Malawi lags behind in internet use

  1. Posted on Friday 29 August 2008 - 08:56
    Sam Banda Junior
    Image of Sam Banda Junior
    Sam Banda Junior, AfricaNews reporter in Blantyre, Malawi
    Owing to the lack of adequate infrastructure and high costs, Malawi still lags behind in the use of internet. Malawi's minister of labour Davis Katsonga was speaking in the country's capital Lilongwe during the opening of the 3rd annual connecting Rural Communities Africa Forum.
    computer_ICT_cyber_internet
    Katsonga said few people use the internet in the country due to high costs.
    Internet users diffusion in Malawi is the lowest among countries in the region and that has made the access to internet very high, he said.

    Recently during a meeting of Librarians and Information experts in Southern African region in Zambia, it was observed that Africa still lags behind in the use of computers especially the internet.

    The gathering also noted that things like agriculture would improve tremendously as we look ahead to fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) if for instance farmers in the rural areas have access to the internet to learn new skills.

    The minister said the country which depends on agriculture for its economy just like other nations in the region has a big mountain to climb as regards to spreading Information and communication technology (ICT) to the rural areas.

    In Malawi the internet is mostly used in the urban areas and there is still a long way for ICT to penetrate the urban areas.

    Malawi's minister of information and civic education was quoted in the local newspaper on Wednesday as saying that the country is planning to have all urban centres connected by 2012 and connect rural areas by 2015.

    The report further quoted the minister as saying Malawi has only 12 percent penetration of telecommunication.

    The forum which opened on Tuesday has drawn together 180 international delegates with three ministers of information from Kenya, Tanzania and Sierra Leone.

    According to the report Malawi is the third country to host the regional forum after Kenya and Rwanda.

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