Mobile phones have been changing the lives of Africans all over the continent more than any other invention before. There are more people using mobile phones in Africa than in Europe and America combined. In fact, mobile phones are growing fast on the whole continent, especially in regions south of the Sahara desert. Today there are 600 million mobile phone users in Africa. By 2016 the number will be close to a billion.
Mobile phones provide a wide variety of services that citizens, especially in rural areas wouldn’t have.  They offer education in places where it is hard to get. Mobile phones are used for farming projects, where farmers can get information on crop prices. Health websites tell villagers what to do in case of emergencies when no doctor is available or faraway.  People even use mobile phones for entertainment in areas where there is no TV. Mobile banking has become widespread across Africa because many Africans don’t have their own bank account. Over 60 million use mobiles to transfer and receive money quickly and at a low cost. Mobile phones are helping people set up businesses and make money, thus raising the continent’s overall income. Through mobile phones more people in Africa have access to the internet than to clean water or sanitation.
In the last ten years the number of mobile phone users in Africa has increased greatly. While in the early days people focused on sending messages and talking to relatives, the internet is the main service that is used today. It has become an absolute necessity and in many places has replaced the desktop PC. In Nigeria, for example, there are more mobile phone users than PC-Internet users. Especially Kenya is strongly connected to mobile phones. The country is also called Silicon Savanna because 92 % of all Kenyans go online through mobiles.