Report
The mobile telecommunications story in Africa is a remarkable one. There have been large infrastructure investments, which have enabled millions of people to communicate better. While there is a lot of focus on low absolute rates of mobile penetration, this underestimates the real impact that mobile is having through the innovative and entrepreneurial ways in which the technology has been extended beyond the model of individual ownership. Thousands of jobs have been created and some very successful indigenous companies have emerged. All of these results were achieved through enterprise rather than aid. This report looks at the economic – and in turn social – impacts of mobile phones on the continent.