Africa is the future of GSM with Nigeria at the hub. There are now about 20 million cell and fixed wireless phones in just 5 years, up from less than half a million functional lines under the previous state monopoly regime, in Nigeria. With the exclusivity period over for the initial GSM operators and the advent of unified licensing, the field is now open to real competition. And it seems the Obasanjo administration is determined to finally privatise NITEL, the first national carrier this year. We hear some Nigerian firms are putting up a good fight in the bidding show.

Why am I excited? Because the GSM and other mobile technologies will play a decisive role in bridging the digital divide. It will help Internet penetration with all the attendant benefits, evidence of which Globacom - a wholly Nigerian player and second national carrier - has set in motion through its landmark offerings. Mike Adenuga is a true patriot. We hear he is building the most modern network for a pan African deployment over the next few years. He already has switches in the UK, US, Germany and France, as well as submarine optic fibre cable (Lagos-London) for international traffic. Switches in Hong Kong and Singapore will follow suit. Wow. Surely Africa can find more Adenugas, can't we?

I love the way MTN, the largest GSM network, is challenging everyone else. Soon, once it sorts out its internal wranglings and finds a major investor to secure its future, Vmobile should be able to exert itself. What Nitel does depends on who gets it. I would have loved a deep-pocket
Nigerian entity with Asian Technical Partners to join the fray. This will guard against possible monopolies in this critical utility-sector.

Whatever happens, there is a new market for IT business now in Africa. This is the time for our Diaspora Assets to be deployed. Especially the successful souls in Europe and The Americas. You guys should follow the Indian and Taiwanese examples and quickly embrace backward integration with future creativity with mother land. Home needs you....NOW!

By the way, those ads.....Real heaven! Creativity at the highest levels. Competition is bringing the best out of operators, giving the consumers wonderful adverts plus alluring promos. And I'm at my most pride when they feature on global broadcasts - CNN, BBC, and African sporting events. Good feeling, folks...Keep it up.