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posted by janrinok on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the challenging dept.

Monique Maddy at TechCrunch has an overview of Africa's technical growing pains and related challenges. As anywhere else, the future depends on connectivity. However, the continent represents only 10 percent of the total Internet users in the world, despite representing 16 percent of the world population.

The scale and complexity of Africa's technical landscape sits at the heart of the problem, and connectivity issues are particularly prevalent. Internet users in Africa represent only 10 percent of the total users in the world, despite representing 16 percent of the world population, according to Internet World Stats. And only 31 percent of the total population has access to the internet, which represents a penetration that is well below the rest of the world at 52 percent.

[...] Africa is at a technical tipping point. To survive and thrive in this diverse and highly complex marketplace, we need businesses that are flexible and capable of adapting both their products and their business models, which can most effectively work with local companies and talent to develop and promote local content and digital solutions while leveraging the power of the smartphone and widespread connectivity.

Barriers to growth include use of zero-rating by some of the world's largest players as they try to both push into the region while setting up obstacles to entry by competitors. She also asks how large Western companies plan to see a return on investment or whether Chinese companies will beat them to the punch.

Source : The intensifying battle for Africa's burgeoning tech landscape

See also :
Madhvi Gokool - AFRINIC Update (2017)
Michele McCann - iGDP in Africa (2014)


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Appalbarry on Sunday February 25 2018, @10:03PM (2 children)

    by Appalbarry (66) on Sunday February 25 2018, @10:03PM (#643597) Journal

    Funny thing is that "success" tends to be measured almost entirely by "is it the same as we have in Silicon Valley?" (Or New York, Or Omaha, or Kalamazoo...)

    While everyone in North America was obsessing over cable and DSL speeds and the availability of high-speed connections, much of the so-called "developing" world was skipping over the idea of land-lines and copper and going direct to wireless for everything. When cel phones become ubiquitous many other things do to.

    In particular the many payment systems [ft.com] that use mobile phones and avoid Visa, Mastercard, and the banks almost entirely. Messaging systems like WhatsApp and WeChat that completely skip the 1990s paradigm of e-mail and other technologies.

    Arguably the future of North American technology will likely wind up being a lot like what Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have already accomplished.

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  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @01:59AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @01:59AM (#643686)

    I can assure you the fiber optic service I enjoy in America is excellent and better than anything wireless.

    • (Score: 2) by ewk on Monday February 26 2018, @10:35AM

      by ewk (5923) on Monday February 26 2018, @10:35AM (#643873)

      Except when you leave your house/basement... :-)

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