????事實(shí)上，由肯尼亞運(yùn)營(yíng)商M-Pesa公司（M-Pesa）和南非的電子錢包（eWallet）領(lǐng)銜的移動(dòng)通訊服務(wù)已經(jīng)幫助當(dāng)?shù)亟鉀Q了金融機(jī)構(gòu)不足的問(wèn)題。移動(dòng)通訊運(yùn)營(yíng)商沃達(dá)豐（Vodaphone）報(bào)告稱，2008年，在推出M-pesa服務(wù)僅僅18個(gè)月后就有400萬(wàn)人用上了基于手機(jī)的銀行服務(wù)，幾乎與該國(guó)擁有銀行賬戶的人數(shù)相當(dāng)。

????世界各大公司正紛紛涌向非洲捕捉電信市場(chǎng)的機(jī)遇。由尼日利亞金融機(jī)構(gòu)和南非投資者組成的財(cái)團(tuán)近期沿非洲西海岸完成了金額達(dá)2,500萬(wàn)美元的海底光纜鋪設(shè)。聯(lián)合國(guó)國(guó)際電信聯(lián)盟（ITU）稱，這一進(jìn)展導(dǎo)致目前正在爭(zhēng)奪帶寬資源的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)供應(yīng)商競(jìng)相殺價(jià)。ITU預(yù)計(jì)，未來(lái)兩年間，可用的帶寬將會(huì)進(jìn)一步增加。

????另一家對(duì)非洲的無(wú)線通訊發(fā)展前景深信不疑的公司是印度的Bharti Airtel電信公司（Bharti Airtel）。今年年初，這家公司花了90億美元購(gòu)買科威特移動(dòng)通訊公司（Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co.）在非洲的大部分資產(chǎn)。Bharti公司增長(zhǎng)迅猛，比印度的任何公司擁有的用戶都多。它的成功反映了它對(duì)市場(chǎng)機(jī)遇的深刻理解，這種機(jī)遇是由那些極度貧困、需要依靠手機(jī)聯(lián)絡(luò)致富的客戶帶來(lái)的。Bharti公司之所以認(rèn)為非洲市場(chǎng)富有吸引力是因?yàn)楫?dāng)?shù)氐氖謾C(jī)滲透率僅為40%左右。

????盡管寬帶接入是各地發(fā)展的長(zhǎng)期目標(biāo)，但也不可低估手機(jī)通訊的商業(yè)潛力，這一點(diǎn)同樣很重要。加納的漁民如今通過(guò)手機(jī)尋找最佳的批發(fā)商，他們能給捕獲的魚開(kāi)出最好的價(jià)格，這樣，漁民就不用再每天都跑到碼頭上打聽(tīng)。加納Esoko是一個(gè)市場(chǎng)信息系統(tǒng)，它為多種農(nóng)作物推出了商品價(jià)格指數(shù)，每天通過(guò)短信將指數(shù)發(fā)送給農(nóng)戶，幫助他們?yōu)樽约旱霓r(nóng)產(chǎn)品定價(jià)。

????印度的經(jīng)驗(yàn)表明，在語(yǔ)音通話昂貴且互聯(lián)網(wǎng)連接稀缺的地區(qū)，企業(yè)家更愿意使用基于文本的短信服務(wù)。聯(lián)合鄉(xiāng)村網(wǎng)絡(luò)有限公司（United Villages Networks Ltd.）是一家由麻省理工學(xué)院（MIT）的應(yīng)屆畢業(yè)生開(kāi)辦的公司。他們的初衷是在鄉(xiāng)村里提供互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)。但該公司后來(lái)調(diào)整了商業(yè)模式，開(kāi)始從鄉(xiāng)村商店接受短信訂單。現(xiàn)在，它已在印度數(shù)十個(gè)小城市建立了雜貨倉(cāng)庫(kù)，每天為店主供貨。以前，這些店主必須外出進(jìn)貨，才能囤滿貨架。

????當(dāng)前席卷非洲的技術(shù)革命顯示了一種創(chuàng)業(yè)精神，這種精神將刺激這片土地的經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展。各界領(lǐng)袖都可以投身于建設(shè)智能、公共的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施來(lái)充分利用這種精神。非洲是人類通往未來(lái)的全新通道，它充滿了活力。這些基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施將幫助非洲人民推動(dòng)經(jīng)濟(jì)進(jìn)一步發(fā)展，并最終創(chuàng)造財(cái)富。

????Bruno Di Leo是IBM成長(zhǎng)市場(chǎng)部門的總經(jīng)理。這是一個(gè)位于上海的全球性組織。他主要負(fù)責(zé)推動(dòng)IBM在亞太區(qū)，印度，拉美，中歐和東歐，中東及非洲等地的高速增長(zhǎng)的經(jīng)濟(jì)體中的業(yè)務(wù)取得成功。

????譯者：清遠(yuǎn)

????Indeed mobile services, led by Kenya's M-Pesa and South Africa's eWallet, have helped overcome their region's shortage of banking facilities. Vodaphone reported that in 2008, after just 18 months of offering M-pesa, four million people were using cell-phone based banking services, nearly equal to the number of people in the country with bank accounts.

????World businesses are starting to flock to Africa to fulfill the telecommunications opportunity. A consortium of Nigerian financial institutions and South African investors recently completed a $250 million underseas fiber cable along Africa's West coast. That is resulting in slashed prices by Internet service providers who now have competing sources of bandwidth, according to the UN's ITU. The ITU expects far more bandwidth to become available in the next two years.

????Another company that is showing its belief in the prospects for wireless in Africa is India's Bharti Airtel. Earlier this year Bharti spent $9 billion to buy most of Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co.'s African assets. Bharti has grown explosively to handle more subscribers than any other company in India. Its success reflects a deep understanding of the opportunities presented by very poor customers whose economic fortunes are boosted by cellular connections. Bharti finds Africa attractive because the cellular penetration rate there is still only about 40%.

????While broadband access is the long term goal everywhere, it's important not to underestimate the business potential of cellular connections. Fishermen in Ghana use cell phones to find wholesalers who will give them the best prices for fish they have caught rather than returning to the same dock every day. Esoko Ghana, a market information system, has created a commodity index with prices for many different crops that it sends by daily text message to farmers to help them price their produce.

????The experience of India shows that in places where voice calls are expensive and Internet connections rare, entrepreneurs gravitate to text-based messaging. United Villages Networks Ltd., a company founded by recent MIT graduates started out to provide Internet service in villages, but it recast its business model to accept text-message orders from village stores. Now it has established grocery depots in dozens of small cities in India that ship supplies daily to storekeepers who used to have to travel in order to stock their shelves.

????The technological revolution that is sweeping Africa demonstrates the entrepreneurial spirit that can spur the continent's economy. Leaders can leverage that spirit by committing to build a smart, public infrastructure that will promote further economic development and, ultimately, wealth creation for the people of this new and vibrant gateway to the future: Africa.

????Bruno Di Leo is General Manager of IBM Growth Markets, a global organization based in Shanghai. He is responsible for driving IBM's business success in high-growth economies across Asia Pacific, India, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.