CIO’s East Africa’s Dennis Mbuvi, Highest tweeting journalist worldwide

By Ruth Kang'ong'oi

Mr Dennis Kioko Mbuvi

Dennis Mbuvi, CIO East Africa's staff writer on Monday was ranked as the most active journalist on Twitter Worldwide by Muck Rack. He was closely followed by Julia Ioffe, contributor for The New Yorker, Damien Seaman, and Tony Halpin, Moscow correspondent for the Times of London.

Muck Rack  maintains a list of journalists around the world and their Twitter profiles , giving a snapshot of what journalists around the world are reading, thinking and commenting on right now.

The Muck Rack Daily analyzes what journalists are saying in a daily email that has become a must read for journalists. Muck Rack started with only 150 journalists on Twitter, a good portion of all the journalists on the fledgling service at the time. Muck Rack now lists thousands of journalists on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Quora, Google+, LinkedIn and more who are vetted by a team of editors.

While Muck Rack tracks what journalists are saying about the top news of the moment, Muck Rack Pro finds what journalists are saying about any given topic and sends real-time press alerts. Journalists can get listed on Muck Rack and use Muck Rack Pro for free. 

Communications pros and those seeking to find journalists can do it here.By verifying the journalists on social media who do the muckraking for major media outlets and analyzing what they say in real time, Muck Rack delivers a glimpse of tomorrow’s newspaper to you today. 200 tweets shy of 17,000 tweets, Mbuvi has been on Twitter since 17th of January 2009 as @denniskioko. He mostly tweets issues across the board, ranging from current news item to  the strange and weird, like what is hot on 9gag.com.

His tweets on Monday mostly consisted of commentary on the National Hospital Insurance Fund saga and on a self satirical letter written by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni to Nation Media Group Journalist, Charles Onyango-Obbo. He also sends several tweets having conversation with followers on the controversy behind the selection of the recent Kenya ICT Board Tandaa Local Content grants. Mbuvi has been writing for CIO East Africa since May 2010 after undertaking an undergraduate degree in Computer Science at Kenyatta University.

In addition, he handles technical and social media strategy and issues at CIO East Africa. He has also been a speaker at the African Broadcast and Film Conference, speaking on the challenges facing local content producers in marketing their content, and at the inaugural Joomla Day Kenya where he spoke on the opportunities and challenges of Joomla.

Desperation: Pursuing the Arab Dream?

On a baking (read sunny) Saturday afternoon, I board a bus headed to the central business district. The vehicle is packed almost to capacity and I have no choice but to head to the back seats and find a seat next to two slender girls who seem to be in their early twenties. I thank my ancestors for actually getting a comfortable seat since I bet some of you know what discomfort comes with sitting next to a plus-sized person. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against people who have eaten well or those born with ‘big’ genes so to speak; but I take issue with the owners of these public service vehicles (PSVs) for having seats which cannot accommodate everybody. 

For instance, a couple of my tall friends can only sit on the front seats of the 14-seater matatus because their long legs cannot fit if they take the rest of the seats. Likewise, some of those seats are too tiny; it’s as if they were designed for the slender section of the demographic only. I mean, even a medium sized person like yours truly has to squeeze in to fit into some of those seats! That is why I envy people who have Double-Ms that commute to their estates. Damn! Those buses are so comfortable, with the seats big enough for people of all body sizes. They are much better than some of the long distance PSVs, a good number them being unworthy road vehicles. Disclaimer: I’m not public relations personnel of the bus service; I’m just giving credit where it’s due.  

Anyway, back to my initial intention of this post. Good heavens! How much have I digressed?! Never mind. So, as I make myself comfortable on the seat and remove my pair of sunglasses and place them in a case, I hear the two slender girls having a conversation that sounds interesting.

Girl #1 seated next to the window goes like “I think Lebanon is better than Qatar. Huko Mary analipwa I think between 20K and 30K. Si kama Saudi Arabia.”

