The Economist recently released an article detailing the technological advancements of Africa. Although it still lags far behind other continents in technology, use of cell phones, the internet, and social networking has risen dramatically. While demand for electrical power has already overtaken a meager supply, 24% of residents in Mogadishu access the internet at least once a week. Many access the internet through cell phones, often Chinese models. As inferior goods, Chinese cell phones are more popular in often poverty-stricken Africa than in North America or Europe. Mobile-phone operator Safaricom has 12 million customers, and has been recognized as the most profitable business in East Africa. Their dominance is largely due to rising demand and absence of competition allowing Safaricom to monopolize and expand the market for mobile phone services. The Economist notes “There are already 84m internet-enabled mobiles in Africa. It is predicted that 69% of mobiles in Africa will have internet access by 2014. A week’s worth of data can be had for $3.” Currently, the cost of mobiles with internet access carries to great an implicit and explicit cost, preventing many from purchasing them. However, the costs are expected to drop in coming years. Given the increase in cell phone usage, it would be expected that texting would increase as well, but this is not the case. For those who can afford it, Facebook has made mobile-access to the site free of data charges, and this has made Facebook more valuable compared with texting, although the two serve the same purpose. Disease, corruption, and general instability in Africa has, thus far, kept technological expansion to a minimum. Despite unfavorable conditions, use of cell phones and the internet has still risen, and is likely to continue to rise.