African Islands Research Articles

Follicular and scarring disorders in skin of color: presentation and management.

Skin of color, also known as ethnic skin, is described as skin of individuals of African, Asian, Hispanic, Native-American, Middle Eastern, and Pacific Island backgrounds. Differences in hair morphology, hair grooming, cultural practices, and susceptibility to keloid scarring exist within these populations and have been implicated in hair, scalp, and skin disorders. Acne keloidalis (AK), central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA), dissecting cellulitis of the scalp (DCS), pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB), traction alopecia (TA), and keloids are the most prevalent follicular and scarring disorders in skin of color. They have been associated with disfigurement, permanent hair loss, emotional distress, and decreased quality of life. Hair grooming practices, such as the use of chemical relaxers, heat straightening, and tight braiding and weaving can cause scalp irritation and follicular damage and are linked to the pathogenesis of some of these conditions. Consequently, patient education and behavior modifications are integral to the prevention and management of these disorders. Scarring disorders are also of concern in ethnic populations. Keloid scarring is more prevalent in individuals of African, Asian, and Hispanic descent. The scarring alopecia CCCA is almost exclusively seen in patients of African descent. Therapeutic regimens such as intralesional corticosteroids, surgical excision, and laser therapy can be effective for these follicular and scarring disorders, but carry a risk of dyspigmentation and keloid scarring. Ethnic skin and hair may present unique challenges to the clinician, and knowledge of these differences is essential to providing quality care.

The occurrence of Sparisoma frondosum (Teleostei: Labridae) in the Cape Verde Archipelago, with a summary of expatriated Brazilian endemic reef fishes

The occurrence of the Brazilian endemic parrotfish Sparisoma frondosum is confirmed for the Cape Verde Archipelago, in the Tropical Eastern Atlantic. In total, 12 species of reef fishes previously thought to be either endemic or originated in the Brazilian Province have been recently recorded as vagrants in the southern Caribbean and in West African offshore islands. We suggest that the seasonal and somewhat overlooked North Equatorial Countercurrent should receive more attention as a potential dispersal route for marine organisms crossing the Atlantic in a west–east direction.

The Dialogic Fashioning of Women's Dress in the Sultanate of Oman

This paper provides a brief introduction to women's dress practices in the Sultanate of Oman. We explore women's clothing practices as dialogues with religious and regional communities. Our introduction provides concrete examples of how dress practices from neighbouring communities, such as coastal Iran, neighbouring India, and the East African island of Zanzibar, have been appropriated and reformulated to express regional Omani identities. We discuss veiling practices in order to show how these practices reflect regional and generational identities which Western observers often misunderstand as signifying oppression, but are in fact rich in many-layered meaning for local women (e.g. marital status and tribal affiliation). The data for this study were obtained through semi-structured interviews with local women, which were conducted by a research team that included student-translators who belonged to the villages and Bedouin camps visited for the purpose of this study in 2010 and 2011.

Chocolate Islands: Cocoa, slavery, and colonial Africa

Catherine Higgs's first book, The Ghost of Equality (1997), was a biography of a distinguished black South African, D. D. T. Jabavu. That background on Southern Africa has put her in a good position to write this book which, although largely focused on the West African Portuguese colonial islands of São Tomé and Príncipe and the mainland territory of Angola, also covers more widely the supply of Mozambican labour to the mines of the Rand. And an excellent study it is, too, illustrated by numerous contemporary photographs. Higgs earns an extra mark for scholarship, having learned Portuguese in order to undertake the work. A good deal has been written on the scandal of exploited contract labour – serviçais – in the Portuguese colonial production of cocoa in the first decade of the twentieth century, both by contemporaries such as Henry Nevinson and Charles Swan, and by recent historians, most notably James Duffy, William Clarence-Smith, Kevin Grant, and Lowell Satre. At the centre of the controversy over how cocoa was produced was the Quaker family firm of Cadbury, a major and model employer of British labour at the Birmingham factory that produced drinking chocolate and sweets. In early 1901 William Cadbury received disquieting news that the cocoa the company was buying had been produced by slave labour in Portuguese West Africa. To find out more about labour conditions he briefly visited Lisbon, but needing more detailed information ‘he’ employed Joseph Burtt, a fellow Quaker, who spoke French and hastily-acquired Portuguese, and sent him to the islands of São Tomé and Principe in May 1905. Burtt's correspondence with Cadbury, together with his report and writings, form the basis of a large part of Higgs's skilfully written and important book, which critically reassesses Cadbury's struggle between moral integrity and the need for competitively priced cocoa.

