The transformative potential of mobile phones in developing countries remains largely anecdotal but well-documented.

Take the case of Andwele, a 22 year-old vendor of cattle and livestock in the Kariakoo market in Des es Salaam, Tanzania. Last year he managed to afford to buy a mobile phone (price roughly equivalent to the cost of a sheep). Thanks to his phone’s sms capability, Andwele can now determine the going market rates for his product on a given day before beginning the long and treacherous journey on foot from his village into town.

Numerous other game-changing examples abound : fishermen checking prices at each port before they dock so as to maximize profits; entrepreneurial types that set up a small business for themselves based on renting out the phone to others.  The Economist writes about industrious “telephone ladies” in Bangladeshi villages who rent out their handsets one call at a time.  Or China Mobile, which offers rural customers an agricultural service alongside the ability to make calls.

As a recent report by Portio Research, the single largest barrier for would-be mobile subscribers in the developing world is the cost of a handset.  Lacking the operator subsidy model we often enjoy in the developed world which requires a post-paid long-term engagement, the handsets cost the same price as an unlocked phone in Europe (i.e. often around 200 € or more).

To me, this disparity represents a compelling win-win opportunity.  As Europeans who upgrade our mobile phones almost yearly, why not donate our used handsets to families in the developing world ?

With this premise, we created AfriqueConnect.  Our first distribution took two years ago in Arusha, Tanzania, during which we filled a suitcase full of used mobile phones we had collected from friends and distributed them freely with no strings attached though the assistance of a local NGO.

Stay tuned for the next adventure, and in the meantime, any discarded mobile phones you have would be most welcome !