With the commercial deployment of 5G already a reality in South Africa and Kenya and being expected in Nigeria any time soon, we at Zart Talent Foundation take a look at five things Africans can’t wait to do with 5G.
1. Self Driving Cars
Africans have watched in movies as super spies, and villains get busy with something else while their cars drive themselves. Sitting behind the wheels and doing nothing, maybe even standing up so everyone can see your car is self-driving, is something many Nigerians look forward to doing.
With 5G, this dream is closer to reality than ever. When Tesla and their competitors eventually announce pre-purchasing self-driving cars, we look forward to counting a sizeable amount of Nigerians, South Africans, Kenyans, and Ghanianians on that list.
And who is to say that Innoson Vehicles won’t be the first to launch this?
2. Smart Traffic
For those who live in cities without mind grappling traffic jams, this might not be a priority. But for the people of Lagos, Pretoria, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Cairo, and other African cities where a fifteen minutes journey can easily result in you spending two hours on the road, smart traffic control is a use of 5G that we look forward to.
From live traffic updates to trip planning, traffic light control, and even synchronizing self-driving and smart cars to minimize traffic gridlock, 5G holds the key to making traffic in Lagos, if not an absolute thing of the past, at least bearable. Maybe if we can get lost in our movies and games while we pass the time in traffic, that might help us forget it too.
3. Movies And Music
Many Africans have never seen an HD movie in their lives. For most, the best quality of movie they’ve seen is either in the cinema or via satellite providers.
Imagine limiting your YouTube stream to 480P because anything higher would result in annoying lag. All of that is about to be a thing of history.
During the test of 5G by MTN, a 2GB movie was downloaded in seventeen seconds. Imagine what you can download on Iroko TV, Netflix, or HBO. We wouldn’t just be watching HD. We will step up to Ultra HD.
Let’s just say you will spend more time deciding what movie to watch than downloading the movie.
4. Virtual Events
During the covid-19 lockdown, with physical gatherings canceled, Africans had to meet in cyberspace. From religious to educational, governmental, and even social events, every event was held virtually.
The fact that court sessions began to hold online meant exceptions would be made for no one else. Not for marriages, naming ceremonies, nor concerts.
Due to low internet penetration and speed, these events faced their fair share of challenges. As a result, organizers had to be conservative in their guesstimation of what is and isn’t possible to be enjoyed by viewers on screen.
With the proper adoption of 5G, virtual events in Africa are about to experience an overhaul. It is likely to be a stand-alone industry from the events industry. Content creators and events organizers will curate events that optimize the internet speed available to maximize fun and pleasure at virtual events.
5. Medicine
More than any other industry, the medical industry has been looking forward to the rollout of 5G. Currently, medical practitioners have a limit to how much medicine can be done over the internet.
For now, that is limited to consultation, prescription, observation, and follow-up. This has helped provide medical presence to rural areas.
With 5G, medical services available via the internet will be taken up a couple of notches.
With 5G technology, a medical arm or complete robot can be controlled for surgery by a medical doctor in another city or country. This means specialist surgery for organs like the heart or lungs can be executed without the physical presence of the needed doctor.
All of these are only a glimpse of what is possible through 5G. The benefit available to the tech industry and the possibility of remote work previously denied residents of the African continents at some levels due to internet speed is about to be wiped out.
Now more than ever, you should be considering a career in tech as this will maximize the use of 5G in earning you an income.
If you are already considering a tech career but are worried about the cost of getting the quality education required or still hoping for one of the limited and scarce scholarships from a foreign school. In that case, you can finally put your mind to rest.
Zart Academy will be providing six months of top-quality tech education at no upfront cost.
To help students focus on learning, accommodation and feeding will be provided at no cost. Uninterrupted power supply and reliable high-speed internet are also provided.
Students will learn under the tutelage of world-class tech experts who currently work for top tech firms worldwide.
Visit www.ZartTalent.org/zwart-academy for more details.
As a tech expert who already has access to good internet speed and would like to work remotely for top tech companies worldwide, visit www.zwarttalent.org/zwart-recruit/ to find out how to export your tech talent from the comfort of your home.
As 5G rolls out, the tech industry in Africa can finally blossom to its full potential, and Zart Talent is glad to guide the next generation of African tech talents into that prosperous future.
