Filmtank

Cash is a word from yesterday for the Ugandan Kizito Mubiro. He counts on mobile Money, money orders on mobile phone. With this he nearly pays everything, the everyday shave, but also power and water bills.
Africa has the quickest growing mobile phone market of the world. And the continent is also on march concerning networking and digitization. At the moment only four percent of the people have Internet connection, a broadband connection less than one percent. Still.
In Rwanda, for example, 6000 kilometres of fiberglass cable are moved to create the connection with the World Wide Web – and the world. For millions of pupils and students the flow of information, which is natural for peers in Europe or North America, the quick exchange with science facilities, libraries or other sources of information, is extremely important. And they are proud to cooperate. Nevertheless, the gap between town and country is still gigantic, the country tries to overcome his difficult civil war past. Above all with IT.
In his film „Linking Africa“ Michael Grotenhoff travels through East Africa to meet people who rely on the digitization and contribute in the future of their country. These are people who promote determining political, social and social changes with their developments and their engagement in the IT area. Michael Grotenhoff meets, for example, the doctor Kizito Kayumba, who is involved in Rwanda in the construction of a digital system of information, which could revolutionise the fight against AIDS. Or Ezechias Rurahinyuza which makes Rwandan farmers familiar with a mobile phone-based service, which gives them independent information about the real day market prices of fruits and vegetables. Therewith middlemen are switched off and the farmers can act and are paid fairly. In Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda our author goes to digital pioneers whose life changes rapidly thanks to the digitization. From chauffeur Kizito Mubiro from Kampala, who considers mobile money as a brilliant invention, to the engineer Fidel Bucyana from Kigali, who is responsible for the extension of the fiberglass net, up to Monica Ngabirosch from a very small village in the north of Uganda, who, as a future doctor, absolutely has to be able to work with the computer.
A documentary which proves that the stereotype, Africa is a digital nirvana, will belong to the past very soon.

2011
52 mins. and 30 mins.
ZDF/ 3sat