Tag Archive for 'Senegal'

Radio and ICT in West Africa : Connectivity and Use

Published on 09 Aug. 2009 in publications and research. 2 Comments Tags: Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, mobile, Niger, Panos, satellite, Senegal, sierra leone, West Africa.

Panos West Africa has published the results of a base-line study of West African radio connectivity to ICTs (internet, satellite, computer, digital storage tools, etc.), analyzing the uses implemented, identifying the constraints and opportunities, and making recommendations to the different stakeholders. The study concentrated on seven countries (Ghana, Benin, Senegal, Mali, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso & Niger) and considered public, community, commercial and religious radio stations. Two hundred and twenty radio stations took part in the survey. The main tools of research used were questionnaires, interviews and documentary analysis.

Continue reading ‘Radio and ICT in West Africa : Connectivity and Use’

Community media and SMS text messages

Published on 14 Jul. 2008 in experiences, gadgets, research, software and toolkit. 4 Comments Tags: Africa, AMARC, Brazil, DRC, elections, FrontlineSMS, Ghana, Indonesia, Jamaica, MMS, mobile, Peru, Pirates, podcasts, rural, Senegal, sms, South Africa, UK, USA, Zimbabwe.

At first glance SMS text messages would seem like a natural for inclusion in a community radio station’s essential toolkit. SMS messages are inexpensive and easy-to-use and in recent years the mobile phones that are needed for sending and receiving them have become ubiquitous. However, a survey of recent projects indicates that use of SMS messages among community media in the developing world is still at an early stage. In most stations SMS use is informal. The few cases identified of community stations making more complex use of SMS messages have accompanied political crises or natural disasters and have inevitably been donor financed. There are few, if any, experiences of complex uses of SMS by community media without external funding and technical support, even though the financial and technical resources required are minimal.

Download a Spanish-language version of this article

Continue reading ‘Community media and SMS text messages’

The Information Highways are still Unpaved: The internet and West African community radio

Published on 03 Nov. 2007 in experiences. 0 Comments Tags: Africa, Mali, Panos, Senegal.

A chapter in The One to Watch by Lynda Attias and Johan Deflander looks at the harsh reality of using internet and radio West Africa.

Since our radio has been connected to the Internet, our telephone bills are four times higher, but I’ve also seen that we communicate four times less with our community.
– Zane Ibrahim, Bush Radio; Cape Town, South Africa

Download the chapter