Leveraging a mobile culture for lightning awareness: The African context

Mobile telephones have transformed and revolutionised Africa in a way that is radically different to the impact that they have had in the developed world. Not only have mobile phones changed Africa, but Africans have appropriated the technology by finding innovative ways of using it, with a large focus on low-cost usage and texting. This emergence of a pervasive mobile phone and texting culture in Africa might provide an opportunity to disseminate lightning awareness information and weather warnings in areas where it could reduce the number of annual lightning fatalities.