In case you missed it, last week my colleague Mark Pickens provided us a quick look at the load of recent Kenyan mobile banking news. And here’s one more story to add: Safaricom, Others Find Pricing Key to Mobile Service Use:

A Strategy Analytics report points out that Safaricom’s M-PESA mobile funds transfer service handles nearly 10 percent of Kenya’s GDP in transactions that average less than $20. Since personal cash flow in emerging markets tends to be very irregular and relatively few consumers can afford to tie up significant sums, purchases of goods and services are often made in small amounts as need arises.

Another “saturated markets won’t drive growth” story, this time off the back of an Accenture report, as BusinessWeek tells us: Study Pegs Electronics Growth in Emerging Markets:

Consumers in the emerging economies of China, India, Malaysia, and Singapore are twice as likely as those in more developed France, Germany, Japan, and the U.S. to buy and use consumer technology this year. They’re also more willing to pay a premium for environmentally-friendly electronics products.

Who’s the boss when it comes to high-end handsets? This headline reveals the (obvious) answer: Apple, Nokia dominate worldwide mobile market:

Apple also led Latin America with a 39 percent share of the market, leaving Nokia with 15 percent and Sony Ericsson with 11 percent. <snip> In Africa, Nokia won 54 percent of the traffic. And in Eastern Europe, Nokia lost some ground but still held a strong 35 percent cut of the market in the fourth quarter, followed by Apple with 23 percent.

Finally, a programming note for your diary, travel plans and business relevance: the 2010 Mobile Money Summit is on for May 24-27 in Rio. A call for papers is open through the end of February.

-Jim Rosenberg