AFRICA AND THE INTERNET: Interesting

AFRICA AND THE INTERNET: Interesting Reuters article titled Africa Struggles to Get Online.

A new innovation, the Internet has failed to take off in Africa for simple reasons. Two older inventions — electricity and the phone — are absent from large swathes of the continent.

Even in capital cities such as Accra in Ghana, where the Internet is a handy way of by-passing the country’s poor international phone service, power cuts hamper computer use.

Here’s another fascinating snippet:

In Ivory Coast, one of the more affluent countries in West Africa a decent computer costs about $1,000, well above the annual per capita income. The minimum monthly wage is $40.

Chuck Berry is right–I’m so glad I’m living in the USA.