GigaOM: Africa, the Last Infotech Frontier

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Daniel Berninger" <dan.berninger () gmail com>
Date: October 17, 2008 6:45:47 AM EDT
To: "David Farber" <dave () farber net>
Subject: GigaOM: Africa, the Last Infotech Frontier

Dave,

For IP, see GigaOM column with observations from my recent two week
trip to Ghana, Africa.

The original plan involved scouting locations for a pilot of the
Global Communicator Project

http://pulverblog.pulver.com/archives/008051.html

We were able to meet with the Communication and Energy Ministers as
well as dozens of other government leaders and entrepreneurs.

I left excited about general business prospects in the country arising
from the government's push to leverage infotech as the means of moving
Ghana to middle income and eventually first world status.

See extended version of column at -
http://www.fwdlabs.net/2008/10/africa-last-infotech-frontier.html

See pictures via -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31257445@N03/sets/72157607886170929/

Regards,

Dan

.....................................................
Daniel Berninger
CEO, FWD
fwd: 12908
v: +1.202.250.3838
e: dan () danielberninger com
w: www.fwdi.net

> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
http://gigaom.com/2008/10/16/telerupted-africa-the-last-infotech-frontier/

Telerupted: Africa, the Last Infotech Frontier
Daniel Berninger, Thursday, October 16, 2008

A recent two-week visit to Ghana, Africa, offered up scenes that
seemed frozen in time. Most of the buildings and infrastructure date
back to the 1950s, before seven military coups over a period of 30
years made investment impossible. Open sewers remain the norm, modern
paved roads, the exception. The use of English as the official
language traces back to the colonial period, but an intricate system
of village chiefs controlling local government and ownership of land
had its genesis in the period before the arrival of European powers
circa 1500. Yet Ghana, like a number of other countries in Africa, has
one of the highest mobile phone growth rates on Earth.

The success of mobile phone companies in the country — Ghanaians have
access to essentially the same devices, features and pricing as people
in Europe or the U.S. — illustrates the opportunity a stable Africa
presents for the larger infotech and communication industries. After
all, the roughly 840 million people distributed across the continent's
53 countries represent some 12 percent of the world's population, and
its cash economy leaves it relatively untouched by the credit market
turmoil in the developed world. Moreover, Africa's successful
transition to a knowledge economy could make it a sustainable economic
engine for the entire planet.

Some are already looking to capitalize on such an opportunity.
Vodafone, for example, acquired the state-owned telco incumbent Ghana
Telecom for $900 million back in August in a deal that includes the
promise of $500 million worth of investments into Ghana's fiber
infrastructure.

Vodafone's buy bring the number of mobile phone companies in Ghana to
six. In the meantime, broadband penetration remains less than 2
percent, but competing fiber builds connecting the country's cell
towers mean cheap and ubiquitous wireless broadband is on its way.

Indeed, enterprising Ghanians already talk about the country's
potential to become Africa's "Silicon Valley." While any direct
economic comparisons could only be made with the California from the
mid-1800s, the rapid spread of mobile phone technologies suggests it
won't take 150 years for Ghana to catch up. And the rest of Africa may
not be far behind.




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