Addressing the Un-Addressed: Opportunities for Rural-Africa

Abstract

In the developed world ownership of a residential address is almost taken for granted, people grow up with the concept, it is used daily in many processes in an almost unconscious way. Mail depends on it to get delivered, so does the courier service delivering e-commerce procured and it provides a pick-up location for a ride sharing service etc. It forms the foundation for legal identification in most developed nations, however for a large portion of the global population it is not the case. Currently development in both terrestrial and space-based information and communications technology (ICT) provides opportunity for potential solutions to provide alternative approaches to mitigate the “address problem”. This work aims to provide a short historical overview of the concept with reference to the postal system, investigates technology options, reviews a number of currently available solutions and proposes another conceptual solution—with a special focus on the rural un-addressed in sub-Saharan Africa. It also aims to create awareness of the highly important role played by physical address systems in modern society by highlighting its economic and societal impact against the background of its contribution to progressing the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals.