A very small percentage of Africa's population is connected to the Internet, due to the results of years of civil conflict and continuing political instability, with about 75% of email traffic being rerouted through Britain or the U.S., adding billions of dollars of cost to African internet users. Africa's sole connection to the internet is a cable running down its west coast from Portugal, with stalled plans to add another cable down its other coast. This has made it necessary for countries such as Rwanda to rely on slower satellite technology for Internet service. But satellite bandwidth is expensive, and there aren't enough satellites to provide cheap access to all who want it. And many schools in Africa have yet to be connected to the Internet. A Boston based nonprofit group, One Laptop Per Child, is planning to introduce a $100 laptop in the country later this year.

There is, therefore, a tremendous opportunity for other nations to help Africa catch up with the rest of the world to help Africa become more of a part of the global economy and academic environment.

Romain Murenzi, the minister of science, technology and scientific research in Rowanda, says, "We have almost no natural resources and no seaports in Rwanda, which leaves us only with trying to become a knowledge-based society". But costs still remain high, and outside the reach of many citizens. The cell phone market, on the other hand, is growing much more quickly than the Internet in Africa, and has about the double the number of customers.


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