East Africa's Gorée: slave trade and slave tourism in Bagamoyo, Tanzania

A tourist visiting Bagamoyo, Tanzania, today would be hard pressed not to come away with the impression that this idyllic, seaside port was once the centre of the East African slave trade. Local museums, interpretive signposts, and amateur tour guides throughout the town claim that tens of thousands of enslaved Africans were brought to Bagamoyo each year before being shipped off across the Indian Ocean. In 2006, the Tanzanian government applied to UNESCO to have Bagamoyo recognized as the exit point of the Central Slave and Ivory Trade Route that reached as far west as Lake Victoria. This paper investigates this application by assessing claims made to prove Bagamoyo's reputation as a major slave entrepôt against archival evidence. Similar to the case made by Phil Curtin in 1995 on H-Net regarding the memorialization of the West African island of Gorée, I demonstrate that enslaved Africans did not constitute a significant portion of local exports and that numbers have been highly exaggerated; instead, the trade in iAvory is what placed Bagamoyo on the map. This paper also considers the implications of this case study for the controversial debate between tourism and historical context; between symbolic representation and academic integrity.

Genetic structure and diversity of coffee (Coffea) across Africa and the Indian Ocean islands revealed using microsatellites

The coffee genus (Coffea) comprises 124 species, and is indigenous to the Old World Tropics. Due to its immense economic importance, Coffea has been the focus of numerous genetic diversity studies, but despite this effort it remains insufficiently studied. In this study the genetic diversity and genetic structure of Coffea across Africa and the Indian Ocean islands is investigated. Genetic data were produced using 13 polymorphic nuclear microsatellite markers (simple sequence repeats, SSRs), including seven expressed sequence tag-SSRs, and the data were analysed using model- and non-model-based methods. The study includes a total of 728 individuals from 60 species. Across Africa and the Indian Ocean islands Coffea comprises a closely related group of species with an overall pattern of genotypes running from west to east. Genetic structure was identified in accordance with pre-determined geographical regions and phylogenetic groups. There is a good relationship between morpho-taxonomic species delimitations and genetic units. Genetic diversity in African and Indian Ocean Coffea is high in terms of number of alleles detected, and Madagascar appears to represent a place of significant diversification in terms of allelic richness and species diversity. Cross-species SSR transferability in African and Indian Ocean islands Coffea was very efficient. On the basis of the number of private alleles, diversification in East Africa and the Indian Ocean islands appears to be more recent than in West and West-Central Africa, although this general trend is complicated in Africa by the position of species belonging to lineages connecting the main geographical regions. The general pattern of phylogeography is not in agreement with an overall east to west (Mascarene, Madagascar, East Africa, West Africa) increase in genome size, the high proportion of shared alleles between the four regions or the high numbers of exclusive shared alleles between pairs or triplets of regions.

Pleistocene volcanism on São Tomé, Gulf of Guinea, West Africa

New Ar/Ar data for alkaline basaltic rocks on the West African island of São Tomé document a Pleistocene eruptive episode that saw the formation of cinder cones and lava flows between 0.036 ± 0.004 and 0.86 ± 0.02 Ma (2σ). The cinder cones trend north-northeast along the long axis of the island, interpreted as a rift zone. This rift zone appears to be the source of several lava flows that reach the coastline, including one that underlies the airport of São Tomé. Estimates of magma production rates, both from recent lava flows and from consideration of the total edifice history suggest low magma production rates (10−4–10−2 m3/s), compared to other ocean island settings. Assuming a background of low overall volcanic activity, it is expected that any future eruptions would most likely occur along the north-northeast rift, resulting in cinder cone and lava flow emplacements that may impact the densely populated northeast region of the island.

Are Mauritian fishery exporters minding the standards gap?

