Open access Peer reviewed

Articles · Vol. 16 No. 2 (2008): Africa Media Review, Volume 16, n° 2 , 2008

Everyday Use of Mobile Phones in Niger

Vol. 16 · 2008 No. 2 Africa Media Review, Volume 16, n° 2 , 2008 AMR

Abstract

This paper critically examines the effects of mobile phone use on relationships
among people in Niger. The study is based on a fieldwork conducted during the
summer of 2003 and 2004 among Nigerien urban users of mobile phones in
Niamey, the capital city. Semi-structured interviews were used to find out how
people ‘experience’ the use of mobile phones in their everyday life. The author
argues that the use of mobile phones in Niger is expanding women’s sphere of
privacy, challenging the disintegration effects of urban life, reinforcing communal
ties, changing social use of time and what Pertierra et al. (2002) call ‘discursive
practices.’ The paper concludes by explaining that the popularity of mobile
phones in Africa and particularly in Niger lies essentially in the manipulability
and low cost of those telecommunications devices, including the fact that mobile
phones do not require a certain level of literacy among the users.

Everyday Use of Mobile Phones in Niger

Cet article porte sur une analyse critique des effets de l’usage du téléphone
mobile sur les relations interpersonnelles au Niger. L’étude est basée sur des
travaux de terrain effectués pendant l’été en 2003 et 2004 auprès des citadins
Nigériens utilisateurs de téléphones mobiles à Niamey, la capitale du pays. Les
interviews semi-structurées ont été utilisées afin de comprendre comment les
citoyens ‘vivent’ l’utilisation du téléphone mobile au quotidien. Du point de
vue de l’auteur, l’usage du téléphone portable entraîne une extension de la
sphère d’intimité chez les femmes. Se faisant, l’usage de ces ‘gadgets’ permet de lutter contre les effets de désintégration de la vie moderne, renforce les liens
communautaires, modifie la gestion du temps et de ce que Pertierra et al ont
convenu d’appeler ‘les pratiques discursives’. En conclusion, l’auteur justifie la
popularité du téléphone mobile en Afrique et au Niger en particulier par la
manipulabité et l’abordabilité des coûts de ses outils de télécommunications, y
compris le fait que le portable n’exige pas son utilisateur d’avoir un certain niveau
d’instruction préalable.

Keywords

mobile phone privacy urban life gendered technology ITU sub- Saharan Africa

Statistics

Abstract views
595
Downloads
113

Citations

11 citations

See citing publications Google Scholar

Citations counted by OpenAlex, an open index of scholarly literature, updated weekly. Google Scholar may count more.

Author Biography

  • Gado Alzouma

    Associate Professor of Anthropology at the American University of Nigeria, Yola, Nigeria.