Girl #2 who is next to me responds very fast. “Ati 20K? After kuenda huko kwote? She’d have been better off staying here in Kenya.”

“You may be right. But what do you expect the desperate youth to do? Huku Kenya hata kupata works ya 5K ni mezesha,” says Girl #1.

“Unajua the unemployment situation in Kenya inafanya ma-youth kuwa frustrated. Wadhii waki-imagine all those years they’ve been jobless after completing school, wanakuwa disillusioned; so they take anything that comes along,” she continues.

All this time, I’m scrolling through my Twitter timeline on my phone, though I’m a passive participant of that conversation. I start thinking about Girl #1’s last remarks. 

My thoughts are quickly disrupted by Girl #2. “Enyewe hapo uko na point. But si hapa Kenya you can get a job that pays equally the same?”

“Mi naku-show desperate times call for desperate measures. Sasa itafika 2030 kama mtu bado anangoja hiyo job?” Girl #1 asks.

Girl #2 seems to ponder over her friend’s sarcastic question. Then she seems to be softening her stand and says: “Si mbaya by the way kama mtu atamake some savings. Kama hana expenses za rent, transport ama food, anaweza chukua job ya 30K coz maximum expenses hapo ni kama 5K za tumafuta na other personal effects.”

At this point, I conclude that the Mary they are talking about must be a house help of some family, if not a gardener, which I highly doubt.

“By the way ukipata family poa unaweza fanya works poa tu bila tafash na u-save kitu five years,” remarks Girl #1.

“Hapo ni ukweli,” Girl #2 says “.. lakini mimi personally Saudi Arabia siwezi kanyanga. After all those horror stories we’ve been seeing in the media?!” 

“True,” Girl #1 agrees. “Siku hizi ma-destinations ni mob: Lebanon, Dubai, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Qatar, Palestine na hiyo Saudi Arabia.”

“That reminds me,” says Girl #2 “Niliskia Roba siku hizi ni driver Afghanistan. I hear he’s sending good money to his family.”

“Roba mgani?” enquires Girl #1.

“Ule Roba m-tall alikuwa dere ile ma3 ilikuwa inaitwa Bonkers,” her friend tells her.

“Good for him. Huko naskia kuna mkwanja kushinda Qatar,” Girl #1 says.

I thought Qatar is the best paying country in the Arab league, I think to myself. I start remembering quite a number of people I know who left very lucrative jobs in Kenya to go work in Qatar. 

“Mimi nashukia hii stage,” Girl #2 says as she gets up.

“Poa, nitakuvutia wire juu ya hiyo story,” Girl #1 tells her friend as she waves goodbye.

I make way for Girl #2 to pass and she alights in a huff. Girl #1 removes her phone from her bag and starts Facebooking or whatever it was that she was doing. I return mine to my handbag and I start pondering over that conversation that they had.

The unemployment situation in the country seems to be worsening, evidenced by the thousands of Kenyans who are making a mass exodus to other countries, particularly Arab countries. From the American dream, have we now moved to the Arab dream? These people may be gardeners, house helps, drivers or cleaners; but at the end of the day, they are earning something for themselves, a big percentage of which is remitted back home.

It’s unfortunate that there are some cases of the Kenyan immigrants being mistreated in those foreign lands. What happens to them should never happen to any human being.

The other unfortunate thing that happens in this country is the brain drain. You hear of doctors who are offered better perks in other countries while in the evening bulletin you’ll see footage of hospitals that don’t have adequate medical personnel. 

What is the government doing to try and reduce the statistics of unemployed youth? I pose this question because we all know that these are the same youth who’ll get frustrated and get into crime or start drowning their sorrows in alcohol, with quite a chunk of them going for the illicit brew which is what they can afford anyway.

Others will get married with no stable source of income, save for the few menial jobs here and there. They’ll still continue partaking in the frothy waters of illicit brew and will be unable to provide for their families, leave alone the inability to perform their conjugal duties. The effects of this will be weird news of kindergartens and primary schools being closed down for lack of kids to enroll; while women with years of anger and frustration vent out by physically abusing their spouses.

