Bridging the Mobile-Electrification Gap: The Potential for Privately Subsidized Phone Charging in Rural Africa (September 2018)
Ezra Max (Author)
Justin Berman (Author)
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine
Volume: 37
Issue: 3
Pages: 74-86
There is a profound misalignment between the state of network coverage and phone ownership and the state of electrification across sub-Saharan Africa. While about 83% of the sub-Saharan population is covered by a mobile network and nearly 70% has a mobile subscription, only 33% can access electricity. This problem is particularly acute in rural areas, where network access and penetration lag slightly but electrification is far lower. We term this condition the mobile-electrification gap (MEG.) Faced by the MEG, rural sub-Saharans options for phone charging are few and undesirable. As mobile growth has outstripped electrification on the continent, sub-Saharans have turned to limited off-grid solutions or to resold electricity from "phone shops" to fill the void; some have even taken to shipping their phones to get them charged. [Peer reviewed]
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