Wireless Mesh Networks for Markets in Mozambique

Can a sustainable wireless mesh network be installed for a market in Maputo, Mozambique that can benefit female traders?


LOCATION | Mozambique
SECTOR | Finance
TECH | Alternative Internet Connectivity
TIMELINE | June 2017 - March 2020
PIONEERS | Caroline Wood, Emmeline Skinner
PARTNERS | MoWoza, Robobo


The Challenge

Women are often excluded from formal employment due to unequal access to resources and opportunities. Even in the informal sector, where most women work in Mozambique, they tend to be limited to the lowest paid jobs. Connecting women to internet and communication technology (ICT) can enable women traders to access information and resources and expand their businesses, but it comes at a significant cost. Traders pay up to $1.50 per week for mobile data, which is unaffordable as 63% of Mozambique’s population live below the $1.90 per day poverty line.

The Idea

Wireless mesh networks provide cheap communal access to data, with speeds that get strong as the number of users increases. This pilot tested whether a wireless mesh network could bridge the gap between women traders and information that may be important for their businesses, economic sustainability, health, and livelihoods. Additionally, it tested whether the wireless network would increase traffic to the marketplace and increase demand for services such as mobile money.

The Scaling Journey

What we learned

  • Market traders are very willing and excited to use a wireless mesh network. As of April 2020, the platform achieved an average of 500-600 daily hits, with 64% of those downloading some form of content.

  • The mesh network provided multiple avenues to reach those who typically are hard to reach–those who can’t afford to access data. The educational content on the network was utilised to provide education on financial literacy, Covid-19 pandemic, and safe sex. The impact this educational content had on users is unknown. 

  • The significant drop in users after the introduction of the login page poses a significant challenge to the likelihood that this pilot could be scaled. Corporate partners will not upload their content without user data, but users will not fully engage with the network without a critical mass of content. We would argue that adding significant and relevant content to the platform early on and as the pilot progresses is crucially important to keep users engaged. 

  • It was important to take time at the beginning to consider the physical infrastructure of the market. Mozambican properties, by colonial legacy, typically have thick cement walls, which made it difficult for wireless signals to pass through them. 

All photos on this page were taken by the pilot’s implementing partners, MoWoza and  Robobo. 

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Frontier Tech Hub

The Frontier Tech Hub works with UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) staff and global partners to understand the potential for innovative tech in the development context, and then test and scale their ideas.

https://www.frontiertechhub.org/
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