Securing computer information, data

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Broadband remains expensive in developing countries Page 4 A day in the life of a cellphone technician Page 11

Special pullout to the nation 16 may 2013

Special Essay
By Matthews Mtumbuka, Airtel Information Technology Director

HOT
INSTITUTIONs

The following are institutions and organisations that are

promoting information and communication technology: 1. Mortech IT Solutions 2. National Bank of Malawi 3. National Commission for Science and Technology 4. SkyBand 5. Techno Brain

Securing computer information, data

O
n a daily, if not hourly, basis, many information technology (IT) professionals spend a lot of their energies and resources protecting information and data for entities that they work for. Every second, millions of computer systems are attacked by computer malware including viruses. Bank accounts are hacked into at very alarming rates and many personal computing systems develop serious faults due to malware. People lose a lot of important information and it either costs a lot to recover the information or sometimes, vital information cannot be retrieved at all. In 2010, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) reported some 303 809 complaints of cybercrimes. In 2011, the Norton Cybercrime report estimated annual total cost of cybercrime at $388 billion. These are just few of the major highlights of the kind of information security risks that we get exposed to as we enjoy the convenience of using electronic information systems. In this article, we will discuss basic and simple steps that you can take at a personal level, to ensure that you guard yourself against obvious information security risks. First, we need to define what information security (Infosec) is. Infosec, which is sometimes referred to as Cyber Security, is the protection of information and information systems from unauthorised access, use, disclosure, disruption modification or destruction in order to provide confidentiality, integrity and availability. Basically, Infosec revolves around protecting confidentiality, integrity and availability codenamed CIA not the American security/ intelligence agency! The question then is simplified into what can one do to ensure that confidentiality, integrity and availability of their personal data is guaranteed? Below are 15 of the dos and donts that will equip you with the basic tools that you can use to ensure that your personal data and

Change passwords regularly to ensure that you remain secure: Most ICTs are user-friendly even to children such as these

information remains confidential, integral and available to you whenever you need it. 1. Opening attachments from unknown senders: You need to think more than twice before PAGE 3

FAST FACTS

Charles Babbage is considered to be the father of computing after his invention and concept of the Analytical Engine in 1837. The word computer was first recorded as being used in 1613 and was originally used to describe a person who performed calculations or computations. The definition of a computer remained the same until the end of the 19th century when it began referring to a machine that performed calculations. The IBM 5100 is the first portable computer which was released in September 1975. The computer weighed 55 pounds and had a five inch CRT display, tape drive, 1.9MHz PALM processor and 64KB of RAM.

ICT DAY

Photograph: Nation library

Special pullout to the nation 16 may 2013

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TransformINg our society through ict development

Hints on protecting computer information

PAGE 2 2. you open any attachments in your e-mails. If you do not know the sender of the e-mail or the e-mail sounds strange, avoid opening the attachments until you are very sure that the attachment in question is safe to download. Backup your data regularly: What would you do if you lost your laptop or if suddenly, the PC you were using developed a permanent fault and you are unable to retrieve your data from the PC? You need to regularly backup your data in some safe platform so that if you lose your primary computing unit, you can still access your data. Installing strange applications from internet: Many times, you will find yourself in a situation where you are being required to install some applications from the Internet. Only proceed if it is absolutely important and only if you have a comfortable level of trust in the application and the source where you are getting the software. Mind e-mail forwards: Some people just forward any e-mail that they receive without thinking twice about the implications. You could easily become a source of Infosec problem for others if you carelessly forward e-mails. Mind Reply All: There are computer system users out there that whenever they receive an e-mail, they will reply to all the people copied in the e-mail received. If you are not careful about who you send your e-mails to, you may implicate yourself by sending your confidential information to people you ordinarily would not want to read the information. Avoid surfing questionable sites: Research shows that questionable sites like sites for gambling, pornographic material and other sites that host illegal content are likely sources and hosts of malware. You need to avoid visiting these sites at all costs. Never disable security tools: There are times when you are prompted to disable some security tools on your PC, for example disabling anti-virus or firewall. You should only proceed if you know for a fact that it is safe to do so, and that should only be for a limited period before you can enable the security features again. Use strong passwords: If you use simple and short passwords, chances are that hackers will break into your PC or other electronic

special essay

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Facebook is a risky area where hackers spend most of their time getting peoples identities

