Article
A long, three-page article from allAfrica on the basis and impact of mobile technology in Africa, chiefly the Gambia. It reports that the main factors encouraging the boom include strong demand and the willingness of cash-trapped African governments financially unable to extend and maintain traditional networks to grant licenses to GSM phone operators. In Nigeria for example, one of the first acts of President Obasanjo’s government in the wake of his election in 1999 was to issue license for what is potentially the leading market in Africa with 130 million inhabitants. Such measures, encouraged by foreign donors, have boosted investors like South Africa’s Vodacom and MTN or Dutch Celtel.