Gumtree South Africa recently partnered with non-profit organisation Project Isizwe to bring free WiFi to impoverished communities across the country through hundreds of Free Internet Zones (FIZ). Johan Nel, country manager of Gumtree South Africa, tell us the reasons behind the move.
Articles advising companies to offer free WiFi to customers as a strategy are usually referring to the hospitality or retail industry, or mobile operator offloading – not e-commerce and certainly not online classifieds. However, the two should go hand-in-hand. Not just in the commercial sense, but also as part of the greater landscape of corporate social responsibility that all companies should adhere to.
Alan Knott-Craig Junior has said that access to the Internet should be a basic human right. In today’s world, you are at a considerable disadvantage without it.
Research has proven time and time again that there is a direct correlation between a country’s access to the Internet and its economic prosperity. Organisations such as the World Bank have said that by simply increasing connectivity by 10%, a nation’s economy will grow by 1,3%. When the economy strengthens, everyone benefits.
Yet while our mobile phone penetration exceeds that of even more developed nation, the cost of data is too high to draw from its full benefits.
We also know for a fact that job creation and connectivity are inextricably linked. Jobs are created, new industries and methodologies replaced old ones and workers improve their skills. (The Internet also comes with impactful social change – such as greater access to healthcare, support and education.) All of which carry tangible business benefits.
Moreover, any business with an ecommerce or web-based community can draw a direct benefit when the unconnected are connected – if of course, you are willing and able to provide them with the tools they need. Connecting job seekers with jobs, and entrepreneurs with a marketing opportunity, in turn brings formalised businesses and customers to your site, drives traffic and generates buzz.
But beyond that, in South Africa, we can only go as far as our (relevantly) small, connected market can take us. When you find yourself ranking at the top of your game, it’s time to change the game. The Internet is boundary-less, unlimited and full of potential – if your business plays in the online space, it should be too. When you are expanding a network of Internet users, you are directly or indirectly expanding your own market.
Perhaps being a market leader in 2014 and the coming years is also being a connectivity leader. Waiting for someone else to provide your customers with the connectivity they need to transact with you might just leave you up (or in this case, in the shadow of) a tree.
