Noble Motives in Africa

It is true that the fact that Africa has very limited access to the internet is very worrisome. There are various perks that a businessman, a farmer, or a store owner has with internet accessibility. Africa could flourish and expand tremendously as more of a “wired” continent. As what was mentioned in one of our readings, these third world countries could make great progress in agriculture through being able to obtain things like climate data or new farming techniques. Doctors would also be able to reach rural areas for health care much easily and efficiently. The United States has been trying to help out this continent and develop ways to implement technology to connect it more to the internet. Despite this noble attempt, the hidden motives behind connecting Africa must be explored. As was stated in the article Africa: The Unwired Continent, “ The United States sees Africa as a potential market for U.S. made telecommunication gear-and as a future market for other U.S. goods and services once the continent’s economy is bootstrapped by the technology.” This is not an acceptable motive. Helping to fix Africa’s problem should be based solely on fixing their internal problems and not on attempts to boost the economy of a first world country.