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Making new connections: transport, mobilities and mobile phones in sub-Saharan Africa

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Robin Lovelace
Robin Lovelace

This document summarizes research on the impact of mobile phone usage on transport and mobility patterns in sub-Saharan Africa. Key findings include: 1) The proliferation of mobile phones across Africa has enabled new ways for people to manage distance and coordinate travel due to limited landlines and transport infrastructure. 2) Case studies in Tanzania and among youth in Ghana, Malawi, and South Africa found that mobile phones are often used to arrange transportation, reducing the need for travel. However, occasional in-person contact remains important. 3) While virtual contact via mobile phones can substitute for some physical travel, co-presence is still significant for maintaining trust and social relationships in many African contexts.

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Making new connections: transport, mobilities and mobile phones in subSaharan Africa Gina Porter RGS/IBG annual conference, London, August 2013
Transport, daily mobility and mobile phone usage in Africa Mobile phones, mobility and everyday lives research in Western contexts Making new connections: the mobile phone revolution and distance management in sub-Saharan Africa Mobile phone uptake Current transport constraints Mobile phones and everyday mobility patterns and practices Older people in rural Tanzania Child/youth mobility in Ghana, Malawi, South Africa Virtual mobility as a substitute for corporeal mobility: how important is co-presence in African contexts?
Mobile phones and everyday mobile lives in the West Growing interest in impact of ICTs including mobile phones on mobility in Western contexts Impact on activity patterns [e.g. Line et al. 2011]: Augmenting [rather than replacing] face-to-face More multi-tasking Rescheduling at base and on the move Lubricates but no decline in travel Use as a safety device [women, when walking, driving] No impact on modal choice? No fundamental change in travel behaviour Need for some co-presence remains [Urry 2004, 2012]
Expansion of mobile phone usage across Africa: a different context Few landlines; remarkable expansion of mobile phones [on a scale commercial operators never envisaged] Now smart phones too: If you have a phone it is nothing. In the olden days it meant you were the richest man in the meeting [school boy 16y, Ghana, owns smart phone] User challenges e.g. patchy network availability - often mostly a home-based device; charging constraints [home electricity rare] Airtime costs lead to adapted [low-cost ] modes of use buzzing, SMS, money transfers etc. Substantial transport constraints/costs + widespread poverty
Everyday life on the road: a multiplicity of travel constraints and hazards Poor roads [un]availability, [un]reliability, [high] cost of transport services Traffic accidents [exacerbated by poor roads, vehicle condition ] Petty extortion by police, etc. Robbery [and violence] the need to escort goods; dangers of carrying cash Poverty, gender-, age-related travel constraints [economics, culture, infirmity etc.] All potent factors when contemplating the potential for [phone] substitution
Case study: Travel, transport and mobile phone use among older people in rural Tanzania Older people: rarely-researched group in transport studies despite common mobility-related social exclusion [poverty+ infirmity] Poverty widespread among older people in rural Tanzania: many looking after grandchildren Study of older peoples access to health services and livelihoods in collaboration with HelpAge International Tanzania [AFCAP funded] Mobile phone use a significant new factor in the transport and mobility equation - particular links to motor-cycle taxi expansion
Participatory research with older people in Kibaha district, Tanzania Focus on older peoples transport and mobility 10 settlements [1 on paved road, 9 off paved road] 3 research strands: 1. Participatory Peer Research by 12 Older People [8 men, 4 women, aged 60-70y] trained as community co-investigators - helped shape design of conventional checklist interviews and survey questionnaire + conducted own interviews [N=74] 2. Qualitative in-depth check-list interviews with older people, key informants, boda-boda drivers [N=194] 3. Survey research: questionnaires to older people [N=339]
Making new connections: transport, mobilities and mobile phones in sub-Saharan Africa
Roads and transport in Kibaha district Many roads barely passable after heavy rains. Roads traversing black cotton soils particularly intractable Motorcycle taxis [boda-boda ] now the main transport mode, except along the paved road Rapid spread to all study settlements in last 2-3 years Uptake facilitated by availability of cheap imported Chinese motorcycles
The ongoing transport and communications revolution in Kibaha district: 1. Boda-boda Boda-boda [motor-cycle taxi] has transformed rural lives, even for OP OP would prefer other motorised transport [bus, minibus] BUT the only real alternative is usually walking Especially important in emergencies Motorbike taxis: 18% older women, 31% older men used in the week before the survey [N=339] now ubiquitous Boda-boda has improved my life now it is simple to travel to Mlandizi and even to transport the farm produce to town. Not only that, many goods are now available at our village so we do not need to travel to Mlandizi frequently for shopping. [Man 73y, Kitomondo]
Making new connections: transport, mobilities and mobile phones in sub-Saharan Africa
Making new connections: transport, mobilities and mobile phones in sub-Saharan Africa
2. Mobile phones: a complementary new rural connector Mobile phones OWNED by 41% older men, 15% older women BUT widely available through relatives and friends Boda-boda services especially efficient when ordered by mobile phone: I have a phone and in my phone contact I have one number of a boda-boda operator who I usually call. [Widow 67y, Ngeta] Phones now widely used to organise boda-boda transport both in emergencies and the everyday - impacts on modal choice
Many reports of OPs phone-related reductions in travel I dont have to travel so much nowadays - maybe when there is a funeral or a crucial thing for me to travel, but for minor things I use my brothers phone and we talk [Woman 66y, Soga] Nowadays I dont travel much to go to my children in town, instead we talk [on the phone] and solve our problems where possible [Woman 78y, Mwanabwito].
