Posted on Tuesday, December 13, 2005 10:21 AM
It's something that Karl Marx would have deemed impossible. A spontaneous continental revolution in just a decade. We're talking about the introduction of mobile phone networks in Africa. In Kenya the first network Safaricom was launched in 1992, and by 1999 it had 15,000 subscribers. Together with new comer Celtel there are two networks now, with a total count of almost 4 million subscribers. There are only 250,000 landlines.
Another shrewd example is Somalia, that country that has plunged into anarchy since 1991, when Siad Barre was toppled. There is still no functional government, and warlords and bandits are competing in a brutal war. There are three national mobile networks operational.
By me credits!