African Internet Connections Struggle to Keep Up
March 10, 2010
By: Benjamin Russell

The US-based Internet Commission for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is calling for steps to ensure more affordable and widely-available internet access in East Africa, citing the potential of electronic commerce to improve the economic lot for people in the region.

The African continent lags far behind the rest of the world in terms of internet connectivity, according to the BBC, with only 7% of the world’s internet users despite having 15% of the world’s population. 

"If you look at our vision of 'One world, one Internet, everyone connected,' it finishes with everyone connected," said ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom.  "Well, there are a billion people in Africa that need to be on-line for everyone to be connected."

While Africa struggles to keep up, other developing regions such as Latin America and the former eastern bloc have seen rapid increases in internet users over the past decade.  Brazil, for example, had over 30% of its population connected to the internet in 2008 despite less than 5% being connected in 2001.

Beckstrom hopes that African countries will be able to catch up, and is asking for the continent’s leaders to break up state-run telecommunications firms that drive up prices and keep the internet out of reach for many Africans, according to VOA News.

Other challenges to internet connectivity are already being confronted. According to VOA news, East Africa’s first fiber-optic internet connection went live last July, making it the last region in the world to be connected through fiber optic cables.  Prior to the installation, East African internet users had to rely on costly satellite technology to connect.

Sources:

VOA News - US Firm Urges Affordable Internet Access for East Africa

BBC News – Mapping the Growth of the Internet

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