New Media
and the
21
DAKAR, Senegal - The introduction of the Internet in Africa in the 1990s coincided with the arrival of the mobile telephone, that now ubiquitous item that once did not exist.
The world’s first mobile phone call made on April 3, 1973 by the man credited with perfecting the technology making it possible: Martin Cooper, a senior engineer at Motorola Inc. Ten years later, the first commercial mobile phone was put on the market. As the technology was perfected these phones continued to diminish in size and in price.
Africa’s growth in Internet use and increasingly in social media is a direct result of the explosion of the mobile phone market and its accessibility and cost. It is a huge business sector that is growing at a rapid pace. It’s estimated that 90 percebt of people in Africa use a cell phone. It has become an item that almost everyone can afford. In fact, a very basic hone can be had for as little as $20 and unlike in the US, users are not locked into phone contracts or charged when receiving a call. For most, phone calling cards are the norm. It’s true that in many places, in particular outside urban capitals where the majority of the continent’s citizens live, infrastructure and connection problems abound, but this, too increasingly being addressed.
In Senegal, a country of around 13 million, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) estimated in 2011 that there were around 10 million cell phone users and around 400,000 landline subscribers.
In terms of social media connect; Senegalese are definitely in the game. Facebook estimates that there are around 712,880 users in Senegal. The country ranks 9th among African countries for users and 88th in the world. Two years ago, Google as part of its “Google in Your Language” initiative, which is adding indigenous languages to its database, added Wolof, the main African language spoken in Senegal (French is the official language) to its search engine data base so now one can “seet ko ci Google,” that is to say, “Search Google.”
Senegal’s ICT usage stands out. The main reasons for this are that Senegal has one of the best digital infrastructures on the Continent, certainly the best in Francophone Africa, and the fact that Internet was introduced here early and its use by the masses widely promoted.
In 1996, Metissacana, the first-ever cyber café in West Africa, was started in Senegal. It was the brainchild of noted Senegalese fashion designer Oumou Sy, her husband the late Michel Mavros, and Alexis Sikorsky. The cyber café, which also had a restaurant and an open-air terrace where music and cultural events were staged, quickly became a hub attracting Senegalese and foreign travelers for accessing email, conducting Internet training, and as a space for community dialogue. For many years in Senegal, the words Internet, Email, and Metissacana were synonymous.
In Senegal, mobile phones were credited with helping bringing about political regime change
Senegalese Spring
g By Wilma Jean Emanuel Randle