Lenali, the first audio social media: the Malian app empowering small-business owners

This case study explores the construction of a Malian social and inclusive network Lenali, developed by Mamadou Gouro Sidibé, an IT entrepreneur and Doctor of Computer Science. Positioned in the booming digital voice services market, Lenali is an application that "speaks in local languages," developed for the marginal market of the "digitally excluded." For the founder, access to conversational commerce via the digitalization of services is the only way to improve Malians' quality of life and the entrepreneurial development of communities at the base of the pyramid (BoP). Lenali offers large-scale economic opportunities and generates positive social impacts for the Malian population and the country's economy. This case invites students to consider digital solutions as an entry point for this group of digital activities, allowing them to think about the past, present, and future of digital social business models in a country with low education levels and infrastructure problems. The app raises essential questions about the impacts of digital voice technology on innovation, opportunities, and technologies, on BoP entrepreneurs, and BoPs in general, in terms of exclusion and inclusion.