E-Service Innovation in Rural Africa Through Value Co-Creation

E-Services have great potential, even in resource-poor environments such as in sub-Saharan Africa. However, contextual factors pose significant challenges for development, feasibility, deployment and sustainability of e-services. This chapter presents a case of e-service value co-creation in a rural context, with targeted end users in regions characterized by limited electricity infrastructure and poor or absent internet, strong diversity in languages spoken, high illiteracy rates and limited purchasing power. It offers a methodology to upfront analyze business model sustainability for e-service innovation in severely resource-constrained contexts. This is illustrated by an extensive case study in which a voice-based microblogging e-service was developed and deployed with local stakeholders in rural Mali.