Does Africa always need to go high-tech?

Do we sometimes overrate new technology at the expense of the old? Is there a possibility that we idealise the impact of the new to a degree that we completely overlook things that still work perfectly well?

This is the continent that has in some ways led the world in terms of innovative uses for mobile phones and financial services (in some countries airtime has become a form of currency). The way in which Africa has leapfrogged older forms of telephony is an object lesson in how poor, supposedly unsophisticated people will embrace an innovative new technology with alacrity if it is affordable and adds value to their lives.

Cellphones work so well in Africa because they’re easy to use, the technology is relevant and there’s enough investment in infrastructure to ensure that they function. The fact that cellphones and airtime vouchers require hugely expensive masts, transmitters and technicians — all paid for by corporations looking to make a profit — in order to be able to make and receive calls is a reminder that while Africa must embrace new technology in order not to be left behind, that technology must also work under what are all too often, ahem, challenging conditions.

This simple paradox struck me as I walked into the DTI complex in Sunnyside, Pretoria, where my colleagues and I had travelled to present to a potential new client. All along the perimeter of the building, men and women had positioned themselves on plastic chairs. Some of them were surrounded by customers; others sheltered under umbrellas. The one thing that all of them had in common was that, on their laps, each of them held … a typewriter. It was a sight so extraordinary that I stopped to stare.

I hadn’t seen a typewriter for years; it had never occurred to me that anyone still used them. And yet here were several people running little businesses typing up letterheads for people who were then walking inside to queue at the Cipro help desk.

“Old technology,” our IT director smiled, pointing out that nobody needed IT support. And I realised that all of this made perfect sense. Think about it: no electricity required. No printers, no cables. No expensive toner, just a ribbon. No high overheads, so you can keep your prices low for your customers. Press any key, and it works.

What does this mean? I was reminded of last week’s FinScope presentation, which revealed that fewer poor South Africans have bank accounts according to this latest set of research figures than they did last year — a shocking indictment of the country’s ability to lift its people out of endemic poverty. Wizzit founder Brian Richardson argued that the reason for this was firstly a regulatory environment that makes it difficult for poor people to sign up for bank accounts, and secondly that a formal, bureaucratic institution would never be able to properly service the chaos and informality of a township.

Old technology survives in Africa because it fulfils a need. It survives because it works when you need it to.

Sometimes, the solution is to be found, not in new frameworks or innovations, the latest technology or global best practice, but in something that Woody Allen explores in his latest film. Sometimes, you shouldn’t overthink things. You take what you can get.

Maybe what Africa needs is whatever works.