Mobile money transfers for remittances of growing significance Children now send money from town instead of bringing it to the village [reduced time/cost/travel accident + theft danger] I use M-PESA; my children usually send money through my chip (Vodacom-number), then they call my friend through his phone telling how much they have sent through my Vodacom-line, so I just go with my chip to the Vodacom shop to take money [Man 66y]
Conclusions from Older People study Substantial access improvement in remote areas, even for OP, especially emergency health travel due to boda-boda + phones Mobile phone supports stretched households [where children are in town and grandchildren left with grandparents] social + remittances Reported reduced travel overall due to increasing use of phones - especially benefits remote populations + infirm BUT.
Also possible negative elements of reduced face-to-face Most older people have phones now. They call their children who are far away. If you dont remind the children they forget you and your needs. [Man 71y caring for 5 young orphaned grandchildren] Phone has changed travel patterns- in the past my children and other relatives used to come to greet me but now they just call. [Widow, 80y, living with children+ grandsons
Case study: Mobile phones and youth (Ghana, Malawi, South Africa) Study of young peoples [9-25y] phone usage/impacts, including impact on mobilities/travel [ESRC/DFID funded] Builds on earlier 24-site child mobility research with preliminary phones study/mobility observations J. of Information Technology for Development (2012) Mixed methods: Thematic story-based interviews Call register interviews developing story component Questionnaire survey [N= 4,500] Collaborators: Universities of Durham, Cape Coast, Malawi, Cape Town [and former child peer researchers]
Organising transport by phone increasingly widespread, all regions Making transport arrangements by phone now widespread wherever network access allows Yesterday I called a KIA truck driver in the evening to arrange for him to cart my bags of maize .. But it rained heavily yesterday and I realised that the river... may overflow its banks so I called the driver [today] to inform him [and] postpone the whole programme. [male farmer 25y, Ghana rural] Many young men work in transport sector increasingly see mobile phone as key to successful transport business incoming calls from clients at home/taxi rank/ en route where network allows [includes bicycle taxis, Malawi] for collaboration with other drivers [re police, congestion, clients] If the phone is not with you it is difficult its mostly older drivers who dont have phones. [taxi driver 22y, urban Ghana]
Evidence of phone impact on travel among youth Work in progress but . Often reduced travel of young people linked to travel cost + time+ dangers: I often use [sisters mobile] to communicate with my mother. It saves me from travelling .. I am able to make all requests through her on the phone. It saves money, time and risks of accidents. [schoolboy 15y, living with grandmother, rural Ghana] anytime I want to travel I call before[hand], so if permission is not given, I reserve my transportation. Also any message can be done with the phone unlike former times when you had to travel and at times to meet the absence of your host at destination [girl 17y, petty trader, coastal Ghana] Some increased travel [long distance] but notably for parents [funerals etc.]
