So here’s my prediction: in five years’ time, most sub-Saharan Africans will have smartphones. Too optimistic? I don’t think so; after all, from 2003-2008, basic mobile-phone penetration went from 6% to 40%, and I believe the above is a fairly convincing list of reasons to believe that smartphone adoption will outpace that. Still, it’s quite an extraordinary thought.

Erik Hersman@whiteafrican

The company who builds a 1st world smartphone for a 3rd world network gets the next billion users. mobility.com.ng/?p=11520

29 May 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite

The West still tends to think of Africa as a sea of unending poverty, violence, and despair; pretty soon, though, it may have no choice but to start thinking of it as a lucrative market. Half a billion users here, half a billion users there, pretty soon it adds up to some serious money. App developers, take note.