Africa
presents great opportunities in the telecom sector. The
liberalisation of the sector, the extension of services
by multinational conglomerates and the active competition
currently in place in the sector have all contributed
to the telecom revolution. Since the processes of liberalisation
and privatisation have been taken into consideration by
African countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, 
Nigeria,
the Sudan, South Africa and Kenya, their telecommunication
infrastructures have improved drastically. Many African
governments have developed their telecommunication infrastructure
by privatising their former state-owned enterprises.
As a result, the telecom sector in the African secor has
opened up new vistas of business opportunities. Africa
has been the fastest-growing mobile market in the world
during the past five years. There are now more than 82
million mobile users in Africa: Nigeria's mobile market
is growing at over 100% per year. Mobile telephony has
a positive and significant impact on economic growth,
and this impact may be twice as large in developing countries
as in developed countries.
That
mobile phone use is growing faster in Africa than anywhere
else shouldn't come as much of a surprise, given a moment's
thought. Only 6 per cent of African citizens owned a mobile
phone in 2004, so as prices drop (and low-cost phones
made for the developing world come to market), there's
a huge potential market available. In Asia, North America
and Europe, conversely, mobile phone use approaches saturation,
so any remaining growth will be far slower.
