How cellphones are changing Africa? The value of cellphones is witnessed by the transformation of the way people work, bank, and live in developing countries. People in Africa tend to choose cellphones rather than traditional phone lines to communicate not only because of their basic characteristics, but also due to their expanded functions. ❶ Telephones have come a long way since Alexander Graham Bell invented the first one in 1876. Once used primarily to communicate with family and friends and conduct business, cellphones are now commonly equipped with a camera, computer software, video games, and portable music players, transforming them into entertainment devices. Although these extra functions are appealing, the real value of cellphones is in how they can make people’s lives better around the world. This can plainly be seen in developing countries where phone access has transformed the way people work, bank, and live. ❷ Africa is currently the world’s fastest-growing cellphone market. From 1999 through 2005, the number of cellphone subscribers in Africa jumped from 7.5 million to about 100 million. There are many reasons for this dramatic increase including cheaper costs, easier maintenance, and better reliability especially compared with traditional phone lines. And cellphones, unlike regular telephones using landlines, do not require customers to have a permanent address. Improved access to communication has made a dramatic improvement to living standards, boosted personal incomes, and made local economies much more efficient. ❸ In the Kenyan village of Murgula, Grace Wachira runs a small business knitting sweaters. Before cellphones arrived she had to walk a few hours to the nearest town to buy yarn or see customers that she hoped would be there. Now she calls the yarn shop to arrange for delivery and communicates with buyers beforehand. “I’m saving time; I’m saving money,” she says. On the island of Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania, a fisherman, Omar Abdulla Saidi, uses his phone to look for a port where he can sell his fish for the largest profit. And in South Africa, wildlife researchers use cellphones in weatherproof cases to help track elephants, cutting the cost of tracking them by up to 60 percent. Cellphones have helped a lot of different workers save time, allowing them to be more productive in their work and life. ❹ Cellphones can be used for more than just talking. They are also being used to offer financial services to millions of poor people who were previously cut off from traditional banking services. In many parts of Africa, full-service banks are often just found in cities. They have high fees, and require proof of address and income in order for people to open an account. In fact, only 20 percent of Africans use traditional banks. Cellphones, however, are making banking-type services available to many more people. For instance, in Kenya, people can now transfer money through M-Pesa agents — pesa is Swahili for money. Cash is given to one agent who will send a code number by a text message to the recipient, which can be used to get cash from their local M-Pesa agent. Other innovative financial ideas have seen people using prepaid phone cards as a way of transferring money. ❺ Not only can cellphones improve people’s economic status, but they can also save lives. Many rural workers, for example, might call for an ambulance or to check to see if a doctor is available before making the long trek to the closest clinic. In rural Uganda, a doctor might use a cellphone to request medical information from a better-equipped hospital in the city. In Kenya, people can use text messages to ask anonymous questions about subjects like AIDS, breast cancer, and diseases which are culturally taboo topics. ❻ According to the Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs, “The cellphone is the single most transformative technology for development enabling remote communities which would normally be shut off from economic opportunities to participate in the market place.” As many Africans are proving, cellphones are vital to improving lives.