Grandiose Parlor

“Right now, the circumstances under which you are born determine your life - I want to see that change. As Africans, we need to take responsibility for the future of the continent.”

This was the closing statement of Ory Okolloh a Harvard-trained Kenyan lawyer and blogger at Kenyan Pundit, I just read the summary of her speech (by Ethan Zuckerman) at the just concluded [tag]TEDGlobal07[/tag], where she discussed the Mzalendo project.

I hope some of my Naija colleagues and bloggers are reading…

• The African Executive has some really good articles: Africa: The Winds of Change Must Blow and Heads of State or Chief Bandits

• Jewels in the Jungle: African History in Europe: Blacks in the Renaissance - Part 1

• Nigerian Tribune (Editorial): Sex in politics
• The Benin Epilogue Part I: Nigeria Boosting Entrepreneurship?
• Bankelele: Money Transfer within Kenya - Part II

• The Entreprenuer (Cameroon): Mobile Phone Call-Boxes Burning the Streets of Yaounde
• White African: Lessons on Community From The African Blogosphere
• Chippla’s Weblog: Whose Zimbabwe?
• Cry Beloved Zimbabwe: South Africa is a Disgrace

Given the extent of mobile phone penetration and usage in Nigeria (and the need to buy recharge cards loaded with pre-paid minutes) I wonder if there is any system in the country that allow the use of pre-paid minutes (on recharge cards) as “currencies” for online transactions? The minutes can be exchanged for services or goods via mobile phones. After all, the “essential function of money is that of acting as a medium of exchange”, according to Wikipedia.

I’m aware there are already systems that allow limited transactions via mobile phones, but these systems (Flash Me Card, WebPay, eTranzact, GloCard, etc) either demand users to have an account with the issuing bank, prepay for the transaction through a voucher or ATM, or be on a ‘network’. Some even demand a registration fee!

Yes, your airtime minutes may not be be appropriate for buying “big-ticket items” and obviously has some “divisibility issue”, for instance, how do you pay for a good worth Naira 555.70? There are some advantages that fit well with the unique characteristics of an emerging market as Nigeria: Access and availability (24-7 in some cities) just walk down a street corner and viola, you would find several hawkers of recharge cards; you don’t have to deal with any of the hassles listed above, and the only fee incurred would most likely be for using “recharge card currency”, and of course you pay with pre-paid minutes!

I read a while back how Safaricom was able to do this in Kenya, it sure could work in Nigeria.

• AfriGadget: Bio Latrines in Kenyan Slums. See also:
• My Heart’s in Accra: From Flying Toilets to Free Methane

Celebrating Afrodeutsche (African Germans). See:

• Atlantic Review: Black History Month
• Jewels in the Jungle: Black History Month in Europe 2007: Amo’s Ghost

• Niger Watch: 5000 soccer balls for Project Play Niger 2007

• Laspapi: Nigerian New Currency Notes (Photos)

• African Path: Salif Keita- The Golden Voice of Africa

• NYT: Low-Cost Antimalaria Pill Available

• MNET: Idols West Africa

• Africa Unchained: Another Africa is Possible!
  “It is unwise to presume that the poor, be they illiterate, are bereft of inherent skills, experiences and talents that can be useful in building our communities. The same people are our heroes who daily create better livelihoods for their children. They fought colonialism and resisted slavery. How can we suddenly ignore them in our new struggles?…As we begin to fathom a new Africa, let us remember the wisdom of Albert Einstein that ‘the significant problems we face cannot be solved with the same level of thinking we were at when we created them…”
  

• Ruud Elmendorp: Poverty? or Savings?
  …Capturing the wealth at the bottom of the pyramid in Kenya - milk for loans?
  

• BBC: African amputees’ cup kicks off
  Africa’s first amputee football cup starts in Sierra Leone.
  

• International Herald Tribune: An African bishop pleads for acceptance of gays
  Njongonkulu Ndungane, the Anglican archbishop for southern Africa and successor of Bishop Desmond Tutu pledges for gays.
  

• Jewels in he Jungle: Black History Month in Europe?? An introduction to the Invisible Ones
  The author, an African American resident in Germany, presents an interesting piece on the history of blacks in east Europe.
  

• Nigerian Village Square: A Bolekaja Presidency (7)
  Reuben Abati, one of Nigeria’s top-notch columnists discusses the continuing face-off between the Nigerian president and his deputy, quoting an opposition party in the country: “If President Obasanjo succeeds in coercing INEC [Nigerian electoral commission] to disqualify Alhaji Abubakar [Atiku, the deputy president], the unfolding scenario will result in consequences that will be too grave to contemplate, and the end result of which no one can predict”. Well, according to newspaper reports earlier today, Nigerian vice president Atiku has been disqualified by INEC…Does this disqualification mark the end of the face-off or simply shifts it into another gear?

• Business in Africa: Africans must fix their own problems
• Geni: Construct your family tree online
• BBC: Citigroup joins $200m Africa fund
• Africa Ready for Business: Phillip Nganga- a Kenyan social entrepreneur
• All Africa Bazaar: CURRIKI:Open Source Educational Resources
• Freedom for Egyptians: Blogger on Trial -Egyptian Blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil’s update in English