One of the reasons for the number of cell phones in much of Africa (and other countries) is a lack of infrastructure such as power/phone lines strung for hundreds of miles on poles. Cell towers don't need lines, and only have to be within many miles of each other--not strung across the country.
Have seen Masai herders whip their cell phone from underneath their "toga," and also seen phone service improve enormously in rural Mexico since first visiting there 50 years ago. Same sort of deal with supposedly more civilized countries such as Norway, where stringing lines across the fjord country (some of the most rugged on earth) would be extremely expensive.
How are they charging those devices ?
