[kictanet] The Marine Cable

[bitange at jambo.co.ke]

Dear Yawe,
The problem with virtual discussion is that one does not know the
audience.  Let me assume that you have similar interests as many of those
I have met do.  Allow me then to take the discussion on Fibre Optic to
another level.  The East African region is the only place on earth that is
not served by these links (see attached networks).  The East African
region lags behind those countries with multiple cables.

When you read Tom Friedman, The World is Flat, you find that Accessibility
to cheaper bandwidth spurred growth in India and that ICT is a great
leveler.  The far East which indeed had more shanties in 1965 that we
(East Africans) had, have used ICTs to flatten their region so that the
waters of foreign investment can flow there.  Indeed the Far East has
experienced the fastest growth in morden history.  It is therefore prudent
to develop an hypothesis along this line - Lack of cheaper connectivity
and entrepreneurialism contributes to underdevelopment in our part of the
world.  There are other secondary hypotheses such as the role of
academicians in underdeveloping Africa through endless debates when indeed
we know what others did to liberate their people from poverty.  In the
past 10 years China moved 300 million out of poverty while we remained
stagnant.

Perhaps we need a forum to square up this matter.  It is key that we are
all on one page in terms of helping our region to develop.

Asante sana.


Bitange Ndemo.

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