 | Issue: | Global-ICT 2009 |
| Article no.: | 9 | |
| Topic: | Empowering people – the mobile revolution | |
| Author: | Dr Saad Al-Barrak | |
| Title: | Deputy Chairman and Managing Director (CEO) | |
| Organisation: | Zain Group | |
| PDF size: | 512KB |
About author
Dr Saad Al-Barrak is the Deputy Chairman and Managing Director (CEO) of the Zain Group. Prior to Zain, Dr Al-Barrak was Managing Director of International Turnkey Systems (ITS). Dr Al-Barrak has served as Vice-Chairman of the Social Development Office (SDO) of the Amiri Diwan in Kuwait; Chairman of Egyptian Software Developer IT Soft; Chairman of Arab Telecom; and a non-executive Director of Arab Management Association in Cairo as well as a number of other senior positions. Dr Al-Barrak has been honoured with many important awards. The Global Telecoms Business magazine ranked him first among his Middle East & African peers in its top 100 survey of influential telecom executives; he won the Africa Investor’s International Business Leader award, CEO Middle East magazine’s Telecom CEO of the Year award and Bespoke magazine’s 2008 Visionary Award; and Arab Ad’s Man of the Year award, among many others. Dr Saad Al-Barrak holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering, an MSc in Systems Engineering from Ohio University, and a PhD in Information Systems & Technology Management from the University of London. He is also an alumnus of Harvard University.
Article abstract
Mobile communications is a powerful catalyst for personal, national and regional development that does not depend upon political systems. Mobile eliminates many social, cultural, educational and economic barriers. People of the Middle East and Africa no longer need to walk to the next village to speak with friends and relatives or do business. With borderless mobile communications, families divided by wars, and workers in distant countries can keep in touch or even pay bills, and economies in remote regions can grow.
Full Article
Telecommunications, and specifically mobile telecommunications, has been the unexpected blessing of our age, enabling people around the world to extend their personal relations into powerful networks. Mobile communication works in developed nations and in the most disadvantaged ones – unfolding even more potential in the poor countries – and acts as a catalyst for national development in a manner independent of political systems. This success of communication across political systems is an astounding achievement. The year 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the end of the Cold War. However, if we look at how international institutions and leading NGOs evaluate the progress of the world’s nations in terms of freedoms, human rights, or democracy over the past 20 years, this positive pace of development and optimism has slowed considerably. However, during the same period, the mobile revolution has created genuine people power; it has eliminated cultural barriers and has helped the old and the young, the married and the single, the intellectually groomed and the ‘street-wise’. Incredible growth GSM and related mobile communications users currently exceed 3.8 billion, up from one million users in 1993. The development of mobile communication in the Middle East and Africa is closely related to the social power of telecommunications. With poor networks and access restricted by multiple barriers deep into the second half of the 20th century, most Middle East and North African countries were impaired in their economic and social growth by communication deficits. People of the Middle East and Africa traditionally faced significant obstacles just to communicate. They had to travel just to talk to a relative in the next city. In very few years, just before the dawn of the 21st century, the arrival of mobile communications radically changed the state of Africa and the Middle East. From Johannesburg to Jerusalem, communications has become a development tool for small businesses, for friendship, for human rights, for broader human development, improved economic interdependence and social gains, for new jobs, and closer families. This would not have been possible without the opening of telecommunications markets to global best practices and increasing private sector participation. The growth in mobile phone usage has been astonishing. Between 2003 and 2005, the mobile penetration rate in 18 MENA countries leapt from 15 to 25 per cent. In Africa, the impact has been even more staggering; the density of mobile phones outstripped that of landlines and completely changed the continent’s economic outlook. Just the beginning This was just the beginning. In 2005, estimates were that in Saudi Arabia 20 million phone accounts, 80 per cent of the resident population, would be in use within five years. At the end of 2008, however, in less than five years, Saudi Arabia mobile penetration rate grew to more than 130 per cent. By 2008, many countries in the Arabian Gulf region had joined the ranks of the most connected societies on earth; mobile penetration rates reached between 100 and 200 per cent – including in Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE. The wider Arab region’s average mobile penetration rate reached 56 per cent in 2008. This facilitated the rise of Arab operators who today aspire to become global brands and are likely to climb into the ranks of the world’s top ten or 20 telecoms players. There is still room for new basic mobile customers in many countries of the Middle East and Africa, and even more so for mobile Internet and advanced services. Nevertheless, the success of mobile telephony in these markets is more a story of human connectedness than a question of growing numbers and the commercial success of