Democracy of Information Technology

Cameroon, like several other African countries, has over the past decade experienced an IT boom. The boom is more visible in terms of the sheer number of cybercafés in the urban areas. Less noticeable is the regular dis-enclavement of the rural areas by mobile phone providers who are literally lighting up the landscape with GSM transmitters, bringing whole communities closer to each other.
On hand to benefit from this new dawn, businesses in Cameroon, much like elsewhere in the Developing World, are beginning to flourish and witness the same momentum that European business entities witnessed in the early 1980s. The illiterate masses now have their own turn to embrace the trappings of modernity. A petty trader now makes a single phone call, and knows what to expect the next time he orders a consignment of products to flood the market with.
In the case of Europe, the landline boom was directly proportional to the boom of the local economies.
Here in Africa, it is very much the same effects, but with different consequences. In addition to booming the economy, mobile phone use has also helped to place countries on maps and level the playing field a little. "The world is a global village" was just an adage, and remained so for a long time in this part of the world, but now, something is beginning to click.
The world stirred in 2004, when the presidential elections in Ukraine sparked off an Orange Revolution. Pictures crowds descending into the streets were sent all over the world through mobile phones, emails and other media reached the ends of the earth as they happened. Traditional mass media were sidelined as the real news sources were young citizens wielding phones and transmitting low quality pictures in real time over gsm networks. This is largely the reason why in December 2006, Time magazine named "You", as its man of the year. The role played by the commoner in effecting change and decision making was becoming more apparent.
This momentum is not lost upon Africa. In 2008, street protests against the rising price of fuel and food made its rounds of African countries. The same peaceful demonstrations were seen in several capitals of the continent. Pictures were sent through emails to friends in other towns, villages and countries.
Internet accessibility has also had one effect: job creation. The dot com bubble may have burst over a decade ago, but Africa is beginning to experience its own slight bound too! In so many areas, owning a computer is equal to creating wealth. Internet based businesses are beginning to flourish. It may be important to point out one mea culpa here. Flourishing Internet activity has come along with scamming, and the once completely honest African youth has become an object of negative attention online. This notwithstanding, the general picture is upbeat.
In fact, it takes comparison to understand the achievements attained so far. Only a decade ago, passing a message from one town to the other was an ordeal. With little or no land line lay, and very bad roads, one had to go through a lot of difficulty to keep information flowing. The picture was so bleak that it even affected the provision of basic services to the people. When the mobile phone was born in the late 1990s, it coincided with the popular use of the Internet. This was Africa's true miracle, and the fruits have begun to be reaped.