Opinion and Analysis
By Bitange Ndemo
The next Bill Gates could possibly come from Africa seeing how the World Wide Web is abetting Africa’s transformation.
Whilst in the past we sought to deal with poverty by begging
from other nations, today young people in Africa are using the web to
fight poverty directly.
Across the continent, young people are persevering
against negative perceptions of Africa and developing new applications
aimed at fighting poverty at the bottom of the pyramid.
At Pivot East Conference, a mobile startup event
last week, 50 applications were showcased. Kenyan startups emerged top
in four out of five categories at the 2014 edition with each winning
startup receiving $10,000 (Sh860,000).
Few East Africans or Kenyans know the impact of
this emerging tech industry. Yet we are soon likely to see another
M-Pesa or Facebook emerge from the many applications developed each
year.
Three thousand kilometres south of Nairobi in Johannesburg, this week saw a number of leading thinkers gather as The Guardian
brought their popular Activate summit to Africa for the first time,
with hundreds attending to hear global and African innovators speak.
Attendees reflected on 25 years of the Web and
discussed the open Web’s potential to transform Africa – and the world –
by combating poverty, strengthening democracy and allowing journalists
to tell stories differently and engage more closely with their
audiences.
But back to Nairobi. The winner in the Society
category was SokoText, which offers an SMS-based pre-ordering service to
small fruit and vegetable sellers.
SiM Mobile, another startup which is a supply chain
mobile solution integrated with popular accounting apps, emerged winner
in the Enterprise category.
The success of these startups will lead to
increased efficiency and allow mama mboga (women vegetable vendors) to
uplift their livelihoods while at the same time enhancing food security.
In the 50 years since Independence, there has never
been an anti-poverty programme that has attempted to deal with poverty
as effectively as these applications.
Yet their ability to succeed depends on what we do
with the telecommunications policies and regulations. We have the key to
unlock Africa’s potential through making broadband accessible to all
and we should start with making the Internet a human rights issue.
I believe it is so important that the UN should
include affordable broadband access as one of the sustainable
development goals to be agreed on in September 2015.
Every Kenyan understands the impact of M-Pesa on
the economy. We should, therefore, also understand when the World Bank
says that for every 10 per cent penetration of the Internet, the economy
grows by 1.4 per cent.
The Web also can strengthen Africa’s fragile
democracies. Social media is giving voice to the voiceless. For the
voiceless to make meaningful interventions, governments must make data
freely accessible to citizens, engage with stakeholders and be
accountable and responsive to their people.
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