operators. Operators must be community builders to succeed. Over the years, I have personally witnessed amazing testimonies on connectedness and the opening of new doors where in some cases, other doors had been closed. One example of barriers between people in the Middle East is very real and very political, and it has commanded a huge deal of attention for its security and human rights implications. This is of course the story of Palestine and the Separation Wall. This concrete barrier has a huge impact on the life of Palestinians living in West Bank areas dissected by the wall. But families who found themselves divided by the wall could at least use mobile phones to stay in touch with their cousins, brothers, sisters, parents and children. While less dramatic, the same is true for families living apart across the vast swathes of the African continent. Breaking down borders The latest innovation in Middle East and African cross-border communications have been the borderless networks that enable people to easily and affordably stay in touch with their communities and loved ones – whether they are in the same town or in another country, using networks that apply a borderless philosophy. Recently, some analysts have queried the contribution of borderless networks to the operators’ bottom lines, but borderless networks are not about good PR nor about boosting earnings. For operators, borderless mobile communications is a sustainable service that enhances customer loyalty and contributes to the long-term position of companies that aim at fulfilling their social mandates as connectors for a better world. For mobile phone owners – every one of us – borderless communication is a moment, constantly renewed, of comfort, trust, and familiar closeness in an open world where a myriad of opportunities beckon. It is impossible to predict how many people will be empowered by borderless mobile communications – even in the coming three to five years – and how it will be used to ease the burden of political separations in the Middle East. Many people will further their education and advance their careers using borderless mobile to reach places they otherwise could not affordably stay in touch with. Empowering like never before We have seen Bedouins in the Jordanian desert and fishermen on Lake Victoria use mobile telephony to boost their livelihood, demonstrating the importance of mobile phones for micro businesses in emerging markets and regions where past business models simply assumed such services were not viable. Wadi Rum, Moon Valley in English, has been the home of Bedouins for generations. It is a supreme destination for adventure and environmental tourism, but it took the introduction of mobile phone service to make this a feasible and lucrative business for the Bedouins. The simple mobile is a factor of economic empowerment for individual entrepreneurs and small businesses in the Jordanian tourism industry and offers a tool to deal with challenging socioeconomic conditions. Urban economic opportunities have attracted large numbers of Jordanians to the capital, Amman, leading to rapid urbanization and all the challenges this brings. In contrast, technology has helped Bedouin guides find better ways to sustain their traditional lifestyle. On Lake Victoria, mobile coverage has fuelled economic and social development of lakeside communities, helped fight piracy and has reduced fishing-related fatalities each year. Mobile communications have empowered Arab and African women by opening up their social lives and have helped them in business. In the traditional societies of strongly religious countries, women, although cherished, have faced practical restrictions conducting their financial affairs or investing in the stock market. Banking on success The increase and diversification of mobile phone-based services is further increasing empowerment of all people, women and men alike. Mobile banking is a prime example of a service that expands the impact of mobile communications. Mobile banking is a convenience for consumers in highly banked, developed countries. In Africa, however, it can bring useful banking access to hundreds of millions of people for the first time, with profound implications for entire economies across the continent. Mobile banking gives people without bank accounts access to secure financial management. Research shows that users of mobile banking and mobile payments benefit from lower transaction costs. Mobile banking increases the flow of money, strengthens national economies and financial sectors and improves the people’s economic lives. Working for a better world is not considered the natural behaviour of corporations and business leaders. In times of economic crisis, the corporate world is often the scapegoat blamed for all the problems of human greed and inequality – executives get million-dollar bonuses and small guys get the boot. There are no small or insignificant people in the connected word. The power of connectedness reaches more people every day, enabling individuals, families, and entire villages to improve their lives. Where corporations and smart business leaders can still play a pioneering role is by serving as a business United Nations and, in practical ways, constantly providing better tools so that communities – from the smallest cobbler to the biggest celebrity – can manage their lives, social commitments, and business affairs. Mobile operators cannot change political realities, especially where strife has been rampant for generations. Nonetheless, helping families that politics tore apart use mobile phones to stay in touch encourages me to work to make mobile service – especially across borders – much more accessible and affordable in the Middle East and Africa.
