Disconnected — The Illusion of Digital Inclusion
In an era where technology is hailed as the bridge to progress, the story “Disconnected” exposes the dark underside of digital transformation. Set in rural Kenya, it follows Mama Achieng, a small vegetable seller whose life unravels when the government fully replaces cash with the eShilling — a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Promised as a symbol of modernization and financial inclusion, the eShilling instead becomes a mechanism of dependence, exclusion, and erasure. Through vivid realism, the story mirrors global anxieties about the overreliance on digital systems — how progress without accessibility turns innovation into oppression. 1. The Transition: From Cash to Code In 2032, the Kenyan government declared the complete phase-out of paper currency, replacing it with the eShilling — a Central Bank Digital Currency designed for “financial inclusion.” Officials promised it would bring even the remotest villages into the national economy. The project was hailed as a mi...
