Status symbols

My Ugandan colleagues tell me that Kampala started catching up with global technologies about ten years ago.  At the time the ultimate status symbol was to wear a corporate security badge and a flash drive on a lanyard around one's neck as a sign that one had 'arrived' in a foreign corporate job.  People would flaunt their corporate name tag and flash drive at all the best bars and clubs in town as the accessory du jour.

Then MTN made mobile phones widely available and affordable in Uganda. Apparently you could tell if someone was contemplating getting a mobile phone if they suddenly started dressing up for work.  A few weeks later the new phone would appear, also dangling on a lanyard around its proud owner's neck.

Today's status symbols - iPhones and Mercedes - are much the same in Kampala as any other global capital city.