AfDB Goes Mobile for Research Data with Partner Mobile Accord
ARUSHA, Tanzania, June 2, 2012/ — At the onset of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Annual Meetings, its Chief Economist, Mthuli Ncube, announced a strategic partnership with Mobile Accord for the processing of mobile-based surveys throughout Africa.
The announcement comes in the wake of discussions at the AfDB (http://www.afdb.org) for the need for better engagement of technology to support the Bank’s many initiatives around the continent, including their “Youth Employment” and “Transforming Africa” projects.
According to Mr. Ncube, “Through this partnership with Mobile Accord, we are able to feel the real pulse of the youth and the development impact of AfDB because we can gather more accurate information in real time.”
Mobile Accord’s service, GeoPoll, the polling platform that uses text messaging to collect substantial data from mobile subscribers, is the engine of this AfDB-Mobile Accord partnership.
A GeoPoll survey was recently used to ask Tunisian youth for their views on employment, entrepreneurship, and on the country’s progress since the Arab Spring. Among the most interesting results were that 62 percent of Tunisian youth would like to be entrepreneurs.
Mr Ncube noted the AfDB’s intention to continue polling across the African continent with GeoPoll. The project will be the first time that the concerns, hopes and aspirations of African youth will be heard on such a large scale.
“GeoPoll is changing the way information is collected; reducing the time it takes to gather information from months to a single day – and at a fraction of the traditional cost,” said Mobile Accord’s Founder and Chairman, James Eberhard, who pioneered GeoPoll, “We are excited to be collaborating with the AfDB. Through this partnership, GeoPoll will enable the voices of Africa to be shared with the world.”
Mobile Accord is a mobile telecommunications platform services company, founded in 2005. It has operations on four continents, providing enterprise level solutions focused on driving positive social change through the mobile phone.
Mobile Accord’s products and services empower 500+ international aid organizations, non-governmental organizations, non-profits, universities, charities, and governmental entities to change the world through mobile technology. Among its achievements, Mobile Accord has been responsible for watershed mobile phone donation campaigns in the United States, raising more than USD $50 million for charitable organizations through its mGive platform, as well as mobile social networks connecting millions in developing countries.
