Google To Trial Google Apps In East Africa

Africa is a continent with areas experiencing incredible turmoil and others undergoing economic expansion never seen before. The second most populous contiguous group of nations in the world, it is a land populated by a thousands languages ? some believe over two thousand are spoken in total. A collection of economic, cultural, social, and ecological conditions, Africa is witnessing the worst of the worst in terms of famine, disease, warfare, and genocide, but record GDPs are a regular sight as well. Some show such promise, that even the likes of Google are taking notice.

Both Kenya and Rwanda have not completely removed themselves from the mires that engulfed the East African region in which they stand, but progress to distance their futures as far away from their pasts has been made, so Google though it?d help try to contribute in a way it knows how.

The company signed deals with the Rwandan Ministry of Infrastructure and the Kenya Education Network to provide students with Google Apps, complete with technical support and extra features tailored to meet their needs.

Google?s online applications require broadband internet connections to operate hitch-free, therefore the company plans to roll out their services to the countries? student bodies in increments rather than in single, nationwide shots. Rwanda will receive enough support to get email, documents, calendars, an instant messaging client and more into the hands of 20,000 individuals, while the University of Nairobi, a 50,000-strong academic community, will be the first to experience Google Apps on a large scale in Kenya.

Kenya and Rwanda are by no means ?developed? countries. According to the United Nations Development Program?s human development index, Kenya ranks 152th out of 177 in the world; Rwanda stands at 158th. But they are developing. Neither should be written off as untouchable. Google?s latest moves on the African continent only strengthen that belief. In time, and with showings of success by Google and other entities, various corporations will follow the first steps made by making some of their own. Rather than deliver short-term token solutions to the issues still very much in need of attention in Africa, companies should see the openings for investment as opportunities to explore new markets.

The upside for Google is plain as day: the company gets to test its products on a region of the world previously unseen by the majority of the tech industry and gain a toehold in East Africa. The upside for Kenyan and Rwandan students is obvious, too: they get treated to free web-based software, skipping over the online world of the 90s and enjoying some of the best fruits Web 2.0 has to offer.