Computers and Internet in Burundi II

  1. Posted on Thursday 13 September 2007 - 23:19
    Sarah Harting
    Image of Sarah Harting
    The world wide web was opened for Burundians in August 1997 offered by the provider Centre National de l'Informatique (CNI).
    Back then unlimited access was $150 per month (which was then the annual per capita income) and was partly used by foreigners working in Burundi, partly by businessmen and government officials.

    These days some more common Burundians living in the capital can afford a home-connection as well. The Office National des Télécommunications (Onatel) is a state-owned corporation in charge of the provision of telecommunications services in Burundi. They have been offering dial-up connections for some three years, while ADSL was launched a few months ago.
    I know of one person who signed up for ADSL three months ago, but doesn't have any until today, he did buy a flat-screen though.
    A simple dial-up connection is available for all who have a phone-line, which exists in every city in Burundi.


    Cybercafes have an antenna or are connected to a satellite. One of the cybercafes where I used to go doesn't have a connection anymore since the last two months which means no more work for my friends and they didn't know if and when and how it would work again.

    The operator of mobile phones UCOM (former Telecel) sells a kit for 120.000 FBU (€78). You can buy credit and use the net for 20FBU (€0,013) a minute.

    Mobile telephony has several operators like UCOM, Africell and Onatel. Making phone calls to the same operator is of course cheaper, but sending text messages is only possible when writing someone who uses the same operator. This has as a effect that those who have some money have two phones so that they can send messages to most of their friends. UCOM is the only one that can receive messages from other countries, but since it grew faster than it could handle, people have trouble joining those users lately.

    The newest phones are to be found in Bujumbura (probably coming from Dubai) and some of the students were surprised to hear that I have had the same phone for the last two years.

Latest News

  1. OPINION: Welcome to African Green Revolution24/05For the past century and a half, Africa has tried various agricultural approaches without much success.
  2. Egyptians vote in historic election23/05Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who serv…
  3. Africa Day 2012 - a moment for reflection and…22/0525th May is Africa Day. For many years it has been a celebration of African unity. It dates back to 1963 when the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) …
  4. South Africa's African agenda21/05The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Mothlanthe paid a rare visit to Ghana in April at the invitation of John Dramani Mahama …
  5. Women struggle to rinse hunger, poverty stains21/05Just looking at her one clearly appreciates that she is old and frail therefore in need of support for food, clothing and shelter to live comfortably …
  6. Climate Climate change affects migratory birds…21/05Changes in the climate globally have affected the movement of both migratory and resident species of birds, Nature Uganda has said.
  7. Ghana: Foreign retailers cited for currency…18/05The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is attributing the sharp depreciation of the Ghana cedi against major currencies to the illegal activiti…
  8. Kenya: Community radio brings succour to…18/05Korogocho, a slum in northeastern Nairobi with 100,000 inhabitants, had many of the ingredients for a political explosion similar to those that rocked…
  9. Veld fires 'flame' Zimbabwe's…16/05Over the years, Zimbabwe has experienced the scourge of veld fires destroying property worth thousands of dollars.
  10. Liberia commends ECOWAS for support14/05The induction training of pioneer Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Volunteers for Liberia kicked off in Monrovia, with the Deputy Mi…
  11. Vanishing Lake Chad puts 30m lives at risk14/05As you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in north-eastern Nigeria, the evidence of despair is telling.
  12. Heavy rains cause havoc in Kenya14/05Heavy Rainfall continued to wreak havoc across the country leading to the suspension of relief food in some parts of the country as most roads in Turk…
  13. Zimbabwe: Growth points lie dormant14/05The Zimbabwean government mooted the concept of growth points in the 1980s as a means of decongesting cities and towns.
  14. Sierra Leone improves in infant mortality11/05Sierra Leone has improved in infant mortality cases according to Save the Children- World Motherhood index 2012 report. The West Africa country descri…
  15. Zimbabwe: Resettled farmers fail to utilize…10/05Resettled farmers in Zimbabwe are failing to utilize land due to inadequate farming inputs and lack of resources.
News archive