Two sisters, Kim and Kristen Waeber launched a cellphone business that is changing the lives of women in Tanzania. These sisters having realized that in Tanzania, less than 40% of women own a mobile phone. This is due to the high cost of mobile phones. For a lot of Africans, a mobile phone is a flashlight, a watch, a calculator, a camera, a doctor, a teacher and a radio. Also in Tanzania,where mobile banking is common, phones provide a way for women to perform banking transactions.
Kidogo kidogo, which means “little by little” in Swahili, was created to provide a starter phone, a phone number and a little phone credit to women who strongly desire phones but do not have money to buy one. Their model is to sell fashionable iphone cases designed by Tanzanian artist Sarah Markes in the US, and this assists them to buy a phone. They do not only provide phones,but also give trainings on benefits of owning a mobile phone and how to use it. Learn more about the Social Enterprise here.