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Beware of wireless Internet as unauthorised users may access your information

devices. Hackers use thousands of computers to attack other computers. If your password comprises say six simple lower case characters, it would take hackers a matter of seconds to crack your password. But if you use eight characters of different types, it would take hackers months if not centuries to crack your password! 9. Sharing or giving out passwords: You might have strong passwords but if you share with or easily give them out to others, you expose your data to potential malicious attacks. 10. Change passwords regularly: To make it tough for hackers, you need to change your password regularly. Dont use the same password for years or many months. Make sure you change your passwords and PINs every couple of months at least. 11. Be careful with wireless networks: When you are connected to wireless networks, be aware that you are playing in risky environments. Your laptop may be directly connected to dangerous people

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via the wireless network. Remember not to disable your security configurations on your computing unit. 12. Filling in web forms: Avoid filling in web forms that you do not know very well. If you have to fill out web forms, be sure that you are not revealing any vital and confidential personal information like PIN code for your ATM transactions or passwords for your e-mails, online banking and so on. 13. Be alert on social networks: When you are on social networks like Facebook, you

need to be extremely careful and very vigilant as hackers and other malicious people spend a lot of time there for their bad practices, to steal your identity and to gather your other vital information which they can use against you. 14. Mind the information you leave at internet cafe: Many of us forget that Internet Cafs are public places. When we spend many minutes or hours there, the caf becomes like a home, and we do trust our homes. But for you, when you are in an internet caf, you need to be careful about the information that you leave behind and you need to ensure that you delete all files that you may have opened there and ensure that you do not leave behind any traces of the information. 15. Time locking of handsets and laptop: Consider a risk where your laptop is stolen. Make sure that your laptop and/or mobile handset locks itself after few minutes of idle time. Ensure that to gain access after the locking, you should be required to use a strong password that you master and remember. Many IT managers and leaders are busy developing, deploying and monitoring systems and measures that mitigate against data and information security risks. You too need to take some reasonable care of your personal data, at a personal level. If you use the 15 hints and tips that we have discussed in this article, your data and information will be secure and safe all the time. Good luck!

Photograph: bright kumwenda

Photograph: andrew mtupanyama

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TransformINg our society through ict development
BRENDA TWEA Staff Reporter
espite worldwide trends showing that information communication technology (ICT) prices continue to fall, broadband remains too expensive in many developing countries, including Malawi. On average, the service costs more than 100 percent of monthly income, compared with 1.5 percent in developed countries. ICT expert Derek Lakudzala observes that in Malawi, as in most developing countries, wireless broadband Internet access is the strongest growth sector for Internet users, but its price remains a serious challenge and obstacle. Quoting the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Lakudzala says: While the potential development impact of bringing people from developing countries online via wireless access is enormous, high-end users from the business sector and public and private organisations continue to rely on high-speed fixed-broadband connections. He adds that policy-makers need to act swiftly to facilitate the spread of broadband and ensure that broadband services are fast, reliable and affordable. According to him, for Malawi to rise on the scales and measures of information society, there are a number of methodologies it can follow which are relevant for developing countries. These include capacity development for decisionmakers, capacity building for ICT professionals, inclusion of IT components in secondary training, formation of virtual network, infrastructure development, collaboration and formation of a national body. Lakudzala notes that a key preparatory stage factor in accelerating development through ICT is developing ICT capacity of decision-makers and opinion leaders. The general trend is that senior government officials, top executives of industry and leaders of civil society associations often belong to a generation which has had little exposure to the culture of information technology. He argues that as a result, they tend to be slow in adopting new technologies which are key to development. Because of the key roles people at this level play in shaping policy, it is important that they participate in seminars, workshops and training to familiarise themselves with IT, he says. He also adds that it is important to raise the capacity of the ICT professionals, considering that improvement of computer mediated services require skill development on the part of the professionals. Inclusion of IT components in secondary school education is another way for Malawi to rise on the scales of information society. Some of ICT education needs to be integrated into general