Recent literature has provided evidence that exporters of agro-food products from developing countries experience problems in meeting sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures of developed countries. The objective of this paper is to determine whether fishery products exporters from Mauritius, a southern African small island developing state, also face similar issues. It first provides an overview of fishery products exports from Mauritius, before reviewing SPS requirements facing exporters. This paper finally reports on the findings of a survey conducted among Mauritian fish exporters to assess the importance of SPS measures as a factor affecting exports. Results show that SPS requirements have not acted as a major barrier for Mauritian exports to the European market but in fact have provided them with a competitive edge. It was, however, acknowledged that SPS requirements and private voluntary standards, to a smaller extent, were increasing in importance. The most important reported factors affecting exports are freight, and other direct export costs. The findings also show that the majority of fishery exporters have adopted a reactive compliance strategy. It is therefore proposed that Mauritian exporters should adopt a more proactive approach in their compliance strategy, increasingly moving towards new market opportunities such as private food safety standards.

The seaweeds of Angola: the transition between tropical and temperate marine floras on the west coast of southern Africa

The seaweed flora of Angola is relatively poorly known. Most of the 124 records listed for the country come from a 1974 British Natural History Museum expedition to the central and southern parts of that country. Previous biogeographic studies treated the Angolan seaweed flora as a whole and grouped it with those of certain West African islands as transitional between a Tropical West African seaweed flora (essentially extending from Senegal to Gabon) and temperate floras to the north and south of this truly tropical region. In the present study a total of 99 species and subspecies of seaweeds was collected from the intertidal zone and shallow sublittoral zones at five sites in the north of Angola and four sites in the south. The biogeographic distributions of our records were examined and compared with the temperate flora of Namibia to the south and the flora of Ghana to the north (as an example of a well-studied Tropical West African flora). Multivariate analyses of our presence/absence records showed differences between northern and southern sites (cluster analysis [Jaccard, average linkage] and detrended correspondence analysis). All Angolan sites were clearly different from floras of south, central and northern Namibia, which are considered to be strictly temperate in nature. Northern Angolan sites grouped more closely with Ghana than with southern Angolan sites. Distribution patterns within Angola are discussed in relation to monthly sea surface temperature data that were processed for this region. We conclude that the overall affinities of the Angolan seaweed flora, as represented by our collections, are Tropical West African, but with a well-developed temperate element in southern Angola (from about 13° S) comprising mainly cooler-water species from the Benguela Marine Province of Namibia and western South Africa. Our collections add about 45 species to the Angolan seaweed flora, raising the total number of species to around 169. This total approaches that of Ghana which, with about 200 species, is considered to have the richest seaweed flora in Tropical West Africa.

Was the Flying-FoxPteropus comorensison Mafia Island (Tanzania) Introduced by Humans?

While there is no firm evidence either way, the fact of long cultural contact and that birds and lizards have been introduced by Comorians to Mafia and other East African islands, suggests that the flying-fox Pteropus comorensis is more likely to have been introduced to Mafia Island by humans than to have arrived there by itself as generally assumed.

Musculoskeletal Coccidioidomycosis

Coccidioidomycosis (valley fever) is a systemic fungal infection caused by soil fungi, Coccidioides species, and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. This infection is endemic in northern Mexico, the southwestern United States, and parts of Central and South America. The risk factors include ethnicity (especially African and Pacific Island ancestry), male gender, and immunosuppression. The primary infection occurs in lungs, but fewer than 40% of patients are symptomatic. Fewer than 1% of infections result in disseminated disease, which may involve any organ. Skeletal infection occurs in 10 to 50% of these patients and is frequently multicentric with axial skeleton involvement. The diagnosis can be confirmed by culture of the organism or visual detection from cytological or histological specimens obtained from sites of disease. A presumptive diagnosis can be made in patients with a compatible illness and a positive serologic test. Imaging plays a significant role in diagnosis and follow-up treatment of musculoskeletal coccidioidomycosis and includes radiography, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and bone scintigraphy. Skeletal coccidioidomycosis is difficult to treat and frequently requires a combination of medical therapy and surgical debridement. Medical therapy must be continued for a prolonged period of time, potentially for a lifetime in some patients.

Lock‐and‐key structural isolation between sibling Drosophila species

AbstractDrosophila santomea Lachaise & Harry, which is endemic to the African island of São Tomé, and its sibling D. yakuba Burla comprise a new model system of speciation. They are morphologically distinguishable only by slight differences in the male genitalia and body coloration. As a previously undescribed difference, the aedeagus of D. yakuba bears a pair of stout spines (the ventral branches of the basal processes (VB)), instead of the paired humps found in D. santomea. Here, we show that this difference works as a lock‐and‐key isolating mechanism between the siblings. During conspecific copulation, D. yakuba females receive the spines in a pair of pocket‐shaped structures, which are protected by hardened plates, in the genitalia. The females of D. santomea, which lack such pockets, are wounded by the spines of the VB when mated with D. yakuba males. This genital mismatching resulted in leakage of the ejaculate, making 80% of the matings infertile and causing a prolonged struggle to separate pairs glued together by the ejaculate.

