Enron

Tickle Me
Moderator
Oct 11, 2005
75,659
Most of Somalia's (and Kenya when I was there) banking services are done with mobile services. Litterally their wallets and bank accounts. Struck me as odd too at first, its an innovation and habits thats out of complete necessity, since access to stable ATMs and card machines in general arent that easy.


Recent refugee I met told me of cases where highroad bandits instead of just taking your valuables in middle of the bush, would swipe your cell and force peeps to transfer funds etc.
A lot of places in Africa use mobile banking. Mostly due the the odd fact that broadband infrastructure is at times the most consistent of options.
 

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Seven

In bocca al lupo, Fabio.
Jun 25, 2003
39,323
A lot of places in Africa use mobile banking. Mostly due the the odd fact that broadband infrastructure is at times the most consistent of options.
Yeah. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. It's just very counterintuitive. It means you have futuristic tech right next to the sort of house they probably built 5,000 years ago.
 

Enron

Tickle Me
Moderator
Oct 11, 2005
75,659
Yeah. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. It's just very counterintuitive. It means you have futuristic tech right next to the sort of house they probably built 5,000 years ago.
Yeah it's so weird. When my sister came back from living in Tanzania and Rwanda she had all these photos where there were farmers in the field and to the side of the fields, along the road, groups of men digging and installing broadband lines. In rural Africa.

You see a lot of the same here in rural Mexico with cell phones. You have farmers that don't have electricity and running water or even in some cases a shitter and they're walking around with smart phones. Cause that's how they communicate (no phone lines), bank, etc.

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Anyone see Fred's tiger escape?
 

Hængebøffer

Senior Member
Jun 4, 2009
25,185
The majority owner and chairman of the Danish football club Brøndby IF created a profile on a Brøndby fansite (like tuz) and complained about the manager and some of the transfers. People found out who he was, and now the manager resigned and the whole club is a fucking chaos. It's insane. It would be like Agnelli creating a profile on tuz to complain about Allegri. :rofl:
You're wrong.
 

Dostoevsky

Tzu
Administrator
May 27, 2007
88,980
The world can be a weird place like that today. Last week I was talking to a refugee from Eritrea. You'd expect them to be pretty poor and perhaps they even are, but she was using the newest Samsung Galaxy. Last year I spoke to someone from Somalia who told me that most of her payments happen through a mobile service.

I don't mean to insult anyone, but you wouldn't expect someone who is basically living in a shack to keep track of her bank account with an iPhone.
I work in a retail store and I've seen a huge number of imigrants over the past 6 months. They are... 'poor'. At least when you look how they dress, I mean, majority of their clothes is ripped off and many of them stink. Btw, I'm not making fun of anyone. But what struck me the most is how like 80% of them own an amazing phone which are like 500e+ worth. It was pretty weird.
 

Nzoric

Grazie Mirko
Jan 16, 2011
37,868
I work in a retail store and I've seen a huge number of imigrants over the past 6 months. They are... 'poor'. At least when you look how they dress, I mean, majority of their clothes is ripped off and many of them stink. Btw, I'm not making fun of anyone. But what struck me the most is how like 80% of them own an amazing phone which are like 500e+ worth. It was pretty weird.
Thats because the Syrian standard og living, particularly in Damascus, was pretty high before the war started. I do understand that the contrast is a bit weird, but the majority of those Who are able to get out were well off before the fighting started.
 

Seven

In bocca al lupo, Fabio.
Jun 25, 2003
39,323
I work in a retail store and I've seen a huge number of imigrants over the past 6 months. They are... 'poor'. At least when you look how they dress, I mean, majority of their clothes is ripped off and many of them stink. Btw, I'm not making fun of anyone. But what struck me the most is how like 80% of them own an amazing phone which are like 500e+ worth. It was pretty weird.
I've seen some asylum seekers like that. They did indeed have an expensive phone. I guess those expensive phones are lifesavers over there.

I've also seen a number of highly educated and well dressed Iraqis and Syrians ask for refuge in Belgium. We often think of these people as poor jihadis, but truth is the majority I've met were not only well educated, they also couldn't care less about Islam. In fact when questioned about it I often hear them say that they are muslim and don't denounce their faith, but that it means little in their day to day life.

What I'm trying to say is: for the most part we know pretty much nothing about people in those countries.

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Thats because the Syrian standard og living, particularly in Damascus, was pretty high before the war started. I do understand that the contrast is a bit weird, but the majority of those Who are able to get out were well off before the fighting started.
In fact this causes a lot of problems in the centers that offer them a place to stay in Belgium. These centers are not fancy. Not in the slightest. You couldn't pay me to live there. So naturally these Syrians, who did enjoy a fairly high standard of living, are disappointed to suddenly be living in such a center rather than a house.
 

Mohad

The Ocean Star
May 20, 2009
6,684
Thats because the Syrian standard og living, particularly in Damascus, was pretty high before the war started. I do understand that the contrast is a bit weird, but the majority of those Who are able to get out were well off before the fighting started.
Your source?
 

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