Spreading hope ... via the Internet

“The Internet makes the world a better place.”

There are many who might dispute this, and there are many more again who don’t give South Africa’s future any hope against the present backdrop of high crime, massive unemployment and deplorable education standards.

Not so, Alan Knott-Craig. The no-problem-is-too-big entrepreneur was the guest speaker at an alumni breakfast at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University today. He was there to promote his new “fluffy” book, Really, Don’t Panic, a collation of positive messages by South Africans for South Africans.

And if ever there was a great combo to kick-start a weekend, it’s good grub and an enthusiastic reminder that it’s A-Okay to live in South Africa. In fact, it’s far better than simply alright because ours is a country that offers so many opportunities.

You simply need to give people free access to the Internet.

Well, that’s what the founder and CEO of the non-profit organization Project Isizwe is advocating.

“By increasing the broadband by 10%, you can add 1.8% growth to your GDP …”

So the “recovering chartered accountant”, is putting his money where his mouth is by investing his time and talents into the city of Tswane to get things moving.

There he and his team are facilitating the roll-out of free Wi-Fi networks. It’s just a starter because the real goal for the founder of Ever Africa with its selection of eCommerce, games, education, eBooks and telecoms in Africa, is to provide the means for people to access the Internet across the whole of the continent.

Why?

Because Internet makes the world a better place.

It does so because it gives you access to … education, like the Khan Academy, which provides “free world-class education to everybody”.

“People would rather be stupid than look stupid. Internet allows you to be anonymous,” he says, highlighting the success of MXit, which allows students to converse with unknown tutors.

The Internet is also good for:

Employment – you can both find jobs and create jobs. “Look at Gumtree. It’s just a platform for exchanging second-hand goods.”

Stopping crime – the proliferation of social media means that more people are “watching you”.

“The trick is to make Wi-Fi free. You don’t want to be thinking about costs when you are serendipitously searching on the Internet … “

As recipients of free Wi-Fi at NMMU we understand and appreciate the sentiment. We wish you full speed ahead in cutting through red tape, boundaries and no-problem-too-big in spreading hope – and access to the Internet – throughout Africa.