Africa's Mobile-Phone Revolution

摘要

The twentieth century was a disappointing one for most sub-Saharan Africans: They had won independence from Europe, only to be subjected to the new tyranny of corrupt and authoritarian indigenous strongmen. Africans who had dreamed of the fruits of liberty instead received never-ending poverty, chronic underdevelop-ment, and governments that remained tone-deaf to their families' and communities' basic needs. But Peter Lewis, a Johns Hopkins University professor of African Studies, believes that better days for the continent may lie ahead, thanks to the rise of Internet and mobile phone services.