ICTs in Africa

Africa, Mostly Offline, Struggles to Get on the Internet

Four years ago, the firm Terracom signed a contract with the Rwandan government to provide 300 schools with internet access. Rwandan officials had planned on equipping schools with the internet as a way to modernize the rural economy. But as of mid-July, only one third of the schools had been connected. That rate is better than that for Africa as a whole, with only 4 percent of the continent connected, most in the very northern and southern regions. A major problem is lack of infrastructure, a result of ongoing conflict destroying communication networks and requiring that lines be routed through England or the US. Officials criticize Terracom for being more interested in tapping into the lucrative cell-phone market. According to Ron Nixon, the dispute is “emblematic of what can happen when good intentions run into the technical, political and business realities of Africa.”