So, I guess the desperate Kenyans can take a chance and pursue the Arab dream? 

Back!

I don’t know the exact time frame that people are allowed to say ‘happy new year’ but I’ll say it anyway. Happy New Year! Well, 2012 is already here with us and it seems like we won’t be casting the ballots any time soon. Such an anti-climax, right?

It has been over a year since I last posted anything here. Shoot me! Hehe.. Seriously, this is not something that I’m particularly proud of, I’m just glad that I have my inspiration back. Honestly, it feels like I’ve just returned from a long trip and I’m now back to normal life ready to fold up my sleeves and get down to business. …Or so I hope. In this one year I’ve observed a lot of stuff and experienced quite a handful as well.  

Reviewing the year 2011 in all aspects, there’s quite a lot to talk about. Revolutions in North Africa and other Arab countries, the demise of Nobel Laurent Wangari Mathaai, Kenya’s medal sweep at Daegu, the free fall of the Kenyan shilling and the spiraling cost of living are the first issues that instantly come to mind. On a personal level my 2011 involved changing jobs, moving house, quite a bit of traveling, making new friends and losing others while at it.

Seeing that 2012 has started with the sun choosing to parade all its relatives by having all of them come out in large numbers, I'll now head out to look for more sleeveless attire to befit this heat wave. See you in the next post!

Of cheating men and Eva Longoria...

Marriage is like a phone call in the night. First the ring, then you wake up. Well, this seems to have been clearly demonstrated by the recent news that the Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria, 35, and her husband of three years are getting a divorce. Apparently, roving-eye Tony Parker, who is seven years her junior, had been exchanging personal texts with a mutual female friend for nearly a year. Eva confided to her friend that Parker had previously cheated on her with another woman during their marriage.

We can all recall how elated the pint-sized actress was when she was engaged and later married to the NBA basketball star in the summer of 2007. To say that all the descendants of Adam - the male species – were not wishing to drown in their kitchen sinks at these unfolding events would be litigious. It goes without saying that they all wished to be the proverbial prince walking the beauty down the aisle.

Having been married before, Eva was quoted as having admitted that she was a terrible wife and wasn’t exactly ready to be a wife when she got hitched to actor Tyler Christopher, now 38, in 2002. The union lasted two years. I guess you could have blamed it on her naivety and young age. However, after having a failed marriage, she had definitely learnt major lessons on the dos and don’ts of a marriage institution. She had learnt all ropes of the trade. During her second (now failed) marriage, she had this to say, “I’m very domestic, constantly sewing, cooking and cleaning. I cook everyday for him.” Yeah, Ms Longoria really took great care of her man.

At this juncture, I’ll ask the all too frequently asked question, what do men really want? I mean, Eva performed all her domestic responsibilities satisfactorily, is beautiful, maintained her figure, got along well with her in-laws and was generally a model wife, one to emulate. This is a woman who was even willing to quit the U.S and move to Tony’s homeland of France where he was born! Clearly, even if a real angel drops down from heaven for marriage, a man will still cheat on her!

Why should you waste each other’s precious years of existence and then throw them to the dogs? In the case of a woman, age is never really on her side. Look at Eva for example. She is 35. She hoped to start having some Tonylets from next year, but with the turn of events, she is starting to file a divorce suit instead. What a sorry world we live in.

During a recent banter, someone remarked, “I understand that marriage is an institution; but tell me, who wants to live in an institution all his/her life?” With reference to this case study, I’m starting to think they had a point. What’s the point of immersing yourself in the covenant of marriage if you know very well that you don’t have what it takes to make such a union work?! Let me not even get started with the past-tense union of Halle Berry and Eric Benet.

What’s my parting shot? Well, as one blogger put it, real heroes are the men who know the value of loving one woman faithfully for life despite the presence of hundreds of other beautiful women, and learning to overcome lust and rising above their lower instincts to higher levels of dignity. Enough said.

