There is no Internet connection in the Northwest and South West region of Cameroon at the moment i am updating this post. This is the case in Buea the youngest and fastest growing technology city in Cameroon.
Internet was cut off from the region on the 17 th of January 2017. This has greatly affected business in this region that relies on the Internet for its activities. In this post, we are going to look more into the case of Buea. The Internet black out came as a surprise to many as no notification was sent before the cut off.
| Some Start ups Affected by the internet outage in Buea |
Internet was cut off from the region on the 17 th of January 2017. This has greatly affected business in this region that relies on the Internet for its activities. In this post, we are going to look more into the case of Buea. The Internet black out came as a surprise to many as no notification was sent before the cut off.
Large outage in #Cameroon as reports suggest govt-directed blackout following political arrestshttps://t.co/Pbh5TjoqOr pic.twitter.com/M6lH4qJ6qZ— Dyn Research (@DynResearch) January 17, 2017
Welcome to Buea with NO Internet
Buea is the regional capital of the South West region. The region town is made up of many universities including the University of Buea and the Catholic University Institute that host both national and international students.
Buea is commonly known as the Silicon Mountain of Cameroon with startups popping up every day. The name is derived from
''silicon valley '' the San Franciscon Bay area of California in the US that host many startups including tech giants like Google, Facebook and Apple. AND
Mount Cameroon which represents the Highest Mountain in Cameroon and West Africa.
No internet in Buea means Our Silicon Mountain is being transformed into a silicon village. This should not happen.
There is heat on the major internet providers ( MTN, Nexttel , Camtel and Orange) in the city of Buea regarding the internet cut off. When shall it be over?
Success of Startups in Buea : What is the way forward?
The success of Buea based startups like Njorku, Wasamudi,Agrohub among others had created a lot of impact in the economy of Cameroon and the African Continent as a whole. If up front methods are not being used by those managing these start us, it means things have to go on a stand still till internet is restored in Buea.
Active Spaces Tech Hub Affected
Active spaces which is one of the biggest technology hub offering working spaces and incubator programs to Cameroon start up is located in Buea and Douala. At Active spaces you can find software developers, artist, designers and other innovative entrepreneurs .Active spaces offer some of these start ups up to 3 million XAF. Given that fact that Active space is not a charity organisation, this moment is thus a moment for bad business to Active spaces given that most of the activities here are dependent on the Internet.
The Big Names in Tech are not left out
Google, MTN Cameroon (Innovation Challenge), Apps Tech, Afrilabs, VC4A, The Indigo Trust, Hivos among other top tech companies in the world that are working in partnership with startups in Buea are greatly affected as most tech partnerships today are win-win partnerships. Money had either been wasted or lost by these tech gurus as a result of no Internet in Buea, Cameroon.
Start Ups creating Impact in the Economy of Cameroon will have to Pulse their activities.
Let us get to the reality. As mentioned earlier this region has many startups . Here are some startups you can find in Buea
1. AfroVisioN Group 2. Agro Hub 3. Clone Multimedia
4. Colorfluid 5. Fee Perfect 6. Go-Groups
7. LCM Tours
8. Makonjoh 9. NG 10. Njorku
11. PiAR 12. Pulse 13. Quick ticket
14. Skademy 15. Skylabase 16. Wasamundi
17. Webshinobis 18. Yopisode 20. Zinger Systems
We can continues naming. These start ups are in crisis, their workers don’t know what will become of their future, skills are being lost and above all the dollar bill and pay checks are not coming again.
Let us believe in the word of 2PAC '' Things will never be the same'' We hope to have Buea back on the Internet. These start ups offer training and internship to the young generation creating a base for a boom in technology in the future.
Tech Communities in Buea and Limbe in a Stand Still.
Communities are and programs aimed at promoting programming and entrepreneurship like Google developers group, Buea Java meet up, Docker Hub,WAAW Stem Cell,Women tech makers,Mozilla community, Elite Programmers club, Play with Python, Cameroon Programming contest among others are in a stand still due to Internet black out in Buea. A day without internet to a programmer or online entrepreneur is like 1 year darkness. Hope they will be light again.
The Return of Poverty and Unemployemnt
No internet is Buea simply means the return of poverty and unemployment in the city of tech. Many youths rely on the internet to make a living. Websites like Akwa Jobs, GCE BOx, Afrohustlers and others need the internet to keep their activities going. Money earned cannot be collected because of no connection in banks, Money cannot be sent, Digital products cannot be sold and bought because of no internet. Should member in the tech family start a new life?
Social Media Cut Off
The modern way to create and share information to the world in a better way compared to radio and television is Social media. At a moment where there is internet black out in Buea, people from other regions and countries in the world will not be able to get the latest happenings in Buea especially in pictures. It should be worth noting that in addition to creating and sharing information, this computer mediated technology can be used to create a career path and network through communities and networks.
The Social Media Harshtag
It has been trending on the twitter with the harsh tag #bringbackourinternet and #Buea.
#Cameroon govt's #InternetShutdown fault line follows contours of country's language divide #BringBackOurInternet #FreeSouthernCameroons pic.twitter.com/dizynDnjdJ— Dibussi Tande (@dibussi) January 23, 2017
We hope the telecom companies negotiate with the government to give internet life in Buea so that Buea inhabitants can breath tech again. This is the moment of innovation and there is no minute to waste.
Cameroon tech community is in crisis as there is no Internet connection in Buea. Millions of dollars are being lost by advertisement companies like Facebook, Google Adwords , Skimmy links among others. The Internet community of Buea is missing the fun and wonders of the Internet. There is no need for this; we need the dollar bill back home. #bringbackourinternet.
Over to you: Have your say in the comment area.
This post first appeared on 5 Tips To Make More Money By Learning New Skills -, please read the originial post: here
