Greetings Family,(Contact Information At Bottom Of Page)It's your friendly neighborhood "Digital Drummer" again (smile)Believe it or not, with all that's going in Africa (wars, famine, disease) there is good news on the entrepreneurial front. In an internationally recognized business report, it has been announced that Africa is the world's fastest growing mobile market (see http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c84447).Every country on the continent of Africa now has at least one mobile network in operation. In 2001, Africa became the first continent as a whole where mobile phones outnumbered fixed telephone lines. The fact that 14 African countries have achieved triple-digit compound annual growth rates for the past five years shows that this growth is not just short-lived.Penetration is highest in Southern Africa at 80%, thanks to South Africa’s highly developed market. West Africa, which grew by an incredible 75% over the past year, is catching up fast, while North, Central and East Africa all have a long way to go, with the latter two markets having penetration rates of just 20%. Political and economic development in West Africa is expected to help spur growth.Officials of the World Bank said in interviews at the UN's World Summit on the Information Society that investments in telecommunications companies in Africa, were reaping annual rates of return in excess of 25 percent. The returns are even higher — about 40 percent to 50 percent — when license fees, taxes and other charges are excluded, said Mohsen Khalil, the World Bank's director of global information and communication technologies.The International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank and the largest source of private equity for developing countries, has invested in African telecommunications, along with institutional and private investors. The local success of these companies and their expansion into other countries could have major economic and political implications.***************(Advertisement)*********************TraVerus Travel - Become a part of the most unique family in MLMTo learn more about free travel visit their websitewww.traverusfaststart.com/yes.htmlOr contact Candy at 702-354-0519to find out about income opportunities******************************************************Telecom companies in Africa have always been dominated by large international operators. Since the crash of the industry worldwide in the late 1990's, many powerful Western carriers have withdrawn from developing countries to concentrate on their home markets. Local companies in Africa are now filling that gap and growing to such a level that they can expand abroad. Effectively reversing of the transfer of goods and services from north to south, according to Mohsen Khalil.Africa is experiencing similar growth rates in Second Generation (2G) mobile systems that much of the rest of the world saw during the nineties. This growth is predicted to continue for some time to come. Most African markets are far from reaching saturation points. Unlike the rest of the world, Africa will not experience the painful dip between 2G and 3G deployments that the rest of the world saw in recent years.To the contrary, the first 3G systems were launched in Africa as early as 2004, not too far behind their European and American counterparts. And unlike the rest of the world, Africa has the killer application for 3G - Internet Access. Fixed phone line Internet infrastructures are poor and owning a personal computer is out of reach for most Africans. But more and more Africans do own a mobile phone and will embrace the opportunity to access the Internet with 3G phones once prices for the phones come down as well. Several mobile operators have already positioned themselves as ISPs.As the originators of American and World pop culture, Black programmers and developers should be looking at the African mobile market the way Black Jazz musicians looked at Europe in 50's - The Land Of Opportunity And Wealth. We must begin to reach out to our African brothers and build bridges of entrepreneurialship that will allow us to side-step the mega corporations and sell our goods and services direct to the mobile net-based African marketplace***************(Advertisement)*********************Looking For More Exposure, Want To Help A Good Cause, Need Money???Come on over to www.freshfaces2u.com and register to win $10,000 dollars CASH!At Fresh Faces2u it's NOT about how you look...But Who You Are!Join us in our mission to change the image of women in the mediaSign Up Today At Fresh Faces2u.com******************************************************This Online Journal was brought to you by InterServe Networks. Feel Free To Forward To Your Network Of Online FriendsWe Practice Responsible E-Commerce Marketing and Privacy Policies. We do not indulge in or encourage Spamming. We never send unsolicited emails. You are receiving this message as part of our opt-in subscriber mailing list or you are a member of an affiliated newsgroup.For comments or suggestions please contact us at the following;Jim Neusom (jneusom@yahoo.com)Executive Director/PublisherInterServe Networks/City Lights Software, Inc.www.citylightssoftware.comwww.freshfaces2u.comwww.myspace.com/jimneusomwww.myspace.com/freshfaces2uTo subscribe to our opt-in mailing list simply send an email to; The_City_Lights_Reporter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ( on Myspace go to http://blog.myspace.com/jimneusom )
Comments