From the New York Times:
On a muggy day in Kigali in 2003, some of the highest-ranking officials in the Rwandan government, including President Paul Kagame, flanked an American businessman, Greg Wyler, as he boldly described how he could help turn their small country into a hub of Internet activity.
Mr. Wyler, an executive based in Boston who made his fortune during the tech boom, said he would lace Rwanda with fiber optic cables, connecting schools, government institutions and homes with low-cost, high-speed Internet service. Until that point, Mr. Wyler, 37, had never set foot in Africa — he was invited by a Rwandan government official he had met at a wedding. Mr. Wyler never expected to start a business there; he simply wanted to try to help the war-torn country.
Even so, Mr. Wyler’s company, Terracom, was granted a contract to connect 300 schools to the Internet. Later, the company would buy 99 percent of the shares in Rwandatel, the country’s national telecommunications company, for $20 million.
But after nearly four years, most of the benefits hailed by him and his company have failed to materialize, Rwandan officials say. “The bottom line is that he promised many things and didn’t deliver,” said Albert Butare, the country’s telecommunications minister.
Related posts:
- Laptop Searches in Airports Draw Fire at Senate Hearing From the New York Times: Advocacy groups and some legal...
- Cell phones reshaping Africa From CNN: Amina Harun, a 45-year-old farmer, used to traipse...
- China shuts down thousands of Net cafes From MSNBC: Chinese authorities shut down more than 12,575 Internet...
- U.S. to allow ICANN independence by 2009 From MSNBC: The European Commission welcomed on Monday U.S. government...
- Windows Vista, Office 2007 Expelled From British Schools From InfoWorld: The agency that governs educational technology in the...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
0 Responses to “Africa, Offline: Waiting for the Web”
Leave a Reply