Afrigather In Botswana, web subscriptions are costly. 10GB of information can price as much as P1400 ($103) in a rustic the place the minimal wage is P1500 ($111), slicing off a youthful inhabitants regardless of elevated demand for web connectivity.
In 2019, Botswana launched SmartBots, free WiFi routers in public areas. 5 years on, the mission has scored important wins, with over 1.6 million customers. Web penetration has additionally elevated from 42% in 2019 to 77% in 2024, with the accessibility supplied by SmartBots for low-income teams being a major contributor.
SmartBots routers—positioned in public amenities together with clinics, colleges, and dikgotla (conventional courtyards)—have speeds of as much as 10Mbps. Over 1,100 public amenities have been fitted with SmartBots routers. On common, greater than 130,000 customers entry the web by way of SmartBots every day, and the federal government plans to attach greater than 500 villages quickly.
Botswana’s small and broadly dispersed 2.4 million inhabitants makes offering telecommunications infrastructure costly for telcos, which move on the price to shoppers.
*Kago and *Tumelo, two 15-year-old Type 2 college students, use SmartBots to entry studying assets—that’s what they inform their mother and father. They spend most of their time watching soccer highlights on YouTube and scrolling TikTok. However, earlier than SmartBots, the children wouldn’t have entry to the World Vast Internet as they do now.
“We’re right here each night as a result of the web is free, there is no such thing as a password, and it’s near the place we keep, so we will depart late within the night,” Tumelo tells TechCabal.
“Our greatest mission is to attach all of the settlements within the nation after which transfer to the concentrated however remoted farming areas,” stated Pontsho Pusoitsile, everlasting secretary on the ministry of communications, information and expertise.
The consumer base for SmartBots has grown over time and is broadly various, starting from college students to senior residents. For the youth, the use instances for SmartBots embody accessing social media, making use of for job alternatives, downloading music sequence and even buying and selling foreign exchange, which has once more recognition amongst Botswana’s younger inhabitants amidst rising unemployment ranges.
21-year-old *Daniel arrives on the Tshwaragano Clinic SmartBots hotspot at round 5:30 pm after he leaves work. He’s there no less than 4 days every week and might keep till evening browsing the web. He makes use of the web for social media, updating his cellphone software program and pursuing his aspect hustle, foreign currency trading.
”The free web is useful as a result of I’m studying foreign exchange and my mates say with sufficient wits, I could make straightforward cash,” Daniel informed TechCabal.
Nonetheless, SmartBots is just not with out its issues. The service makes use of a household-grade router, so its velocity will depend on the variety of individuals on the community. Most customers goal off-peak occasions, usually mornings and evenings when probably the most ardent customers, college students are both in class or at residence.
55-year-old *Mooketsi often arrives on the Monarch kgotla SmartBots hotspot at round 7 pm when the scholar site visitors begins to disperse. He makes use of the WiFi no less than 3 days every week to obtain revision materials for his 11-year-old daughter who’s making ready for her Major College Leaving Examinations (PSLE).
“I need her to move and ultimately go to the College, so this revision materials I downloaded will assist her quite a bit,” he informed TechCabal.
Whereas SmartBots’ password-free Wi-Fi is a comfort, cybersecurity consultants warn of the potential dangers of utilizing the open community. The shortage of password safety raises issues about consumer vulnerability to cyberattacks.
“If a malicious occasion accesses the router, they will simply hack customers because the service doesn’t use a password or any type of verification,” stated Larona Olebile, a cybersecurity skilled.
Officers on the Ministry of Communications, information, and Expertise didn’t instantly reply to questions on SmartBots’ cybersecurity issues on SmartBots. Nonetheless, customers don’t appear involved in regards to the safety dangers. The whole lot else is secondary so long as they will freely entry the web.
“Le rona re bata tshwana le bana ba malwapa a mangwe,” stated one consumer. Loosely translated, it means “We too need to be linked like the remainder of the world.”
