[kictanet] Are Mobicoms Impoverishing "Emerging Markets"?

[Eric Osiakwan]

Dear Alex,

Am sorry but you have not said anything new, this is not about ICT  
but just the human nature. In the words of Dr. Ndemo, please can you  
allow me to differ with you....

Carlos like any other human whether rich by ICT or Oil or Diamonds  
etc can either behave well towards society or be evil. Google says  
"do no evil".

George Soros, one of my long standing heroes and mentors of all time,  
who went up (hedged) against the Queens pound and made a fortune  
overnight still behaves well towards society. He has being funding  
and a great thinker of the Open Society concept which seeks to give  
all humans a say and a part of our societal development - that is  
distribution of resources and the establishment of a high platform  
for civil engagement which takes cognisance of the fact that every  
human being is unique and has a unique contribution to the common  
good so MUST be given a CHANCE to do so.

If you check the records carefully, there is no revolution of time  
that gives even the poor a chance at wealth than the ICT revolution.  
In the Agricultural age, you needed lots of money to buy land and  
farm inputs etc to participate in that ages wealth arena. In the  
industrial revolution, you know what it took but in the ICT age, my  
good old friend, started the biggest software company in Africa  
(okay, i also stand to be corrected.....:-) with an old computer that  
his father had discarded in their storeroom and bootstraped to become  
a giant. You cant start a farm or industry that way. Well, you also  
know the famous Bill Gates story.

Alex, i like challenging the status quo and rethinking things and  
arguments but in the scheme of things those of us who belong to this  
revolution must settle and shipout this steroe type argument that  
beats on the gains and opportunities provided by ICTs to the  
developing world. Bill Gates, made that same argument on CNN some  
five years ago that Africa needs food, clean water etc and not  
computers but today he has not only changed his stand but he is busy  
locking African governments into the Micorsoft platform.

Can you ever imagine that the richest man in the world could come  
from a developing country if it is not for ICT and how on earth can  
Africa be leading the entire world on something if it was not for the  
mobile revolution? To cut a long story short, it is not about ICTs  
but human nature and thats why i now subscribe to school of thought  
that we need to go back to the same basics of human discipline,  
honesty, faithfullness, hardwork, commitment etc

Eric here



On 26 Nov 2007, at 15:45, Alex Gakuru wrote:

> Taking a bird's view, floating a conspiracy theory,  and inviting your
> comments...
>
> The Financial Post 9 -15 April 2007 issue, contains an article titled
> "Billion Dollar Baby" Carlos Slim Helú's fortune is up almost $20
> billion a year, built amid poverty and resentment in Mexico. Now he is
> gaining on Warren Buffett. (attached)
>
> This is old news now for Carlos is now the world's richest man. Slim
> has a substantial influence over the telecommunications industry [and
> media] in Mexico and much of Latin America as well.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Slim_Hel%C3%BA
>
> There are/can be two camps here, one paying homage to new richest men
> in our worlds or those feeling the havoc caused by mobicoms dominance
> by worsening poverty levels in developing nations. This is why I say,
> andstand to be corrected, "In the current situation ICTs cause more
> poverty than prosperity."
> http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php? 
> option=com_content&task=view&id=363&Itemid=5810.
>
> With this wealth and power at their disposal, I fear that it could be
> just a matter of time before they start deciding on DNs governments. A
> hypothetical Fabian bored with too much wealth, succeeded at his
> ultimate game to an entire society: -
>
> "After a man has far more money than he can possibly spend for
> pleasure, what is left to excite him? For those with a ruling class
> mentality, the answer is power - raw power over other human beings.
> The idealists were used in the media and in Government, but the real
> controllers that Fabian sought were those of the ruling class
> mentality." http://www.relfe.com/plus_5_.html
>
> Another example, I have been following on how spying devices were
> found inside key components of the Vodafone network in Greece, which
> was being used to monitor conversations of 103 people, including the
> Greek Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis and his wife. Today I read
> this article http://www.cellular-news.com/story/27648.php
>
> An earlier story "Death muddies Greek spy probe" can be found here
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4838552.stm
>
> 3 cents...
>
> [mind mentioning where you got this compilation if you must to use it
> somewhere else? ("creative commons":) Thanks]
> <BillionDollarBaby.gif>
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Eric M.K Osiakwan
Executive Secretary
AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org)
Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031
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Handle: eosiakwan
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Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/
Slang: "Tomorrow Now"




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