Kami Dar News Today

Companies and experts say it is important for Africans south of the Sahara Desert to use smart phones. One company thinks apps will provide these Africans with the services they need.

Despite growing mobile internet coverage on the continent of 1.3 billion people, just 25% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa currently have access

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Anita Akpeere prepared fried rice in her kitchen in Ghanas capital as a flurry of notifications for restaurant orders lit up apps on her phone. “I

Smartphone Users: Despite growing mobile internet coverage on the continent of 1.3 billion people, just 25% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa have access to it, according to Claire Sibthorpe, head of digital inclusion at the U.K.-based mobile phone lobbying group GSMA. Expense is the main barrier. The cheapest smartphone costs up to 95% of the monthly salary for the poorest 20% of the regions population, Sibthorpe said.

Despite little access, smartphones have immense potential to change the lives of people in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Anita Akpeere prepared fried rice in her kitchen in Ghana's capital as a flurry of notifications for restaurant orders lit up apps on her phone. ''I don't think I could work without a phone in my line of business,'' she said, as requests came in for her signature dish, a traditional fermented dumpling.

Internet-enabled phones have transformed many lives, but they can play a unique role in sub-Saharan Africa, where infrastructure and public services are among the world's least developed, said Jenny Aker, a professor who studies the issue at Tufts University.

Just 25pc adults in sub-Saharan Africa have access to mobile internet coverage

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