The mind-boggling effects of mobile in Africa

The graphic was created by Alex Muriu and gives great perspective on where we are right now in Africa.

Here are a few key take-aways from the stats which Muriu uncovered:

click to enlarge

The Kenyan government has embraced the mobile web, and in the process has managed to save in the region of US$1 000 000, according to Dr Bitange Ndemo, the permanent secretary in the Kenyan Ministry of Information and Communications.

Dr Ntengo also admitted that two, and maybe more, Kenyan telecommunications companies are likely to disappear as a result of this seismic technological shift.

The government has set a date of 2013 for a complete shift to eProcurement for all its needs. That's a profound and radical vision for an African government.

The farming sector has benefited greatly from more technology. An iCow study illustrates that 82% of farmers who try the platform stay with it, and they experience an increase in milk production of up to 56%. This translates into a 42% increase in income, "mainly due to increased milk production".

Nigeria has developed into a huge mobile marketplace. 60% of all Google searches come from mobile devices, of which there are over 30-million in Nigeria, two thirds of which have internet access.

These figures come from the CEO of Vikantti Software, Emeka Okkoye, who goes on to explain that 12 years ago there were 4-million in Africa, today that figure is around 620-million.

Advertisers are also cashing in on the boom. There was a 256% increase in ad impressions served in Kenya over the past 12% months, according to inMobi.

And the growth still has a long way to go. Johan Nel of Umuntu Media told the mobile conference that for every 10 000 internet connections made in Africa, there is only one domain registered. This can be compared to the fact that in the developed world, the same number of connections creates 94 domains.

But Africa is well poised. The economic growth is coming, the devices are available and the population is growing more and more comfortable with doing business on their mobile devices. The fact that 95% of Kenyans already see their mobiles as a business tool, according to John Waibochi of Virtual City, bodes well for the mobile internet, and indeed economic growth itself, in the years to come.