Internet Connectivity in Africa

[Zee Bee 61]

From: http://www.smartmoney.com/news/on/index.cf...031-001264-1911

KIGALI (AFP)--Africa will receive investments worth $55 billion to boost its goal of securing universal Internet access by 2012, the International Telecommunication Union said Wednesday.

The international commitments were made at the two-day "Connect Africa" summit that ended in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, Tuesday, with a pledge to speed up technology in the continent, the ITU said in a statement.

The ITU and African Development Bank jointly vowed to cooperate in connecting all African capitals and major cities with a broadband infrastructure and strengthen connectivity to the rest of the world by 2012.

The pair will invest at least $300 million in information and communication technology projects in five years and further mobilize more partners and funds.

"By 2015, broadband and ICT services will be extended to all African villages," the statement said.

Six African heads of state and technology experts agreed at the conference that Africa, the world's most marginalized continent, should get universal Internet access to aid development.

"Africa is open for business," said Hamadoun Toure, secretary general of the ITU, which organized the conference with support from international bodies including the African Union and the U.N.

The U.N. telecom group urged governments to work towards cross-border integration in large-scale projects.

"With the entrepreneurial spirit of the African private sector working with their international partners, the support of the international community and the commitment from governments, universal connectivity in Africa is no longer a utopian dream," said Sha Zukang, Under Secretary General for the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in Wednesday's statement.

Mobile telephony in Africa overtook fixed lines in 2001 and now outnumbers them by nearly seven to one, with nearly 193 million mobile cellular subscribers in 2006.

This figure is projected to grow to more than 270 million by the end of this year, according to GSM Association, which plans to invest $50 billion over the next five years and provide mobile coverage to more than 90% of the population.

Currently less than 4% of Africans have Internet access whilst the rate of broadband penetration barely reaches 1%, according to the ITU.

According to the World Bank, the cost of connecting to the Internet in Africa is the highest in the world, at some $250-$300 per month.

[Zee Bee 61]

So yeah, if they would like to get on this ASAP so that I can use my VOIP to call my fiance that would be great

Connectivity is one thing but how about reliability. I would rather they work on things like "lights off".

I mean, what is the internet without electricity?

Just my $0.02.

[Asante Maroon 0]

So yeah, if they would like to get on this ASAP so that I can use my VOIP to call my fiance that would be great

Connectivity is one thing but how about reliability. I would rather they work on things like "lights off".

I mean, what is the internet without electricity?

Just my $0.02.

Yeah, so I'm out of the loop.....what's VOIP?

Light off is crrrrraaaazy! They need to seriously do something about it. It has gotten progressively worse over the past year or more. When I was there in the summer of 2006, it was not bad at all. The power went out a few times but only for a few hours once in a while...granted it was rainy season so that definitely contributed to better power conditions. When I returned to Ghana at the end of January, 2007, things were far worse. I seemed like there was light off everyday! It was one thing to have a planned period of light off, but when it was your area's time to regain power, There would be unexpected/unplanned light off. There was a lot of food spoiling, dead cell phone batteries and frustration.

This power situation has a negative affect on businesses (who can't open if their sewing machines or barbering clippers can't work because there is no power and no light for them to see. You can't even get a cold drink most times especially when you need it the most...during dry season).

They need to make fixing this power situation a main priority, because the country as a whole is losing money. Ghana has a lot of beautiful beaches and would fair well in tourism, but not with this on going power issue. Its sad because Ghana has so much potential. Its a very beautiful country....and you know what...despite the light off, I still miss it and would give anything to be there right now

[Zee Bee 61]

VOIP = Voice over IP

Basically making phone calls using your internet, like Vonage.

[Asante Maroon 0]

VOIP = Voice over IP

Basically making phone calls using your internet, like Vonage.

Ok. Ive heard of it...just did not know the correct term

[Asante Maroon 0]

So yeah, if they would like to get on this ASAP so that I can use my VOIP to call my fiance that would be great

Connectivity is one thing but how about reliability. I would rather they work on things like "lights off".

I mean, what is the internet without electricity?

Just my $0.02.

Yeah, so I'm out of the loop.....what's VOIP?

