According to the State of East Africa 2012 report, current challenges for the region include child malnutrition (with one third of Kenyan children and one half of Burundian children stunted), poverty (although limited progress is being made), secondary schooling (now that access to primary education is almost universal although standards are very low), infrastructure, international trade, and exploitation of natural resources.
The region’s population grew by more than 10% in the five years between 2005 and 2010, and is expected to increase by a further 100 million by 2030. This effective doubling in population creates challenges for resource management and food security. Maternal and child health have been improving, as has life expectancy, so that there are fewer infant deaths, but a correspondingly higher overall population.
Mobile telecommunications have been expanding rapidly, with mobile subscriptions increasing from 3 million in 2002 to 64 million in 2010, while fixed-line telephone infrastructure has remained poor. The majority of those who access the Internet do so through their mobile phones. Limited availability of banking services has led to the development and proliferation of the M-Pesa mobile payment system.