Africa, contrary to what we might be led to believe by the news, is not all famine and civil war.
Internet use on the continent is skyrocketing, and investors in the human capital of various African nations are making their presence felt.
Teddy Ruge, co-founder of Project Diaspora, described Africa’s ascent in the tech world Sunday with his talk, “Africa 3.0: A Look at the Future of a Connected Africa.”
A 2008 graphic showed hundreds of millions of Internet users in North America and Asia—and none in Africa.
“That bothered me,” Ruge said. “I was in Africa in 2008, and I was online. Why wasn’t I counted?”
The actual number of Internet users in Africa two years ago was significantly higher than zero, but there’s plenty of room to expand.
“Connectivity in Africa has exploded in the last 18 months,” Ruge said.
By 2011, Africa will have 17 terabytes’ worth of undersea broadband cables laid; landlocked countries started building cable systems looking forward to the day they can be plugged in to the undersea cables being laid.
The emerging infrastructure, coupled with the 450 million Africans younger than 15 and another 450 million mobile subscribers projected for 2013 indicate a coming tech revolution in Africa.
The implications are dramatic, Ruge said. Rural farmers who don’t have electricity and running water have mobile phones, which they use to stay connected to market prices in surrounding towns, contact doctors, and stay in touch with family.
“The connected palm will leapfrog the laptop,” Ruge said. “We leapfrogged landlines. Smart phones are slowly penetrating the digital space. They are often people’s first interaction with technology in Africa.”
To take advantage of the low entry barriers to software development and the emerging young generation of potential new techies, countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda are planning technology parks that will serve as incubators for innovation.
“Who will be the next Bill Joy? Who will be the next Steve Jobs? The next Bill Gates? This is where you will find them.”
While he acknowledged governments’ roles in building the basic infrastructure of the continent to make the tech revolution possible, Ruge said the people of Africa will be the ones making the digital revolution possible.
“We can see Africa rising in digital space—there’s a lot of room for growth,” he said.
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I tend to think Ruge may be absolutely right in saying the next big “star” for technology could come from Africa. It’s possible we’ve gotten so used to new technology that we’re starting to think inside the box. For these folks, this is like jumping over 100 years into a new reality of something that can change their world for the better. While we have dumped so much into Africa for so long, it could be something as simple as a wireless signal could actually do some serious transforming! And yet, barely a century ago “wireless” had such a different meaning for our grandparents and their parents! Necessity being the mother of invention makes Africa a great place to watch what creativity can do when these people find there are no outside barriers to the world.
Maureen Schein
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I totally agree! I also like how Ruge wants to emphasize people power versus outside aid. I think relying on aid demeans Africa–or at least implies that they can’t hack it on their own. It also leaves Africans vulnerable to outside interference, and I think they’ve had quite enough of that! Ruge’s talk demonstrated that even in a tough neighborhood of the world, Africans can stand up and empower themselves constructively. We need to hear more stories like that, because all you ever hear about in the news is Darfur and Blackhawk Down stuff.
Did you find the blog post and videos useful?
Cheers,
Trey Hatt
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First of all, Trey, great post! I love how you wrote it like a news story and added short video clips to enhance the post.
I find the topic really an interesting one. It’s crazy to think that if I were an African citizen, perhaps my first interaction with technology would be a cell phone.
I completely agree that to build Africa into a strong continent fit for the 21st century, it’s necessary to empower the people. You can give a man a fish…
I really want to see more news like this coming out of Africa. Show me current, show me exciting, show me the future of Africa, rather than it’s difficulties.
Thanks Trey,
Kristen