Special pullout to the nation 16 may 2013

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Women working on their computers

Broadband remains expensive in developing countries

education from an early stage. I believe that the Malawi Government already recognises this need. Upscaling the effort will demand higher financial commitments which most developing economies can afford on their own. It is recommended that government should seek the assistance of the development partners wherever possible and coordinate with non-government organisations and local partners, says the expert. He adds that creating demand drivers for ICT is critical to raise the demand for the technology, services and skills. A key component of that, he says, is to encourage human networks that create demand for information distribution and acquisition. Human network at the different levels when empowered, determine the information and content needs and at the same time assists in determining the costs, appropriateness, relevance and necessity of the content. Telecentres at the community level play an important role in this area, he adds. Infrastructure development is yet another area as investment in infrastructure can have big impacts at all levels. As infrastructure costs decrease, effectiveness is enhanced when developing countries learn from what has been done elsewhere and adopt the most current approaches

Government needs to come up with a deliberate policy to promote ICT in secondary schools
to using ICT. The creation of a national information technology coordinating body is essential at the developmental stage. Malawi has the sector regulator and now the Department of e-Government should provide the framework for national coordination of ICT activities in the country. The ITU produces an annual report called Measuring the Information Society. This publication features the latest ICT Development Index (IDI) and ICT Price Basket (IPB) which monitor ICT adoption worldwide. In summary, Lakudzala says IDI captures progress made in regard to availability and capacity to use ICTs whereas the IPB is a powerful tool in monitoring the affordability of ICT services. These are basket measures in that each is a composite of several sub-indicators called sub-baskets. The results for the 2011 report compared 2008 and 2010 results. Among other things, the results indicate that in the ICT price basket and sub-baskets, 2010 and 2008, Malawi ranked 164 out of 165. In the fixed-telephone subbasket, Malawi ranked 150 out of 165 and in the mobile cellular sub-basket, Malawi ranked 165 out of 165. In the mobile cellular subbasket on the other hand, a comparison of the 2008 and 2010 mobile-cellular suggested a slight increase in mobile-cellular tariffs and these were described as alarming developments.

Photographs: Nation library

Special pullout to the nation 16 may 2013

Special pullout to the nation 16 may 2013

Special pullout to the nation 16 may 2013

Special pullout to the nation 16 may 2013

Special pullout to the nation 16 may 2013

From humble beginnings to industry leader

Malawi has placed information and communication technology (ICT) at the forefront to improve its economy. ICT strategies have been identified as key drivers for economic growth and form a crucial part of the Economic Recovery Plan (ERP), devised to boost the economy. The country is targeting a 50 percent ICT penetration by 2020. Techno Brain is playing its part in this quest to take technology to the people and make a difference on the ground. Techno Brain started out as a small information technology (IT) training centre in 1997 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It quickly identified the great opportunities Africa had to offer and made a strategic move to offer custom ICT solutions on the continent. The rise of the company from then till now is aweinspiring. Over a decade and a half later, Techno Brain is today recognised as one of the leading software development companies in Africa. The company is ISO

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TransformINg our society through ict development

