Its people are considered by research and surveys to be the most innovative on the African continent, but their internet connection is among the bottom three.
We are talking about Kenya, a country that never ceases to amaze when it comes to contradictions.
According to the 2021 Digital Quality of Life (DQL) report, released this week, based on the quality of digital services in relation to the satisfaction provided to users, out of 110 countries surveyed, Kenya ranks 108, preceded in the ranking of the worst countries only by Angola and Ethiopia.
Yet from other data reported by the specialist website surfshark.com, Kenya remains one of the cheapest countries to surf and also potentially has the facilities to provide one of the best services on the continent.
What sets Kenya back is particularly the mix of accessibility, consistency of service, safety of navigation, regulations and infrastructure. It is this last item that holds the country up (position 58). The clarity of tariffs, so-called 'bundles' and especially 'unlimited' packages or monthly subscriptions, remains one of the big issues in the hands of mobile phone companies. In particular, apart from the big cities (Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru) where there are companies that provide broadband or satellite, for fixed connections in the offices the problems and costs increase, in the face of a service that is not always up to scratch.
All this at a time when another study, conducted by the World Intellectual Property Organization, saw Kenyans ranked as the second most innovative people on the continent, behind South Africa and ahead of Nigeria and Rwanda.