London — Last week saw the #DATAMUSTFALL hashtag go viral in South Africa. This is every African mobile operators' nightmare as data becomes more central to a far greater number of African users. Russell Southwood looks at what data wars across the continent hold for the future.
There was a time not so long ago when Internet users in Africa didn't matter to anyone in power, whether in Government or the private sector. Before the Arab spring, there were a few closures of SMS services but no-one talked about the Internet. Now it seems that not a month passes without an African country closing the Internet: Gabon is simply the latest in a growing list of countries.
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