Occasional face-to-face contact still essential for youth If Im upset I call because I cant necessarily get to [see] them. But you need face-to-face if its serious. [16y schoolboy boarder, Ghana forest zone] Face to-face interactions have reduced.. Formerly my uncles would have to visit regularly now they only meet when the issue is very critical .. however, regular interactions have increased, because you need very little money and time to know how a relative is doing [19y schoolboy, Ghana forest zone] [Less face-to-face, but] I need to see my clients before we conduct business if you just transact business on phone, you may be deceived by fraudsters [Vodafone salesman 19y, Ghana coastal zone]
How far can virtual mobility substitute for corporeal mobility in African contexts? Urry 2012: co-presence important for long-term maintenance to support trust and tacit knowledge issue of disembodied socialities Face-to-face interaction often of great significance in SSA Personalised relationships commonly crucial in business Reduced face-to-face may be regretted [OP in Tanzania study] BUT Need to balance value attached to personalized relationships against factors of widespread poverty and irregular, sometimes very dangerous transport encourages greater substitution of virtual for physical mobility
Conclusion: rapidly changing travel- and phone-scapes across Africa Potential of phone substitution for travel appears far greater than in Western contexts but occasional co-presence still important Mobile phone crucial to better distance management given few landlines + widespread poverty: Reduces travel costs vital factor where low disposable incomes Reduces time in wasted travel: more efficient travel Helps accommodate travel and other uncertainties Reduces travel dangers [accidents, harrassment, robbery etc.] Particular benefits for those with mobility constraints [disabled, infirm, women, very old] Environmental benefits of reduced travel Mobile phone already some impact on modal choice Much potential for developing more efficient transport systems through integration of transport with mobile phone communication
Everything is possible when we connect?

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Making new connections: transport, mobilities and mobile phones in sub-Saharan Africa

  • 1. Making new connections: transport, mobilities and mobile phones in subSaharan Africa Gina Porter RGS/IBG annual conference, London, August 2013
  • 2. Transport, daily mobility and mobile phone usage in Africa Mobile phones, mobility and everyday lives research in Western contexts Making new connections: the mobile phone revolution and distance management in sub-Saharan Africa Mobile phone uptake Current transport constraints Mobile phones and everyday mobility patterns and practices Older people in rural Tanzania Child/youth mobility in Ghana, Malawi, South Africa Virtual mobility as a substitute for corporeal mobility: how important is co-presence in African contexts?
  • 3. Mobile phones and everyday mobile lives in the West Growing interest in impact of ICTs including mobile phones on mobility in Western contexts Impact on activity patterns [e.g. Line et al. 2011]: Augmenting [rather than replacing] face-to-face More multi-tasking Rescheduling at base and on the move Lubricates but no decline in travel Use as a safety device [women, when walking, driving] No impact on modal choice? No fundamental change in travel behaviour Need for some co-presence remains [Urry 2004, 2012]
  • 4. Expansion of mobile phone usage across Africa: a different context Few landlines; remarkable expansion of mobile phones [on a scale commercial operators never envisaged] Now smart phones too: If you have a phone it is nothing. In the olden days it meant you were the richest man in the meeting [school boy 16y, Ghana, owns smart phone] User challenges e.g. patchy network availability - often mostly a home-based device; charging constraints [home electricity rare] Airtime costs lead to adapted [low-cost ] modes of use buzzing, SMS, money transfers etc. Substantial transport constraints/costs + widespread poverty
  • 5. Everyday life on the road: a multiplicity of travel constraints and hazards Poor roads [un]availability, [un]reliability, [high] cost of transport services Traffic accidents [exacerbated by poor roads, vehicle condition ] Petty extortion by police, etc. Robbery [and violence] the need to escort goods; dangers of carrying cash Poverty, gender-, age-related travel constraints [economics, culture, infirmity etc.] All potent factors when contemplating the potential for [phone] substitution
  • 6. Case study: Travel, transport and mobile phone use among older people in rural Tanzania Older people: rarely-researched group in transport studies despite common mobility-related social exclusion [poverty+ infirmity] Poverty widespread among older people in rural Tanzania: many looking after grandchildren Study of older peoples access to health services and livelihoods in collaboration with HelpAge International Tanzania [AFCAP funded] Mobile phone use a significant new factor in the transport and mobility equation - particular links to motor-cycle taxi expansion
  • 7. Participatory research with older people in Kibaha district, Tanzania Focus on older peoples transport and mobility 10 settlements [1 on paved road, 9 off paved road] 3 research strands: 1. Participatory Peer Research by 12 Older People [8 men, 4 women, aged 60-70y] trained as community co-investigators - helped shape design of conventional checklist interviews and survey questionnaire + conducted own interviews [N=74] 2. Qualitative in-depth check-list interviews with older people, key informants, boda-boda drivers [N=194] 3. Survey research: questionnaires to older people [N=339]
