The Orange Money service now has 10 million customers worldwide, less than six years after it launched and less than two years after passing the 5 million mark.

Last year, transactions worth over €2.2 billion were conducted through Orange Money.

Initial findings from the GSMA’s 2013 Mobile Money Adoption Survey show there are now 208 live ‘mobile money for the unbanked’ services running in 83 countries, with an additional 117 deployments already planned.

That compares with 178 services across 74 countries in January.

New research from analyst firm Ovum predicts that global mobile revenue will drop in 2018 for the first time in the history of the mobile industry.

The number of new connections is still increasing, although figures are expected to rise by a compound annual growth rate of less than 4% between 2012 and 2018.

Michael Scaturro of voanews.com writes:

A team of Americans and Kenyans has developed a new Internet router - and it's creating buzz. That's because it is an affordable, reliable solution for people without consistent Internet access. It can run while plugged in or on battery power, jump between networks at will, and become a mobile hotspot for multiple devices. The team presented the device - called the Brck [pronounced Brick] - at the Re:publica tech conference in Berlin.

Microsoft has launched a new project designed to improve Africa’s global competitiveness. It’s called the Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative and will see Microsoft encouraging smartphone adoption, helping businesses get online and introducing more technology skills to the workplace.

The first step is a new smartphone called the Huawei 4Afrika.