Posted at Vijana FM on October 26, 2010
In the last two years, there has been a lot of talk about the SEACOM project, which links the coasts of East and South Africa. The project involved the immersion of undersea fibre optic cables that increase speeds and decrease costs for Internet Service Providers and users. We have discussed the SEACOM project on two occasions; when we mentioned the Nation Media Group's golden jubilee, and when we asked Mbwana Alliy five questions.
There has therefore been a lot of excitement about the prospect of starting new goods and services based on the Internet that are especially for certain markets in Africa. Due the growth in the use of mobile phones, this excitement is further channeled into how mobile applications can be built, used, and developed over the Internet.
If you are getting ideas about how to run a product or service on the Internet in Africa, it is probably wise to check out Internet World Stats (IWS).
The IWS website provides comprehensive and up-to-date information about the penetration and use of the Internet across the African continent. It also provides country-specific data on the growth of Internet use relative to population growth.
For example, did you know that Tanzania has 520,000 Internet users as of June, 2009 (1.3% of the population), whereas her neighbor Kenya has 3,359,600 Internet users as of June/2009 (8.6% of the population)?
With a resource like this, your due diligence is made easy. That is, you don't have to spend so much time contacting so and so bureau for information before you start an Internet-based project. IWS can be used as a quick reference to make find markets, make projections, and assess progress relative to a given country or Africa's internet penetration and growth.
With increasing numbers of Internet Service Providers and bandwidth, the focus seems to be shifting not on access, but on how those who currently have access can innovate for their population.
Related Links:
In the last two years, there has been a lot of talk about the SEACOM project, which links the coasts of East and South Africa. The project involved the immersion of undersea fibre optic cables that increase speeds and decrease costs for Internet Service Providers and users. We have discussed the SEACOM project on two occasions; when we mentioned the Nation Media Group's golden jubilee, and when we asked Mbwana Alliy five questions.
There has therefore been a lot of excitement about the prospect of starting new goods and services based on the Internet that are especially for certain markets in Africa. Due the growth in the use of mobile phones, this excitement is further channeled into how mobile applications can be built, used, and developed over the Internet.
If you are getting ideas about how to run a product or service on the Internet in Africa, it is probably wise to check out Internet World Stats (IWS).
The IWS website provides comprehensive and up-to-date information about the penetration and use of the Internet across the African continent. It also provides country-specific data on the growth of Internet use relative to population growth.
For example, did you know that Tanzania has 520,000 Internet users as of June, 2009 (1.3% of the population), whereas her neighbor Kenya has 3,359,600 Internet users as of June/2009 (8.6% of the population)?
With a resource like this, your due diligence is made easy. That is, you don't have to spend so much time contacting so and so bureau for information before you start an Internet-based project. IWS can be used as a quick reference to make find markets, make projections, and assess progress relative to a given country or Africa's internet penetration and growth.
With increasing numbers of Internet Service Providers and bandwidth, the focus seems to be shifting not on access, but on how those who currently have access can innovate for their population.
Related Links:
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