is often negotiated through bribes. This makes it difficult for companies from countries such as the United States to conduct business. Corruption in governments damages economies because less tax revenue is available to create and update transportation and other types of infrastructure. Unfortunately, money that could be spent on subsidizing upgrades to fiber-optic networks often goes directly into the pockets of officials and private individuals instead. In addition to corruption, much of African commerce is hurt by high crime rates and civil unrest. Poverty is a major contributing factor to both of these conditions. Despite these problems, the mobile industry in Africa is thriving but not as profit- able as in locations where there is less poverty and higher rates for mobile services. Much of the growth in mobile services is expected in rural areas where wages are lower than in cities. This translates into low revenue per user. Because of the intense competition among the many providers in each country, the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is low. Per-minute rates are SO low that they are affordable to all but the low- est-income residents. More than 95 percent of subscriptions are based on the prepaid Mobile Carriers Worldwide Mediterranean Sea Tunisia Morocco Western Algeria Libya Sahara Egypt Red Sea Mauritania Niger The Senegal Eritrea Gambia Guinea Burkina Sudan Djibouti Bissau Guinea Benin Nigeria Sierra Ivory Ethiopia Leone Coast Ghana Central African Liberia Republic Cameroon Somalia Equatorial Uganda Guinea Kenya Zaire Gabon Congo Rwanda Burund Indian Ocean South Atlantic Ocean Tanzania Angola Malawi Zambia Mozambique Zimbabwe Namibia Madagascar South Africa Botswana Walvis Bay Swaziland South Africa Indian Ocean Figure 8-2 The African continent. model by which subscribers pay in advance for service. For the vast majority of the population, mobile service is their first means of electronic communications. In most African countries, wireline, fixed telephone services are not widely available to resi- de