Kenya Data Networks, Africa’s second largest private data carrier and infrastructure provider last week slashed its Internet prices by 90% from the current industry average of $5000 per megabytes to $400 per megabytes after successful trials of Seacom Submarine fiber optic cable capacity.
Thomas L. Friedman in his international best selling book ‘the world is flat’ views the world as a level playing field in terms of commerce, where all competitors have an equal opportunity and also alludes to the perceptual shift required for countries, companies and individuals to remain competitive in a global market where historical and geographical divisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant. I can as well argue that Seacom will level the playing ground for Kenyans to be able to finally compete with their counterparts in the west.
Thus the most important question that Kenyans have to answer tonight is what they are willing to do to take advantage of the greatest revolution in information technology that is now at our doorstep to make this country truly great.
No sane person would doubt that the arrival of the undersea cable on our shores is going to transform the way Kenya interacts and does business with the rest of the world.
With just 50 million Web users across the continent, as few as 5% of Africans access the Internet, a percentage far lower than in Asia, Europe or the Americas. In only a handful of African countries do more than 1% of the population use broadband services. (Among OECD countries, broadband penetration averages 18 %.) And the services that exist don't come cheap. Broadband costs more in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else in the world.
But now, with the continent linked to the information superhighway with connections of mind-boggling speed, Africa has no reason, or excuse, to remain poor and dark. The new technology means that with an internet connection in the countryside for example, I can transform my bedroom into a call centre through which companies like Safaricom and Kenya Airways can outsource their customer care services. And you can do this for practically any company in the world.
Considering that the World Cup will be held on African soil next year, the business opportunities offered by the billions of phone calls and questions to be asked are enormous; but the people to benefit will be those who are prepared to embrace the opportunities of the new era.
That is why I hypothesize that Business Process Outsourcing is set to become Kenya's biggest driver of the economy, not tourism. There are those who will say that this revolutionary technology will benefit only those who live in towns; nothing could be further from the truth, consider, for instance, that Kenya Data Networks is offering to upgrade any building or school into a digital village under the “upgrade your shags” programme. This offer is available in every constituency and all would-be beneficiaries have to pay a one off fee of Sh58,000 then access the internet for free (www.kdn.co.ke), I cannot imagine of a better deal anywhere in the world.
Through such a system, a village in Kogelo, Siaya for example, where farmers grow maize, could link up with a supermarket chain in China and negotiate prices through email. Business opportunities are only an email away, whether you sell fish or computer parts.
Eleanor Roosevelt once said that the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
So there you go.
