Rural Internet Kiosks -‐ Overview - Africa Rural Connect

Empirical research has shown that growth in broadband directly correlates to growth in Gross Domestic Product. One recent World Bank econometrics analysis of 120 countries, shows that for every 10 percentage point increase in broadband service penetration there is an 1.3 percentage point increase in economic growth. (Qiang 2009) The World Bank has noted in its ICT4D 2009 report that broadband has considerable economic impact at all levels: individual, firm, and community. Individuals increasingly use broadband to acquire knowledge and skills to increase their employment opportunities. Where broadband has been introduced in rural areas of developing countries, villagers and farmers have gained better access to crop market prices, training, and job opportunities. When the Internet is introduced to rural areas it creates employment potential and stems the rush of rural to urban migration. Providing opportunities for income generation on the ground has a much greater impact than cybercafes and secretarial services. As in the previous example of farmers increasing their incomes through attaining accurate crop prices and training they also have the ability to reduce their fertilizer and pesticide expenditures by applying sustainable agriculture techniques on the farm. Innovations such as intercropping and composting are disseminated from farm to farm producing high crop yields at low costs. With increasing revenues children of farmers are more likely to consider the occupation of their parents as rewarding and continue in the trade. Basic computer skills empower youth to become self employed within the ICT sector itself as computer technicians, website designers, and a host of other services. With increased rural connectivity the list of opportunities goes on and on: teachers, social entrepreneurs, tourism, and telecommuting all stand to benefit from such a project implementation.