MICROCAPITAL STORY: Grameen Foundation of Washington, DC, Google of Silicon Valley, and MTN Uganda Launch Mobile Services for Microenterprises in Uganda

Grameen Foundation, a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization, announced the launch of a suite of mobile phone applications developed with Google and MTN Uganda (MTN) that will deliver services and information in Uganda. Google, a Silicon Valley-based internet search engine and services provider, will provide human and technology resources towards the development of the application solutions. MTN Uganda, a part of the MTN Group based in South Africa, is the telecom operator that will provide the communications infrastructure and local marketing support. The services are SMS-based and designed to work with basic mobile phones. SMS (short message service) enables short text messages to be sent between mobile phones. This is the first available suite of applications resulting from a Grameen Foundation project initiated 18 months ago called the Application Laboratory (AppLab). The service allows individuals to use either their own mobile phone or a shared mobile phone to access information relating to agriculture, healthcare, and market information that can match buyers and sellers.

The new service uses Google SMS Search technology and the MTN network. The mobile phone applications provide real-time health and agricultural information and a virtual marketplace for buying and selling goods and services. Users can access the services at the time of their choosing and search relevant content on-demand, operating almost like the Internet. The services include: Farmer’s Friend, a searchable database with both agricultural advice and targeted weather forecasts; Health Tips, which provides sexual and reproductive health information, paired with Clinic Finder, which helps locate nearby health clinics and their services; and Google Trader matches buyers and sellers of agricultural produce and commodities as well as other products. In Uganda, agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80 percent of the work force, according to the CIA World Factbook. In addition, for a population of 32,369,558, about 13 percent live in urban areas.

Local partners also provide the service content. Busoga Rural Open Source Development Initiative (BRODSI), a non-profit that works with rural villages, provides the agricultural information. The health application content is provided by Marie Stopes Uganda, a service provider for sexual and reproductive health, and Straight Talk Foundation, a Ugandan NGO that specializes in health communication. The Google Trader application works with International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, a non-profit “research for development” organization, TechnoServe, a US-based non-profit focused on economic development, and SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, an independent Netherlands-based development organization.

As stated on its website, AppLab uses mobile technologies to both disseminate and gather information through mobile phone applications and services. Some examples of the applications and uses include using a text message by a farmer who can receive tips on treating crop diseases, learn local market prices, or get advice on preventing malaria. It also allows surveys to be conducted by mobile phones and collect information on access to health services or the types of crops being grown in a specific region. As the AppLab website explains, it focuses on mobile phones because mobile phones are readily available and cost as much as USD 20. Alternatively, there is the option of using shared phones. Mobile phones also require minimal supporting infrastructure. They can be charged using solar technology or car batteries in areas without electricity.

AppLab Uganda, which is located in Kampala and directed by Grameen Foundation’s Technology Center, focuses on providing access to information through mobile phones. The new services in Uganda can be accessed by existing Village Phone Operators (VPOs), who extend service to people without mobile phones as well as people who have their own phones. VPOs serve to connect communities that lack access to information and the sources that can provide it. Building on the work of Grameen Telecom in Bangladesh, Grameen Foundation and MTN Uganda launched Village Phone in Uganda in 2004. As explained by Grameen, microfinance clients receive a loan to purchase a “Village Phone business.” These VPOs run their businesses in rural villages. They then rent the use of the phone to their community on a per-call basis. The VPOs charge their customers while earning enough to repay their loans. According to AppLab’s website, MTN currently has a network of over 10,000 Village Phones in Uganda.

Grameen Foundation, as a non-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, DC, works to replicate the Grameen Bank microfinance model through a global network of partner microfinance institutions. Started in 1976 by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Professor Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank serves more than six million poor families with loans, savings, insurance and other services. The MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse, reports that Grameen Foundation has established a global partner network of 55 microfinance institutions. According to the company’s most recent financial statements, as of March 2008, Grameen Foundation had total revenues of USD 21.9 million, and total expenses of USD 16.7 million. To read more MicroCapital stories about Grameen Foundation, click here.

Google was founded in 1998 and based in Silicon Valley. It is a public company focused on search services. It operates web sites at many international domains, including www.google.com. The company also serves corporate clients, including advertisers, content publishers and site managers with advertising and search services. According to its 2007 Annual Report, it reported total assets of USD 25.3 billion.

Established in 1994, MTN Group is a multinational telecommunications provider based in South Africa, with its core operations in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. According to its website, as of the end of December 2008, it had more than 90.7 million subscribers, and had a total revenue of R102.5 billion (equivalent to USD 12.6 billion) and assets of R141.4 billion (equivalent to USD 17.4 billion)