Designing an e-solution for linking informal self-help groups in Africa
Mokeira Masita-Mwangi, Faith Ronoh-Boreh, Nyambura Kimani, Nancy Mwakaba, Grace Kihumba, Imelda Mueni, Jussi Impiö · 2011
In this paper we describe the process of designing an e-solution for linking informal self-help groups in Africa as a case study. As in many parts of the developing world, participation in these groups in Africa is very popular. Also loosely referred to as Merry-Go-Rounds (MGRs) these are groups of people who come together for either or all of: sharing knowledge, news, ideas, tradition, supporting one another in times of need (social welfare), saving and borrowing together in a rotational manner (informal banking), and carrying out local income generating or self / community development projects. In Africa majority of MGRs are geographically isolated particularly those in rural areas hence interaction between different groups in different regions is minimal yet linking the groups could benefit them in various ways as described in this paper. Worthy of consideration is the implementation of linkages through e-solutions that would help overcome the geographical dispersion of groups. The MGR Solution designed by Nokia Research Center (NRC) Africa is one such tool. It is a mobile solution for self-help groups to better manage their group activities and link them to other groups thus creating financial and social synergy. It provides for various functions to support internal group activities (administrative, financial and projects), group to group activities (e.g. sharing news, ideas, and assets, pooling finances, collaborating on projects) and other external functions (organizations that desire to be linked to and work with groups). To satisfy this, the prototype developed includes a website for the MGR service designed to be accessed from a mobile phone based on the limited screen size and a website that can be accessed from a Personal Computer (PC) as it has more features as compared to the strip down version for mobile phones. The solution also includes a mobile client for the internal group management activities, ability to access MGR web services via the mobile client, and use of SMS for communication by the MGR service. This paper examines the design process of the MGR Solution through ethnographic research, concept development and implementation, and generated user feedback, and hence related Human Computer Interaction (HCI) circumstances, consequences and opportunities. A virtual platform for sharing and exchange provides a good opportunity for growth and development of self-help groups due to increased access to information. It mitigates the geographical hurdle and other related socio-cultural and cost challenges. However certain things may need to be taken into account. These include possible language barriers and how to overcome these e.g. through translations, low literacy levels hence potential to explore audio technologies such as speech to text and text to speech, and elements that can be incorporated on the virtual platform to help build and increase trust amongst the users so that they are able to interact successfully. For example, groups using the system need to be able to verify authenticity of other groups, have some kind of guarantee or mitigation of risks associated to resource sharing with other groups and control and ownership of the shared content.