A social media boom begins in Africa

In the mid-1990s, as the use of mobile phones started its rapid spread in much of the developed world, few thought of Africa as a potential market. Now, with more than 400 million subscribers, its market is larger than North America’s. Africa took the lead in the global shift from fixed to mobile telephones, notes a report by the UN International Telecommunications Union. Rarely has anyone adopted mobile phones faster and with greater innovation (see Africa Renewal, January 2008, April 2008).