Has the smart phone revolution already powered up a Continent?

How smart phones change lives in the developing world.

The Economist reckons that by 2020, 80% of the adults in the world will have a smart phone (a great article on http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21645180-smartphone-ubiquitous-addictive-and-transformative-planet-phones ). I remember an article ten or fifteen years ago in the same magazine speculating as to whether smart phones would take off and pondering how they had the potential to transform lives in the developing world. For us, the transformation that this device has brought about has probably made life slicker or more enjoyable in our private time. It has oiled business and stretched the working day, allowing people to work and keep in touch. For good or for bad, the world has changed.

Keeping in touch with mates, sorting out dating or picking up customer e mails on the move is not a big deal compared with people trying to lift themselves out of poverty or countries desperately trying to get some economic growth. Mobile telephony and more specifically the smart phone have probably already dramatically transformed lives in the developing world. Years ago The Economist wondered whether governments throughout the world would stand back and allow the investment in mobile networks, as these are the life blood of mobile telephony I don’t know how good or bad networks are in different countries but it seems that despite tinkering by governments seeking to control usage and cosy monopolies or cartels with favoured operators, big chunks of the world’s population have mobile access and have embraced it. Maybe the opportunity to earn revenue for every government from democracy through to authoritarian despot has won through. Charging somebody for using the airwaves is pretty easy money, whatever your politics.

What are the big transformations in developing countries? Maybe the biggest is that governments no longer have a monopoly on information. Whether you are a fisherman on Lake Victoria who needs to know market prices, a family in Papua New Guinea who wonder whether life would be better 100 miles away or even any of us who are entertained by a scandal involving a dodgy politician, your mobile phone is transformational. Tap into the power of the smart phone and your world grows incredibly. It can bring out the entrepreneur in people, the democrat, the consumer, the reporter and unfortunately the crook.

Sub Saharan Africa is now a dynamic region with some truly vibrant economies. I bet that the smart phone has played its part in helping people get moving in their lives.

With luck, all these new customers will find Sarum Hydraulics on their smart phones and come to the experts with their hydraulic hand pump requirements. That is the plan! In the mean time, look what we do on www.sarum-hydraulics.co.uk .