Markets, Mobile, Africa: Good news and Africa seldom go together. Let us be blunt about it. It may be a case of “we knew you weren’t going to make it with independence and we’ve been proved right.” It may be a case of “Bad news alone sells newspapers” but on the whole there is little, rightly or wrongly, to be happy about. And then...

Research and Markets, the Dublin-based analyst group, has published the fifth edition of its Africa Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband Market Overviews. The overviews cover the role of various technologies such as broadband and convergence, the effects of regulation, the major players and how the African market has performed.

Joseph Winter of BBC News recently filed a report from Mogadishu, in which, in stark contrast to all the usual reports from Somalia, he was able to focus on a real success story. Developing Telecoms acknowledges the source of this story, which it publishes as a constructive input into the telecoms debate.

A whole tranche of factors is making its presence felt as Costa Rica assumes increasing importance as a centre for investment. Enter an educated workforce with a strong command of English, political stability, tax breaks, lower costs, and proximity to North America. This article is based on one which recently appeared in the American business press. It may appear to paint a rosy picture but it reflects a developing market's attempts to join the already developed.