Light off is crrrrraaaazy! They need to seriously do something about it. It has gotten progressively worse over the past year or more. When I was there in the summer of 2006, it was not bad at all. The power went out a few times but only for a few hours once in a while...granted it was rainy season so that definitely contributed to better power conditions. When I returned to Ghana at the end of January, 2007, things were far worse. I seemed like there was light off everyday! It was one thing to have a planned period of light off, but when it was your area's time to regain power, There would be unexpected/unplanned light off. There was a lot of food spoiling, dead cell phone batteries and frustration.

This power situation has a negative affect on businesses (who can't open if their sewing machines or barbering clippers can't work because there is no power and no light for them to see. You can't even get a cold drink most times especially when you need it the most...during dry season).

They need to make fixing this power situation a main priority, because the country as a whole is losing money. Ghana has a lot of beautiful beaches and would fair well in tourism, but not with this on going power issue. Its sad because Ghana has so much potential. Its a very beautiful country....and you know what...despite the light off, I still miss it and would give anything to be there right now

So I realized I went off topic....slightly ok...a little bit more than that

Using the internet would be so much more ideal, not to mention cheaper than using the phone all the time. Like I mentioned to Zee in a former thread, international text messages are cool, but so darn costly. Verizon charges 15 cent to receive and 25 cents to send. I have spent as much as $85 dollars a month in international text message bills alone . There has to be a better way.

[Ta Ta 1]

Don't they have packages for text msg ? I pay $ 9.99 for 100 international text msg. with AT&T ( Cingular ) wireless.

The electricity problem would definitely have to improve before the internet gets better infrastructure.

Sierra Leone has extremely long outages.

When the lights come on it is like Christmas and everyone is happy, running for the radio, TV and iron.

Power is a basic need and the business is poor because of the high cost to run generators.

[Divine Mercy 0]

Don't they have packages for text msg ? I pay $ 9.99 for 100 international text msg. with AT&T ( Cingular ) wireless.

The electricity problem would definitely have to improve before the internet gets better infrastructure.

Sierra Leone has extremely long outages.

When the lights come on it is like Christmas and everyone is happy, running for the radio, TV and iron.

Power is a basic need and the business is poor because of the high cost to run generators.

A lot of places in West Africa are working with developing solar panels that will power the computers. It's too expensive for the average African to use right now though.

My husband used to own and run a cyber cafe in Nigeria (no scammers allowed, don't worry) but the cost of the ISP was WAY to high compared to the income. It just wasn't feasible. The ISP was based in Israel.. when the wars got intense the ISP was knocked out and that was the end of his and many other businesses. Africa could def. stand to have many more of their own African based ISPs and def. VOIP! That's great, thanks for sharing that info ZeeNusah!!

[Asante Maroon 0]

Don't they have packages for text msg ? I pay $ 9.99 for 100 international text msg. with AT&T ( Cingular ) wireless.

The electricity problem would definitely have to improve before the internet gets better infrastructure.

Sierra Leone has extremely long outages.

When the lights come on it is like Christmas and everyone is happy, running for the radio, TV and iron.

Power is a basic need and the business is poor because of the high cost to run generators.

No packages for Verizon yet. I make the suggestion every time I speak to them, however .

The same happens in Ghana when the power is on....everyone gets so happy. Most times I knew the power was back on when I heard clapping and laughing, followed by some music playing.

And you are so right about the generators...only those that are a little more fortunate can afford one. It's a shame. People work hard to start their business only to lose money to the power situation. But you know what...you may hear some one complain once in a while, but everyone deals with it graciously. They still go to work and do the best that they can with what they have. That's shows lots of character that we don't often see here. I miss Ghana a lot

[Zee Bee 61]

Wow. Good points everyone

Omoba, I had no idea about the international text messaging package from AT&T...I am going to look into that now.

Now, onto my soapbox.

Quite frankly I think these people have their priorities mixed up big time!

Like everyone else I think that the issue of a continuous, reliable electricity supply is more important than getting the internet. Personally, I think that people would appreciate that a lot more and it would be more of a help to the general African person that internet access. Unless this money is going to try and revamp the poor electrical infrastruture we have in addition to getting us internet, I think it is going to be a waste.

Solar panels are freaking expensive. My dad is looking to get some for our house and the set up costs are about $2500. While it is a lot of money, I think that the investment is well worth it. Akosombo is not cutting it anymore (and I have my issues with that --- which is a topic for another thread ) and the construction of other dams is so slow that I doubt we are going to see the results of that soon.

Where did these African leaders and technology experts come from anyway? I wonder what country/countries they did their feasibility studies in.

