Cell phones are everywhere in the developing world, so it's an obvious way for users to interact and communicate, right? Well, not really. Read this great article by AppFrica fellow Josh Goldstein on the crisis in African in SMS costs.

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In Uganda, for example, the cost of a user-to-user message is 5 US cents. A premium message (any message not sent from a single user to another) is 10 US cents, despite high levels of competition and low cost. Since it’s rare for a mobile network to grant a discount to a premium service provider, entrepreneurs must attempt to scale in an environment where, according to ResearchICTAfrica, the average Kenyan already spends over 50% of her disposable income on communication. This is not a promising environment for innovation.