The State of Mobile Money in Southern African Countries
Being a young Zimbabwean who holds no faith in our banking system – mobile money has been a big part of my life. Around 49% of Zimbabweans are registered with...
Apply Now: Free TechWomen STEM Mentorship with US State Department
The US Government recognizes that there is a significant gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields worldwide. It would like to...
Did You Notice that Chad is Offline for a Year? It’s Not Alone
I believe we all can agree that a government should not close off Internet access for its citizenry. To an extent, an open Internet should be a human right, and...
6 Ways to Be Data Efficient When Developing Mobile Apps for African ICT4D Projects
Here is what I’ve learned about being data efficient when developing mobile phone applications. The first and foremost thing, is to please the user by reducing...
1.5 Billion Reasons You Need A WhatsApp Business Strategy for Your Programs
Facebook recently announced that WhatsApp has more than 1.5 billion monthly active users – 20% of the world’s population! – sending more than...
How Role Play Changed Our User Testing Methodology for Mobile Applications
I remember role-playing when I was young. I often pretended to be in the doctor’s consultation room where my friend would use a toy stethoscope to diagnose...
Accept the Smartphone Reality in Development. Everyone Else Has
Recently, Elvis Mushi of Twaweza, shared with me interesting mobile phone survey results from his Sauti za Wananchi program. I find them remarkable in two ways....
An Axis of ICT Entropy: 5 State Telecom Companies That Need Privatization Now
African politicians would like to persuade us that state telecommunications companies are a key part of closing the digital divide and joining the information societies....
Beware The Sweet Seduction of 3G Mobile Broadband Data Hype
We have all heard the siren song of 3G or even 4G mobile broadband data changing the dynamics of Internet access across Africa. If you believe the hype, everyone...
Two Reasons Why Software as a Service Is a Bad Business Model
Looking around the tech world and you would think Software as a Service (SaaS) is a godsend. All the cool Google services (search, GMail, Docs) are SaaS and the...