Africa is a major exporter of natural resources. However, something is changing in the region and some leading countries like South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya are moving forward to become in a near future also exporters of technology. The mobile phones market is changing. In 2010 Africa surpassed the 500 millions of user and also the percentage of smartphones sold in the continent is growing. This means that companies will need to provide users with new applications, tools and services to support this developing sector. The demand of data services is fuelling and maybe also the recent acquisition of Skype made by Microsoft could play a positive role. Legal VoIP services are now becoming available in Kenya and South Africa. Therefore, standard voice rates just like wired telephony services are expected to diminish. However, more attention should be first given to the potentials of the industry to revolutionize also other primary sectors, such as the education and the banking ones. Vodafone, Orange, the Indian Bharti Airtel are active in the continent and also Chinese operators are expected to enter soon. A number of fibre-optic submarine cables have been deployed both side of the continent in the so called West African Coast (WACS system) and the East African Coast System to favour interconnection with operators from other regions.Further information:
Africa's business technology revolution gathers pace
Major Submarine Fiber-optic Cables of West Africa: Benefits and Challenges
New media revolutionizing Africa - Conference 20 June 2011, London UK
about Skype and Microsoft
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/technology/11skype.html
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