African internet communications falling behind

He noted at the event that as a telecommunications engineer himself, the evolution and the power of the internet have always been a spectacle for him.

Dr Ndukwe pointed out that between the year 2002 and 2003, it was reported that the American online delivers about 50% more messages in one day than the United States (US) Postal Office.

Also, he observed that about 85% of the small and medium size industry used the internet and about 65% of small businesses in the US, for instance, have their own websites.

"This number has continuously increased as of today," he said.

E-business transactions, according to him, are expected to grow to over 1.5 trillion dollars in 2007, while the small businesses that extensively use the internet are expected to grow much faster than those that do not use internet. He observed sadly however that while the number of people using the Internet in the G8 countries continues to grow, in many African countries, such as Nigeria, the story is not the same.

"Truly, technology is driving economies, but not everyone is benefiting from it," he declared.

However, the penetration of mobile communication technologies supported by the pre-paid system have been the driving force behind the success of these communication technologies.

"Today, about 3 billion people in the world now have access to mobile communication. This number, is however, very small when compared to those that have access to the internet," he said.

He therefore asserted that there is a wide gap between those who have information through the internet and those who do not.

"People, businesses and communities that do not have ready access to Internet are being left behind in the scheme of things," he said, adding that the implication of this to mankind is a continuous effort to keep up.

"With the internet, people could actually access any form of information in the whole wide world," he maintained.

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