Interesting bit of information. My fiance and I were talking about the "oil discovery" in Ghana (this was a few months ago) and he told me some interesting facts about the "lights off" phenomenon. He works with renewable energy resources (I think I got that right ) and he said that this whole issue of lights off happens about every 10-11 years in Ghana. Something to do with rainfall, cycles, and other stuff that was way over my head. So it is getitng better now.

And all the talk about mobile phone service....whatever. It sucks big time!!! I'm sorry but my experience with the stupid networks has driven me to the point that I have written to MTN in Ghana and the head office in South Africa. I am grateful that I can get a hold of my fiance but I detest the fact that either the connection sucks, you are constantly getitng cut off or it just plain doesn't work. I am sure those of you from Ghana who have SOs that use MTN have gotten that annoying message "The MTN number you have dialed cannot be reached at this moment. The phone is either switched off or out of coverage area." Umm, not when I was just talking to someone 2 seconds ago . And, unfortunately, the quality is the same whether you are calling Accra or the middle of nowhere.

Unfortunately, pouring all this money into Africa is not going to do much good unless all African nations learn one thing: how to maintain it. African countries are notorious for using, using, using and not maintaining. We use what we have until we can use it no more and then go and borrow a gazillion dollars to go and build something newer and high tech.

And, the image of getting internet in my village is just too funny for me to even think about. When 95% of the population cannot read and of the 5% who can, 4.999999% have never seen a computer, what is the point there? Not to mention that we don't even have electricity or phone reception yet (despite all the promises). I know what the responses are going to be (we need a school, we need a new market, we need a road, we need a bridge, we need a clinic --- those are actual answers from this project we were doing, another topic for another thread ).

OK, getting off my soapbox now.

[Ta Ta 1]

That is a good soapbox to stand on

The feasibility studies may not have so much to do with actual feasibility but certain shady political leaders from other countries

romancing Africa, making promises, sounding appealing and well you know how it goes......trying to buy them for future dealings.

If corrupt leaders within Africa stop filling their own pockets we may have more reliable infrastructure.

Isn't it often about whose pockets get stuffed from a too good to be true business venture to 'improve' ?

[Adrians Mom 0]

That is a good soapbox to stand on

The feasibility studies may not have so much to do with actual feasibility but certain shady political leaders from other countries

romancing Africa, making promises, sounding appealing and well you know how it goes......trying to buy them for future dealings.

If corrupt leaders within Africa stop filling their own pockets we may have more reliable infrastructure.

Isn't it often about whose pockets get stuffed from a too good to be true business venture to 'improve' ?

Exactly....you've got investors still pouring money into the electricity industry in Nigeria and look at the electricity system in Nigeria...one of the worst in africa. When I visited in May, my aunt didn't have power for four days in Lagos. Its an excellent effort on their part, but they might want to start off investing a smaller amount than 55 billion bucks. I mean some countries are still trying to develop other more meaningful areas....hospitals...schools...still even mobile phone coverage. My village in eastern Nigeria just got cell phone coverage two years ago. So yeah...I totally agree with the investment, but not that much for goodness sakes....

[Bassi and Zainab 1]

I agree with what everyone here said and can't help but note that they always give money to "Africa". "Africa" isn't a country. Who takes accountability for how, when and where this money is spent? It seems that throwing money at a problem is pretty useless if the money never makes to to fix the problem.

[Adrians Mom 0]

I agree with what everyone here said and can't help but note that they always give money to "Africa". "Africa" isn't a country. Who takes accountability for how, when and where this money is spent? It seems that throwing money at a problem is pretty useless if the money never makes to to fix the problem.

I know right! I'd like to see the leaders of these african nations sit down and decide who gets what portion of the money....fight might break out.

[Zee Bee 61]

I agree with what everyone here said and can't help but note that they always give money to "Africa". "Africa" isn't a country. Who takes accountability for how, when and where this money is spent? It seems that throwing money at a problem is pretty useless if the money never makes to to fix the problem.

I know right! I'd like to see the leaders of these african nations sit down and decide who gets what portion of the money....fight might break out.

And the saddest thing about the whole ordeal is that the little people suffer.

People come into government, make false promises and sit there, bank accounts getting bigger by the minute, trips to London, Paris, Rome, with 36 of your closest friends . Who wouldn't want a life like that?