Bringing internet to Africa - VPRO documentary - 2015
135The urge of technological giants to connect everyone and everything literally has no limits. Google wants to use balloons to form a shield around the planet and Facebook is experimenting with drones and a free Facebook app for mobile phones. At the moment, Africa is the continent with the most internet-free zones on the map: places without internet or mobile phone signal. There, however, developments have accelerated.
More than 80 percent of all African households have mobile phones and in some of the 54 countries on the continent half of that number are smartphones. VPRO Backlight observes how Africa gets connected and follows a number of people who deal with this passionately.
The African continent is a laboratory for all possible solutions. High-tech as well as low-tech pioneers come here to try their luck. Can Africa be a forerunner in the world of the future that is one big network?
Featuring: Achille Mbembe (philosopher), Juliana Rotich (iHub Nairobi), Robbert Mica (Outernet), Bob Collymore (Safaricom CEO), Isis Nyong'o (former director, Google Africa) and Louis Otieno (Microsoft4Afrika).
Originally broadcasted by VPRO in 2015.
© VPRO Backlight April 2015
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Credits:
Director: Bregtje van der Haak
Research: Marijntje Denters, Geert Lovink
Producer: Jenny Borger
Editors: Marije Meerman, Doke Romeijn
English, French and Spanish subtitles: Ericsson.
French and Spanish subtitles are co-funded by European Union.