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The Impact of Mobile Telephony on Developing Country Micro-Enterprise: A Nigerian Case Study

Author

Listed:
  • Abi Jagun

    (Research Fellow, University of Strathclyde, UK.)

  • Richard Heeks

    (Professor of Development Infomatics, School of Environment & Development, University of Manchester, UK, +44(0)161 275 2870.)

  • Jason Whalley

    (Senior Lecturer, University of Strathclyde, UK.)

Abstract

Informational challenges-absence, uncertainty, asymmetry-shape the working of markets and commerce in many developing countries. For developing country micro-enterprises, which form the bulk of all enterprises worldwide, these challenges shape the characteristics of their supply chains. They reduce the chances that business and trade will emerge. They keep supply chains localised and intermediated. They make trade within those supply chains slow, costly, and risky.Mobile telephony may provide an opportunity to address the informational challenges and, hence, to alter the characteristics of trade within micro-enterprise supply chains. However, mobile telephony has only recently penetrated. This paper, therefore, presents one of the first case studies of the impact of mobile telephony on the numerically-dominant form of enterprise, based around a case study of the cloth-weaving sector in Nigeria.It finds that there are ways in which costs and risks are being reduced and time is saved, often by substitution of journeys. But it also finds a continuing need for journeys and physical meetings due to issues of trust, design intensity, physical inspection and exchange, and interaction complexity. As a result, there are few signs of the de-localisation or disintermediation predicted by some commentators. An economising effect of mobile phones on supply chain processes may therefore co-exist with the entrenchment of supply chain structures and a growing "competitive divide" between those with and without access to telephony. (c) 2008 by The Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Abi Jagun & Richard Heeks & Jason Whalley, 2008. "The Impact of Mobile Telephony on Developing Country Micro-Enterprise: A Nigerian Case Study," Information Technologies and International Development, MIT Press, vol. 4(4), pages 47-65, October/J.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:itintd:v:4:y:2008:i:4:p:47-65
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Stork, Christoph & Calandro, Enrico & Gillwald, Alison, 2012. "Internet going mobile: Internet access and usage in eleven African countries," 19th ITS Biennial Conference, Bangkok 2012: Moving Forward with Future Technologies - Opening a Platform for All 72503, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    2. Katharina Michaelowa & Franziska Spörri, 2012. "ICT als Beschäftigungsmotor in den Entwicklungsländern?," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 81(3), pages 85-97.
    3. Rejina Bachkain, 2022. "Status And Prospects Of Ict Among Nepalese Smallholder Farmers," Acta Informatica Malaysia (AIM), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 13-16, February.
    4. Robin Mansell, 2010. "Power and interests in developing knowledge societies: exogenous and endogenous discourses in contention," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 29255, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Alessio D'Ignazio & Paolo Finaldi Russo & Massimiliano Stacchini, 2022. "Micro-entrepreneurs’ financial and digital competences during the pandemic in Italy," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 724, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    6. Ferris, Jeffrey S. & Newburn, David A., 2017. "Wireless alerts for extreme weather and the impact on hazard mitigating behavior," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 239-255.
    7. Eliud Dismas Moyi, 2019. "The effect of mobile technology on self-employment in Kenya," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Melia, Elvis, 2019. "The impact of information and communication technologies on jobs in Africa: a literature review," IDOS Discussion Papers 3/2019, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    9. Krone Madlen & Dannenberg Peter, 2018. "Analysing the effects of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the integration of East African farmers in a value chain context," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 62(1), pages 65-81, March.
    10. Jean-Philippe Berrou & François Combarnous & Thomas Eekhout, 2017. "Les TIC : une réponse au défi du développement des micro et petites entreprises informelles en Afrique sub-saharienne ?," Working Papers hal-02148324, HAL.
    11. Jonathan Donner & Marcela X. Escobari, 2010. "A review of evidence on mobile use by micro and small enterprises in developing countries," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(5), pages 641-658.

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