  • 9. Roads and transport in Kibaha district Many roads barely passable after heavy rains. Roads traversing black cotton soils particularly intractable Motorcycle taxis [boda-boda ] now the main transport mode, except along the paved road Rapid spread to all study settlements in last 2-3 years Uptake facilitated by availability of cheap imported Chinese motorcycles
  • 10. The ongoing transport and communications revolution in Kibaha district: 1. Boda-boda Boda-boda [motor-cycle taxi] has transformed rural lives, even for OP OP would prefer other motorised transport [bus, minibus] BUT the only real alternative is usually walking Especially important in emergencies Motorbike taxis: 18% older women, 31% older men used in the week before the survey [N=339] now ubiquitous Boda-boda has improved my life now it is simple to travel to Mlandizi and even to transport the farm produce to town. Not only that, many goods are now available at our village so we do not need to travel to Mlandizi frequently for shopping. [Man 73y, Kitomondo]
  • 13. 2. Mobile phones: a complementary new rural connector Mobile phones OWNED by 41% older men, 15% older women BUT widely available through relatives and friends Boda-boda services especially efficient when ordered by mobile phone: I have a phone and in my phone contact I have one number of a boda-boda operator who I usually call. [Widow 67y, Ngeta] Phones now widely used to organise boda-boda transport both in emergencies and the everyday - impacts on modal choice
  • 14. Many reports of OPs phone-related reductions in travel I dont have to travel so much nowadays - maybe when there is a funeral or a crucial thing for me to travel, but for minor things I use my brothers phone and we talk [Woman 66y, Soga] Nowadays I dont travel much to go to my children in town, instead we talk [on the phone] and solve our problems where possible [Woman 78y, Mwanabwito].
  • 15. Mobile money transfers for remittances of growing significance Children now send money from town instead of bringing it to the village [reduced time/cost/travel accident + theft danger] I use M-PESA; my children usually send money through my chip (Vodacom-number), then they call my friend through his phone telling how much they have sent through my Vodacom-line, so I just go with my chip to the Vodacom shop to take money [Man 66y]
  • 16. Conclusions from Older People study Substantial access improvement in remote areas, even for OP, especially emergency health travel due to boda-boda + phones Mobile phone supports stretched households [where children are in town and grandchildren left with grandparents] social + remittances Reported reduced travel overall due to increasing use of phones - especially benefits remote populations + infirm BUT.
  • 17. Also possible negative elements of reduced face-to-face Most older people have phones now. They call their children who are far away. If you dont remind the children they forget you and your needs. [Man 71y caring for 5 young orphaned grandchildren] Phone has changed travel patterns- in the past my children and other relatives used to come to greet me but now they just call. [Widow, 80y, living with children+ grandsons
  • 18. Case study: Mobile phones and youth (Ghana, Malawi, South Africa) Study of young peoples [9-25y] phone usage/impacts, including impact on mobilities/travel [ESRC/DFID funded] Builds on earlier 24-site child mobility research with preliminary phones study/mobility observations J. of Information Technology for Development (2012) Mixed methods: Thematic story-based interviews Call register interviews developing story component Questionnaire survey [N= 4,500] Collaborators: Universities of Durham, Cape Coast, Malawi, Cape Town [and former child peer researchers]
  • 19. Organising transport by phone increasingly widespread, all regions Making transport arrangements by phone now widespread wherever network access allows Yesterday I called a KIA truck driver in the evening to arrange for him to cart my bags of maize .. But it rained heavily yesterday and I realised that the river... may overflow its banks so I called the driver [today] to inform him [and] postpone the whole programme. [male farmer 25y, Ghana rural] Many young men work in transport sector increasingly see mobile phone as key to successful transport business incoming calls from clients at home/taxi rank/ en route where network allows [includes bicycle taxis, Malawi] for collaboration with other drivers [re police, congestion, clients] If the phone is not with you it is difficult its mostly older drivers who dont have phones. [taxi driver 22y, urban Ghana]
  • 20. Evidence of phone impact on travel among youth Work in progress but . Often reduced travel of young people linked to travel cost + time+ dangers: I often use [sisters mobile] to communicate with my mother. It saves me from travelling .. I am able to make all requests through her on the phone. It saves money, time and risks of accidents. [schoolboy 15y, living with grandmother, rural Ghana] anytime I want to travel I call before[hand], so if permission is not given, I reserve my transportation. Also any message can be done with the phone unlike former times when you had to travel and at times to meet the absence of your host at destination [girl 17y, petty trader, coastal Ghana] Some increased travel [long distance] but notably for parents [funerals etc.]
