Africa: Open for Business,’ is the report outcome of the Global Innovation Outlook (GIO), an initiative of IBM, which held in New York about two years ago when this article was initially published. The report featured some frightening indices of why Africa may not get it right in its struggle to join the information society. But it ends on an optimistic note that Africa’s challenge may well be a viable opportunity to activate growth on the continent particularly in the area of infrastructural development.
But some hard facts would suffice to press home the dismal presence of the continent in the evolving information society. The report, quoting from the Economist of London, notes: "When it comes to computing power, the gap between Africa and the broadband world is still a Grand Canyon. Only 4 per cent of Africans have access to the Internet. They pay the most in the world, around $250-300 a month, for the slowest connection speeds. E-commerce barely exists. Nigeria’s 140m-odd people have but a few hundred decently trafficked Websites in their domain. Blogging is a vibrant but peripheral activity.
To read the full, original article click on this link: The Nation - Africa and the digital ‘mis-opportunity’
Author: Segun Oruame
