Africa Has Twice The Mobile Devices Of U.S.A., Is Ripe for Innovation

In Africa, where there are twice as many mobile phone subscriptions as in the U.S., consumers appear ready for a new approach to commerce. But a mobile technology specialist in Ghana says B2B networking may see the first benefits of mobile proliferation.

Writing for the Harvard Business Review blog, inventor Bright Simons says new mobile technologies have turned Africa’s business IT market into a wide open game.

“Most African corporations, especially in the private sector, are only now in a position to think deeply about information technology (IT),” Simons writes. “Unlike in the West, where corporate policies on IT easily date back five decades, and where systems deployed two decades ago are still in operation, the African enterprise has discovered IT just at the onset of cloud-thinking.”

Simons sees a rapid cycle of growth, where consumer adoption of mobile technology fuels improvements to business infrastructure, which further empowers consumers.

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