Livestock Mobile Commerce

It seems strange to see mobile digital technology working in conjunction with centuries-old traditions. Buying an iPhone 7 Plus online is one thing, but buying a ram for slaughter at a livestock market is another.

Eid al-Adha is a Muslim holiday, and in Senegal, according to Reuters, each family slaughters a ram for a feast. The demand for rams is huge at this time, and traders travel hundreds of miles to sell their livestock. The hustle and bustle around livestock markets in Dakar is ripe for pickpockets, but cashless payments, according to one sheep seller, allow “for greater security.”

Traders are welcoming cashless payments using mobile phones. During Tabaski, as the holiday is known in Senegal, families splurge at this time much as the West does during the holidays. Senegal is 90 percent Muslim, and 700,00 sheep are estimated to be needed. Traders travel from Mali and Mauritania to meet the demand.

Cashless payments are preferred because a bank is not required and those who carry cash risk losing it to pickpockets in the busy markets in Dakar. Sellers have partnered with telecoms, such as Orange, Vodafone and MTN from South Africa, so that buyers can transact with their mobile phones bypassing the banks. Mobile payments first appeared in Kenya in 2007 and have helped the unbanked throughout Africa. Orange Money was launched in Ivory Coast in 2008 and has over 18 million users in Africa.

There are also speculators who buy sheep early in the hopes of selling them at a profit. According to one speculator, a 22-year-old student: “If you buy your sheep early, it can get stolen,” the student explained. “We stay up all night to guard them.”

So, the problem of stolen cash is taken care of, but there is still your sheep to worry about. There’s no app for flock protection, but drone delivery might be a possibility.