[AFRI-Discuss] Fwd: [Chapter-delegates] Press Release: Internet Society Study Points to Reasons for Slow Internet Growth in Africa

Tue Aug 30 12:56:58 UTC 2016

POUR VOTRE INFORMATION

---------- Message transféré ----------
De : *Lia Kiessling* <kiessling at isoc.org>
Date : mardi 30 août 2016
Objet : [Chapter-delegates] Press Release: Internet Society Study Points to
Reasons for Slow Internet Growth in Africa
À : "chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org" <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>

FYI…we will distribute the following press release today.

*Internet Society Study Points to Reasons for Slow Internet Growth in
Africa*

*Launches “Promoting Content in Africa” at African Peering and
Interconnection Forum in Tanzania*

*[Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – 30 August 2016]* – Internet access and
availability are not enough to get people online, says a new Internet
Society study released today at the African Peering and Interconnection
Forum (AfPIF) taking place 30 August - 1 September in Tanzania. The
“Promoting Content in Africa” report reveals that while significant
improvements have been made in Internet infrastructure, most notably in
mobile networks, Internet adoption rates are slowing in many countries
because users lack compelling reasons to connect.

According to the study, content and services are the main factors in making
the Internet desirable, especially when the subject matter is relevant and
in a language that users can easily understand. A lack of local content and
services is affecting the number of new online users in Africa. In
Sub-Saharan Africa in particular, local language content is key to bringing
new users online, as many are not comfortable reading in English or
French.

“Promoting Content in Africa” outlines the barriers to the development of
local content and offers recommendations to improve local content
availability and distribution.

In the Sub-Saharan countries studied by the Internet Society, the majority
of international and locally developed content is hosted outside the
country, typically overseas.  This results in slow Internet speeds and
higher access costs.  In Rwanda for example, of all websites using the .RW
domain name, only a small fraction are hosted in Rwanda. The majority of
sites are hosted in Europe and the U.S.  Hosting content locally is key to
making the Internet faster and more affordable for users.

As mobile financial services are becoming increasingly available in the
African continent, monetizing mobile content is still a major challenge.
“Faster and better Internet access can help entrepreneurs create new local
content including services and apps, but developers face barriers when it
comes to payment mechanisms in order to monetize content,” said Bastiaan
Quast, Internet Society Fellow and co-author of the report.

The region faces a combination of barriers, including the inability to pay
and receive payments for mobile apps, which serve as a major channel for
content distribution in most African countries.

Detailed results of the report will be presented at the seventh annual
AfPIF which begins today in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Hosted by the Internet Society in partnership with the Tanzania Internet
Service Providers Association (TISPA), the event serves as a platform to
expand Internet infrastructure and services across Africa by bringing
together key players to address the opportunities in interconnection,
peering, and traffic exchange on the continent.

Internet Peering is a business relationship whereby two Internet service
providers agree to provide access to each other’s customers at no cost.
Internet users throughout Africa benefit from peering, which enables faster
and more affordable access.

“Removing barriers to content availability and distribution will have
significant impacts on the Internet ecosystem in Africa.  It will help to
make existing international content more accessible,” explained Dawit
Bekele, Internet Society Regional Bureau Director for Africa.

“AfPIF is the only event in Africa focused on building the Internet by
building relationships. It plays a key role in bringing together different
parties to increase local traffic exchange across the continent,” he
added.

AfPIF aims to build cross-border interconnection opportunities by
facilitating discussions on Internet infrastructure challenges including
capacity building, development of Internet Exchange Points (IXP) and local
content.

Previous editions of AfPIF have been held in Kenya, Ghana, South Africa,
Morocco, Senegal and Mozambique. Last year’s event featured 232
participants from 57 countries and an online participation of 978 people in
77 different countries.

The “Promoting Content in Africa” report can be accessed here:
www.internetsociety.org/promotingcontentinafrica (English)

https://www.internetsociety.org/fr/SusciterlinteretpourlesdonneesenAfrique
(French)

Visit AfPIF 2016 websites both in English
<http://www.internetsociety.org/afpif-2016/home> and French
<https://www.internetsociety.org/afpif-2016-fr/>.

*About the Internet Society *

The Internet Society, www.internetsociety.org, is the trusted independent
source for Internet information and thought leadership from around the
world. It is also the organizational home for the Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF). With its principled vision and substantial technological
foundation, the Internet Society promotes open dialogue on Internet policy,
technology, and future development among users, companies, governments, and
other organizations. Working with its members and Chapters around the
world, the Internet Society enables the continued evolution and growth of
the Internet for everyone.

*Media Contacts:* Betel Hailu, hailu at isoc.org
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','hailu at isoc.org');>

Allesandra deSantillana, desantillana at isoc.org
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','desantillana at isoc.org');>

-- 
Cordialement
---------------------------------
ABDELDJALIL BACHAR BONG

DGA & Co-Fondateur ZIYARA Sarl
E-mail:bachar at ziyara.td
http://www.ziyara.td
https://twitter.com/bacharbong
Tél:0023566274284
N'djaména(Tchad)

|AFRINIC 21 Maurice Fellow|ISOC CHAD Member|ICANN/AFRALO Member||
NextGen at ICANN55
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