March 4, 2006
Phone revolution makes Africa upwardly mobile
A wonderful article from The Times, on the remarkable growth of the African cell phone market, expanding nearly twice as fast as Asia’s.
... "South Africa with its booming economy, is the continent’s biggest mobile phone market, with nearly 25 million subscribers, then come Nigeria, Egypt and Morocco.
But it is in less-developed countries that the statistics are most startling. The Democratic Republic of Congo, population 60 million, has 10,000 fixed telephones but more than a million mobile phone subscribers.
In Chad, the fifth-least developed country, mobile phone usage jumped from 10,000 to 200,000 in three years.
A lack of electricity has not proved a hindrance: roadside vendors charge mobile phones with car batteries. As the signal coverage expands, cheaper phones and calls fuel growth. "
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