Tweeting alone

The Mikocheni Report hits the nail on the head on the role of social media in developing countries:

Social media are an elite concern at this point in time, limited in their reach and somewhat unsuited for mass political campaigns except through SMS. Still, they are important for convincing the reluctant voters in the Blackberry class that as a tech-savvy politician, you might be someone they would like to do business with.

Bingo. Twitter won’t overthrow any country until it becomes an everyday part of life and Facebook isn’t really of much value if you live in a village without electricity. SMS, by contrast, is an everyday part of life in many developing countries and is playing a role in political mobilization.

How to talk about elections in Swahili

Three cheers for the Mikocheni Report for starting an election lexicon for Tanzania. Her explanation of “fisadi” made me laugh out loud. Best definition of corruption ever. Can’t wait for the next installment.

Tanzania’s 2010 election

Here’s my analysis at Election Guide.

How did he do that?

The picture to your left is the scene of a recent accident in Dar es Salaam. As you can see, the Toyota minivan is on top of the Mercedes sedan. I can’t figure out how the van wound up on top of the car. Weird.

The traffic in Dar is bad, but not special

The Mikocheni Report has a spot-on post on the terrible traffic in Dar es Salaam. The city is seriously out of control: massive population growth + no new roads = traffic nightmare. Where I disagree is that the traffic situation in Dar is idiosyncratic. The traffic in Dar reminds me a lot of traffic in Nairobi a decade ago, or in Accra and Cairo today. Rather than being special, Dar es Salaam today is an excellent example of growth without government.