Indispensible Cell Phones

According to Bloomberg, the Swedish cell phone manufacturer Nokia is betting that Africans place a higher value on owning cell phones than food.

"Owning a mobile phone in Africa is viewed as such a 'necessity' that growth won't be stymied by money being diverted to pay record prices for staples."


"People in emerging markets spend disproportionate amounts'' of their income on mobile phones and are likely to continue to do so.

I'm not sure what to think about this, especially since the target is sub-Saharan Africa, which is suffering from a multitude of problems. On one hand, it would be irresponsible of Nokia to market a product as "vital" as food to a region where millions of children are estimated to die this year because of record food prices. On the other hand, if Nokia doesn't do it, some other manufacturer will. Additionally, I know that a reliable communications infrastructure is vital to any chance of political stability in that region.