Dissecting Sonko...

This Sonko issue cannot fade away before yours truly shares her take on the issue. I rose on Monday morning to find my timeline filled with Mike Sonko stories. Tuning in to Capital FM, I found a very angry Eve D’Souza narrating the story. As you all know by now, Sonko’s bodyguards had allegedly brandished guns and roughed up Capital FM’s DJ Leo and his passengers, blaming them for “blocking the road”. This took place on Saturday night. As the station presenter was breathing fire, the Makadara MP elect calls in to give his side of the story claiming that DJ Leo was drunk.

At this point I can’t help but wonder - whether the occupants of DJ Leo’s car were drunk or not - wasn’t it totally inappropriate to draw out such weapons and descend on the poor entertainer like that? As for the MP elect, what kind of leadership was he portraying by just standing by and watch as his henchmen massacred Leo? But then again, most Kenyan politicians are just that. Politicians. It takes quite noble actions and empathy towards the masses to elevate a politician to a leader.

Then I think that I’m reasoning rather unfairly. This novice in politics should be given a chance to redeem his now tainted image (I understand there are claims that he has also done time). With cries from different quarters demanding that he publicly declares his wealth and recent tax returns, I reckon his situation should be put aside and let the citizens focus on all the grand corruption scandals that have marred the country over the years.

The so called veteran politicians and senior government officials have conducted broad daylight robbery against Kenyans for years and nothing has ever been done about it. And do you remember the MP who was caught on camera throwing stones? Isn’t he still in parliament? The worst part about all these is that the electorate will keep voting for these characters over and over and over (infinity) again. I’m sorry to say this, but we get the leaders that we deserve. Our ‘leaders’ are a reflection of the society. 

Understandably, the Capital FM community tore up Sonko completely the whole day (Monday), starting with Eve and her colleague on Capital In The Morning. They handed over the baton to Cess and Maqbul in the afternoon who did a thorough job in assassinating any piece of dignity that remained of the flamboyant MP. The Mike Sonko humiliation relay was completed by the duo of Joey and Solo, with Joey joining Cess in disowning the first time legislator as a ‘kao’. The only good thing that came out of all this was when Martha Karua apologized on the radio station on behalf of Sonko. She really proved herself to be a diplomat, a lady of integrity and portrayed true leadership.  

It’s interesting to note that the slogan for the latest promotion by one of the local telecommunications companies borrows some words from the MP elect’s name. This reminds me of a local hip hop group that did track comparing supersonic speed to Pamela Jelimo. It’s funny that I now can’t seem to remember the last race she won.

Over the weekend I watched two live interviews of the youthful legislator on different local television channels. Well, I have to say that the man is talking big considering that he is barely a fortnight old in parliament. For instance, he has a Mike Sonko foundation that aims to have accumulated at least 800 million Kshs from his friends abroad. He also plans run for Senator of Nairobi county come 2012. I’ve got four words for him: All the best dude.

Watching these interviews on TV and reading about the above incident, I conclude that all young Mike needs is a package of three things. For a start the guy urgently needs a public relations consultant. The man simply has a propensity of speaking too much, and all the wrong things for that matter. He needs an expert to guide him on what to filter when speaking in public. Two, the guy needs an English tutor. If you’ve been watching him on telly, listening to him on radio or reading his posts on his facebook page, you know what I’m talking about. Finally, hiring a stylist would be in order.

Letter to my 13-year old self: Girl Version

Wasup girlie!

Ok.. I was tempted to call you ‘kiddo’ but I know how much you hate being referred to as a kid. Trust me, when you are all grown up and away from the ‘nest’ you’ll wish you were a kid all over again.

Young girl, the sleeping sickness never went anywhere. Don’t ask how I’m managing without someone around to yell at me in a frantic bid to get me out of bed and make it on time to work (yeah, I’m confirming that you are going to be yet another grumbling taxpayer in your future).