The success story of Techno Brain

9001:2008 and Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 3 certified with a global presence in 19 countries across four continents. Techno Brains success story in Malawi is equally inspiring. It unassumingly entered Malawi in 2005 with Jose Araujo as its manager. Araujo and his driver, Numeric Chikuse, who is currently the companys administrative assistant, were the only employees at the time. Today, Techno Brains Malawi office is home to more than 75 employees, of which 30 are IT experts and 90 percent of employees are Malawians. The facility caters for the needs of government bodies, non-profit organisations and the private sector. The company enjoys a huge market share in Malawi, significantly ahead of its competition in the country. The domination of the company can be attributed to its diverse set of offerings which include ICT Solutions, IT training and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and information technology enabled services (Ites). The company places a lot of importance on IT training, imparting latest technology knowledge on the young talent pool in Malawi. The impetus on training is further justified by the plan to open a new training facility, New Horizons in Blantyre. Techno Brain partners with some of the leading technology companies in the world, including Microsoft, IBM, Oracle and SAP . The partnership allows the company to stay up to date with new technologies and industry best practices. The same knowledge is often passed on to the trainees in the IT training programmes. In recent years, Techno Brains expansion plan has been in overdrive, helping it further consolidate its position in Africa while entering new horizons. The company currently operates in Tanzania, PAGE 11

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Special pullout to the nation 16 may 2013

Transforming society through ICT

Annie Magola National Bank of Malawi Corporate Affairs Manager

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ho would have thought, 30 years ago that National Bank of Malawi (NBM) customers could access their accounts in the comfort of their homes and offices? This is a complete revolution. Banking as we all know was in those years about keeping money at least for an interest and cashing the same money. Banking was also probably for a loan or an overdraft. The banks customers had to travel long distances to the bank to either check balances in their passbooks or make personal or third party funds transfers. This was costly for the customers as they had to pay for their transport and spend a lot of time on the journey. I also recall the long time it would take for National Bank to notify customers about transactions in their accounts. The bank relied on physical mail posted through the post offices which would reach customers two or three days later. Fast forward to today and look at how information technology has revolutionalised all these. Today at NBM, customers have lots of opportunities to access and transact their accounts in the comfort of their offices or homes and even when they have travelled abroad. Customersofthebankregistered on Mo626ice (the mobile phone banking service) can do several

banking transactions without physically going to the bank. Once registered on Mo626ice, National Bank customers can make funds transfers from their accounts to any other National Bank accounts. They can make transfers to their other accounts or accounts of third parties. This is especially important where funds are needed elsewhere to assist with emergencies. On Mo626ice, customers are also able to pay DSTv subscriptions. This was unthinkable 10 years ago; DSTv subscribers had to travel from as far as Zomba, Mulanje, Mangochi to Multi-Choice Offices in Blantyre or from Mchinji, Kasungu and Salima to Lilongwe to pay their monthly or quarterly subscriptions. With the opening of KFC down town Blantyre, officers are placing their lunch orders using Mo626ice while still working and they pick up the food without spending too much time in the restaurant. This is increasing their efficiency at work as no time is wasted standing on a queue to buy meals. In addition, it is a thing of the past for National Bank customers to stand on long and meandering queues neither at Lilongwe, Blantyre and Mzuzu Service centres nor at Northern and Southern Region Water Boards and Escom to pay for their water and electricity bills. Customers on BankNet Online (an internet banking service) and Mo626ice are simply paying on line using their computers or cell phones. This sophistication has not left behind our customers in rural areas, especially farmers. After selling their tobacco at auction floors, farmers

Magola: With Mo626ice, customers are able to pay DSTv subscriptions

would wait for three or four days before walking from their villages to the bank to check if proceeds from their tobacco sales had been deposited into their accounts. Tobacco farmers now receive an SMS notification from the bank when their money has been credited to their accounts. This is a great innovation for the farmers. The introduction of Point of Sale

