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Technology in Tanzania

Words by Seth Priebatsch
February 2007

When you think Tanzania, you might think lions, elephants, Masai warriors, and baobab trees, but technology probably wouldn't make your list. But for the last ten years, Tanzania's federal and local organizations have promoted education relating to modern computer technology. Whether it's just getting students to be computer literate, or enabling adults to run their businesses more efficiently, Tanzania has schools that are helping its population progress into the modern age at a rapid pace.

What would you say if I told that that there was an MIT in Tanzania? You'd probably laugh, (as did I), but it's true. In Moshi, the small town near majestic Mt. Kilimanjaro, lies the not quite so prominent MIT - that's Moshi Institute of Technology. Schools similar to Moshi's MIT are popping up all over Tanzania. While none bear the technological marvels that Boston's MIT holds, they all are overflowing with eager students (mostly adults) who are getting a solid foundation in the use of computer technology. And new computer- related schools are appearing everyday, bearing fanciful names like, "Sam's Golden Computer and Secretarial School."

Internet cafés are also becoming more prevalent; almost one per square block in towns like Moshi and larger cities like Dar es Salaam. And they are affordable for the average Tanzanian. Half an hour in a nice internet café in Moshi will set you back about 500 Tanzanian shillings, or 40 US cents. Internet cafés are generally packed, those at hotels are packed with tourists eager to send home e-mails of their exciting adventures, but those on the street are filled with locals researching, e-mailing, or just surfing. High-speed internet has just recently made its entrance into the country, and the internet user base is growing rapidly. This isn't to say that all parts of Tanzania are connected. I stayed for a couple days with my group in a Masai village in the Longido area. This relatively large village of 9,000 people did not have internet access, or access to computers. When I inquired about an internet café, I received only a confused look in return and some raucous laughter.

In Mwanga, a small village 20 miles away from Moshi where I spent a week volunteering at a local school, there is no internet user base at all in the general population. I saw one secretarial office with computers, but no connection to the internet. I spent a week at the Miramba School in Mwanga helping to paint classrooms and teaching two hour-long English classes. I taught the students the English names for commonplace jobs; painter, secretary, cook, etc. After saying the names of jobs and having the class repeat them back properly, they would then draw pictures or act out the jobs to show that they understood.

After one of the classes, I became curious about what sort of computer training, if any, these students could expect to receive. I asked one of the teachers, a man named Mfanga, about whether the children would learn about computers and become familiar with the internet. He explained that at the Miramba School there were no computer classes, but at the secondary school in Mwanga, a mile and a half away, there was a computer building.

We walked down the dirt road, over a dried river bed, and into the gates of the Mwanga Secondary School. The computer building looked to be much newer than the rest, though still at least ten years old, and was stocked with thirty or so desktop computers, only eight of which were functional. As I looked around, I saw what appeared to be an antiques museum of ten- to twenty-year-old technology. I asked the teacher running the building where he got all of that stuff. Most of the pieces were given as donations, or bought very cheaply, often just as incomplete sets. He showed me an old HP computer screen, running Linux, with a keyboard from Germany that had some of the letters reversed. (Germany uses a variation of the qwerty system.) Of the eight computers that were up and running, the majority ran Linux, because the home edition of Linux is free, whereas Microsoft operating systems can be very pricey. The computers were all old, but functional, and the teacher was able enough to give lessons to the students on the basics of computer usage.

While in Tanzania, I did not see any Apple computers, probably because Macs are more expensive to purchase and aren't as likely to be donated, due to Apple's smaller worldwide market share. There are just more used PCs around to donate. Also, Apple has yet to launch any serious efforts into marketing Apple products in Tanzania, so PCs still dominate the market. Though that is not to say that Apple is not expanding into the African market. Apple is relatively popular in South Africa and has a website devoted to selling its products to that country. It even has a couple of Apple stores in major malls showcasing Macintosh products. Apple has a foothold on the continent, but hasn't branched too far out of South Africa yet.

The technology situation in Tanzania might seem too far behind to ever bring itself fully into the modern tech-age, but Tanzania does have the unique opportunity of being able to leapfrog technologies. With foreign help it has bypassed entire phases of technological expansion. For example, the number of hard-wired telephone lines in Tanzania is 150,000, but the number of cell phone users is more than ten times that: 1.64 million! Even our Masai guide, wearing a traditional shukarobe, tire sandals, and carrying a spear, also carried a cell phone.

Tanzania may never get the type of wired internet service that we benefit from here in America, as it is too costly to implement. But it may have entire cities covered with wireless internet before we do, due to the readily available technology from outside sources, and the much lower cost of implementing a wireless system. The current internet user base in Tanzania is only 330,000 people, just under one percent of the population, but it is growing rapidly and is expected to accelerate in the coming years.

As technology further infiltrates Tanzanian society, its MIT just might rival ours someday.