A Web Without Africa

I recently wrote an article called “The Popularity of Programming Languages in Africa” where data from Google Insights was used to show how frequently different countries in the were world were searching for information related to various programming languages. Using that data (which was really only looking at the top ten countries representing each language) I was able to compare the results of African countries against each other.

But what those results illustrated all too blatantly was how little Africa seems to be contributing to the greater world development community. It doesn’t mean that African citizens are completely absent from the market but the vast majority of the continent is noticeably quiet.

This is no surprise, after all only roughly 10% of the continent has dependable electricity. The majority have no electricity at all. Most of the countries are so poor here that the median salaries are often less than $1,000USD per year.

Because of the costs associated and the lack of a middle class market to rely upon, little real infrastructure is being built outside of the major cities. The state of roads is abysmal, for example. So when it comes to internet infrastructure specifically, who’s going to lay fibre if they know they either also need to pay for new roads or lobby local governments to do it. Then there’s the fact that the basic needs of a vast majority of people aren’t adequately met. There’s no real e-commerce infrastructure. There’s the cost of computers in a market where the majority of people are living below the poverty line. In “The Cost of Doing Business In Africa“, I boke down the costs of a split 128kpbs line in Uganda. The cheapest offer was $250 a month and that’s after a $1099 upfront equipment fee.

All this creates a scenario where 14% of the worlds population is barely contributing to (and somewhat more importantly, benefiting from) all the innovation occurring because of the internet.

There’s so much to be done that I can see how it’s daunting to event start. Obviously, getting reliable electricity is crucial to changing this. On a recent trip to Rwanda I was surprised to see power lines in a rural area nearly an hour away from the countries largest city. That’s real progress for Africa by any standard. Increased liberalization of the private sector is also needed. Governments are going to have to ‘let go’ so that a competitive market emerge. That will drive down prices and promote innovation. Moreover, VSAT for all the immediate good it offers, needs to hit the back burner. Physical infrastructure (terrestrial fibre) is critical to low cost growth and scalable internet. VSAT is just a temporary fix to a permanent (growing) problem.

Until some of these changes (and many others) occur, most of Africa will remain offline. With Africa offline, it comes increasingly easy for investors in the private sector to ignore Africa as an irrelevant population when it comes to the tech sector. This means less jobs, less opportunities and less concern (from the rest of the world business community) for anything that goes on here at all. In other words, Africa is facing a potential shut out from the global marketplace in ways much more absolute than ever before.

Engagement with the Chinese has the potential to change that. In “The Next 2 Billion: SinoAfrica Rising” I explore the nature of China’s newfound interest in Africa and what it means for the continent. It’s too early to tell if the Chinese have any interest in doing real business with Africa, but they are infusing large amounts of cash into Africa. Unlike Western aid, this money has no strings-attached and Africa can run with it however corruptly or appropriately it wishes to.

Ultimately, the world is currently living with a web without a proportionate representation of Africa. This has to change, for Africa’s sake, and that change has to come from African leaders.

“The problem with computers is that there isn’t enough Africa in them.”
– Brian Eno