The Afromontane Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) of the Rwenzori (Uganda–D. R. Congo): taxonomy, ecology and biogeography

The timely characterization of high-altitude freshwater habitats allows an assessment of the diversity of its biota and provides the basis for monitoring community change. In this study, we investigate the Cladocera fauna of 29 water bodies (pools, freshwater lakes, and surrounding swamps sampled at various occasions between 2005 and 2009) in the Rwenzori Mountains (Uganda, D. R. Congo), which are part of the East African Sky Island Complex. All sites except one are located above 3700 m altitude. We include notes on the morphology, taxonomy, distribution, and ecology of each recorded taxon and describe a new species of the Alona rustica-group (Alona sphagnophila n.sp.; Chydoridae). We found 11 species of which seven are restricted to Lake Mahoma, the lowest lake in our study area (2990 m) (Alona affinis barbata, A. intermedia, Alonella exisa, Alonella nana, Daphnia cf. obtusa, Pleuroxus aduncus) and/or Lake Bujuku (Daphnia cf. curvirostris, P. aduncus) (3900 m). Two taxa (Ilyocryptus cf. gouldeni, A. sphagnophila n.sp.) are restricted to Carex/Sphagnum bogs surrounding lakes in the afroalpine zone. Pigmented populations of Chydorus cf. sphaericus occur in all the sites. It is the only cladoceran species surviving the extreme alpine and nival conditions in the Rwenzori. The species is joined by A. guttata at locations at lower altitudes (ca. 3000–4000 m), present in about half of the sites. The Rwenzori Cladocera fauna is characterized by a strong extratropical temperate component and a low level of speciation/endemism. Harboring an impoverished boreal cladoceran community, Lake Mahoma is given closer attention. At 2990 m, the lake is a cold-temperate aquatic island in the tropics and may function as a stepping stone for Palaearctic taxa. We introduce a new term for high-altitude, cold-water habitats in the tropics, which act as climatic islands for extratropical freshwater faunas, Loffler Islands, in honor of Dr Heinz Loffler. In comparison to surveys in 1961, we list five new records in Lake Mahoma, which could indicate cladoceran community changes over the past few decades at ca. 3000 m in the Rwenzori. Since the species distributions correlate to temperature and catchment properties of the lakes, the Rwenzori cladoceran fauna can be expected as sensitive indicators for local changes.

Time, space and ecology: why some clades have more species than others

Aim We seek biotic and abiotic explanations for differences in lineage sizes of Afromontane sedges (Cyperaceae, Carex) and buttercups (Ranunculaceae, Ranunculus). Location Mountains of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. Methods We investigated differences in the species richness and diversification rates of 18 lineages of the pan-temperate plant groups Carex and Ranunculus, established by long-distance dispersal on African sky islands. We built generalized linear models to test the individual and the cumulative power of biotic and abiotic factors for predicting variation in the size of lineages. Tested variables were: ages of the lineages, their geographic distributions, number of mountain systems occupied, isolation/distance from ancestral areas, elevation range, number of vegetation zones and habitat types in which lineages are found, light requirement and water availability for each lineage, and the sum of the habitat factors, representing habitat heterogeneity. Habitat conservatism was measured by the overlap in habitats among the species within each lineage. Diversification rate changes were investigated using ‘laser’ in R. Results The number of Carex and Ranunculus lineages on the African mountains accumulated gradually through time. The size of these lineages could best be explained by a model combining age and distribution together with a measure of environmental heterogeneity (either elevation and water availability or habitat heterogeneity). Extensive overlap in environmental characteristics and distribution ranges among the species indicates a relatively high degree of conservatism of these characters. Main conclusions Lineages that are species-rich are those that have the ability and time to occupy many mountain regions and a wide range of habitats. If allopatric or ecological speciation plays a role, then secondary dispersal and/or niche expansion soon obscures the patterns that may have existed at the point of speciation.

