Edition 35: Summer 2006
The blogging phenomenon is giving
Africans across the continent a brand new opportunity to exchange
ideas. Among those listening in are travellers keen to keep in touch
with topics of discussion that matter to people living in Africa.
Twenty-two million Africans regularly use the internet ‐ a tiny
fraction of the continent’s total population, but a 400% increase on
the figure for 2000. Computer use is growing faster in Africa than in
any other region, and cybercafés are mushrooming all over the continent.
Sokari Ekine, a Nigerian-born blogger, says “The number of Africans
blogging has more than trebled in the last 12 months. African-run sites
like Kenya Unlimited and Nigerian Bloggers are at the forefront of
community-building among African bloggers. These projects are run by
Africans for Africans. We are taking control of our own stories and
using available technologies to fit our aspirations.”
The subjects of the blogs are as diverse as the continent itself. A
site by survivors of the Rwandan genocide tells their stories and aims
to stop such atrocities happening again. Another entitled What an
African Woman Thinks is the musings of a woman living in Kenya. Yet
another chronicles the thoughts of a Ghanaian man on life in West
Africa.
For readers, these blogs are a great way to learn about contemporary
African culture and the issues that are energising people. For the
writers, they offer an opportunity to be creative, to be political, to
be humorous and, as participants in a movement that is making African
media history, simply to be heard.
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