**2. The literature on technological channels and digital services during the pandemic**

In citing a global system for mobile communications association (GSMA) paper [15], Kuboye [1] reported that close to half of the world population "use mobile internet and those living outside those covered areas of mobile broadband network continue to reduce as a result of the upgrade of 2G sites to 3G and 4G especially in Sub-Saharan Africa." **Table 1** shows a marked global use of technology during the pandemic.

A recent World Bank study finds that about 58 governments in developing countries had used digital payments to deliver pandemic assistance, including by depositing benefits into existing and opening new accounts. It found that most regulatory measures rolled out in response to COVID-19 were in the digital space, including digital savings,


### **Table 1.**

*Internet usage increase triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.*

banking, and capital raising. While the pandemic has originated a greater disposition toward digital finance, some consumers did not rapidly jolt toward those. According to Klapper and Miller [13, 16], "Consumers needed connectivity, including ownership of a mobile phone, access to internet and digital skills to manage mobile apps and online applications to use digital financial services." Hence digital uptake presupposes access to technology, capacity building, and consciousness, to leverage existing digital ecosystem, such as Government-to-Person (G2P) payments, to accelerate their use.

The chapter reveals six instances where the public relied on digital platforms to reduce costs and provide services during the pandemic. We discuss them below.

### **2.1 Education services going digital**

While educational institutions were on the path to increasing online presence in the years before the pandemic, the onset of the scourge accelerated online migration. There were more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries affected by school closures due to the pandemic in March 2020.

### **2.2 Health services going digital**

The pandemic altered how services were accessed. Text messages and group chats became instant sources of information about the virus. The internet-enabled platforms allowed various actors to provide innovative solutions in health through telehealth, contact tracing, retailing, and addressing supply disruptions, expanding information sharing, starting smart manufacturing and factory automation,

### *Exploiting Technology during the Pandemic: Early Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112122*

supporting e-tourism, and modernizing entertainment. Despite challenges, these proved useful in the fight against the pandemic [17].

Sierra Leone, like other developing countries, faces numerous challenges, including slow uptake of digital technology. Nonetheless, the trend toward digital platforms started with the official launch of the financial inclusion agenda in 2009 upon joining the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), announcing its commitment to the Maya Declaration in 2012, and developing an innovative program that supported digitalized cash payments during Ebola from 2014 to 2016. Therefore, when the country experienced the Ebola outbreak in 2014, the authorities used mobile technology to pay salaries of health workers; monitor, track, manage, and provide cash to infected communities and households. They also relied on two emergency hotlines, 117 and 711.

### **2.3 Businesses increased online presence during the pandemic**

Some firms advertised through and shifted to operations online, increasing sales and changing the mode of services. Mugume and Bulime [7] and Mburu [18] reached similar conclusions on sales during the lockdowns. Mburu [18] found that the lockdown in Kenya was associated with a 35 percent growth in online purchases of food, an 18 percent growth in pharmaceuticals, and a 54 percent growth in agribusinesses.

Similarly, Brazil paid low-income workers via the state-owned bank Caixa Economica Federal (CEF) into their digital accounts. Available evidence indicates that men and wealthy people were more likely to use merchant payments than women and the poor. Further, person-to-person remittance transfers remained the most common type of digital transaction and proved resilient [13]. While digitization made headways, cash still dominates merchant payments globally, and there are instances in which merchants reverted to cash payments. Examples from Sierra Leone showed that firms formed partnerships with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and signed MoUs with banks, to use digital platforms. This led MNOs to introduce products such as Orange Money and Lajor Loan by Orange Mobile Company, as well as Afrimoney and Africredit, enabling mobile customers to pay electricity bills, transfer money to and from their bank accounts and access digital credits. Firms also advertised through WhatsApp, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

### **2.4 Governments services going digital**

Before the pandemic, the idea of e-government was in vogue. When the pandemic struck, governments moved to collect taxes online and achieved economies of scale. Some also moved services online, including applications for food, medicines, and conditional cash transfers. Collecting taxes online, including by filing returns, grew, and some NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) in LICs, including in South Sudan, appreciated this approach as efficient. Sierra Leone also transferred cash through digital platforms. Since 2014, the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) has been running a cash transfer program, "Ep Fet Po," to fight poverty. The NaCSA, with World Bank support, provided emergency cash to four provincial headquarters to 29,000 vulnerable informal households, which is about US\$135.