New or little known epiphyllous liverworts, XIV. The genus Colura (Lejeuneaceae) in São Tomé Island, with the description of Colura thomeensis sp. nov

Abstract Two species of the genus Colura, C. digitalis and C. tenuicornis were previously known from the West African island of Sao Tome. Colura calderae known only from Bioko Island is new to Sao Tome and C. thomeensis, a species new to science, is described and illustrated. A key to the four species now recognized on Sao Tome is provided.

Phylogeny and biogeography of Sicydiinae (Teleostei: Gobiidae) inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear genes

In the Indo-Pacific area, the Caribbean region and West Africa, insular systems are colonised by particular Gobiids of the Sicydiinae subfamily. These species spawn in freshwater, the free embryos drift downstream to the sea where they undergo a planktonic phase, before returning to rivers to grow and reproduce; an amphidromous lifestyle. These gobies are the biggest contributors to the diversity of fish communities in insular systems and have the highest levels of endemism, yet their phylogeny has not been explored before with molecular data. To understand the phylogeny and the biogeography of this subfamily, sequences from the mitochondrial 16S rDNA and cytochrome oxidase I and from the nuclear rhodopsin gene were obtained for 50 Sicydiinae specimens of seven genera. Our results support the monophyly of the subfamily and of all the genera except Sicyopus, which is polyphyletic. Five major clades were identified within this subfamily. One clade clusters Sicyopterus and Sicydium as sister genera, one contains the genus Stiphodon split into two different groups, two other clades include only Sicyopus (Smilosicyopus) and Cotylopus, respectively, and the last clade groups Akihito, Lentipes and Sicyopus (Sicyopus). As a result, the subgenus Smilosicyopus is elevated herein as a genus. A molecular dating approach helps the interpretation of these phylogenetic results in terms of amphidromy and biogeographical events that have allowed the Sicydiinae to colonise the Indo-Pacific, West African and Caribbean islands.

Patterns of morphological and genetic variation in western Indian Ocean members of the Chaerephon 'pumilus' complex (Chiroptera: Molossidae), with the description of a new species from Madagascar

The species delimitations of African, Arabian Peninsula, and western Indian Ocean island members of the Molossidae bat species complex Chaerephon pumilus remain largely unresolved. Based on genetic analyses this group is paraphyletic, with C. leucogaster nested within C. pumilus sensu lato, and the latter is composed of several distinct clades. DNA was isolated from a specimen of C. p. pumilus obtained at the type locality (Massawa, Eritrea). Although incomplete, this sequence allowed us to clearly define which clade is referable to nominate pumilus, a critical step in resolving the systematics of this species complex. Using morphological and molecular genetic (cytochrome b and D-loop sequences) characters, we establish that C. leucogaster and C. 'pumilus' on Madagascar represent two different lineages and that the Malagasy population referred to C. 'pumilus' is specifically distinct from those on Africa, the islands and mainland Africa. The population of C. pusillus from the western Seychelles atoll of Aldabra cluster with that of the Comoros, rather than Madagascar. For numerous other species of volant vertebrates (bats and birds), the origin of the Aldabra fauna is mixed between the Comoros and Madagascar (e.g., Goodman & Ranivo 2008; O'Brien et al. 2009; Pasquet et al. 2007; Warren et al. 2003). Hence, in the case of these 9-17 g Chaerephon bats, these water barriers have been associated with the isolation and subsequent differentiation of populations after successful dispersal and colonization events. In contrast, within the Comoros, there is no apparent genetic structure between with the individual islands, which are separated by 40 and 80 km, indicating that this distance is regularly traversed by these bats and giving rise to intra-archipelago panmixia of populations.

Trans‐Atlantic, trans‐Pacific and trans‐Indian Ocean dispersal in the small Gondwanan Laurales family Hernandiaceae

