John Campbell

Africa in Transition

Campbell tracks political and security developments across sub-Saharan Africa.

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Showing posts for "Technology"

Boko Haram Attacking Nigeria’s Mobile Phone Infrastructure

by John Campbell
Jamil Idriss charges 50 naira ($0.33) to recharge phone batteries using rows of three-pin sockets nailed to a plank of wood and plugged into a diesel generator in the Obalende District of Lagos May 20, 2010. (Akintunde Akinleye/Courtesy Reuters) Jamil Idriss charges 50 naira ($0.33) to recharge phone batteries using rows of three-pin sockets nailed to a plank of wood and plugged into a diesel generator in the Obalende District of Lagos May 20, 2010. (Akintunde Akinleye/Courtesy Reuters)

This Day is reporting that Boko Haram operatives are staging “unrelenting” attacks on the telecommunications infrastructure, especially in the states of Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, and Kano, Nigeria’s second largest city. It reports that members of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), principally MTN, GLO, Airtel, and Etisalat, are threatening to suspend telecommunications services in the North. An ALTON spokesperson said at least twenty-five base stations belonging to its members have been destroyed, many of them hubs. A spokesman said that a base station costs between N500 million and N1 billion ($3 million-$6 million). Read more »

Guest Post: Kony 2012 “Cover the Night” a Flop?

by Guest Blogger for John Campbell
Supporters watch a projection that is part of the non-profit organization Invisible Children's "Kony 2012" viral video campaign in New York April 20, 2012. (Keith Bedford/Courtesy Reuters) Supporters watch a projection that is part of the non-profit organization Invisible Children's "Kony 2012" viral video campaign in New York April 20, 2012. (Keith Bedford/Courtesy Reuters)

Asch Harwood is the Africa program research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Update: I was recently interviewed on NPR’s “On the Media.” You can listen here. Read more »

Guest Post: Is Boko Haram Middle Class?

by Guest Blogger for John Campbell
A view of the scene of a bomb blast is seen in Nigeria's northern city of Kaduna April 8, 2012. (Stringer/Courtesy Reuters) A view of the scene of a bomb blast is seen in Nigeria's northern city of Kaduna April 8, 2012. (Stringer/Courtesy Reuters)

This is a guest post by Jim Sanders, a career, now retired, West Africa watcher for various federal agencies. The views expressed below are his personal views and do not reflect those of his former employers.

In his informative Financial Times piece, “BlackBerrys flourish in the malls of Lagos,” Xan Rice focuses mainly on blackberry manufacturer Research In Motion, the firm’s market outlook for Nigeria, and about what this tells us about Nigeria’s emerging middle class. Read more »

Guest Post: KONY 2012, Beyond the Buzz

by John Campbell
Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) soldiers, in this exclusive image, pose during peace negotiations between the LRA and Ugandan religious and cultural leaders in Ri-Kwangba, southern Sudan, November 30, 2008. (Africa 24 Media/Courtesy Reuters) Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) soldiers, in this exclusive image, pose during peace negotiations between the LRA and Ugandan religious and cultural leaders in Ri-Kwangba, southern Sudan, November 30, 2008. (Africa 24 Media/Courtesy Reuters)

This is a guest post by Melissa Bukuru, CFR Africa program intern.

After 50 million views and a media buzz that shows no sign of dying down quickly, backlash to Invisible Children’s KONY 2012 video campaign was inevitable. Many African journalists are protesting the “imperialist” undertones of the video, arguing that the video presents only a “single story”and ignores the community-based organizations already at work in Uganda and its neighbors (not to mention plenty of important details about the LRA.) Read more »

Guest Post: New Figures on Facebook and Twitter in Africa

by John Campbell
Nairobi University students study with computers during the launch of Facebook in Nairobi March 27, 2008. (Antony Njuguna/Courtesy Reuters ) Nairobi University students study with computers during the launch of Facebook in Nairobi March 27, 2008. (Antony Njuguna/Courtesy Reuters )

This is a guest post by Asch Harwood and Melissa Bukuru. Asch is the CFR Africa program research associate. Follow him on Twitter at @aschlfod. Melissa is the CFR Africa program intern.

Like mobile statistics (which Asch wrote about yesterday), information on social media use can also be thin. A communications firm, Portland, has set out to address this deficit and measure just how prevalent Twitter and how it is being used across Africa. They analyzed about 11.5 million geolocated tweets across the continent (including North Africa). Read more »

Guest Post: Defining Mobile Phone Usage in Africa

by John Campbell
Nokia mobile phone chargers are seen at Abubakr Ali's (C) market stall in Abu Shouk Camp, Darfur, February 11, 2010. (Andrew Heavens/Courtesy Reuters) Nokia mobile phone chargers are seen at Abubakr Ali's (C) market stall in Abu Shouk Camp, Darfur, February 11, 2010. (Andrew Heavens/Courtesy Reuters)

This is a guest post by Asch Harwood, CFR Africa program research associate. Follow him on Twitter at @aschlfod.

A comment was recently made to me citing the huge number of mobile phones in Nigeria—over 90 million—as an indicator of that country’s budding middle class. However, in this conversation, my interlocutor failed to make the distinction between mobile phones and mobile phones subscriptions, which turns out to be important. Read more »