60% of the world has a mobile

The speed and scale of the world's love affair with mobile phones was revealed yesterday in a UN report that showed more than half the global population now pay to use one. The survey, by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an agency of the UN, also found that nearly a quarter of the world's 6.7 billion people use the internet.

But it is the breathtaking growth of cellular technology that is doing more to change society, particularly in developing countries where a lack of effective communications infrastructure has traditionally been one of the biggest obstacles to economic growth. By the end of last year there were an estimated 4.1bn mobile subscriptions, up from 1bn in 2002. That represents six in 10 of the world's population, although it is hard to make a precise calculation about how many people actually use mobile phones.

Africa is the continent with the fastest growth, where penetration has soared from just one in 50 people at the turn of the century to 28%. Much of the take-up is thought to have been driven by money transfer services that allow people without bank accounts to send money speedily and safely by text messages, which the recipient - typically a family member - can cash in at the other end. Vodafone's M-Pesa money transfer service was launched in Kenya in 2007 and now has 5 million users. Developing countries now account for about two-thirds of the mobile phones in use, compared with less than half of subscriptions in 2002. A single mobile phone may have several users in poorer countries, where handsets are sometimes shared or rented out by their owners.

The report also recorded a marked increase in internet use, which more than doubled from 11% of people using the net in 2002 to 23% last year. Here the report identified a clear gap between the rich and poor world: fewer than one in 20 Africans went online in 2007, for instance, and less than 15% in Asia, whereas Europe and the Americas recorded penetration of 43% and 44% respectively. Across the world just 5% of people have broadband internet at home, although this rises to 20% in the developed world. Sweden was the world's most advanced country in the use of information and communications technology, in an index of 154 countries that took various factors into account such as access to computers and literacy levels. .

Ethiopia trades its coffee

Ethiopia, Africa's largest coffee producer, has started trading the crop on a national commodity exchange. In a move aimed at both increasing quality and the amount farmers get paid for their beans, coffee is being traded on the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange. Replacing the previous, more informal, system of sales through middlemen, farmers will now be able to get direct access to current market prices. The exchange has set up a network of warehouses to collect the beans.

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee cultivation and the crop continues to account for more than a third of its export earnings. It earned $525m (£354m) from coffee exports in the 2007-08 financial year. However, Ethiopia still remains one of the world's poorest nations, and is ranked 170 out of 177 on the United Nation's Human Development Index.

African free trade zone created

The leaders of three African trading blocs on Wednesday agreed to create a free trade zone of 26 countries with a GDP of an estimated $624bn (£382.9bn). It is hoped the deal will ease access to markets within the region and end problems arising from the fact several countries belong to multiple groups. The deal also aims to strengthen the bloc's bargaining power when negotiating international deals. Analysts say the agreement will help intra-regional trade and boost growth. The three blocs which struck the deal were the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa). The three blocs are already well-established in their own right but cover varying swathes of land and numbers of people.

The SADC was first established as the Southern African Development Coordination Conference in 1980 in order to reduce independence on apartheid South Africa. It was reincarnated as the SADC in 1992. It covers a population of some 248 million people and a zone whose cumulative GDP is $379bn in 2006. The SADC's members include South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Comesa was established in 1994 and replaced the Preferential Trade Area. It includes 398 million people and the area has a combined GDP of $286.7bn in 2006. Among its members are Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda and Sudan.

EAC is the smallest of the group in terms of GDP, and had a GDP of $46.6bn in 2006. Set up in 1967, disagreements between founding members Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania led to its collapse. A treaty was signed for its re-establishment in 1999 and the new EAC was formed in 2000.