AbstractAim To investigate the historical biogeography of the pantropical flowering plant family Hernandiaceae (Laurales), which today comprises 62 species in five genera.Location Hernandiaceae occur in Africa (9 species), Madagascar (4), the Neotropics (25), Australia (3), southern China, Indochina, Malesia, and on numerous Pacific Islands (32). These numbers include two widespread species, Hernandia nymphaeifolia, which ranges from East Africa to the Ogasawara Islands and New Caledonia, and Gyrocarpus americanus, thought to have a pantropical range.Methods We sampled 37 species from all genera, the widespread ones with multiple accessions, for a chloroplast DNA matrix of 2210 aligned nucleotides, and used maximum likelihood to infer species relationships. Divergence time estimation relied on an uncorrelated‐rates relaxed molecular clock calibrated with outgroup fossils of Lauraceae and Monimiaceae.Results The deepest split in the family is between a predominantly African–Madagascan–Malesian lineage comprising Hazomalania, Hernandia and Illigera, and an African–Neotropical lineage comprising Gyrocarpus and Sparattanthelium; this split may be 122 (110–134) Myr old. The stem lineages of the five genera date back at least to the Palaeocene, but six splits associated with transoceanic range disjunctions date only to the Oligocene and Miocene, implying long‐distance dispersal. It is inferred that Hernandia beninensis reached the West African islands of São Tomé and Bioko from the West Indies or the Guianas; Hernandia dispersed across the Pacific; and Illigera madagascariensis reached Madagascar from across the Indian Ocean.Main conclusions The disjunct ranges and divergence times of sister clades in the Hernandiaceae are partly congruent with the break‐up of West Gondwana, but mostly with later transoceanic dispersal. An exceptional ability to establish following prolonged oceanic dispersal may be largely responsible for the evolutionary persistence of this small clade.

Dynamic land use and land cover changes and their effect on forest resources in a coastal village of Matemwe, Zanzibar, Tanzania

Recent land cover change estimates show overall decline of tropical forests at the regional and global scales caused by multiple social, cultural and economic factors. There is an overall concern on the prevailing land use practices, such as shifting cultivation and extraction of forest materials as agents of forests losses, but also new, emerging land uses are threatening tropical forests. Understanding of the long-term development and driving forces of forest changes are needed, especially at local levels where many decisions on forest policies and land uses are made. This paper addresses the importance of such information for improved estimates of forest dynamics by studying local level land cover and land use changes during the last 50–70 years in the Eastern African tropical island of Zanzibar, Tanzania. The paper discusses the role of traditional and new land uses mainly subsistence farming, tourism and government interference through tree planting, in the long-term development of the forests at the village level. The material for the study is gathered from the interpretation of archival maps and aerial photographs combined with contemporary digital aerial photographs. The analyses are based on the mapping, spatial sampling and spatio-temporal change trajectory analysis (LCTA) of forest land cover, forest land uses and settlement patterns with GIS and statistics. Six distinct forest land cover change trajectories were identified and these illustrate dynamic and heterogeneous nature of the forests. Closed forest cover has dominated throughout due to cyclical land use patterns, but over 70% of the land area has been continuously transforming between closed, semi-open and open land cover conditions. Land use turnover rates indicate that hardly any forest areas are left untouched from the forces, which remove and re-establish forest vegetation in the long run. Land cover and land use change trajectories are spatially fragmented in the studied landscape. Majority of forest loss-gain dynamics is caused by shifting cultivation, while forest losses are most dramatic along the coast, where traditional and new land uses meet and land uses pressures are highest. The study suggests that landscape change trajectory analyses, where contemporary and historical information on land uses and land cover changes are spatially linked, can provide valuable aspects into local level forest land use planning and management strategies. For the case study, the findings suggest the following key forest management strategies for consideration: (1) establishment of a protected forest/scrubland in participation with the local stakeholders, especially the farmers, (2) promotion of areas for permanent agricultural practices, while simultaneously introducing management controls in the traditional slash-and-burn farming areas, and (3) promoting new livelihood opportunities for the farmers, who have traditionally been dependent on forest resources, meanwhile introducing alternatives for fuel wood for cooking.

Telecommunications in the African Small Island Developing States

Analysis, research and training about telecommunications in Africa focus on a few larger markets, though with growing interest in pan-African operators. At the other extreme lie the Small Island Developing States (SIDS): the Cape Verde Islands, the Union of the Comoros, Mauritius, Sao Tome & Principe and the Seychelles. These are literally on the margin, both geographically and in the functioning of their ICT markets, facing specific challenges in crafting courses towards their own information societies. They face disproportionate problems in creating and regulating properly functioning markets, notably in sustaining competition. Maintaining a policy unit in a ministry is expensive and difficult to justify, while a regulatory authority can be funded by taxing operators. Basic regulatory instruments (e.g., auctioning of spectrum, number portability and local loop unbundling) and some policy instruments (e.g., public consultations and parliamentary oversight committees) do not work easily on a very small scale. Some of the SIDS benefit from tourism and from this roaming revenues flow to the mobile operators. This paper synthesises the lessons from the African SIDS and identifies areas for further research.