Seeing that you’ll be doing your KCPE exams this coming term, I advise you to go through all those revision questions in the Malkiat Singh textbooks, especially GHC. Oh, and that English Aid textbook will also come in handy in your future career. Speaking of careers, I know you always envisioned yourself as an astronaut in the future. It’s never gonna happen. In fact, there still ain’t any African lady astronaut.

As a consolation from the above revelation, you’ll be glad to know that you’ll still be a big cartoon lover in your adult future. Note the highlighting of the word ‘adult’; it’s because there aren’t many of us who still watch cartoons in adultville. Tom and Jerry, Samurai X and Johnny Bravo still air! Yaaay!

Still on TV matters, guess what? Catherine Kasavuli still graces our screens on prime time news and looks as beautiful as ever! Eve D’Souza still rocks the air waves at Capital FM though she now presents the morning show. On the flipside of things, can you imagine that Neighbours and The Bold and the Beautiful are still around? Seriously, these fellows need to get with the programme and start familiarizing themselves with the likes Leverage and Gossip Girl (oh, these are some of the shows that will be airing in your future).

As you join high school next year, you’ll be relieved to drop that nickname that guys have insisted on calling you since eternity (since you’ll be in a totally new environment). Bad news though; you’ll quickly acquire another one for reasons you’ll never really understand. Damn! Just when you thought you’d adopt to actually responding to your real name!

One last thing. You see your current height? Well, that’s as far as it goes. You’ll probably grow an inch or two but no one will really notice. Having said all that, my parting shot: just work hard and look forward to the future!


Yours truly,

Me.

First African World Cup with many 'Firsts'

I recently heard of an extreme case of post-World-Cup depression: on the evening of Monday 12th July, a couple of guys had already tuned in to one of the local channels that were airing the World Cup tournament ready with their cans of beer to watch the match. But wait a minute, what match? This is the question that woke them up of their drunken soccer stupor.

As I also suffer from post-World-Cup depression, always wondering what to do in the evenings when the matches used to air, I can’t help but think that this particular sporting tournament was special. There were many ‘firsts’.

For one, the event was held in Africa for the first time. This will definitely be a beautiful memory for all Africans as we hail South Africa for taking over the laborious task (not that anybody is complaining!) of showcasing such a successful World Cup on behalf of the continent.

….and how else would you remember this event without the mention of the vuvuzela? This was the first World Cup to be characterized by the three-foot-long plastic trumpet blown throughout games to create an atmosphere and also for celebration purposes.

Though this instrument came with a lot of calls for its ban, supposedly due to its high levels of noise, FIFA president Sepp Blatter however insisted that people should not attempt to "Europeanize" the African tournament. Way to go Seppy! At that point I really believed that this guy has a soft spot for Africa. Seriously, a vuvuzela ban would have robbed the African tournament part of its cultural identity.

Ever had another world tournament where a mollusc correctly predicted the winner of the final game? Yeah, your answer is as good as mine: this was the first World Cup to have a psychic octopus correctly predict the tournament winner, in this case, Spain. Paul the octopus correctly predicted seven of the matches that Germany played at the event, including its two losses to Serbia and Spain. The sea animal was put to task to make its eighth prediction, the Spain – Netherlands final, and it proved to be correct yet again!

There are people however who highly doubt Paul’s psychic abilities, claiming that he was attracted to flags with a red colour. I say, let’s just cut all the theories from this and accept the awe as it is! Oh, by the way, Paul’s aquarium declined to sell him to Spain with reports saying that a Spanish businessman had offered $40,000 to buy the octopus. Bad news though, the celebrity mollusc won’t be around for the next World Cup in Brazil since the life expectancy of an octopus is 3-4 years.

And here comes the biggest ‘first’! As we all know by now, the tournament produced a first-time World Cup winner, Spain! It officially joined the other seven countries that have previously held that title. Many people I know were actually shocked to learn that Spain had never won this event before. For a team that came into this tournament as the favourites, I was truly happy for the extremely talented squad. Viva Espana!

