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

4 - 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.

Keywords

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

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Author Biography

  • Gado Alzouma

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

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