Saturday, December 30, 2006

Wireless Internet in Africa...

...Rwanda, specifically. This is one of the most promising stories I have seen in a long time.

In Rwanda, among Africa's poorest countries, an American millionaire is developing one of the world's most modern wireless networks. The Rwandan government hopes the project will help make the country an African counterpart to the Indian high-tech city of Bangalore.
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"Africa offers many investment opportunities," says an enthusiastic Greg Wyler, a boyish-looking man in his mid-thirties. "We simply have to bring the Internet into each of these huts, and the rest will fall into place." Wyler, an American entrepreneur, hopes to launch an "African Renaissance" with his project. His recipe for success is simple enough: free software, high-speed fiber-optic networks and unrestricted entrepreneurship.

Via Blake Hounshell. If this works, even a little bit, it should qualify Greg Wyler for well-earned thanks and recognition.

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