The Technology Our West Africa Bureau Chief Relies On
Mobile money — using a mobile phone to transfer payments — is also mainstream in many places
and is a lifesaver for people who don’t have the option of bank transfers.
A lot of people in more-rural areas cannot afford TVs,
and even if they can, in many areas electricity is highly unreliable, so mobile phones are a major source of news.
But pretty much any cafe or restaurant will hand you a Wi-Fi password if you ask for it,
and even small hotels in out-of-the-way places seem to manage to rig some kind of Wi-Fi system.
