Unlike radio it is hard for authorities to block mobile signal without severely disrupting the country’s infrastructure and economy. In times of unrest or authoritarian rule the SMS can function as the only source of news. The London-based SW Radio Africa sends out a selection of headlines to 30,000 people in Zimbabwe via SMS.

Full article at the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/nov/04/digital-media-radio-zimbabwe-...

Apps4Africa is a contest launched in July 2010 to highlight the talent of local developers in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. Across the region, the number of IT graduates and tech entrepreneurs is exploding, providing new opportunities to foster social and economic growth. The challenge was to find innovative technological solutions to everyday problems, and the winners were as follows:

1st Place // iCow, a voice-based mobile application that helps farmers track the estrus stages of their cows, enabling farmers everywhere to better manage breeding periods as well as monitor cow nutrition leading up to the calving day.

2nd Place // Kleptocracy Fighters Inc. allows citizens to record and report real time information on government corruption. Reports can include: audio, video, text, and will be forwarded to legal and media partners to help publish cases of corruption.

3rd Place // Mamakiba is a patient-facing SMS savings calculator and prepayment tracking tool specifically designed to help low-income women save and prepay for their maternal health needs such as ante-natal care and clinical delivery.

Honorable Mention // Fogs Funeral Announcements, an application for generating death and funeral announcements via sms, as radio and newspaper are costly in the region. Fog will allow users to ensure this news reaches friends, family, former schoolmates and colleagues – an important Kenyan custom.

http://www.apps4africa.org/

http://www.ihub.co.ke/blog/2010/10/meet-the-lady-behind-the-icow-idea/