Stories of a long-term fibre optic project in Chad and limitations on online freedom in The Gambia show just how differently African nations treat internet progress.

Recently, TASCHA announced the release of the Global Impact Study’s final report, Connecting people for development: Why public access ICTs matter. It focuses on public ICT in Botswana, Ghana and South Africa, among other nations.

On our mind this January 31st, 2012 are a range of themes – from the changing Internet cafe demographic to Wikipedia to mobile platforms.

Recently, the Global Impact Study, a five-year study researching how libraries, telecentres, and cybercafes make a difference, released its first working paper. Ghana is one of the five nations surveyed.

5 stories from Nigeria (allAfrica)

Architecturally speaking, Internet cafes are not the most attractive buildings on the planet. Many are cheaply constructed shacks and others are falling apart. Simplicity is a given, but it is the interior of the building that counts. Cyber cafes are built to provide an access point to the Internet. They …