Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion

Our study also revealed that while both the living and the dead have reservations about the use of mobile phones, the living are more positive about their use than are the dead. The ancestors probably fear that the adoption of mobile technology would diminish their importance among the living.

Though they have their strengths and limitations, mobile phones and the ancestors are both important tools for social organization. Just as mobile money is a complement to cash rather than a replacement for it, mobile phones complement ancestral consultation in strategies for problem-solving rather than replacing the ancestors. Mobile phones offer practical solutions to everyday life challenges, but the ancestors offer divine solutions to issues that arise only occasionally and that are not perceptible to everyone.