I got my first mobile phone in 2004, a Nokia 5110, a basic type for only calling and text-ing.
Presumably around 2004, it was rare to find young men with cellphones unless your are working or you are showing off your dad's company cellphone. Fortunately mine was a present from my mum for being selected to University.
From the year i got my first cellphone to present, changes in the way i used my first cellphone to the way i use my current one has changed. Not only has it made itself as being part of my life, but also as a tool for accessing, evaluating and applying information to my daily life and social connections. For sure, it is not only me, but also my fellow 5,000,000 Malawians who are currently connected (MDI, 2012). With a surging 25%
mobile penetration in the country and based on futuristic theories, Malawi in the next 7 - 10 years will have 70% - 80% of its population connected on Mobile making it the most accessible ICT tool to the populace.
Malawi now has a 94% coverage rate, enhanced service provision, new services such as the Airtel Mobile Money and the recent TNM Mpamba which are all innovations derived from the successful M-Pesa of Kenya. With a growing number of mobile recipients across the Africa, the GSMA Mobile For Development Intelligence research, data, and analysis shows that African countries are on a rise to the knowledge age propelled by the Mobile Phone
With these interesting facts and figures showing in mobile global trends, Malawians are being exposed to a tool that can not only help in calling and sending messages, but also an innovation tool for social, economic and technological development. Malawi stands at a high change of benefiting from the mobile innovation by applying it in health, mobile money, education, trade, business, emergencies and agriculture etc.
By Mc Neil Mhango,
Go-Info Malawi service has launched an online mobile service that aims to connect job seekers with jobs and training opportunities in Malawi. The service being dubbed "Go-Info m-employment" aims to provide a two way service for employers and employees via mobile phones.
