The folks at Appfrica have put together some interesting infographs on infrastructure investment and Internet connectivity in Africa. The graphs provide information on Internet penetration and network readiness by country, and the various infrastructure development projects that are rapidly transforming Internet connectivity in Africa. While Africans currently represent only 3.9 percent of global Internet users, the continent’s Internet use has grown by more than 1,300 percent since 2000. The completion of three major marine cable projects this year is expected to decrease international bandwidth costs by 90 percent and support further Internet penetration. [%comments]
Africa, Connected
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Am I the only one thinking that I’ll be getting moreand more Nigerian inheritance emails?
Sigh.
Africa probably needs the internet more than any other continent. Combined with proper education, the internet will offer a link to the internet marketplace that can help liquify Africa’s economy.
How is the 1300% increase in internet use defined? Number of users? Bandwidth? How does this number compare to developed nations? If the number represents data flow it’s interesting to note that the US has increased about 2000% since 2000.
Also, a 1300% increase in users is analogous to the 1990-1995 time frame for the US. A 14 year technology lag wouldn’t be so bad for Africa if it wasn’t an indicator of all sorts of other bad things!
Heck, this is wonderful. Internet in Africa can only be good news for the Africans. Everyone is aware of the severe under-education the continent is suffering, and the internet will radically increase the amount of resources both professors and students can use to get a really good education. Online courses in Africa is likely to grow enormously in the incoming years because of the increase in number of eager students.
Positive global repercussions, too!
Educated Africans (and I don’t mean some; I mean the majority) would equal less corruption, meaning a cleaner market with higher GDP’s.
Combined with more and better entrepreneurs, the management of Africa will lead into the tapping of its resources, spreading all around the global market and convening most everybody.
I just came back from a safari in remote western Tanzania and the people in my group with iPad’s had no problem downloading files and the NY Times website.
Re:#4 – recent studies have shown in the US that there is a negative correlation between educational achievement and the presence of computers. It turns out the kids use their computers to procrastinate and play games instead of doing their work.
Africa is getting there but has a vast distance to catch up.