This report highlights discrepancies in technology adoption and growth as warnings of a deepening digital divide. For example, between 1998 and 2000, the number of Internet users as a percentage of population increased from 0.1% to 0.4% in sub-Saharan Africa. In the US that percentage jumped from 26.3% to 54.3%. The report also notes that the total international bandwidth for the African continent is less than that available to the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The same is true of Internet costs. In the US the cost of an Internet connection is 1.2% of the average monthly income. In Nepal that figure is 278%.
The report argues that information and communications technology and biotechnology can make major contributions to reducing world poverty, and notes that the opportunities for poor people include job creation and broader participation in democracy.
Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Subjects: International, Social Responsibility (ESG)
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Your comments are very interesting but also confusing. The reference to South Africa is as if it is a region instead of an independent country. I suggest the word Southern Africa be used to indicate the region to overcome the problem.
Michael Craig
Pretoria, South Africa