Devices (PoS) has also transformed the way business is conducted by the banks customers. National Bank customers who own retail outlets, hotels, lodges and restaurants, among others, have been supplied with PoS devices through which their customers pay their bills. This is a modern way of paying bills and has come as a result of advancements

in IT. Similarly it was not imaginable 20 years ago that hard cash would no longer be the only mode of payment. Proud customers of the Bank of the Nation today, are using plastic money or cards to pay for their goods and services in supermarkets, groceries and shops. It is now fashionable to see NBM customers going to supermarkets with a wallet of cards and not cash. This has helped our customers save time by not queuing at the bank to get cash for payment of goods and services. With IT transformation, people are also able to go on holiday but continue to receive information from their offices and continue to work and stay in touch with the rest of the world. Of great importance is the improvement in speed and quality of communication at ever reducing costs. Some of the cross border meetings by our management are held on-line through video conferencing and telephone conferences. In the past, one would have to board a plane to attend a meeting. Imagine how much is saved when holding the on-line conferences. With all these developments and social transformations, it is pleasing to see that the Bank of the Nation has set pace in fostering technology in the banking industry in Malawi. The more opportunities technology creates, the more offerings National Bank will offer the nation quite often for free.

Skyband for innovative Internet access

STAFF WRITER
Started in July 2000, Skyband is the largest privately owned and operated Internet service provider (ISP) in Malawi. The ISP has been fundamental in implementing new services and products into the Malawi market. Skyband provides a full range of innovative Internet access, including dial-up, broadband, WiMAX, very small aperture terminal (VSAT), Wi-Fi Hotspot, and 3G Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). Skyband can provide Internet Protocol (IP) transit, virtual private networks (VPNs), multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) services to and from its Points of Presence (PoPs) in Malawi and also provides hosting, disaster recovery and e-commerce solutions for its corporate customers. Skyband has a team of highly dedicated and experienced professionals aimed solely at providing you with the best possible services and support in Malawi. Skyband has MPLS POPs in Blantyre, Limbe, Lilongwe, Mzuzu, Zomba, Mangochi, Salima, Kasungu and Chinkhoma and is currently extending this network out to Thyolo, Mulanje, Nchalo, Mwanza, Dwangwa, Dedza, Balaka, Ntcheu, Mchinji, Nkhata Bay and Karonga. In addition, Skyband is connected to the Eastern Africa Submarine System (Eassy) Submarine Fiber Optic Network to London and South Africa through its own independent fiber contracts. Skyband has also recently together with its partners successfully commissioned a second submarine fibre link on Seacom between Maputo and London. This fibre termination in effect ensures redundancy of all our international VPN traffic and also our traditional Internet traffic. Skyband is able to leverage its points of presence and global partnerships to provide high quality, cost-effective, end-to-end between Malawi and the rest of the world. Skyband currently employs approximately 80 members of staff allowing us to handle all our own support services, installations and maintenance in-house. We have a growing data centre and do all of our own email and webhosting and also host our own call centre which will be operational 24/7 in the near future. Our business, however, is not limited to only this; as a technology company, our customers are constantly asking us to supply and manage different products and services as they come into the market and as their need for them arise. We are an ever evolving and developing business, but we always remember and reflect that at our core, we are a communications company. Skyband Offices are located in Blantyre, on the ground floor of Delamere House, along Victoria Avenue and in Lilongwe, in the Skyband Complex, off Paul Kagame Road.

Photograph: Nation library

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TransformINg our society through ict development

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Techno Brain taking ICT to people

PAGE 9 Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Lesotho, Swaziland, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, UK, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Techno Brains contribution in Malawis development has been unparalleled. The company helps border control authorities to ensure national security by prohibiting illegal trespassing between neighbouring countries; government financial departments to increase transparency and offer better services to citizens; law enforcement agencies to identify criminals through bio-metric features and local government bodies to offer better citizen services. You can rest assured that the company will strive to provide more citizens centric services with robust, enhanced and technology rich solutions with the citizen in mind. Techno Brain is constantly in pursuit of its vision to be recognised as a respected, global IT firm, while also being committed to societys development. Techno Brain offers IT solutions and products in identity management, enterprise business, IT consulting, IT infrastructure and managed services, among others. Techno Brains major IT products are InspireHRM, a Certified for Microsoft Dynamics (CfMD) human resources and payroll management system; MEsure, project monitoring and evaluation system, a CfMD product; SecuRegister, AIRevenue, an Airport Revenue Management System; Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) and child helpline case management system just to mention a few. Techno Brains training division has over a decades experience in imparting quality IT training in Africa on various career courses, certification programs, corporate training, university programmes, testing services and content management. Partnered with New Horizons, the worlds largest IT training company, Techno Brain helps in developing skilled IT manpower in Africa. Techno Brain