In the meantime, i'm contemplating becoming an avid follower of the ‘Dr Phil’ talkshow or those numerous Nigerian movies to fill in my ‘world cup time’ vacuum.

Kenya a Failed State? The Youth's Perspective

I’ve never been a fan of politics and the unfolding of political events in the country has especially made me indifferent towards the subject. This was not until the ‘Foreign Policy’ magazine recently ranked Kenya 13th on its annual list of failed states. On this one, I had an opinion. Yes, it is a failed state. To this effect, my comrades and fellow bloggers had mixed reactions pertaining my stand on the issue.

This year's failed states index drew on 90,000 publicly available sources to analyze 177 countries and rate them on 12 metrics of state decay namely brain drain, refugee flows, illegitimate governments, public services, inequality, group grievances, economic implosion, human rights violations, security threats, factionalized elites, external intervention and demographics.

MPs in Kenya have voted to boost their own salaries, making them among the world's best paid politicians. As we all know by now, our legislators are hell bent on seeing the implementation of the Akiwumi report that recommends them to earn an estimated $182,000 a year, more than America’s congressmen whose annual take home stands at $174,000 a year and nearly three times the $70,000 a year that Tanzanian MPs earn.

For a country to remunerate its members of parliament such amounts with internally displaced persons (IDPs) still in camps is simply appalling. Let me not even get started on issues such as inadequate hospitals, thousands of jobless graduates and scandals such as the maize one, Free Primary Education (FPE), makaburini, Triton, Anglo-leasing and Goldenberg which still remain unresolved. Are you still of the idea that this is not a failed state?

My friend Rahab disagrees: “I think it’s all because of the misuse of freedom our leaders who are driven by selfish interests. Thus, they make the state look like a failed one.”

A great friend, Carol, thinks the apathy of the people themselves (the electorate) is to blame. “Who chose those leaders? Who doesn’t hold them accountable? Who still calls them waheshimiwa? If we learnt and accepted that we can help ourselves and we don’t really need half educated people ruining our lives, then I think we would be better off as a country.”

At this juncture, Rahab interjects and asserts that whether the leaders are full or half educated, there is no difference.

I agree with Carol. Majority of the electorate just follow these so called leaders blindly. The problem here is that human stupidity is infinite as some philosopher put it.

Ann, my twin sister, sees it differently. “Is the glass half empty or half full? I choose half full! We aren’t a failed state, just a few mishaps but generally my choice between bad/good/best, I choose good. We aren’t the best but at the same time we aren’t that bad.”

At this point, I remind Ann of how things such as corruption are wired into people's genetics such that thinking otherwise is just but a mirage. For heaven's sake we even have goons who sell relief food to the hungry! These people embarrass us even in the international front e.g. Kabuga's case, the drama with the Jamaican hate cleric, corruption abroad in embassies, not forgetting Kenyans on the receiving end in Dubai.

The way matters are handled in this country also leaves a lot to be desired. Carol wonders when people will wake up and see a country isn’t meant to be in such a condition. “A citizen shouldn’t be arrested for no reason by cops and shouldn’t have to bribe their way out. We don’t have to be corrupt and no one has to get ahead of the others by taking advantage of people. But I guess it has to run its course before people agree to change. I just wonder who/what will trigger it.”

Wanjohi, a colleague at work, reckons that it’s more like a politically failed state. “However, we still kicking it, just not going anywhere in the near future...ahem 2012.”

“I think it’s time we did away with democracy. We need a powerful leader who is not directed by his corrupt cronies, a leader who will take Kenya where it ought to be and not where these looters we call 'leaders' are taking Kenya,” asserts John, a former classmate.

He had totally read my mind. I've always maintained that what this country needs is a development-oriented dictator. Kenyans simply can't handle democracy!

“Democracy is impractical in Kenya. I would like to see Gaddafi's style of leadership in Kenya,” John concludes.

