Rural East Africa Not Being Left behind the Smartphone Craze

Smartphone craze is not the preserve of Nairobi, Kampala and Dares salaam a.k.a the big East African cities. Also, inhabitants of rural East Africa are embracing this revolution.  It is common to find people in the most remote of places having smart phones. This can partly be attributed to the availability of affordable smart phones. Some are retailing for as low as $80.

East African Youth

Youths are in the forefront in adopting this new technology. They seem to be attracted to the inherent functionality. To them, having a Smartphone is one of those achievements that cannot be taken for granted.

Professionals in Rural Areas

Professionals in rural areas such as teachers and doctors find functional phones like smart phones to be quite handy since they help them to perform their day to day activities in an easy and convenient manner.

Social Media Capabilities Attracting Many Dwellers

East Africans in urban and rural areas are serious social media fanatics. That is why; Smartphone adoption has been very rapid across the region. These phones have the ability to facilitate seamless connection to the internet. Some of them have social media applications which make people to connect to the internet in a matter of seconds and subsequently to be able to chat right from the user interface of the phone.

Which Phones Are Popular With These Groups of People

Huawei Smartphone had a cult like following in both East African towns and rural centers. This was because of its low price point and also its functionality. It came with a good deal of internal memory, great battery life and was powered by the popular android operating system by Google.

However, of late, it has been upset by other brands including Nokia and Samsung which presently have very good makes that can be obtained at very reasonable prices.

Social and Economic Impacts of This Adoption

Adoption of smart phones in rural east Africa has both social and economic impacts.

First and foremost, the lives of people have been greatly improved. This is because of the power of information. Once someone can easily source much needed data it becomes very easy to make an informed decision.

Seamless access to the internet means that someone can get information he requires at any time of the day.

On the economic side of the spectrum, a farmer/businessman can easily obtain a market for his products or services. Therefore he will be saved from having to deal with unscrupulous brokers. OLX is a popular web based marketplace in Kenya that can be accessed via a mobile phone and has helped many East Africans to be able to sell their goods for cash and obtain desirable items at pocket friendly rates.

Cheap Smart Phones Edging Out Feature Phones in the Rural Market

 There was a time when most rural dwellers in East Africa had feature phones. However, with affordable smart phones, trends are changing in these parts of the world.

Smartphone craze is spreading quickly all over the world. This technology is the new standard in technology. It has been embraced by East Africans from different walks of life.