One thing that strikes me most in Ghana is the almost complete absence of high quality online media, let alone the social media. The classic media around here, such as the dominant state owned newspaper Daily Graphic, apparently repeat the mistakes, their European counterparts have made in the past decade: Ignore the net until it’s too late.
To give an example: Except for a corporate internet presence, the biggest Ghanaian newspaper didn’t have a working website until early 2010. It is there now and – hey! – even features blogs, only the commentaries are disabled. There is no way to hear the voices of the readers. The old sender-receiver model seems still in full effect.
Of course, in terms of availability and usage of new media, i.e. the internet, the situation is entirely different compared to more developed parts of the world. Fixed telephone – until lately the preferred way to connect to the internet in Europe or the USA – are not available to the larger part of the population.
The number of computers per household is low, the same goes for internet usage: The World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report 2009–2010 shows a little more than 1 computer and 4 internet users per 100 population in 2009 (1). Compare that to the respective index leaders: Switzerland with 97/100 computers or Iceland with 90/100 internet users.
So, the publisher’s math seems alright: no computers plus no internet users equals no online media. Is that all, folks? Not really. One figure makes me hypothesise a possible mass market for online media: mobile phone usage.
Growth rates of other indicators are easily beaten by the common snail. Mobile phone usage races ahead with an annual plus of about 10 percent since 2005. About half of the population had a mobile phone subscription in 2009. Oh, and just from personal experience: many use their mobile phone to access the net, either directly or as a modem.
In 2010 we saw the first BarCamp in Ghana, early October we’re looking forward to the first Accra-based BarCamp. So, based on that, is there, or is there not a considerable audience for online media?
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(1) www.networkedreadiness.com