Shehe, an avid blogger, wouldn’t let this slide without a fight. “The term ‘failed state’ is too harsh. Kenya, though poor and with greedy leaders, has the people that any country would rather have. Guys, we’ve got to be positive. Despite the immense challenges that we have faced and continue to face, we refuse to indulge in negativity or pessimism. We are an organization that believes in empowering people to be their best.”

All in all, my childhood comrade Wangui summed it best: “It (Kenya) should just be auctioned to the 'highest' bidder!”

Facebook's Free Facility and Africa

Avid facebook users across the world must be delighted by the introduction of Zero Facebook (0.facebook.com). This latest facility by the giant social network has key features of Facebook but is optimised for speed, is totally free thanks to the help from mobile phone operators.

It works such that when users click to view a photo or browse another mobile site, a notification page appears to confirm that they will be charged if they want to leave 0.facebook.com. Through the economic and speed benefits to users, the social network hopes to woo a fairy big chunk of the market, especially in Africa, who find data costs a barrier.

So far four mobile operators from nine African countries have collaborated with Facebook in this great venture. They are among the 50 operators in 45 countries that the online network has partnered with. This is a great milestone in the continent’s burgeoning Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry.

Africa has for years been regarded as a dark continent of the civilised world. Top on the list is the technological aspect, especially in terms of the availability and use of information and communication tools. The global digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world is alarming; with statistics showing that it has only 2.5 per cent of the world’s internet users.

The digital divide in this case is the distinct disparity in the use and advancement of technologies between Africa and the developed world. Several scholars have advanced the notion that the continent is in danger of isolation from the developed world if this situation persists.

Our beloved continent seems to be fairing below expectations when it comes to the digital divide due to rampant poverty. Many people, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, live below-a-dollar-a-day and struggle even to get basic needs. Thus, the mention of information and communication tools such as mobile phones, computers and internet is considered as mere luxury.

Most countries are also known to have low bandwidth (the amount of data transmitted through a communications line) with quite a number of countries still using copper wire communications in core networks. This has occasioned several African governments to increasingly adopt fibre optic cables, which is the best carrier of high capacity bandwidth. This alternative method transmits information from one place to another by sending pulses of light through an optical fibre. These efforts are in a bid to bridge the widened digital divide.

In a continent that is punctuated by poor infrastructure, especially the lack of transport networks to install ICT infrastructure, efforts of technological advancement can face a major setback.

It is also quite evident that ICT growth tends to be concentrated only in big cities in these countries, thus the rural populace is left out in the sharing of information through avenues such as wireless technologies and mobile phones.

The fact that the number of people who are tech-savvy is low compared to the developed world where ICT tools such as computers and cell phones are available to children at an early age, does not help matters. On the other side of the continuum, the continent also faces rampant ‘brain drain’ so to speak. Many skilled people, especially the youth, have failed to find opportunities on the continent and have gone to offer their services to other regions of the world.

One of the major issues that was discussed at the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva, Switzerland last year was the right to communicate. This entails guaranteeing everyone access to affordable communications tools. In relation to this, a big number of professionals in the information industry are for the idea that the internet ought to be made a basic human right.

Its while at this school of thought I’d like to hail Facebook for the introduction of 0.facebook.com that has made an effort to bridge the digital divide, by making it possible for people to interact via the social site without any data charges. This is a real show by the social network that information, and the internet for that matter, is a basic human right to each and every individual.

While I reckon that we still have a long way to go in bridging the global digital divide, the strides that have already been made are a good stepping stone for better things to come. With pacesetters such as the laying of undersea fibre optic cables, introduction of data centres (especially in rural areas) and social media facilities such as 0.facebook.com, we are on a stable course of bridging the divide.

It is quite notable that there is no Kenyan mobile operator where 0.facebook.com can be availed, but it is still a great thing to have this facility in the nine African countries and other third world countries. Not only will it open Africa to the rest of the world and provide opportunities, it’ll also enable digitally isolated communities to communicate via the internet. It’ll provide benefits to the communities by improving democracy and participation mechanisms.