Approximately half the people of Africa own a cellphone, a fact that lies behind a major drop in poverty and rise in GDP across the continent.
A majority of its 48 countries are leapfrogging over old concepts and tools and adopting the modern technological versions at cheaper cost than the old. This is true for everything from state of the art well-digging equipment to new seeds and mineral mapping.
Even with the impact of the Western world’s economic crisis, forecasted growth this year is at 5.4 percent. Literacy and health is also improving.
(READ the report in the Toronto Star)
Photo by Chimere Diaw for CIFOR -CC