Appendix E
Site Visits and Meetings in Senegal, Ghana, and Kenya
In each country that the Committee visited, it met with representatives of Internet service providers (ISPs), both commercial and constituency-based; nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) involved in development-related activities that use the Internet; representatives from a university or other higher-education institution; private-sector Internet users; government officials; and others who are involved in Internet-related activities. The complete list is below. In most cases the site visits and meetings consisted of informal discussions based on the general questions outlined in the Introduction. The committee members considered, but did not follow, a predetermined, specific line of questioning or a prepared survey. The committee recognizes that further research on this topic would benefit from such complementary research tools.
SENEGAL
ARC Informatique: Mohsen Chirara and Philippe Alain
ARC Informatique is an ISP in Dakar, Senegal, with approximately 150 customers as of August 1997. It also provides other telecommunications services and products.
ORSTOM (Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique Pour le Developpement en Cooperation): Christoph Brun
ORSTOM is a French-owned research institute with branches in several countries, including Senegal. It has had electronic mail since the mid-1980s and has provided e-mail for other NGOs and academic users. It currently has about 100 computers on a local area network.
Ecole Superieure Polytechnique: Alex Corenthin and Tidiane Seck
This polytechnic university offers courses in computer science. It also has two dial-up lines for Internet access and serves as the domain registry manager for the country.
Sonatel: M. Mactar Seck
Sonatel is Senegal's national Post, Telephone and Telegraph administration. It has separated Internet access from other telecommunications services and has established Telecom-Plus (see below) as the ISP.
PANA (Pan African News Agency)
PANA began using electronic mail in 1994. It now uses the Internet for general communications and interviews, to exchange news with other news services, and to send news worldwide.
Interactive Communications and Multimedia: Amadou Top
An Internet and intranet development company.
Murex Informatique: Solofo Andrianjafy
This company distributes computer hardware, develops software, and recently became an ISP.
Metissacana Cafe: Michel Mavros and Alexis Sikorsky
The Metissacana Cafe is an Internet service provider and a cyber cafe, offering walk-in Internet access and e-mail accounts. As of August 1997, Metissacana had approximately 400 e-mail accounts and 200 or more Internet subscribers.
Telecom-Plus: Mme BA Aissatou
Telecom-Plus is the Internet service provider for Sonatel. It started operations in 1991 and as of August 1997 had approximately 900 subscribers.
ENDA (Environmental Development Action in the Third World): Moussa Fall and colleagues
ENDA is a nonprofit international organization that works at the grass-roots level on rural and urban problems, such as youth unemployment, human rights, environmental and cultural issues, and improved health. ENDA is also an Internet service provider to other NGOs, with approximately 100 subscribers in Senegal.
Silicon Valley Cyber Business Cafe: Souleymane Sall
This cyber business cafe and Internet service provider had approximately 60 subscribers as of August 1997.
CNCR (Conseil National de Concertation et de Cooperation des Ruraux): Smaba Gueye
This NGO is involved in a five-year project, partially funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, to link via the Internet radios in rural areas to help provide information to farmers, fishermen, and others.
CODESRIA (Council for the Development of Socieal Science Research in Africa): Abou Moussa Ndongo
CODESRIA is a Pan-African nongovernmental organization established to develop the social sciences in Africa and promote cooperation and collaboration among African universities, research and training institutes, and professional associations. The organization has been using electronic mail for 10 years.
Other NGOs
A meeting of several nongovernmental organizations was held in Dakar to discuss the use of the Internet by NGOs. Among those who participated were CECI, FAFS, and CONGAD.
GHANA
U.S. AID: Denise Rollins, Myron Goldman, and Cherie Gray
Among other telecommunications-related assistance activities, the USAID mission supports development and implementation of the Leland Initiative.
Network Computer Systems (NCS): Nii Quaynor
Among other business activities, NCS is an Internet service provider, software developer, and domain registrar.
Ministry of Communications and Information: Minister Ekwow Spio-Garbeh and Gilbert Adenusi
Spio-Garbeh assumed direction of the new ministry (created from parts of the previous Ministry of Communications and Transport and Ministry of Information in July 1997. The ministry is responsible for development of a policy framework for overall policies including the Internet.
Ministry of Roads and Transport: Minister Edward Salia (formerly Minister of Information)
Salia served as Minister of Information until it was reorganized and merged with the Ministry of Communications and Transport.
Africa Online: Ntumi Entoeny
Africa Online, a wholly owned subsidiary of Prodigy, is an Internet service provider. As of August 1997, it had 800 to 900 subscribers in Ghana.
Chamber of Mines: Benson-Williams
The chamber has domestic and foreign companies as members. It had just been connected to the Internet when the committee visited in August 1997.
Chamber of Commerce: Sal. Doe Amegavie and Mr. Addo
The chamber's members are mostly small and micro businesses and as such have little resources for the Internet. The chamber itself began using the Internet in August 1997.