  • 21. Occasional face-to-face contact still essential for youth If Im upset I call because I cant necessarily get to [see] them. But you need face-to-face if its serious. [16y schoolboy boarder, Ghana forest zone] Face to-face interactions have reduced.. Formerly my uncles would have to visit regularly now they only meet when the issue is very critical .. however, regular interactions have increased, because you need very little money and time to know how a relative is doing [19y schoolboy, Ghana forest zone] [Less face-to-face, but] I need to see my clients before we conduct business if you just transact business on phone, you may be deceived by fraudsters [Vodafone salesman 19y, Ghana coastal zone]
  • 22. How far can virtual mobility substitute for corporeal mobility in African contexts? Urry 2012: co-presence important for long-term maintenance to support trust and tacit knowledge issue of disembodied socialities Face-to-face interaction often of great significance in SSA Personalised relationships commonly crucial in business Reduced face-to-face may be regretted [OP in Tanzania study] BUT Need to balance value attached to personalized relationships against factors of widespread poverty and irregular, sometimes very dangerous transport encourages greater substitution of virtual for physical mobility
  • 23. Conclusion: rapidly changing travel- and phone-scapes across Africa Potential of phone substitution for travel appears far greater than in Western contexts but occasional co-presence still important Mobile phone crucial to better distance management given few landlines + widespread poverty: Reduces travel costs vital factor where low disposable incomes Reduces time in wasted travel: more efficient travel Helps accommodate travel and other uncertainties Reduces travel dangers [accidents, harrassment, robbery etc.] Particular benefits for those with mobility constraints [disabled, infirm, women, very old] Environmental benefits of reduced travel Mobile phone already some impact on modal choice Much potential for developing more efficient transport systems through integration of transport with mobile phone communication
  • 24. Everything is possible when we connect?

Editor's Notes

  • #2: This paper is concerned with newly emerging linkages between mobility, transport and mobile phone usage in sub-Saharan Africa. In the context of an increasingly carbon-constrained world and the search for more sustainable transportation, potential interactions between the expanded virtual mobility facilitated by mobile phones and physical transport services are of great importance. The remarkable expansion of mobile phone networks in Africa is bringing a tangible new dimension of connectivity into transport and access equations on the ground: now-feasible interactions between virtual and physical mobility are helping to reshape access potential, even in many hitherto remote areas (especially where linked to the rapid uptake of transportation modes such as the motorcycle taxi). Phones can cut travel costs and time, reducing the number of long, potentially hazardous road journeys on poor roads in badly maintained vehicles, in regions with among the worlds highest accident rates and where highway robbery and other types of harassment associated with travel may be widespread. The potential for developing more efficient transport systems through integration of transport with mobile phone communication is substantial. Face-to-face interaction is often of great significance in low income regions, where personalised relationships are commonly crucial in business. However, when the value attached to personalized relationships is balanced against factors of widespread poverty and irregular, sometimes very dangerous transport, the potential for some mobile substitution for travel may be greater than in Western contexts. Better distance management through phone use may also be particularly closely associated with populations with very low disposable incomes, and/or whose physical mobility is limited, for instance by disability, infirmity, age or gender. This paper will draw on selected case studies, including a recent field study of older peoples mobility and phone use in rural Tanzania.
  • #4: Also Castells 2000, Schwanen and Kwan 2006, 2008More multi-tasking among womenLine et al. often augment rather than directly replace corporeal mobility
  • #6: e.g. Jos Plateau 2004
  • #8: -2 and 3 = more conventional methods
  • #17: BUT reduced face-to-face interaction may eventually leave older people feeling isolated?
  • #24: Modal choice e.g. increased use of mbike taxis[nbeg.? Agidjan???]. + AFCAP PASCAL WORK