Determinants of performance of internet cyber cafes in Nairobi Province
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Date
2013-09-03
Authors
Masika, Alexander Opicha
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Abstract
The informal sector has been recognized for its role in contributing towards
national output and employment. In particular, the information and communication
technology (lCT) sector has become a vital part in its contribution to the economy. In
Kenya, especially the urban centers, the ICT sector has been recording a significant
change facilitated by the Internet. This has been possible due to the proliferation of
Internet cyber cafes that provide access to the Internet at a minimum cost. This research
paper analyzed the performance of the Internet cyber cafes in Nairobi province.
A total of 70 cyber cafes from Nairobi were selected using the two-stage cluster
sampling technique out of which four (4) cyber cafes were identified as outliers and
hence the sample population was reduced to 66 cases. The data was analyzed using
both descriptive statistics and the use of an econometric model. Performance of the
cyber cafes was measured by output per month in terms of total hours used on the
Internet by the customers and was regressed against explanatory variables. These
explanatory variables included; monthly rent, cost of maintenance of computers per
month, distance between the cyber cafes, age of the cyber cafe, total wages paid to the
employees per month and the total hours of operation per month. The regression
results revealed that rent (bigger space) was the most statistically significant variable in
determining the performance of the cyber cafes. Other factors that significantly affect
output are the age of the cyber cafe and total hours of operation per month.
Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that the cyber cafes
should be encouraged to expand their services which in turn would result in increased
employment opportunities. This could be achieved by expanding business space in the
province that will enable the cafes to acquire more equipment and thus hire more labour
and as a result increase their respective output. The government should also ensure that high security measures are attained and maintained to encourage the cyber cafes to operate for longer hours which in turn will generate higher output levels.