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Shut down Shutdowns
The internet shutdown that engulfed Ethiopia this week caught many by surprise.
While at the hotel on the morning of June 11, I lost connectivity midway through writing an email to a source. Half an hour later, I walked into a branch of the country’s sole mobile operator Ethio Telecom to purchase a SIM card. After setting up my device, the saleswoman couldn’t understand why the internet wasn’t connecting on my phone. Maybe your handset, she innocently quipped, is “too old” or “has a problem.”
At the time, what I—and she, hopefully—didn’t know then was that we were in the early hours of a days-long, nationwide digital blackout. Authorities restricted social media platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram and disabled SMS text messaging in measures aimed at deterring cheating during national secondary school exams. What followed was a numbing, exasperating experience, akin to waking up in a subterranean, benighted world. Besides impacting businesses increasingly reliant on online transactions, the internet suspension also hampered the operations of the nascent but rising tech sector popularly known as Sheba Valley.
There has been a marked rise in recorded web disruptions globally, but African countries are dominating the leader board of national shutdowns in 2019. Sudan, DR Congo, and Chad are among countries that entered the year totally or partially offline, and they have since been joined by the likes of Algeria, Benin, Eritrea, Mauritania, Liberia, and Somalia. The orders for these interruptions are mostly coming from those at the helm, with dictatorships and partial democracies the biggest offenders.
Regulators and telecommunication companies aren’t providing advance warnings or justification for these suspensions too—even though some have linked them to preserving public safety, limiting hate speech, and reducing exam cheats.
Given the alarming frequency of these stoppages, activists say we have a reached “a new high” that should raise concern worldwide. Africa is the least-connected continent globally, but the upsurge in smartphone adoption, decreasing data costs, and declining phone prices has only amplified the place of the internet as a transformative tool. That’s why the blackouts are harmful not just for economic growth and democracy but also for social cohesion, innovation, net neutrality, and freedom of expression. Besides targeted shutdowns, authorities are also using surveillance, arbitrary legislation, along with taxation to silence digital users.
The internet is now back in Ethiopia with operator Ethio Telecom apologizing for the interruptions. But that doesn’t necessarily vindicate the company, and certainly doesn’t assuage the fear of millions of users who might endure a similar experience in the future.
— Abdi Latif Dahir, Quartz Nairobi correspondent
Stories from this week
Ethiopia’s ZayRide is expanding into West Africa. Since launching in 2016, the ride-hailing service ZayRide has joined a slew of local startups hoping to modernize the Addis Ababa’s taxi sector. The firm is now looking to expand its footprint, mulling over not just other major Ethiopian cities but also African nations including Liberia and Guinea.
Ghana is betting on a digital census in 2020 to transform its informal economy. A common problem that hobbles planning and policy across several African governments is a startling lack of accurate data. But Ghana is looking to break the mold with plans for its most ambitious data drive ever through a digital census slated for next year, reports Youyou Zhou from Accra.
Uber thinks its data can solve Nairobi’s epic traffic jams. With more than 4.5 million people, traffic congestion in the Kenyan capital can be maddening, especially during peak hours. Now Uber is encouraging city officials, and urban planners to use its data to solve some of its congestion challenges with a free tool called Movement which provides users with traffic insights.
What does Facebook’s Libra currency mean for Africa? With news of Facebook’s planned digital currency, there are major questions over how the future of financial technology will be shaped. For Africa, as Yomi Kazeem explains, those questions will revolve mainly around the digital currency’s impact on Africa’s remittances and leading mobile money sectors.
A Nigerian doctor reminds us of sacrifices made in West Africa’s Ebola crisis. As DR Congo grapples with its worst ever Ebola outbreak, there’s a major strain on health workers. It’s a repeat of the past as seen with the jarring story of a 39-year old former Ebola doctor during the West Africa crisis. He spoke with Quartz Africa about the immense risks undertaken by health workers to stop the 2014 Ebola outbreak spreading.
Chart of the Week
How too much aid ended up hurting one of the world’s poorest countries. After two violent civil wars which had a major human and economic toll, the rebuilding of Liberia was largely funded by foreign aid from donors. But with aid now drying up and the economy flailing, the West African country is offering evidence of how foreign aid may do little to strengthen recipient nations in the long term.
Other Things We Liked
How to develop science in Africa. As enrollment in higher education soars throughout Africa, universities are grappling with funding impediments impacting research and science training across the continent. For Nature Research, Anagaw Atickema and a team of researchers argue developing a stronger African scientific community to take on big problems requires robust participation from African governments and the academic and financial institutions of wealthy countries.
A movement towards land reform in South Africa. For the country’s 58 million people, the legacy of apartheid colors the debates on agricultural and urban land use. In this piece for the New York Times, Mahmood Mamdani argues the ANC government should embrace robust land reforms, and address the persistent racial disparities in the country 25 years after the end of apartheid.
How an unlikely team advanced to the Africa Cup of Nations. Nearly 14 years following a brutal civil war that divided Burundi across ethnic lines and decimated the national soccer league, the country is competing this summer at the Africa Cup of Nations. In ESPN, Nick Ames writes on the diaspora-based Burundian footballers that defied expectations and gave their country its first shot at the African title.
Fake social media accounts are claiming to support charities for Sudan. As crackdowns in Sudan continue to draw global attention to the political crisis happening in the country, fake Instagram accounts claiming to help have garnered traction and followers. The Atlantic’s Taylor Lorenz reports on fake social charity pages misrepresenting their work, and spreading misinformation, as a ploy to gain more followers.
ICYMI
Use creative technology to tell African stories. African artists can apply for the New Dimensions Lab residency in South Africa to produce non-fiction stories using immersive technologies like virtual reality and animation. (June 28)
Increasing reader engagement in African Journalism. The Google News Initiative launched its first Middle East, Africa & Turkey Innovation Challenge for organizations and freelancers producing original journalism. The initiative will select projects geared towards exploring new business models and increasing reader engagement. (Sep. 2)
Entrepreneurship training in West Africa. Young West African entrepreneurs can apply for the AYADA Lab program for a full year of individual mentoring, networking trips, and regional workshop training sessions. (July 5)
Keep an eye on
Africa Blue Economy Forum (June 25-26). Delegates will gather in Tunis to discuss Africa’s maritime industry and its potential to create jobs and drive economic growth.
First China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (June 27-29). Over 1,000 African traders and stakeholders will gather in the capital of central China’s Hunan province for investment and business promotion activities. The event was one of the promises made by president Xi Jinping during last September’s Forum on China–Africa Cooperation.
*This brief was produced while listening to Mar eske Tuwaf (Fikir Eske Meqabir) by Teddy Afro (Ethiopia).
Our best wishes for a productive and ideas-filled week ahead. Please send any news, comments, suggestions, Libra currency and medals for Ebola heroes to africa@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter at @qzafrica for updates throughout the day.
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