So I’ll just put up this quick post on how to do this, for the benefit of anyone who may find this information useful. Before going any further, I’d like to make it clear that this post actually covers setting up your BlackBerry hand held device to connect to the Internet through Mobile Networks in Ghana, however you may be able to apply the same to your Mobile Network if you are able to obtain the configuration information below from your mobile network operator. So here goes;

1. Okay, the very first thing you would want to do would be to make sure your Blackberry device has the “right” Operating System. You’d be needing your Blackberry device to have OS 3.8 or greater. If you have an older version, you may want to Download Blackberry OS 4.0 and install it on your Blackberry device first..
2. Once that’s out of the way, you can go ahead to configure TCP / IP settings for your Blackberry hand held device as follows;-
   • Click the Blackberry Icon  on your device to access the main menu, and then Go to Options  ->Advanced Options -> TCP/IP
   • Check to make sure that APN is enabled and Enter the following, depending on your Mobile Operator
     . 

     Network	APN Setting
     MTN	internet
     Airtel	zaininternet
     Tigo	wap.tigo.com.gh

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That’s it! You should now be able to connect to the Internet via any web browser or application(s) that supports TCP / IP. As far as browsers go, I for one would opt for Opera Mini.

Needless to say that Barack Obama visit to Ghana sparked an unprecedented frenzy in the country.  The air tight security which characterized Friday night and Saturday in the capital- Accra and (arguably) Ghana’s most famous city- Capecoast was a sight to behold, as commercial activity in both cities literally came to a halt as a result of severe road blocks.

The excitement was however not limited to the ground alone. According to the Google Africa Blog, searches for “Obama” increased by 150% in Ghana over the week preceeding the historic visit. By the “D-day”, the figures were up by 350%

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The Tour

In a post by Estelle Akofio-Sowah, country manager for Ghana, on friday July 12- Google announced that they had teamed up with the Ghana Ministry of Toursim to create a “special site” for President Obama’s visit. The Obama visits Ghana website shows “places that President Obama and the First Lady will visit during their trip to Ghana”.

Using Google’s geo products, the site includes a pictorial tour in Google Earth of key landmarks along the historical slave route in Ghana, such as Gwollu in North West Ghana, where people created a refuge from the infamous slave raids. The tour also visits Salaga Market, a major slave market where wells and cemeteries have now been turned into shrines, and the Slave River at Assin Manso, where the slaves had their last bath prior to leaving Africa’s shores. The tour ends at Cape Coast Castle in the Central Region, now a UNESCO World Heritage monument, with the final Doorway of No Return.

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The maps also showed details of Obama’s schedule in the country;
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The Message

The climax of President Obama’s visit (at least to me) was his address to the Parliament of Ghana. The import of the president’s message, amongst other things, being the fact that “Africa’s future is up to Africans“. It would be completely ludicrous to think otherwise.

Growth and democracy is one thing, but until that growth is directly linked to the development of the communities whose welfare the “democratic” process is meant to serve, it remains an excercise in futility.

These steps are about more than growth numbers on a balance sheet. They’re about whether a young person with an education can get a job that supports a family; a farmer can transfer their goods to market; an entrepreneur with a good idea can start a business. It’s about the dignity of work; it’s about the opportunity that must exist for Africans in the 21st century.

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