Video segments are a great way to experience how internet access is improving access to information at a local level. At any moment there are hundreds of community projects and other programs devoted to bettering school curriculum, enabling small businesses, and empowering under-served groups to bring change to their towns.

With sustainable development in mind, an impressive dozen or so videos posted by various organizations during the past three months highlight the diverse ways in which the internet is fostering personal growth in Africa. This time around, a healthy number of segments focus on how internet or mobile access is helping educate Africa’s youth. Another half of the videos look at local entrepreneurs who are passionate about improving the African quality of life. A handful of these stories have already been shared to the world in writing but the visuals and narration here serve to bring the stories to life.

 

Education/Learning:

Malebooks

In Mali, a tertiary student may obtain a degree in law without ever having read a novel. Yet reading develops openness, writing, tolerance, curiosity, etc. This project is therefore to make reading available to young Malians using mobile technology. {Skwirel&Malik/Vimeo}

Bien – Build Burundi endeavors to empower education at Mubimbi Communal School, Burundi

In addition to providing students and teachers in Burundi with ample educational material via the World Wide Web, the internet connection would help the school premises double as an internet café after school-hours. {Build Burundi – BIEN/Vimeo}

Why empowering public libraries with technology is so important

The Connect Uganda Project is supported by a grant from the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme. Led by the Maendeleo Foundation, the project installs solar panels in libraries to power android-based laptops and internet connections. Librarians are now training farmers to use the computers and go online to look for the information they need – with remarkable results. {EIFL/Vimeo}

The Launch of Project Hello World in Suleja, Nigeria

Hello Hub is a fully functional internet kiosk – built and maintained by the community and accessible to all. It was recently launched in Suleja, Nigeria and as we speak, students are using the Hello Hub to access educational programs, connect and speak with mentors online, and use their creativity to experience anything and everything that the internet has to offer. {Projects For All/YouTube}

Connect To Learn Investments in Girls featured, World Economic Forum ’14

Connect To Learn enrolls girls in secondary school across Africa with scholarships and provides technology-enabled access to learning resources for all students and teachers at the schools they attend. This video highlights CTL Scholars from Mansoman SHS in Ghana sharing their career goals and how they think Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is helping them make the most of their education. {ConnectToLearn/YouTube}

Youth in Rwanda showcased their activities during the YouthConnekt Month official launching

The Rwandan Ministry of Youth and ICT (MYICT), in collaboration with various stakeholders, organized the National YouthConnekt Month to celebrate the achievements so far made within the sector. {MYICT Rwanda/YouTube}

 

Entrepreneurship:

#NiameySW-Retro

A look back at Niamey, Niger’s first Startup Weekend held in April 2014. {Ismael Moussa/YouTube}

My Africa Is talks Woelab & the e.waste 3D Printer

Sename Koffi Agboginou, founder of Woelab, a maker space in Lome, Togo speaks to the unifying goal of creating tech that is accessible to the low-income consumer. {My Africa Is/YouTube}

African Tech Bits Episode 3: Gaming in Kenya

This episode delves into the business of games & gaming in Kenya. Meet some the talented people working to build Kenya’s gaming industry. {The iHub/YouTube}

Hypercube Tech Titans

Hypercube is a local tech hub in Zimbabwe. Profiled here is a young entrepreneur who has found success working at the space. {Nafuna TV/YouTube}

Introducing the Innovators

Interviews with entrepreneurs who have started businesses at Nigeria’s Co-Creation Hub. #NigeriaRising. {Ready Set Rocket/Vimeo}

TECHAfrique, une initiative entrepreneuriale à la rencontre de l’Afrique 2.0

TECHAfrique is an entrepreneurial initiative to meet the digital actors in Africa, and driven by the first blog dedicated to French-language startup news. {Samir Abdelkrim/YouTube}

re:publica 2014 – Julia Manske: Loise and the African Dream

Africa is changing and slowly turning into a place of tech and innovation in the public perception. The chance that the wider penetration of the Internet and mobile technology will bring about wide-scale change on the continent is really high. But how can we make this movement a lasting one? {re:publica/YouTube}

 

Medicine:

Teleformación Médica en Malawi, África

Countries like Malawi lack qualified medical professionals to read ultrasounds resulting in under-utilization of this technique and a high percentage of erroneous and delayed diagnoses. As medical staff receive appropriate training using the internet, ultrasound can be performed early diagnosis that can save many lives. {Jorge Pamplona/YouTube}