- Outlook of Payment Systems in Africa: 2009 Digital Money and the prospect of epayment in Africa

Modern society is characterized by a new economy, engendered by the convergence of globalization (existing connections and relationships among countries, continents and cultures that transcend their immediate local environment) and information and communication technology (ICT), riding on the backbone of the Internet.

An important feature of this convergence is that information has become codified in a manner that renders its processing and distribution quick and cheap. In effect, information has become a dematerialized economic entity and a measure of power and, by extension, wealth, as depicted in the convertibility of currency notes to data.

Inevitably, this new economy encompasses the vicissitudes of the old, magnifying extant “object gaps” with new and stringent forms of “ideas gaps.” The consequence is that developing countries (like those of sub-Saharan Africa) have to confront the twin challenges of technology inequality and poverty with the uncanny option of devoting attention to fighting the former as a mean of addressing the latter, often with innovative livelihood mechanisms.

SUBSCRIBE FOR VOLUME 1 ISSUE 8 EDITION OF CARD TECHNOLOGY AFRICA FOR FULL ARTICLE