In addition to the plethora of online degree programs which are affordable only to the most affluent citizens of sub-Saharan Africa, I found another intrepid advance on Timbuktu:  "...The EduVision E-Learning System (EELS) is an end-to end content management system that can efficiently distribute educational material in real-time to anywhere on the African continent. The project involves transforming curriculum content into a digital form, making it available to a greater number of pupils at a lower cost. Pupils will access the material via a simplified tablet computer, or eSlate, which will be wirelessly connected to their school’s BaseStation, a unit that downloads content from satellite radio. As a result, EELS is not confined to cities and the few rural schools with electricity, it is designed to work in the most remote of regions..." 

In an earlier blog I had said, the best ICT leveraging strategies in the third world (read: sub-Saharan Africa) may not necessarily be super-sophisticated, whiz bang computer devices, but may instead lurk within the simple and mundane devices.

Celtel Uganda has signed an agreement with the Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association to install pay phones in all commuter taxis. Full story here.

And did I say Africa is getting more and more connected?

Religion has extensively leveraged ICT in sub-Saharan Africa and gained incredible market visibility, and according to Dele Olojede, the Faith industry is perhaps the fastest growing industry in sub-Saharan Africa, "faster growing than even the telecom sector, and perhaps just as profitable… feeds off the misery of the people and appeals to their worst instincts and propensity to superstition, illogic and unreason. The mushroom churches are particularly in love it would seem from the billboards around our benighted city, with words such as fire and damnation, as well as promises of wealth… We do not necessarily have to agree with Marx that religion is the "opium of the people" to recognize the destructive power of mindless faith, which eschews self help and sacrifice and instead asks you to trust in God, who will magically provide everything for you…

Microsoft reps claim to have done some research in the area of FOSS in developing countries and came to the conclusion that software costs/price was really not a major factor in realizing significant ICT returns in developing regions. Instead, in the grand schema of African development imperatives; ICT skills development/ICT skills expansion/ICT skills intensification are more crucial in these ‘emerging markets’ such as sub-Saharan Africa.

Chomp on the networked readiness index, pat your head and rub your belly and belt out a few bars of Nkosi Si-kelele Africa! Africa is coming on strong!

The US Department of State made the release last week that Africa is actually 'gaining Internet connectivity faster than any other region and as such, service is spreading to smaller cities and rural areas via innovative technologies...'

South Africa and Kenya are reportedly among the highest population of African Internet users.