Dear Edith,
 
Is it really the case that cybercafes are dying in Kenya? From my time here, one of the things that has astonished me is the virtual ubiquity of these places, particularly the growing mass of smaller cybercafes which one can find on every corner of  downtown Nairobi, as well as many in supposed 'information poor' areas such as around Kibera or Kawangware, all run for profit by dynamic entrepreneurs, most of them young I might add.

I take your point though that more 'cutting edge' cybercafes are less common. In Kenya perhaps we can say that so far some of the slack been taken up by various hubs/incubators, who offer various talks and social spaces in a similar way to what Andrea describes in Ghana.

Best
Chris

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University of Manchester, UK

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On 02/03/11 20:22, Andrea Bohnstedt wrote:
Busy had/has a bigger concept: They are also an ISP, have a bar in the building, used to have a Monday movie night, I think, had some ICT classes and talks, and they had initially set up Busy to also serve as an incubator, although I think that did not really work out as planned. I have been there a couple of times of the years and always met some really fun and interesting people. Recently, they set up some work stations in a new shopping mall.

Mark Davies, one of the founders, set up BusyLab who, if I remember correctly, built e-soko, an online/mobile commodity trading and information platform that has recently attracted some investment from the IFC to support their roll out across the continent.

Regarding the internet cafes in Kenya: are there any data to show that the numbers are shrinking? Also, this is a market, too: If there is no demand for internet cafes, then they'll go out of business.

On 2 March 2011 19:27, Edith Adera <eadera@idrc.or.ke> wrote:
I think what a Ghanian told me got me thinking "BusyInternet does more than a cafe so the catch is i go to one place and do multiple things"
 
I think that might the "catch"...."a suite of services" to survive.
 
Would love to see this in action.
 
Edith
 

________________                                   

Edith Ofwona Adera

Senior Program Specialist

ICT4D Program and Climate Change & Water Program

International Development Research Centre | Centre de recherches pour le développement international

Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa

Tel: +254202713160 | Fax/Téléc: +254202711063 | Skype: edithadera

eadera@idrc.or.ke | www.idrc.ca | www.crdi.ca
From: Eric Kirimi [eric@ictinfrastructure.co.ke]
Sent: 02 March 2011 19:26
To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions; Edith Adera
Subject: Re: [kictanet] The Death of Cybercafes?

edith

i thought the government is implementing the PASHA centre's projects across the country. this will increase competition and eventually more cyber cafe.


Regards,

Eric





From: "Edith Adera" <eadera@idrc.or.ke>
To: "Eric.K" <eric@ictinfrastructure.co.ke>
Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Wednesday, March 2, 2011 7:12:16 PM
Subject: [kictanet] The Death of Cybercafes?

Listers
 
Just back from Ghana where I was impressed to see that cybercafes are still alive (e.g. BusyInternet)...as my experience in Kenya is that it's hard to find a functional cybercafe within easy reach with cutting edge services and programs (PDF etc)....most are closing down with Internet available on the mobile (with aggressive competition). So outside the office set-up and with minimal home connections...one has almost no options for innovation.
 
Is it a good thing that cybers are dying in Kenya and broadband is yet to reach homes? what needs to be done differently to inform our efforts on digital villages etc?
 
Edith
 

________________                                   

Edith Ofwona Adera

Senior Program Specialist

ICT4D Program and Climate Change & Water Program

International Development Research Centre | Centre de recherches pour le développement international

Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa

Tel: +254202713160 | Fax/Téléc: +254202711063 | Skype: edithadera

eadera@idrc.or.ke | www.idrc.ca | www.crdi.ca

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