Mobile Commerce in Developing Countries Essay

bustling barter or M- mer endtile system as it is much(prenominal) unremarkably referred to is simply the ability to do product line sector electronic all toldy without any physical limitations or barriers. This is to a greater extent popular with the call of smart retrieves in a flash and new(prenominal) lively devices. After researching several(prenominal) journals and articles, it is obvious at this point that there is no standard translation of the stipulation rambling concern. Many authors and writers have coined phrases and come up with definitions that atomic number 18 interchangeable to each(prenominal) other the general idea is similar scarce the words in the polar definitions vary aroundwhat.However, maven acceptable definition is applyd and this comes from Liang and Wei (2004), M- devolveicraft more than than often than non refers to the use of radio set devices (particularly rambling call ups) to conduct electronic line of merchandis e transactions, much(prenominal) as product ordering, blood line transfers, and stock trading (p. 7). M-Commerce was formed as a final result of the network and meandering(a) computing coming together to cook a new business bea. The benefits of alert Commerce ar al roughly without end and a few will be talk ofed later in the analysis.However, the focus of this newspaper publisher is the event of this grade in ontogenesis countries with emphasis on Africa- Nigeria to be precise. The creation of Nigeria is all over 150 million pompousness wiz of the largest securities industrys in Africa. Akpan-Obong (2009) states that Nigeria is a study(ip)(ip) actor in the Information and communicating Technologies (ICT) sector in Africa, Nigeria has so last-place preserve significant achievements in ICT utilization, and has recorded higher proceeds rates in the penetration and diffusion levels of ICT (p. 208).With prompt Commerce rapidly taking over the business world, i t is important to gain an understanding of how the so called major actors atomic number 18 fairing on the compete field hence the emphasis on Nigeria in the topic of Mobile Commerce. word Summaries Liang (2004) and Akpan-Obong (2009) in their separate articles introduce the invention of Mobile Commerce and present generally accepted definitions of the term. While Liang focuses on the apt(predicate) successes and failures of M-Commerce applications, Akpan-Obong specifically suggests electricity and infrastructural inadequacies as the reasons for the underutilization of M-Commerce in Nigeria.Greengard (2008) goes on to discuss the general cushion of wandering phones on the world as a undivided. He talks astir(predicate) the development opportunities that the presence of wandering phone technologies has created with the transformation of avocation, beaching and healthc atomic number 18. In his article, he states that the intimately profound changes and biggest dividends ato mic number 18 beingness cognise in developing countries. Formulation of a series of hypotheses from a research poseur developed by Peter, Philip and Victor (2005) identifies some of the circumstanceors affecting the use of mobile ICT in the least developed countries.Ayo and Agboola (2006) delve into the uses of M-commerce in Nigeria and how this technology is becoming widespread in the area. Solutions ar too offered to deal with the issues of underutilization of the technology. Generally, these articles discuss the current practices and withal anticipated prox implementations of M-Commerce. The meshing, which is a form of electronic commerce has been in existence for years unless it has been difficult to cover as very much of the market as it could especially in some parts of the world where puffs like a computer are not moreover unaffordable but considered a opulence.With the emergence of mobile phones, an important fact to consider is that M-Commerce is gaining rele vance because the penetration of mobile phones is much larger than the penetration of Internet access (Duffey, 1998) in most countries. Greengard (2008), highlights a few of the relevant uses of this technology Although mobile phones have already transformed the more affluent nations, they are ringing up some of the most profound changes- and biggest dividends- in developing countries. Today, people are use mobile phones to track crop prices in Kenya and manage micropayments in the Philippines.They are tapping into these devices to hatch healthcare information in Nicaragua and deal bakery orders in Nigeria (p. 17). Gone are the days when Africa as a whole was considered backward and inconsequential when it came to matters of scientific growths, al-Qaida and amenities. Like most developing countries, Nigeria in particular has not yet employ M-Commerce on a full scale. However, the trend is beginning to emerge with the appearance of mobile phones in either nook and snap of th e country. Now, unlike forrader, devices like mobile phones are no longer seen as taboo or altogether for the rich and noteworthy in society.Rotberg was spot on when he stated, it is the first measure in the account of technology that social class and geographics are largely irrelevant (as cited in Greengard, 2008, p. 18). Almost anyone who is of talking age owns a cell phone in Nigeria. From the executives at the renowned industrious firms, the students attending populace schools who cant even afford to demoralise textbooks and even the farmers in the villages and rural areas the fishermen exchange fish at the local market and even the housewives who grow vegetables and cultivate lineage in their backyards.Owning a mobile phone is no longer considered a luxury and does not price an arm and a leg like it used to sole(prenominal) a few years ago. This unmatched reason that the phones are now intimately affordable and available for purchase by every Tom, Dick and Harry is what has fostered the emergence of Mobile Commerce in Africa, Nigeria to be precise. With the mobile phones gaining more popularity with the people in Nigeria, so also has the technological benefits been exploited. The tuner handheld devices have orchestrated the use of e-banking improvement in Nigeria.According to Ayo et al. (2007), roughly all the 25 banks that survived the recent capitalisation exercise engage the use of ICT as a platform for effective and economic delivery of banking work. Consequently, electronic cards, Internet banking and mobile banking run are gradually being introduced. However, M-Banking activities are limited to mobile finance information, downcastload or ringing tones and medication as well as telematic services, particularly, vehicle tracking, theft protection and emergency services (p. 13).As more and more proficiencys are pursued, banking will become not entirely flexible but also more convenient. Customers now have the luxury of checkin g their bank accounts on their mobile device without having to translate a trip to the local section of their banks nearest to them. They also enjoy the comfort of immediacy, information at their fingertips. The banking sector is one of the first and more important aspects of Mobile Commerce that has emerged in Nigeria. However, there is also much hype about the slight things that are being derived from this technological advancement.Ayo et al. (2007) states definitely the success of M-Commerce has partly been due to developments in mobile communication techniques. Cellular networks were in the first place designed for voice- sole(prenominal) communication. To support M-Commerce transactions, which are selective information based, there has been an evolution of these networks from analogue to digital and from circuit switched to packet switched networks. Today a number of these mobile communication technologies are available (p. 11).Some of the strengths of Mobile Commerce in N igeria are attributed to the GSM operators and the services that they hand over to their customers. The three major operators are MTN, Celtel and Globacom. Their services include Voicemail, WAP services, SMS, customer services, call forwarding, global dialing, Celtel mobile office, faxmail, roaming, customer care and wideband Internet Access that offers Broadband Internet to residential users just to name a few. These services allow customers to derive utmost satisfaction from the emerging trends in the advancement of Mobile Commerce.In his article, Greengard (2008) talked about one incidence in particular. A Nigerian baker started taking orders for cakes via SMS and quickly grow his presence beyond his immediate neighborhood. He experienced a 30% sum up in sales (p. 17). Many little businesses are now enjoying the benefits of this technological advancement and they are using its features to broaden the kitchen stove of their businesses and gain competitive advantage over the ir competitors in the industry.If not for anything else, the customer kindred that exists between the business owners and their customers has been streng pasted by the ability of the owners in providing their services directly to the consumers via these mobile handheld devices. The emergence of Mobile Commerce in Nigeria has brought with it both advantages and disadvantages. As with the mobile banking, of course it is fast, convenient and immediately very affordable, there is also the threat of earnest and the complex systems and expertise needed to run some of the programs.There is a gap between those who are more technologically savvy and the layman who grows crops on his farm. This gap in knowledge does not allow the features on some of these hand held devices to be fully utilized. The phones being so affordable that even the most primary of the devices could probably browse the Internet anticipate all the features are purchased, makes it likely that the phones are being un derutilized to the most of its capabilities. Most senior(a) management and more well to do individuals are more concerned about the security of their transactions over this mobile devices.Research by Agboola (2006), revealed 38. 2% of the respondents considered security as a major threat, spot 4. 3% and 5. 4% considered complication of services and cost respectively as other factors (p. 3). Apparently, the cost of mobile telephone service is higher in Nigeria than other African countries so it only reasonable that the cost of this service would be a major threat to Mobile banking as a whole. Another threat is the unavailability of staple fiber infrastructure to support this system such as electricity, among others.The lack of electricity as a basic infrastructure in Nigeria has a ripple effect because it affects every device that makes up the system. Without electricity, individuals cannot charge their mobile phones when the battery is depleted. This in itself, defeats the purpos e of Mobile Commerce, as there is no fulfillment in owning a phone when you cannot use it when you want to. The systems in the banks that fulfil the updates to customer accounts and provide information to the customers would also closed in(p) down as a result of lack of electricity.Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), which are one of the first occurrences of Mobile Banking in Nigeria, would have to be shut down as well. With all the features of the mobile phones these days, it is only a matter of time before the developing countries of Africa begin to enjoy all of the benefits that countries like the States are enjoying now. Although, seeing as how the advancement in America has not come to a halt, it is more than likely that developing countries would al styluss encounter catch up.However, countries grow at unalike paces so it is only wise to perform according to the capabilities of the systems set up in the country until it can withstand the demonstrate of time. Synthesis Mob ile Commerce as a concept has a litter of prospect for patronage dependent on the available services. First of all, there were no mobile phones at all in a country like Nigeria and then mobile phones were introduced and the craze cannot be contained. Now, the massive growth of mobile devices all over the world, with over one- threesome of the world population having access to it has given prominence to M-Commerce.With technological advancements emerging everyday in different areas and industries, Mobile Commerce can only get better as more provisions are made to handle the loop holes and reduce the threat that are presently facing the market. There would most likely come a time when Mobile Commerce is not only the sudden way of doing business but the most common, the most trusted and also the safest. It would soon become a way of life. According to Peter et al (2005), the country had experienced a phenomenal growth from a teledensity of 0. 49 in 2000 to 25. 22 in 2007.This tren d has brought about a monumental development in the major sectors of the economy such as banking, telecoms and commerce in general (p. 140). Nigeria, being the fastest growing telecoms nation in Africa and the third in the world, it is almost inconceivable to hypothesize how much is yet to come by way of technology and other infrastructure. Today, African countries may be struggling to rule their weight in the area of technological advancement in comparison with more advanced countries like the United States. Tomorrow, the tables ability just be turned. One can only wait and see, behold the futurity