While grooming the major newspapers for our daily “What We’re Reading” section this morning, I came across this fascinating article in the New York Times about the revolutionary use of cell phones in Africa. With the internet still a relatively scarce resource on much of the continent, scientists are turning to mobile phones for an array of innovative uses, including tracking major crop diseases and communicating the latest agricultural advances to farmers in remote areas.

In fact, Africa has the fastest-growing mobile phone market in the world, with millions of Africans using their phones for business transactions, turning on water wells, transferring money and of course, checking soccer game scores. Who knew cell phones could be so multidimensional?

Check it out here.

You can also check out other stories we’ve covered on cell phone usage in Africa here and here.