I am concluding before I start writing. My passport is ready and I am a train ride away from relocating to East Africa.
Fortunately and unfortunately my career is based mostly online. I use the internet for creating and disseminating information. Hell, I even use the internet to socialise. But this damn country that recently ranked as the country with most expensive mobile data in the world, counteracts productivity. Yes. As economically challenged as we are, we spending at least $75 per month for...wait for it...1 gigabyte (1GB). I won't even go into detail about one mobile network's so called bouquets which aren't flowers or cable television.
Breathe! On the other hand, East African countries Rwanda charge $0.56 cents/gig whilst Sudan charges $0.68 cents/gig. These are all statistics from a research by Cable. Africa has a decent amount of Internet penetration currently. Nigeria ranks first in internet usage with 111.6 million users as of March 2019. To add on 74% of web traffic was generated from mobile phones.
Africa is certainly not falling behind in terms of the 'innanet'. We too participate in trending hash tags, viral content and even producing fake news. South Africa has its own 'Black Twitter' which you should never dare cross paths with.
If the internet in Africa was a person then it should embody an attractive personality. You know that person whose company you want to be around. The internet should have three key characteristics. Availability, affordability and accountability.
Nobody ever wants to be in a relationship with someone who's unavailable. Most urban areas in Africa have internet. However it's limited. Ever travelled across the pond especially with your iPhone? Clearly we as Africans haven't experienced available internet. Especially free Internet. While rural areas are being developed internet should also be available there.
The first paragraphs already indicated the frustrations with the pricing of data. Once upon a time, I opened my email from an Internet service provider with the headline, "Good news". Have you ever been catfished? On that day I would have probably thrown a drink at them. How dare they pretend to bring glad tidings whilst increasing my package? Southern Africa is clearly the worst when it comes to charges for the internet.
And last but not least, accountability. I will leave this trait to the floor. My friends in East Africa, Nigeria and South Africa will give you their personal experiences in the comments below. From personal experience, when it comes to the internet service providers, there is some level of accountability. But when it comes to mobile networks, you get stood up most of the times.
In conclusion, the marriage between Africa and the internet isn't happening any time soon. Keep your dowry for now. There is a lot of work to be done in ticking off all the boxes.
Availability of the internet shouldn't be segregated or limited to urban areas. How else are we going to encourage e-learning in all schools? Clearly the internet falls into Maslow's hierarchy of needs. What do we do with needs? We make them affordable even to those with low incomes. We don't have a clear 'middle class' in Africa, hence most of us fall into the low income demographic. Accountability is just a disability for most Africans not just in terms of the internet. Accountability in Africa is like MLK Jnr.'s, 'I have a Dream' speech...waiting for it to come to pass... (crickets).
Now let me hustle for the data bundle for the next blog.
P.S. Always write your own love story!
Ciao!
Lady E
Fortunately and unfortunately my career is based mostly online. I use the internet for creating and disseminating information. Hell, I even use the internet to socialise. But this damn country that recently ranked as the country with most expensive mobile data in the world, counteracts productivity. Yes. As economically challenged as we are, we spending at least $75 per month for...wait for it...1 gigabyte (1GB). I won't even go into detail about one mobile network's so called bouquets which aren't flowers or cable television.
Breathe! On the other hand, East African countries Rwanda charge $0.56 cents/gig whilst Sudan charges $0.68 cents/gig. These are all statistics from a research by Cable. Africa has a decent amount of Internet penetration currently. Nigeria ranks first in internet usage with 111.6 million users as of March 2019. To add on 74% of web traffic was generated from mobile phones.
Africa is certainly not falling behind in terms of the 'innanet'. We too participate in trending hash tags, viral content and even producing fake news. South Africa has its own 'Black Twitter' which you should never dare cross paths with.
If the internet in Africa was a person then it should embody an attractive personality. You know that person whose company you want to be around. The internet should have three key characteristics. Availability, affordability and accountability.
Nobody ever wants to be in a relationship with someone who's unavailable. Most urban areas in Africa have internet. However it's limited. Ever travelled across the pond especially with your iPhone? Clearly we as Africans haven't experienced available internet. Especially free Internet. While rural areas are being developed internet should also be available there.
The first paragraphs already indicated the frustrations with the pricing of data. Once upon a time, I opened my email from an Internet service provider with the headline, "Good news". Have you ever been catfished? On that day I would have probably thrown a drink at them. How dare they pretend to bring glad tidings whilst increasing my package? Southern Africa is clearly the worst when it comes to charges for the internet.
And last but not least, accountability. I will leave this trait to the floor. My friends in East Africa, Nigeria and South Africa will give you their personal experiences in the comments below. From personal experience, when it comes to the internet service providers, there is some level of accountability. But when it comes to mobile networks, you get stood up most of the times.
In conclusion, the marriage between Africa and the internet isn't happening any time soon. Keep your dowry for now. There is a lot of work to be done in ticking off all the boxes.
Availability of the internet shouldn't be segregated or limited to urban areas. How else are we going to encourage e-learning in all schools? Clearly the internet falls into Maslow's hierarchy of needs. What do we do with needs? We make them affordable even to those with low incomes. We don't have a clear 'middle class' in Africa, hence most of us fall into the low income demographic. Accountability is just a disability for most Africans not just in terms of the internet. Accountability in Africa is like MLK Jnr.'s, 'I have a Dream' speech...waiting for it to come to pass... (crickets).
Now let me hustle for the data bundle for the next blog.
P.S. Always write your own love story!
Ciao!
Lady E
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