Internet Penetration in Kenya Lags Behind Other ICT Services a

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I have decided to post this article here to show you how we fare compared to the rest of the world with respect to Internet Penetration and Usage. I have collected and collated this data from various authoritative sources including our very own Communications Commission of Kenya, CCK.

As of March 2008 the Internet Usage Rate as a percentage of the entire population was 7.9% whereas the African content as a whole has a penetration rate of 5.3%,which translates to 51 million users,1 million of whom use broadband services. North Africa countries take the lions Share averaging 10% per country.See Table Below for Kenyan Statistics.


Internet Usage Statistics:
3,000,000 Internet users as of March/2008, 7.9% of the population, according to ITU

Latest Population Estimate:
37,953,838 population for 2008, according to US Census Bureau.

Gross National Income:
GNI per capita is US$ 530 ('06) and purchasing power parity (ppp) is US$ 1,445.

Country Area:
580,367 sq km

Internet Usage and Population Growth:

YEAR	Users	Population	% Pen.	Usage Source
2000	200,000	30,339,770	0.7 %	ITU
2008	3,000,000	37,953,838	7.9 %	ITU

The Global Penetration rate is 21.9% , with North America taking the lions share at 73%,followed byOceania/Australia at 59.5%, and Europe at 48.1%. See Table Two Below For All Regions.

WORLD INTERNET USAGE AND POPULATION STATISTICS
World Regions	Population ( 2008 Est.)	Internet Users Dec/31, 2000	Internet Usage, Latest Data	% Population ( Penetration )	Usage % of World
Africa	955,206,348	4,514,400	51,065,630	5.3 %	3.5 %
Asia	3,776,181,949	114,304,000	578,538,257	15.3 %	39.5 %
Europe	800,401,065	105,096,093	384,633,765	48.1 %	26.3 %
Middle East	197,090,443	3,284,800	41,939,200	21.3 %	2.9 %
North America	337,167,248	108,096,800	248,241,969	73.6 %	17.0 %
Latin America/Caribbean	576,091,673	18,068,919	139,009,209	24.1 %	9.5 %
Oceania / Australia	33,981,562	7,620,480	20,204,331	59.5 %	1.4 %
WORLD TOTAL	6,676,120,288	360,985,492	1,463,632,361	21.9 %	100.0 %

Sources Internetworldstats and ITU.


Yet even with this shockingly low statistic this area shows potential of rivaling the telephony market,when the broadband line from Sharjah reaches our shores later in the year, when the cost of internet access is projected to go down significantly to by much as 70%. We cant wait for that to happen. Below is what the CCK Director-General Mr. Charles J.K. Njoroge had to say about the issue in a press conference on the 11th of October 2008.

Internet penetration in Kenya lags behind other ICT services

Internet penetration in the country lags behind the take up of other services in the ICT market, the CCK Director-General has said. Mr. Charles J.K. Njoroge today said the number of regular Internet users in Kenya remains below three million compared to 15 million mobile subscribers. He attributed the sub-sector’s poor performance to high bandwidth costs, lack of relevant content and limited ICT infrastructure in the rural areas. The Director-General said the completion of the ongoing national and international marine cable projects would make the Internet more affordable to a larger proportion of Kenyans. The enactment of the Kenya Communications Amendment Bill 2008 is expected to provide an enabling framework for CCK to make the requisite universal access interventions, particularly in un-served and underserved areas. He made the remarks in a speech read on his behalf by Mr. Stanley K. Kibe, CCK’s Director in charge of Frequency Spectrum Management, during the official opening of the East African Internet Governance Forum (EAIGF) in Nairobi today. The EAIGF which begun today, will come to a close on November 13. The Forum was aimed at creating a common understanding and position on Internet governance within the East African region ahead of the Global Internet Governance Forum scheduled to take place in India next month. The Internet is considered one of the technologies that will drive global economy in the 21st Century and one of the most dramatic inventions of our time. Mr. Njoroge noted that recent studies have showed a positive correlation between internet usage one hand and national exports, GDP growth and Foreign Direct Investment inflows on the other. “The Internet holds a transformative cultural, economic and political promise for the world and particularly Africa. Africa thus needs to remain active in Internet Governance arena to ensure that the continent’s interests are protected in order to ensure Africa derives maximum benefit from this important and transformative technology,” the Director-General added. He said CCK has been coordinating Kenya’s participation in Internet Governance forums mainly at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and would continue to do so to ensure that the country’s national interests were protected. The CEO of the Kenya ICT Board, Paul Kukubo, the Executive Coordinator of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) secretariat, Markus Kummer, CCK Board Director Alice Munyua and IDRC’s Edith Adera are some of the dignitaries who graced the EAIGF.

Compiled, Written and Edited By Marcel Masaga.