Africa’s Invisible Internet Walls

I have been building networks that connect people in Africa for the past 25 years. Some people have tried call these networks the internet but they really aren’t. What they are is more like windows that give people in Africa a glimpse past invisible walls of what people on the real Internet are doing.

Africa has never *really* been a part of what is commonly known as the Internet. 

This may sound offensive to some, but I know what I am talking about. Remember, I’ve been doing this for the past 25 years. I am sure that by now you are probably asking yourself “Why would Brian say such a not so nice thing about Africa?” Well, let me see if I can answer that question.

First of all, and very unfortunately, Africa is not a single country. It is actually made up of 53 (or is it 54) countries. Each of these countries has an invisible wall that blocks its people from talking or being connected to, people in other African countries. In many cases it is actually easier to talk to or connect someone on another continent than it it is to connect to someone else on the African continent. What’s is this invisible wall? You may ask.

The invisible wall is called “regulatory regime and rules”. Quite an unremarkable name for a very remarkable barrier isn’t it? But nevertheless, this is the wall that keeps every African in one country isolated and separate from Africans in other countries. It is the wall that the networks we build to connect people have been trying to cross for the past several decades. Instead of removing these walls our leaders have devised many different types of gates and windows but these only allow a peep into the neighbors backyard.

On continents like Asia and Latin America, which have had (and continue to have) a similar troubled history, countries have found ways to connect their people to each other and either break down or break through the regulatory walls that had been imposed on them. (Look up “festoon networks” on your favorite search engine.)

These invisible walls that encumber and imprison Africans have also influenced a broken, piecemeal approach to how African connects to the rest of the world. “International Gateway” is the fancy name given to the locks that tighten their grip on Africans every time they try to seek escape. 

Do you want to see a look of horror, dismay, anger and outrage? Ask one African government to take down the invisible wall to its neighbor and/or neighbors.

This year Africa begins implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). It is my prayer that Africanleaders will finally put on the special lenses that make these invisible walls evident, and take measures to bring them down. In the meantime, let us strain our bonds, let us push and pull together. Maybe, somehow, somewhere, a wall will fall.