In Africa, Mobiles are Banks

A new survey of global financial habits by the Gates Foundation, the World Bank and Gallup World Poll found 20 countries in which more than 10% of adults say they used mobile money at some point in 2011, the Economist reports.

Of those, 15 are African. In Kenya, Sudan and Gabon half or more of adults used mobile money.

In contrast, in countries with more developed financial systems, the share of adults who use mobile money is tiny, such as in Brazil and Argentina, where use of mobile money is only about one percent of adults.