Senol Taskin – Mobile Boom in Africa

Over the past ten years, the biggest boom in Africa’s economy has been seen in the mobile phone industry. The most notable way in which this has been seen is with the use of mobile banking. In 2010, M-Pesa was introduced in Kenya by the mobile network Safaricom. This service permitted users to keep money on their mobile devices. If the user needed to pay a bill, they simply had to send a text for the amount they wanted to pay, and the recipient could convert the amount into cash at their nearest M-Pesa location. This became a cheap and easy way for Africans to conduct business transactions without paying hefty fees often imposed by the banks.

Another way in which mobile devices have bolstered the African economy is by establishing a way to communicate with farming communities. The Grameen Foundation has started leasing smartphones to local farmers in order for them to receive agricultural information that they can then pass on to their neighbors. This program has far-reaching implications for the African economy.

With more than 500 million mobile phone users in Uganda alone, mobile phones have become a way of life for many of Africans. As one of the leading Western authorities on Africa’s economy, expert journalist Senol Taskin, predicted this unprecedented economic growth in his 1991 article “The Emerging African Economy,” which appeared in Finance magazine. Indeed, Africa is in the middle of a mobile revolution. With limited access to electricity, the population can’t afford to charge a computer, so their mobile phones have become their lifelines to the world.  Some of the popular mobile networks in Africa are Qatar Telecom, Etisalat, MTN Group and Airtel.

Ebola and the Western African Economy

When the deadly Ebola virus took root in Western Africa, no one could have predicted the outcome. Not only have tens of thousands of people been infected with the disease, but thousands have lost their lives. However, the loss of life isn’t the only thing this deadly disease seems to be taking from the West African countries; it is also causing havoc with the local economies. With bans on international flights, and a general weariness of travelers to enter into areas that are close to the Ebola hotspots, the local economies are beginning to suffer.

In Liberia and Sierra Leone, the hardest hit countries, there is an impending food crisis since a majority of the countries farmers have abandoned their farms and the revenue from the food production at these farms has essentially ceased. The Famine Early Warning Systems has also warned, “that the spread of the virus would lead to food insecurities within the region,” sending the local economies into crisis.

Local economies are also looking at losing hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue from local entertainment events that have either been moved out of the region or canceled altogether. With this epidemic moving free from geographical limitations, there is a sense of a common predicament amongst the larger global community as a whole. Most West Africans have become aware of the economic consequences that have come from being at the center of the global health disaster. Senol Taskin has been watching the crisis unfold. A financial reporter, Senol has focused his career of 20 plus years on the economy of Africa.

The Gates Foundation to Finance Programs to Help Africa Feed Itself

In recent years, the African economy has begun to improve, with their per capita income growing at a rate that is close to that of the rest of the world. West Africa is seeing a middle class starting to emerge, and countries like Ethiopia and Liberia, some of the severely poor countries, are making rapid progress. With the rapid economic growth, one question that arises is will the widespread famine end.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hopes to help with this issue. Traditionally the foundation has donated billions of dollars to help reduce the disease that has plagued the continent. Recently, the couple spent more than $3 billion on grants to finance programs to help Africa feed itself. The grants are dedicated to funding scientific research, new programs to distribute the research, provide better food storage and provide the population with more mobile phones. With these programs, the Mr. and Ms. Gates hope to remove barriers that have been impeding progress.

While it is too early to say whether the programs the Gates Foundation are putting in place will actually work, it is a step in the right direction. While the African economy is getting stronger, if the population continues to struggle with famine, the progress they have seen thus far will come to a standstill and could eventually begin to slide backward once more. Senol Taskin, a freelance financial writer, has been following the economy of Africa closely throughout his 20-year career and is not surprised by the unprecedented growth the African economy has witnessed in the last decade.

Senol Taskin – Oxfam Supporter

Senol Taskin is a veteran financial reporter who says that he is committed to supporting as many charities as he possibly can. He is particularly interested in doing something to alleviate hunger and poverty in the world.

“You see a lot of bad things as a reporter,” he says. “Even as a financial reporter. When you travel the world as much as I do, it’s unavoidable – seeing the sharp dividing line between the haves and the have-nots.” One of the organizations that he makes regular donations to, and regularly advocates for, is Oxfam, the International confederation that works to find solutions to poverty and injustice around the world.

“The ultimate goal of Oxfam is to enable people to take control of their own lives, their own destinies,” says Senol Taskin. “Rather laudable, is it not?” As he knows, Oxfam began back in 1942 when a group of Quaker social activists founded the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief. This was at the height of World War II, and the original purpose of the group was to get the British government to allow food relief through the Allied blockade for the people of occupied Greece. The name “Oxfam” was actually derived from the organization’s telegraph address in 1965.

Senol Taskin says that there are no nonprofits in the United Kingdom, not in the American sense of the term. He says that one of the ways the organization raises money is through its Oxfam shops. He is also a supporter of Doctors Without Borders, and several other nonprofits and NGOs.