BRENDA TWEA Staff Reporter

he modern world is so dependent on communication devices.There are technologies today that allow people to keep in contact with each other in every part of the world. And a phone is one of such inventions. As the years went by, the wireless telephone and the mobile phone were the next big things in the voice communication. One could walk around the house and have no worry about stretching the long curly cords that were used before. Mobile phones have become really huge and, today, almost everyone owns one. We often feel completely cut off from the rest of the world without our cellphones. Who can imagine a world today without a cellphone? Every time cellphones are out of service, people rush to experts to get them repaired so that they remain connected to the world. Willy Mbwana Juniora technician from Sanwecka Technical Companions, an electronics enterprise selling and servicing free-to-air dishes and decoders, DVD players, cellphones and their accessories, among other thingssays cellphone repairing is a challenging job. It mostly has to do with resurrecting dead cellphones. In fact, most cellphone repairers work under extreme pressure. Some customers say I need my phone in two hours time because I am leaving for Lilongwe this afternoon and I have already booked a coach. They do this even when the problem is complicated and may need more than two hours to be repaired, he says. As a seasoned technician, Mbwana says [in such situations] he adjusts his work schedule for the day and work at a supersonic speed, correctly fixing tiny components to meet the demands of the customer. He adds that repairing a phone is also risky in that some phones develop more complications when the casing is opened. When this happens, the customer heaps blame on a technician who may either end-up being dragged to court.

A day in the life of a cellphone technician

A technician doing what he knows best

There are cases when you are forced to buy another phone for the customer because of unexpected problems that develop in the process of repairing one, says Mbwana. Another technician from Wanks Electronics in Limbe, Ray Manyawa, also shares his experience. There are cases such as a phone failing to complete loading when switched on and when that happens we know it is a software problem. There are also hardware problems, for example, where a phone needs a replacement of the liquid crystal display (LCD) simply because it cannot display anything. A cellphone also develops mouth or ear piece problems, says Manyawa. He says when a customer brings a faulty cellphone, he asks them to explain what the problem is. We then use our machines to either detect or confirm what the customer said, he says. Just as cellphone technicians say, there are a lot of challenges they face in their day-to-day work. There has also been an influx of fake phones on the market and this is a problem because when such phones break down, they are irredeemable. Some phones are labelled Nokia but when you open them, you discover that they are not. If such a phone develops a fault, it is difficult to repair them because you discover that its spare parts are not compatible with those of genuine Nokia, says Manyawa. Mbwana says sometimes when a cellphone is irreparable and you tell customers that the gadgets are irredeemable, they start doubting your skills in fixing phones. There are also cases where you fix one problem only to discover that there is another thing that also needs fixing. When you ask customers for more money, they do not listen to you. Another challenge we face is that of spare parts. It is difficult to get all spare parts you need locally, he says. Mbwana warns people against buying cheap phones on the market. Each of these phones has its own model and this makes it difficult to be repaired when they break down, he says.

