In Tanzania, almost half of the population does not have access to affordable Internet. Even those with Internet access, it is still not affordable for them to be online all the time and from everywhere. The reasons behind this large digital divide are partly, due to lack of infrastructure, lack of digital skills and literacy, high cost associated with broadband access and cellular services, lack of local content, poor policies and regulations, high spectrum cost and lack of local and indigenous engineers. We believe that; meaningful universal connectivity will be realized if various stakeholders are collaborating to address the above-identified challenges in Tanzania.

Furthermore, we believe that the use of community-based bottom-up approaches is among the feasible solution to address the digital divide. It is the only remaining alternative to be embraced in achieving meaningful universal connectivity in Tanzania. It is this belief that has inspired us to form the “Tanzania Community Networks Alliance (tzCNA)“. tzCNA has been registered in Tanzania under the Non-Government Organizations Act No. 24 of 2002 with Reg. No. ooNGO/R/0742 to operate at the National Level effectively from 05th November 2019.