Rotberg, Robert, and Jenny Aker. "Mobile Phones: Uplifting Weak and Failed States". The Washington Quarterly, Vol.36, No.1 (2013): 111-125.

Rotberg, Robert, and Jenny Aker. "Mobile Phones: Uplifting Weak and Failed States". The Washington Quarterly, Vol.36, No.1 (2013): 111-125.

• Mobile phone use has expanded rapidly in Africa in the first decade of the 21st Century, increasing from 16 million in 2000 to over 370 million in 2008, with that figure likely to expand to over 2/3 of the African population in the 2010s. Although more common in wealthier countries, even impoverished nations like Sierra Leone show penetration rates of around 30% (111-112).
• Similar patterns have been observed in Asia and Latin America, with mobile phone usage exceeding 2/3 in Asia and 3/4 in Latin America (112).
• Demand for mobile phones has been partially driven by the lack of landline infrastructure in many parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Cell phones are able to operate without such infrastructure investments, and, although still expensive, are more affordable to most Africans (112).
• Cell phones also avoid other infrastructural issues that could pose impediments to landline alternatives, they do not require constant sources of electricity as they can be charged at specific locations, and they do not require permanent housing, an issue for many urban slum-dwellers (112).
• Some expected that the internet would also take off in Africa for similar reasons, but the cost of fibre-optic infrastructure and the necessity of literacy for computer use has made its penetration sluggish compared to mobile phones (113).
• Most of the cell phones accessible to Africans of cheap, low-quality, with limited functionalities. Smart phones are available in most African cities, but their cost restricts them to wealthy urban areas. Almost all cell phones do have banking capabilities, however, and support an extensive financial network accessed by large numbers of Africans (112).
• Mobile banking is a massive industry, especially in East Africa, with significant implications for the involvement of Africans in the banking sector. In areas where traditional banking does not penetrate, or where literacy does not support traditional banking, mobile banking makes it accessible to the population, and allows for the exit of cash from everyday transactions (115).
• Access to up-to-date and reliable information because more necessary in weak states or during state collapse, as societal and state institutions may not necessarily be reliable. Mobile phones allow citizens to access more information more readily, allowing citizens more time and better information to ready themselves for disaster or plan during crises when the state is unlike to provide organization or assistance (114-115).
• The accessibility of mobile phones has also increased the literacy and reading ability of both children and adults where phones have been introduced in Africa, because it creates incentives and access to read in environments where books may scarce (115-116).
• Mobile phones, and texting in particular, has the potential to allow for new means of data collection, use, and feedback for improving government services and daily life. The author it particular encourages anonymous texting programs to collect information on official corruption (116), direct phone-lines to ombudsmen (117), online application for permits (117), collecting and disseminating information on political violence (118), encourage digital verification of ballot results (120), improve the responsiveness of emergency services (122), and aid in monitoring the sick (122).
• SMS messaging is particularly highlighted by the authors for its cheapness, the ease of transmitting SMS data, and the potential for the system to be implemented to encourage direct and responsive communication in a number of fields, avoiding issues of poor infrastructure and authoritarian bureaucracy (123).
• The political potential of mobile phones appears to be recognized by authoritarian regimes, as a number of governments impose various restrictions on mobile phone use, either enforcing monopolies in the telecommunications industry or controlling and monitoring internet and mobile data (123).
• Governments also have the potential to benefit from the greater introduction of mobile phones into societies, as they allow for the more efficient performance of governmental tasks and the dissemination of important information (123).