Nigeria’s growing digital world

ABUJA, Nigeria—I tucked my black, 3-inch MiFi—mobile Wi-Fi—into my bag as I worked on my laptop in the slow-moving traffic. It seemed wise to get started on the day’s work since I wasn’t driving. Despite the numerous tabs open on my web browser, the internet connection surprisingly remained steady.

The provider I use is one of several 4G LTE internet companies now available in Abuja and in other parts of my home country. Internet services existed before now but were sparse. Mobile networks ran the show with USB modem services and mobile data plans. Even those are now more accessible. A day’s Wi-Fi access costs 100 naira—less than a dollar.

Only a few years ago, I didn’t have these options. A single USB modem plugged into my dad’s laptop served as our family’s only internet source. We could barely connect more than two laptops, and the connection slowed down in the evenings as more people returned home from work and booted up their computers. We rarely streamed videos online since the connection was unpredictable and videos used a large chunk of the already expensive data.

The improvements since then go beyond Nigeria. With the rise of increasingly cheap smartphones from companies like Huawei in China, more people across emerging markets can afford to go online. In India, MicroMax is selling smartphones for less than $40. Zomato, a food review site, has mobile users in South Africa, Brazil, and nearly 20 other countries. The internet growth in the Western world is stagnating at 80 percent, leaving tech experts looking to emerging markets to provide the rest of the growth.

This growing accessibility is building a more informed and globally connected community. A February survey released by Facebook revealed more than 16 million Nigerians visit Facebook each month via mobile devices.

Portland, a London-based communications firm, noticed a 10 percent increase in political discussions among African Twitter users. Nigeria’s presidential elections and the political turmoil in Burundi were among the most discussed topics on Twitter last year.

Last week, I met Louis Ogechukwu, an electrical appliance tradesman in Abuja’s Gudu market. His small store is fully stocked with boxes, leaving only a single path to walk through. Ogechukwu said he uses his Windows smartphone to follow local and international news and draw connections to how ongoing events directly affect him. That’s what he did as he tracked the fluctuating exchange rate of Nigeria’s naira to the dollar.

“Most of the times, the dollar price affects the prices in the market,” Ogechukwu said.

Nigeria admittedly has a way to go in making internet services an available option for everyone. But right now, it’s several steps ahead of where it stood only a few years ago.