Archive - Nov 2, 2008
The Cell Phone Paradox
In some parts of Africa, cell phones are becoming essential tools for economic growth, bringing both information and prosperity. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), however, cell phone technology is helping fuel a deadly, decade-long civil conflict that has sharply escalated in the past week.
There are plenty of examples of how cell phone technology benefits national economies. A 2007 study suggested that a country's economy grows 1.2 percent for every 10 percent increase in the number of cell phone users. An analysis from Niger reports that cell phones triggered a fall in grain prices and a 20 percent reduction in geographical differences in grain prices after they were introduced in 2001. The researcher concludes that cell phones allow grain traders to collect information about market prices without the time and expense of travel, allowing them to respond to market shifts cheaply and efficiently.
The war in the Congo, however, illuminates the dark side of this technological success. Part of the battle is over resources, including a rare mineral called coltan used to manufacture small electronics. Eighty percent of the world’s coltan is in the DRC, and the world's rabid demand for things like laptops and cell phones has made coltan extremely valuable.
According to OneWorld.net:
Armed militias from Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, along with local militias from the DRC, are exploiting most of the reserves and selling the product to multinational corporations that produce cell phones and other electronic devices.”
This battle over resources has led to rape, torture and death in the Congo. In introducing the history of this conflict, a reporter for The Independent admonishes, "No, this is not only a story about them. This — the tale of a short journey into the long Congolese war we in the West have fostered, fuelled and funded — is a story about you.”
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