Almost every discussion of business opportunity in Africa focused on the amazing growth of the mobile phone industry. That growth has been astounding, but it’s hard to know whether that growth will be replicable in other sectors.
It’s true, when I was in Kenya and Tanzania last summer I could not believe the number of people I saw using cell phones, selling cell phones, selling the use of cell phones, etc. Almost everybody had a phone, almost every store of every kind sold incredibly cheap SIM cards and credit for prepaid phones. Which was good, because it gave people something to do while sitting in traffic along those countries’ many terrible roads, or while waiting for the power to come back on.
I fear the circumstances Ethan Zuckerman lists when it comes to African cell phone growth may be difficult to duplicate. “Users financed a great deal of the infrastructure behind the mobile phone boom,” he writes, and I think that this is an important point. Part of the investment (purchasing the phones) was a result of the phones’ utility, yes, but I think for many people there’s also another factor: the connotations a cellular phone has in terms of status, the statement about fashion and technology it makes, etc.
Zuckerman also writes that “Sheer government incompetence helped the mobile industry by ensuring that most phone buyers weren’t replacing land lines with mobiles, but purchasing their first phones.” Which is likely true in general in the African context, but I’m not so sure about Tanzania and Kenya. I thought I remember reading or hearing something about the Tanzanian government directly helping the mobile industry by investing in its development. If I recall correctly, this investment also benefited Kenya, because when Tanzania looked to upgrade its cell network, the old equipment was sold to operators in Kenya. This is why my phone wouldn’t work in Kenya but did in Tanzania: the older equipment in Kenya used a frequency my phone didn’t support.
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