The Center for International Media Assistance and the National Endowment for Democracy sponsored this study into digital media trends in Africa and the impact on people and development in general.

The result was this report titled: Bigger Cities, Smaller Screens: Urbanization, mobile phones and digital trends in Africa.

The report notes that Africa will become predominantly urban within 20 years, according to a United Nations report, with cities tripling in size and megacities developing throughout the continent. This suggests significant changes for Africans’ consumption of media in general and digital media in particular, with implications for Africa’s cities, politics, and civil society.

The convergence of African urbanization and technological change, including the rise of digital media, is driving major change. Perhaps most dramatic, use of cellphones and other mobile devices, already widespread, are becoming a nearly universal platform, not only for telephony but also for audio and video information and entertainment.

The research and analysis was carried out by Adam Clayton Powell II, a senior fellow at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center for Communication Leadership and Policy and a university fellow at USC’s Center on Public Diplomacy, coordinating USC projects and forums in Washington, DC, on subjects ranging from public diplomacy and public service media to future business models for cultural institutions and arts journalism.

You can download a copy of the instrumental report by paying $2.00 only (click buy now