Africa may be lagging in the technology stakes right now, but international companies are already targeting the continent when it comes to selling tablets. As prices drop, the opportunities for media to take advantage of this new platform are there for the taking.

Media in Africa is in need of a revolution, there’s no doubt about that. Despite a proliferation of brave and talented journalists, decent reporting is too often hampered by the lack of money in the profession, stagnant media ownership, and domineering governments who can’t tell the difference between a news story and a press release.

But there’s good news. The revolution has arrived, and it’s in a most unlikely shape. Slim, rectangular and the very epitome of sleek, iPads and their ilk might seem like playthings for the spoiled upper classes, a redundant luxury owned only by those who already have a mobile and a laptop. And they are, for now.

But this will change. Prices of tablet computers (remember that it’s not all about the iPad) are tumbling. iPad2s cost well over R4,000, if you can even get your hands on one, but less exclusive brands running Google’s Android software can go for as little as half that. And prices will keep dropping. Tablets, whose power lies in their software rather than their physical components, are the next battleground between the major hardware manufacturers, which can only be a good thing for the consumer. And, unlike with the introduction of cellphones, where Africa was for too long written off as too poor to bother with, this time the manufacturers know there’s plenty of money in the continent, and are already targeting the African market.

Samsung and Huawei are just a couple of the manufacturers making a big push into South Africa, with Huawei pledging to drive tablet prices down until the average person can afford one. And in the Democratic Republic of Congo, tech company VMK is claiming an African first, saying it’s designed and engineered its own, completely home-grown product. While there is some doubt about this, with speculation that the so-called “African tablet” might actually be cunningly rebranded Chinese technology, it’s further proof of the fact that the African market is being taken seriously. There is serious potential for tablet sales to skyrocket on the continent, particularly given that tablets are significantly cheaper than laptops, and considerably more versatile, combining internet and computing with cameras and cellphones.

But the biggest reason why tablets are gaining in popularity in Africa and across the world is that using them is such fun. They are compact and lightweight. You can use one sitting up, lying down or walking around. The touchscreen, on the decent models, is beautifully intuitive, giving you a tactile experience that normal computers just can’t provide. The graphics are usually stunning. Using a tablet is primarily a leisure experience; they’re a pleasure to use. And this, ultimately, is why media outlets in Africa will embrace the tablet computer, because it is the ideal half-way house between the old-fashioned newspaper and the utility of a normal computer.

There are a few more benefits, of course. One is cost. Traditional newspapers are expensive, and most of that expense has nothing to do with the editorial content. Most of the cover price of a newspaper pays for the printing and distribution costs, both of which usually also require substantial initial capital outlay to start. Tablets cut all that out. For a newspaper to publish on iPad, it only has to pay journalists and designers (the costs of servers and bandwidth are negligible), meaning there’s a lot more money to pay staff properly and recruit the best. Decent salaries will help to keep and attract bright young minds to the profession, which the media must do if it is to adequately perform its watchdog role.

Another benefit is that tablets offer a far greater degree of freedom from government control. Newspapers, radio and TV are all tied to a physical location, and are thus easy to influence. If a government doesn’t like a particular front page, it can just stop the printing presses, or it can pull the plug on a radio show it doesn’t want aired. Governments are well-trained in the arts of censoring and controlling traditional media, but it’s a lot harder to stop something going out through the Internet. As the attempted crackdowns in places like China and Egypt have demonstrated, the Internet is simply too difficult for governments to monitor and control effectively, as much as they might try.

Also, new media outlets normally have to be established through reams of bureaucracy, which is often an effective barrier. Media that do exist, when not state-owned, often have close ties to the government or to the political elites, and it can be difficult if not impossible to operate without these connections. Media delivered via tablets bypasses all this, allowing anyone to set up a media outlet with comparatively little outlay in terms of money or political capital, and enjoys a regulatory environment which, as far as tablets are concerned, is virtually nil at the moment.

There’s also the capacity for tablets to take advantage of the mobile payment systems which are so popular in Africa. Mobile payment systems have been extremely successful here, from the pay-as-you-go mobile payment option which was first introduced in Africa, to the mobile banking networks like M-Pesa in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and Zaad in Somaliland, which let people save, spend and transfer money through their cellphones. On the other hand, credit cards have never really taken off, because so many people lack the basics you need to obtain one: a steady income, collateral, proof of residence etc. This means the world of internet shopping and payments is impossible to access. For media, this means that paywalls represent insurmountable obstacles to most African readers. That’s not to say there isn’t money in the continent – there’s plenty of that, it’s just that people spend it differently. So by making sure that there is a way for the consumer to pay for content, by linking tablets with mobile payment systems, media outlets will be able to receive the money they need to keep telling the stories that need to be told.

This may all seem slightly far-fetched now, but it won’t be long before tablet computers are almost as ubiquitous as cellphones. By taking advantage of this new technology, Africa’s journalists will be able to hold their governments to account like never before – and they might even get paid for it. FAM

Disclaimer: I work for iMaverick, Africa’s first ever iPad-only daily newspaper, which is being launched in August. This means I have a vested interest in the future success of tablet media – but also that I’m putting my future where my mouth is.