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Telecommunications: Demand blossoms but the infrastructure is creaky

By Tom Burgis

Published: July 16 2009 16:14 | Last updated: July 16 2009 16:14

Give a man a fishing rod and he will catch a fish. Give him a fishing rod and a mobile phone and he will catch a fish while checking which local fish market will offer him the best price.

For a long time, this has been most people’s idea of how the expansion of mobile telephony is transforming Africa’s economic potential. Often it has been – and remains – accurate.

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