Before I came to Zambia, a friend of mine, who had spent some time here last year, remarked “If you didn’t know any better, you’d think Zambia’s national colours were sea foam green, pink, and yellow.”

He was referring to the fact that as you cruise down the main road of any town, or even village for that matter, you’ll invariably find buildings painted these colours with the words “A Wonderful World,” and “Everywhere You Go.” These are the slogans and colours of Zambia’s two major telecommunications companies, Zain and MTN.

It’s hard to overemphasize the presence these two companies have in Zambia (and, I get the impression, in a lot of other countries on the continent). Their vendors line the streets, they sponsor all the major sporting and cultural events, and they’ll paint your building for free—as long as you let them paint it their colours. The cell phone industry here is massive.

It’s not so strange that Zambia leapfrogged over landlines and straight to mobile service, given the challenges that building physical infrastructure present. Phone lines and cable lines just aren’t feasible for large swaths of the country. Even internet access, for many people (including me), occurs through cell phones or modems that run over GPRS or 3G networks.

Using a cell phone here isn’t quite the same as using one in Canada. There’s no such thing as a contract—all mobile phones operate on a pay-as-you-go system. Once you purchase and activate your SIM card, you just buy airtime scratch cards as you see fit. You scratch the card, enter the PIN, and then talk or text away. Without contracts the system sounds awfully blithe and carefree, but I should probably add that airtime is really quite expensive, and calling someone just to chat extensively doesn’t really happen. Luckily there’s a whole lot more you can do with your cell phone than talking, like transfer money or airtime, and do your banking. Cell phones have even changed the way rural farmers conduct agriculture as a business; for instance, farmers can now access real-time market information for commodities via SMS, allowing them to make better informed marketing decisions.

Probably one of the neatest applications of cell phones I’ve seen so far though, has come from a Zambian company called Mobile Transactions. The company develops systems for mobile financial services, trying to make payments, money transfers, and loan distributions more flexible, efficient, and accessible to Zambians, especially those in rural communities. Recently, they’ve been working with the World Food Programme and the Conservation Farming Unit—the technical wing of the Zambia National Farmers’ Union—to pilot an electronic voucher system, using mobile phones to streamline the distribution of food relief and subsidized farming inputs.

Food aid and other subsidies used to work on a paper-based voucher system: organizations would distribute paper vouchers to beneficiaries, who would then wait for the arrival of a truck of goods (and subsequently, in line at the distribution point—often for an uncomfortably long time). It was a lengthy and expensive process, not to mention that tracking and monitoring was nightmarish, and fraud a very real possibility. With the electronic voucher system, organizations distribute voucher scratch cards to their beneficiaries, which can be redeemed at local vendors in their community at their will. The vendors are trained as mobile transactions agents, using a phone as the “point of sale device.” Agents enter the PIN from the scratch card in their phones along with an identifying number for the beneficiary. The Mobile Transactions system then confirms that the recipient is indeed an intended beneficiary, and then credits the agent’s account, at which point the goods are handed over. What’s key with the e-voucher system is that aid no longer bypasses, but supports, the local private sector. Local businesses are now responsible for acquiring stock, but they also have a guaranteed market, and immediate payment. Beneficiaries benefit through reduced wait times, as well as increased choice in when they want to redeem their voucher, and where.

On paper, the system sounds great, and the WFP and CFU are looking at scaling-up the program. Of course though, there are always challenges with the nitty-gritty of implementation—in this case, agent selection, training, and support. Nevertheless, working through these issues seems worthwhile, as the e-voucher system could be an exciting example of how aid can be more efficient and effective. Some people have been asking whether the same system could be applied to the government Fertilizer Input Support Program, which is notorious for poor distribution practices (I may have mentioned this in an earlier post).  

The work that Mobile Transactions is doing has made me conscious of how the way I frame the purpose and functionality of a piece of technology—like a cell phone—is coloured by my personal context. I think it’s important to recognize that what a cell phone means in a Canadian context can be very different from what it means in a Zambian context, and that development can be pluralistic. Neat stuff indeed!