"Due to high competition in Africa's mobile market, costs of mobile handsets have reduced significantly while in some instances service providers give customized handsets almost for free as they compete for customers," noted Edith Mwale, telecom analyst from Africa center for ICT Development.

However, Gail Smith, of Communication Initiative South Africa, an organization promoting communication said in an e-mail exchange that "I do believe that it will have positive impact on African people's lives."

"It is true that people are still unable to afford mobile phones and airtime," Smith said. "It's also not just the handsets. It's about whether or not their networks allow in-coming communication if they don't have airtime."

A Gartner research produced last year said Africa's mobile penetration will hit 56 percent by 2014 while Asia, excluding Japan, will see a 68 percent mobile penetration.

But Ramona Liberoff, Executive Vice President of Marketing, Strategy and Planning at Movirtu said not everyone can afford their own mobile phone. Liberoff claimed the goal of Movirtu is to increase the earning potential of those living on $1.00 or $2.00 a day by saving money and allowing them to access the economic benefits of a full mobile identity.