common in Cambridge » Technology in Africa Says:October 8th, 2009 at 2:07 am[...] way.  As I outline in this week’s piece for Harvard’s Internet & Democracy blog, Africa sits on the fulcrum of growth.However, while technology is changing lifestyles, it’s not yet changing livelihoods in [...]4.The English Bulldog Says:October 19th, 2009 at 9:53 pmWithout older technologies, Africa can leapfrog more developed nations in some respects by just starting with the latest mostmodern tech like cell phones. How much do we pay to maintain our landline phone network- instead of converting everyone toVOIP or wireless?5.« Foreign Media Outlets Targeted in Chinese Malware AttackInternet Filtration in Sub-Saharan Africa »Theme: Garland by Steven Wittens and Stefan Nagtegaal.Subscribe to the I&D Blog! 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From Broadband to Breadbasket

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From Broadband to Breadbasket

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