according to this report 649 million people in africa currently use mobile phones and every five years the number of people using this communication in africa increases by 20 by the end of next year 2012 they will have reached 738 million in the testimony given by many africans they show that the mobile phone is very important to them today because it helps them in their daily life both at work and in families gertrude kitongo a student in south africa said i use my phone everywhere i use it as a radio as a library where i watch movies i use it to write messages i know bank information and it helps me make calls kitongo says that the phone is valuable to him because it is a port that connects him with his family in kenya and uganda and his friends who study in zimbabwe he also said that he feels his phone is second to none because it helps him keep track of his bank account activity and he can watch his favorite oprah winfrey talk show on the internet peter lyons who works at the gsma in a press conference on 9112011 when this report was released said that the fact that there are still many africans who do not have access to regular banking services is also part of the reason for this increase he added that as the infrastructure including roads and electricity continues to grow in africa so do the users of this technology according to the times of south africa thanks to this story the gsma is encouraging the administration of countries to try to make it easier for people to access this form of communication by reducing taxes on products that go with it marie jose superior