Social Innovation

How are mobile phones improving public services in Africa?

A Safaricom client uses a solar-charged mobile phone handset at a retail centre in Kenya's capital Nairobi, in this September 22, 2009 file photo. Solar cellphones could build on the economic advantages that mobile phones have already brought to far-flung regions of Africa and the Indian subcontinent, including price transparency and more accurate and timely information. Mobile phone penetration in these regions has been held back by a lack of electricity: there is simply no way to charge a cellphone in many rural areas of developing countries. To match feature CELLPHONES-SOLAR/.

The World Bank's Listening to Africa programme helps complement traditional surveys with mobile data on health, welfare and poverty. Image: REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Alvin Etang Ndip
Economist, Poverty and Equity Global Practice at the World Bank
Share:
Our Impact
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Social Innovation is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Social Innovation

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:
Social InnovationAfricaEconomic Progress
Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

More on Social Innovation
See all

4 social entrepreneurs share how innovative partnerships can drive a greener future

Asif Saleh, Monika Lessl and Adedoyin Omidiran

November 30, 2023

Grassroots to Boardrooms: Social Innovation Partnerships for Climate Adaptation

About Us

Events

Media

More from the Forum

Partners & Members

  • Join Us

Language Editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

© 2023 World Economic Forum