Pushing for Fast Internet in Africa

    Photo: A group of journalists gather around a table
NETTEL@AFRICA/INTERNEWS
Internews is developing a project to spur the provision of affordable, high-speed Internet across Africa, initially targeting educators, researchers, and health professionals.

As the Internet becomes more and more essential to all aspects of modern life, it is painfully obvious that certain parts of the world lag far behind in Internet development. Of all these regions, Africa has been left farthest behind. According to InternetWorldStats.com, just 2.5% of Africans have access to the Internet, compared to 68% of North Americans.

Through a research grant from the National Science Foundation, Internews has undertaken an ambitious project to find a way to remedy this imbalance. Starting in September 2004, Internews has been assessing the feasibility of economically providing Avery high bandwidth connectivity to the research and education communities of a few key African countries.

“The notion is in each country to develop the Internet competency of the scientific, medical, and academic communities, and to link members of those communities with their counterparts in the United States,” says George Sadowsky, Principal Investigator for the project. “This will fuel demand outside the particular arworks, and ultimately for fast and inexpensive Internet access across Africa.”

In fact, Sadowsky points out, this is just how the Internet started in the United States in the 1980s. The National Science Foundation subsidized networks which linked university campuses for research and development and access to their supercomputer sites. These networks fueled the explosive growth of what became known as the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Sadowsky has more than 40 years experience in academic computing and networking, technology transfer and international development, and has worked in 20 African countries. He is the Executive Director of the Global Internet Policy Initiative (GIPI), a partnership between Internews and the Center for Democracy and Technology.

Through a lengthy discussion period with various African institutions, Sadowsky and his colleagues determined that Senegal and Ghana were the most promising countries in which to begin this work, as they have democratic systems that allow the use of Internet in innovative ways, and have potential high-speed access to Europe through fiber optic cable. A series of meetings, including an audience with the president of Senegal, resulted in agreements and achieved some progress in negotiating below-market rates for trans-continental bandwidth.

Conducted in partnership with the Internet Educational Equal Access Foundation, JLM & Associates, and Geographic Network Associates International, this Internews project will culminate in a detailed report to NSF detailing the project design, implementation plan, and funding needs.