1. WTO Information Technology Symposium Wednesday 28 March 2007 Raphaël Dard E-Trade Development Unit, ITC Mobile telephony applications for business efficiency and the development process in Africa

2. Mobile phone boom in Africa Source : ITU, 2006 1998 120 80 40 0 Million users, from 1998 to 2005 Fixed phone Internet Mobile phone 2005

3. Mobile technology & Western Africa Mobiles are the most common IT Mobile Applications are widespread for leisure, not business Great potential for development in the Agricultural Sector Huge need for business and market information Conclusions of the research included:

4. Real-time market information for exporting SME tradeathand affairesmobiles

5. tradeathand objectives Balance the asymmetrical access to real-time business information Use existing mobile phone networks to increase SME exports Strengthen food suppliers, enabling them to defend their position on their own value chain Generate additional revenues

6. what does tradeathand provide? Product prices on foreign markets De: AffairesMob Rungis du 21.05.2007 MANGUE Kent Mali avion carton Euros le kg moy: 3.00 mini: 2.80 maxi: 3.50 (Source SNM) marketPrices Sent by: MEBF La Maison de l'Entreprise vous convie au séminaire sur le management de la nouvelle entreprise le 10/04/07 à partir de 15h30 à l'EPC de la CCIA-BF. Coupon exigé Source: Content: Marketplace Business opportunities Brief market reports Information on events marketAlerts Source: Content: Local TSI

7. tradeathand outcomes All Burkinabe and Malian fruit and vegetable exporters receive daily price quotes from Paris Rungis Market (mango & green beans) 12 Trade Support Institutions, in 3 countries, start to inform exporters with market alerts via a tailored Web-to-SMS application Exporters say they negotiate better deals and improve their market approach after analyzing newly available information

8. tradeathand : signs of interest Referred to in The Economist in Jan.07 Selected as a Nominee for the Global Mobile Awards in Feb.07

9. mobile applications are still in their infancy! PC laptops become smaller and phones acquire more and more computer capabilities. (Many more mobile applications to come!) The size of the mobile-transaction market (m-commerce) will probably surprise us. tradeathand : new directions

10. in Mali (Dutch funding) in Mozambique (Canadian funding) in Senegal, Benin and Liberia scheduled to start this year… and we plan to expand geographically

11. Thank you for your attention Email: dard@intracen.org