Where the Internet Is Expensive Like Gold, Students Must Starve

This updated guide examines Where the Internet Is Expensive Like Gold, Students Must Starve and organizes the essential facts, background, and practical takeaways in clear American English.

In the Congo, the Internet is considered a luxury because of its mining monopoly and unclear pricing formula.

Late last month, Bonheur Malenga (27), a senior in engineering in Congo, had to choose between paying for food or buying a mobile network plan.

In an interview with the BBC, Malenga shared that he was very hungry but still decided to fast to buy a 24-hour package. He told himself that fasting one day is okay.

Malenga currently lives in the capital, Kinshasa, where people spend as many as 26% of their income on mobile data networks. Not only Malenga, many of his friends also choose to buy mobile network packages and fast.

Eric Kasinga, who is preparing to become a PhD student living 2,000 km from Malenga, had to leave new shoes at the Internet shop and walk home because he could not afford to pay them.

Kasinga recounted that once, he went to an Internet store to send his doctorate file to a famous university in the Netherlands. The internet was too slow, so it took him 3 hours to send it while he only had enough money to pay for 1 hour. Upon learning the story, the innkeeper cursed Kasinga and said, "Internet is not for the poor". Kasinga had to leave her new shoes to make up for the lack of money.

Vanessa Baya, owner of a marketing company, said the quality of the Internet connection in Congo was too slow, her customers rarely dared to download files via email for fear of losing Internet capacity.

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