References

  1. Agence de Presse Africaine (APA), 2007, Téléphonie mobile: Celtel-Niger envisage
  2. de couvrir 200 localités à l’horizon 2008, media, release, 18 June, viewed
  3. July 2007, < http://www.apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article
  4. &id_article=35563>
  5. Altervision, 2004, Le téléphone mobile au Mali et au Niger, web document. Viewed
  6. on April 7, 2004,
  7. Alzouma, G., 2005, ‘Myths of Digital Technology in Africa: Leapfrogging Development?’
  8. Global Media and Communication, 1,(3): 339-356.
  9. Bachen, C., 2001, ‘The Family in the Networked Society: A Summary of Research
  10. on the American Family,’ STS Nexus, 1(1). Viewed 4 September 2004,
  11. sts.scu.edu/nexus/Issue1-1/Bachen_TheNetworkedFamily.asp>.
  12. Bourdieu, P., 1990, Logic of Practice, trans. R. Nice. Cambridge: Polity.
  13. Bourdieu, P., 1997, ‘Marginalia – some additional thoughts on the gift,’ in A.
  14. Schrift (ed.), The Logic of the Gift: Toward an Ethic of Generosity, London:
  15. Routledge.
  16. Carrier, J.G., 1995, ‘Gifts in a World of Commodities,’ in J.G. Carrier (ed.) Gifts and
  17. Commodities: Exchange and Western Capitalism since 1700. London:
  18. Routledge.
  19. Centre sur les Politiques internationales des TIC en Afrique centrale et de l’Ouest
  20. (CIPACO), 2007, Niger: appel à intérêt pour la libéralisation des
  21. télécommunications, Media Release, 12 January, viewed 9 September 2007,
  22. <http://www.cipaco.org/spip.php?article1215> 77234 9886
  23. Fortunati, L., 2003, ‘The Mobile Phone and Democracy: An Ambivalent Relationship,’
  24. in Mobile Democracy, ed. Kristof Nyiri, Vienna: Passagen Verlag.
  25. Fox, K., 2001, Evolution, Alienation and Gossip: The Role of Mobile Telecommunications
  26. in the 21st Century, Social Issues Research Center, viewed 12 February
  27. , <http://www.sirc.org/publik/gossip.shtml>.
  28. Geser, H., 2004, Towards a Sociological Theory of the Mobile Phone, University
  29. of Zurich, viewed 8 January 2005, <http://socio.ch/mobile/t_geser1.pdf>.
  30. Government of Niger, 2002, Demographic and Health Survey, Niamey, Niger.
  31. Government of Niger, Office of the Prime Minister, 2002, Poverty Reduction Strategy
  32. Document, Niamey, Niger.
  33. Grant Lewis, S., and Samoff, J., 1992, Microcomputers in African Development:
  34. Critical Perspectives. Boulder, Colorado: Westview.
  35. Hall, J., 2003, ‘Africa at Large: Mobile Phones in Vogue,’ Africa. no, News
  36. Update,The Norwegian Council for Africa, viewed 12 February 2005,
  37. .
  38. International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 2004, Africa: The World’s Fastest
  39. Growing Mobile 2004, Media Release, 26 April, viewed 4 December 2004,
  40. < http://www.itu.int/newsarchive/press_releases/2004/04.html>
  41. International Telecommunication Union, 2002, ITU Digital Access Index, The
  42. World’s First Global ICT Ranking, Online, viewed September 08, 2007,
  43. http://www.itu.int/newsarchive/press_releases/2003/30.html
  44. Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l’Equipement et de l’Environnement pour
  45. le Développement (ISTED), 1998, The Dynamics of Urbanization in Sub-Saharan
  46. Africa, Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l’Equipement et de
  47. l’Environnement pour le Développement (ISTED), Paris, France.
  48. Lally, E., 2002, At Home With Computers, Oxford: Berg.
  49. Olivier de Sardan, J.P., 1982, Concepts et Conceptions Songhay-Zarma, Nubia.
  50. Paris: France.
  51. Ong, W.J., 1982, Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the World, London:
  52. Methuen.
  53. Pertierra, R., Ugarte, E., Pingol, A., Hernandez, J., and Lexis Dacanay, L., 2002, TXTING
  54. SELVES: Mobile Phones and Philippine Modernity, Manila, Philippines:
  55. De La Salle University Press.
  56. Radcliffe-Brown, A.R., 1940, ‘On Joking Relationships,’ Africa, 13: 195-210.
  57. Tourawa, D and Tidjani, A., 1998, ‘Le téléphone portable au Niger’, Sahel Dimanche
  58. (August 28).
  59. Uimonen, P., 2003, ‘Networking as a Form of Life: The Transnational Movement of
  60. Internet Pioneers,’ in Garsten, C., and Wulff, H. (eds.) Technologies at Work:
  61. People, Screen, and Social Virtuality, New York: Berg.
  62. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), 2007, UNCCD,
  63. UNDP and the Government of Niger Tackle Both Youth Unemployment and
  64. Desertification, Press release, Online, Viewed September 08, 2007, http:/
  65. /www.unccd.int/publicinfo/pressrel/showpressrel.php?pr=press17_06_03
  66. United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), 1999, Policies and
  67. Strategies for Accelerating Africa’s Information Infrastructure Development,
  68. paper written for the African Development Forum 1999, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
  69. viewed March 9, 2004, http://www.uneca.org/adf99/infrastructure.htm

In this issue

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2008): Africa Media Review, Volume 16, n° 2 , 2008 →