2024-01-30 23:02:44
The specialized site TOP10VPN has compiled data evaluating the outage times of social networks and internet connections around the world as well as the evaluation of their cost… According to this research, Africa comes in second position behind Europe — largely due to Russia – with a total of more than 30,000 hours of cumulative outages affecting 85 million people according to their compilation, for a total cost estimated at $1.74 billion. A major challenge for the continent’s economy.
Conflicts, elections, demonstrations, cheating on exams… The reasons given for the cuts are multiple, but the consequences for economies are very real, underlines the TOPVPN researcherSamuel Woodhams.
« Internet access restrictions can affect all parts of an economy. From large multinationals that use social media to promote their products, to small local businesseshe specifies. And there are also longer-term impacts on the development of a local digital economy and foreign investment in digital services in a given country. »
The first African country concerned is Ethiopia, according to this study. More than five months of restriction on social networks and northern regions cut off from the internet have been recorded. The estimated cost is more than $1.5 billion.
Reluctant international companies
« If there is no internet, there is no work. LCompanies already have difficulty obtaining contracts, because being in Africa is already a very big challenge in itself », Notes Wondwesen Zewdie, president of the association of professionals in outsourced digital services.
If companies on the continent must make commercial development efforts, he nevertheless highlights the limits of this work if cuts are common. “ When companies tell investors that there can be outages every day, without the operator knowing how to predict them, it is a real alarm signal. », he notes.
The consequences are significant for businesses, but also for individuals. Outages in social networks and more broadly the internet, for example, make money transfers and withdrawals complicated. M’Bany Sidibé is the president of the Union for the Defense of Consumers of Guinea. He calls us using a VPN, but the connection is difficult and the cost for the user is high.
A daily life made complicated
« You should know that there are many forms for opening accounts and withdrawals, which today go through tools such as WhatsApp, Messenger or other social network applications.describes M’Bany Sidibé. And it is after confirmation that you can then go through the mobile telephone operators, that is to say through the Orange Money or Mobile Money accounts to withdraw the money from your account. »
But when it is not possible to access these forms, the procedures become more complicated, the money is not directly available. “ You are then forced to come and wait in long queues and this drags out economic activity. », Regrets the president of the Union for Consumer Defense.
The economic cost is also borne by the States which see their administrations slowed down and public services such as hospitals affected.
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