American-Ghana Chamber of Commerce: Janice Williams
This chamber was previously an association of American enterprises and only recently became a full chamber of commerce. They had no connection to Internet as of August 1997.
Chamber of Commerce: Kathleen Williams (phone interview)
This chamber has plans to establish an Internet connection and web page, but it is a new organization and does not yet have its own office site.
Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF): Mr. Abeasi
This foundation consists of business organizations, funded in large part by USAID. Its role is to represent business interests before government.
West African Enterprise Network (WAEN) and DATABANK: Ken Afori-Atta
WAEN has 300 members spread across 14 West African countries. DATABANK is a brokerage firm with 60 to 70 percent of the Ghanaian market. It uses the Internet and World Wide Web extensively for information on local and foreign markets.
Mawuli Tse, formerly with Africa Online
Tse was managing director of Africa Online Ghana (see above) until August 1997.
Ghana Classifieds: Ashim Morton
Ghana Classifieds provides Internet-related services and products such as Web site design and maintenance and intranet installations.
Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs (GAWE)
GAWE, with approximately 250 members, seeks to support female entrepreneurs through training, workshops, exposure, and limited financial assistance. A USAID-funded project will link chapters in each of the country 's 10 regions via computer.
Association of African Universities: Kofi Arthiabah
The AAU has approximately 147 members and seeks to provide information about African universities to facilitate communication among its members. AAU provides electronic mail access to some 40 NGOs and other organizations.
Partnership for Internet in Education (presentation by Gideon Chonia)
This project seeks to bring the Internet into schools for use by teachers and students and for curriculum development. As of August 1997, it was in the organizational, informational stage.
Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA): Prof. J. S. Djangmah
IEA is one of two public policy think tanks in Ghana It has done some policy analysis on Internet-related issues.
University of Ghana: Christine Kisiedu, Balme Library and Prof. Mumuni Dakumu, Department of Chemistry
The university has electronic mail through the library on a fidonet bulletin board and is looking to expand Internet use and access through a fiberoptic backbone.
Internet Ghana (Electromod): Leslie Tamakloe
Electromod has been providing computer products and services for approximately 10 years and in 1996 began its Internet division, Internet Ghana. As of August 1997, it had about 700 subscribers. Internet Ghana is looking to establish more points of presence throughout Ghana.
KENYA
USAID: Mary Mairui and Stephen Ndele J.M. K. Kangethe
Among other telecommunications-related assistance activities, the USAID mission supports development and implementation of the Leland Initiative.
University of Nairobi: Dr. Peter Wanyande, also Acting Chairman, African Council for Communication Education (ACCE)
ACEE is an Africa-wide association with chapters in more that 26 countries and more than 6,000 members.
Computer Society of Kenya (formerly Kenya Computer Institute) and ABC Computer School: Charles N. Nduati
ABC Computer School provides computer software training. Its clients are primarily from the business community.
Africa OnLine: Amolo Nyweno
Africa OnLine, founded in 1994 by three Kenyans and later sold to Prodigy, is one of the oldest and largest ISPs in Kenya. Africa OnLine has about 30 to 40 percent of the Kenya market and together with FormNet shares up to 70 percent of the market.
Net2000: Mayan Shah
Net2000 is one of the new ISPs that have come on line in Kenya in the last year. Together with two or three other new ISPs, they have about 30 percent of the market.
Mwaniki Associates: John Kashangaki
Mwaniki Associates is a research and consulting firm in Nairobi which specializes in issues concerning economic analysis, development, and public policy.
East African Internet Association: S. Suchindranath Aiyer, Wachuka Warungru, Suzanne Drouilh, and Muuriuki Mureuthi
The East African Internet Association (EAIA) is a nonprofit association founded in 1995. EAIA goals are to promote and expand Internet use in East African. It is an industry association with 3,500 plus members representing ISPs, the computer industry, and other information and communication technology businesses.
Jomo Kenyatta University, Agriculture and Technical Campus: Henry Thairu, Sammuel M. Kangethe, Thomas Gitumbi, William Kinyanjui, and Haron Wachira
The Technical Campus of Jomo Kenyatta University houses a computer and information technology training center.
HealthNet: Fred Bukachi
HealthNet was founded in 1990. With about 400 subscribers, HealthNet uses low earth orbit satellites to maintain store-and-forward communication for medical purposes.
Microcomputer Information Systems Department, Ministry of Finance: S.K. Konana, Merlyu Kettering (Management Consultant Development Advisor)
This section of the ministry is responsible for micro-computing. The committee's discussion focused on information technology applications.
AIESEC Kenya, Prospor Oudur, Adrian Ambe
AIESEC, or L'Association Internationales Des Etudients En Science Economicques Et Commerce, is an international student organization in over 86 countries and 850 universities.