NAIROBI — In Kayole, a slum on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, Joab Omondi has been selling water from a cart since the government connected his neighborhood to the local water system. Two years ago, water was a scarce commodity here. Residents used to have to hunt around to buy a 5-gallon can of water for 30 shillings—about 30 cents. Now the situation has changed since the World Bank and the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Co. started allowing residents to pay their water bills by mobile phone.“This new initiative has really changed our lives,” says Omondi. “Our water cannot be disconnected again, as it used to be. We can now request and pay our bills through our own mobile phones instead of queuing at the banking halls.”
