Enhancing Interactions of Self-help Groups in Africa through Mobile Solutions: Design Guidelines

摘要

Informal self-help groups (merry-go-rounds) are very popular in Africa. Group members come together for informal banking, social welfare, sharing knowledge, news, ideas and tradition, and income generating projects. In Africa groups tend to be geographically isolated particularly in rural areas. This limits interaction between groups yet this could be beneficial e.g. small group savings put together could create a horizontal microloan system for groups and interest financial institutions to deliver services to them. It would also boost local trade and open new markets for entrepreneurs. Networking self-help groups is thus important and implementation through e-solutions would help overcome geographical dispersion challenges. This paper discusses research findings supporting the case for development and design of e-solutions for linking self-help groups. Further it highlights various opportunities for e-solutions by relevant stakeholders for group linkages and provides some design insights based on design guidelines developed by Nokia Research Center, Africa.