Photograph: ANDREW MTUPANYAMA

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Special pullout to the nation 16 may 2013

ICT and socio-economic development

BRENDA TWEA Staff Reporter
frica is hit hard by poverty and diseases and this has affected the quality of life of its people. This has also caused development to move at a slow pace in the last decades. But the advent of information and communication technology (ICT) has somewhat carved out an alternative path to development. Malawi has benefited and developed in many ways through ICT, says Malawi CommunicationsRegulatory Authority (Macra) director of communications Lloyd Momba. ICT is viewed as a sector that cuts across all other development sectors through various applications that exist in the industry. The liberalisation of the ICT industry through the establishment of a regulator in communications has led to the growth of the sector as evidenced by the current statistics showing the growth of the sector from the time Macra started its regulatory operations, he said. The country has witnessed steady growth in the teledensity for users of telephony services to the current 35 percent. Currently, the sector has seen the emergence of modern third generation (3G) technologies in the area of voice, video and data platforms to complement the services being delivered in the ICT sector across the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) region and globally. Momba also indicated that in line with the motto of promoting universal ICT access in the country, Macra, under the guidance of the Ministry of Information and in cooperation with several cooperating partners and stakeholders, has launched initiatives to take ICT to the rural areas through the telecentre projects. These projects offer communities in the rural and under-served areas the opportunity to access ICT services within easy reach to facilitate their socioeconomic development, he says. He further points out that ICT applications have since been adopted in all sectors through ICT business solutions in commerce such as mobile money and online

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Digital advertising is now common in Blantyre and Lilongwe

banking. Others include e-education in schools where courses and programmes are offered online reaching out to a lot of students; e-health and telemedicine to offer alternative help for overwhelming cases in areas where doctor to patients ratio cannot be sustained. Apart from that, ICT applications have also aided infrastructure development through the implementation of high capacity fibre optic projects which offer better connectivity services; community-based mobilisation through multipurpose community telecentres as well as rapid response to security threats and disasters through harmonised emergency response services and numbers such as 990 and 997. Mobile phones, as another form of ICT, have also contributed to the economic development of Africa and Malawi in particular. Currently, Africa is ranked second to Asia in terms of mobile phone connections. As of 2012, Africa had over 700 million mobile phones, according to Momba. He says the advent of mobile phone connections and usage has brought with it unprecedented socioeconomic benefits. Such benefits include the

With ICTs, one can transact business from any part of the world
development of small and medium-scale businesses with respect to the service applications that come with mobile technology, airtime sales, for instance, which is predominantly in the form of scratch cards as the country is yet to fully migrate to electronic airtime sales. The signal for mobile phoneserviceswhichcurrently covers over 90 percent of Malawis population ensures that re-sellers of mobile phone airtime have a steady market across the country where network coverage is already present, he says. That aside, mobile phone connections have brought about the development of vibrant social networking opportunities. This has increased the business appeal through instant and real time advertising to a large pool of potential buyers. The advent of product and service advertising on such social networking sites such as T witter and Facebook has also increased the business appeal as most people are now able to interact with clients and receive feedback which allows them to improve their services. In todays modern world, it is a common phenomenon to find that most businesses will always include details of their T witter handle and a Facebook page as part of their contacts for ease of reach by their clients, he states. The development of e-commerce activities such as mobile money is also a big plus in countries such as Malawi where the percentage of people without access to banking facilities is relatively higher. Considering that almost 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas where the banking network is almost non-existent, mobile

money has offered greater alternatives in the transaction of business and sending of money between the rural and urban areas, thus offering a cheaper means of making transactions. Momba adds that the e-commerce activities also include developed applications using SMS based platforms that allow collection of relevant information across many development sectors. These include applications for collection of patient statistics in the health sector through SMS, applications for accessing examination results through SMS in the education sector and applications for accessing commodity availability and prices in the agriculture sector. These applications allow people to make informed decisions and correctly apportion resources to areas that need them most without having to travel to the affected areas and do an on-spot investigation, he says. The development of data applications for mobile users has also enhanced online reporting and feedback which can be tapped into for some government e-services by the realisation that most of the citizenry is within easy reach of a mobile signal coverage.

Photographs: ANDREW MTUPANYAMA