Law Technology

Internet in Africa: Still the Dark Continent in the 21st Century

By JohnPMayer

Before the interior of sub-Saharan Africa was known, mapmakers would leave it blank or dark and so Africa was known as the "Dark Continent".

This graphic from 2005 shows that Africa is still the Dark Continent in terms of Internet accessibility.

This map shows the reason why ...

Although this map is from 2004, it's illustrative of the problem. Here's a closer look at Nigeria where I am most interested...

As you can see, there are very few submarine cables entering Nigeria despite the fact that it is an oil-rich nation with a population of over 140 million people.

I have been doing some background research on Internet access in Nigeria and most of what I am finding is that the solution is to get your own satellite downlink. Unfortunately, this can cost 98,000 Naira ($1 = 115 Naira) or about $850 per month for 512 kbps. This is after equipment and installation costs have been paid.

This isn't so bad for a business with light internet needs - web surfing, email, etc., but forget about video and for a schools with over 1000 students, this is very problematic.

High-bandwidth internet access does not seem to be much of an option in Nigeria in the near term.

Full post as published by CALIopolis on January 31, 2008 (boomark / email).