Flutterby™! : Phone 8 for Africa

While the masses gather to storm the G8 conference in Britain, Africans are trying something that never seems to have occurred to them: figuring things out for themselves. Last week's BBC program Global Business tells how locals in Kenya and Ghana are using mere cell phones to improve their economy. For example, 40 or 50 poor farmers form a group to get a cell phone, and use it to call the agricultural exchange to find out what produce is selling for in distant markets ("press 1 for bananas, 2 for cassava" etc.)and thus be in a better bargaining position with the middlemen.

Even more intriguing is how they can transfer prepaid phone minutes to each other's accounts for free. In a nation of few banks and poor mail service, minutes have become a secondary currency. You can transfer time to your Mom back home, and she can transfer them to the stock dealer in exchange for 5 chickens.The Africans don't need concerts, they need cell phones.