African women earn money via cellphone subscription

Cellphone advertisements are generating income that women of The United Methodist Church in Côte d’Ivoire hope to use to start small businesses.

The Côte d’Ivoire United Methodist Women received a check this month for $1,000 U.S., earnings on a social media network, and the network also awarded another $1,000 as a grant to the women’s group.

Pubcell CI made the payment as part of a profit generated by 400 women who joined the social mobile network in December 2013.  The check was presented at a ceremony on Nov. 16 at Nouveau-Koumassi Cité de grâces United Methodist Church in southern Abidjan. The women earned the money for registering their names, addresses and cellphones numbers in the database of the company.

Dorcas Adou, national president of Côte d’Ivoire United Methodist Women, said this win-win partnership can help alleviate poverty among women in Côte d’Ivoire.

“This will give women a purchasing power that can lead them to overcome the defects associated with poverty such as prostitution, begging …” she said.

Pubcell’s members share the advertising revenues. When a member of Pubcell CI gets an advertisement on their mobile phone, that member receives part of the profit. Groups as well as individuals can benefit.

Be sure to add the alt. text

M. Oponou Wilfried,  Pubcell CI’s director of communication and marketing, gives Marcelline Beda, Côte d’Ivoire United Methodist Women vice president, a check for $1,000 U.S. The money was the group’s share of proceeds for commercials on their phones. Photo by Isaac Broune, UMNS

Individual business plans

Georgette N’Da, president of the women’s fellowship of Israel Treichville United Methodist Church, said that for each sponsored message that she receives on her cellphone, she gets the equivalent of one penny for each dollar of advertising. She now has $20 US in her cellphone account.

N’Da, a widow with two children, is hoping to save $100 in order to open a small food business.

M. Patrice Diaho, Pubcell CI director, donated the additional $1,000 grant to help women who want to start small business projects that can generate income.

“United Methodist Women have trusted us and we want to do more for them,” Diaho said.

Vincent N’Goran, top executive of Pubcell CI Board of Administration, gave the second check to Adou.

“If with this little loaves and fish of U.S. $1,000 you are able to sponsor women who will reimburse in order to help other women, we will multiply the amount by the end of next year,” he said. That was a reference to the afternoon’s sermon by the Rev. Aurélie Gnagne, the company’s chaplain, on the story of Jesus multiplying the five loaves and two fish in John 6:9-13.

Though it may seem a drop of water in the vast sea of the needs of women, Adou sees it as “a drop that can leave indelible traces in the church and the society.”

She promised that the women would work harder for next year’s check to be $100,000. Her executive committee will select projects in all the 17 districts of the Côte d’Ivoire United Methodist Church to receive funds.

Bishop Benjamin Boni praised the initiative of the young Africans who started PubCell CI, and said Africa needs more role models like them to help people be optimistic about the future of Africa. Pubcell CI has won many international accolades, including the World Bank award for the best social network in Africa.

“What you have done  . . . proves that young Africans can create things that can change the world. Don’t be an Afro-pessimist, " Boni said.

Broune is the communicator for The United Methodist Church in Côte d’Ivoire.

News media contact: Vicki Brown, news editor, [email protected] or 615-742-5469.


Like what you're reading? Support the ministry of UM News! Your support ensures the latest denominational news, dynamic stories and informative articles will continue to connect our global community. Make a tax-deductible donation at ResourceUMC.org/GiveUMCom.

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe Now
Central Conferences
Episcopal Elections of the Central Conference of The United Methodist Church. Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Mid Africa Central Conference Balloting 2025

Voting will take place soon for episcopal elections in the Mid Africa Central Conference. UM News will track the balloting and will have coverage of the elected bishops.
Central Conferences
A map shows the Mid Africa Central Conference, formerly known as the Congo Central Conference. The central conference is meeting July 10-13 in Kitwe, Zambia. Delegates will elect three bishops, two to succeed retiring bishops and one added to the central conference by last year’s General Conference. Graphic by Ben Ward, UM News.

Conference gets new name, adds bishop

More than 300 delegates in the Mid Africa Central Conference, previously the Congo Central Conference, are meeting in Kitwe, Zambia, and plan to elect three new bishops.
Disaster Relief
On a muddy street in the Ngaliema district of Kinshasa, residents attempt to salvage some belongings after floods destroyed homes and businesses in their neighborhood following torrential rains on June 14. Four United Methodists were among the nearly 30 people who lost their lives in the floods. Photo by the Rev. Fiston Okito, UM News.

4 United Methodists killed in Congo floods

The floods in Kinshasa look the lives of 29 people, including four church members, and washed away the homes of about 50 United Methodist families.

United Methodist Communications is an agency of The United Methodist Church

©2025 United Methodist Communications. All Rights Reserved