NAIROBI, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Following the outbreak of coronavirus, Kenyans are finding it easier to perform duties at home due to access to affordable and fast internet.
Hundreds of government and private institution workers have been allowed to work from home since March 16 following a presidential appeal.
President Uhuru Kenyatta asked companies to adopt the measure to minimize movement of people and the number of workers in offices to curb the spread of coronavirus, with the east African nation announcing Wednesday that the Covid-19 cases have hit seven.
The measure was beside the closing of all schools and colleges across the east African nation, sending the millions of students' home.
A number of companies, non-state organizations and government institutions implemented the measure immediately.
Auditor Victoria Selima, who works with a parastatal organization in the capital Nairobi, is among those working from home.
Her work involves auditing financial records of various government agencies, a thing she is comfortably doing from home currently.
"I did not have to carry any work home because everything is in the cloud. All I need is to log into the work system from home and I continue with work," said Selima, who uses a modem to access the internet at her house on the east of Nairobi.
Wednesday was her second day since she started working from home and so far, so good, thanks to affordable internet.
"I bought 30 gigabytes (GB) the other day at 1,000 shillings (10 U.S. dollars) and I am far away from finishing the bundles. This would last me weeks," she said, noting with the low cost, she had been able to stay fully online during work hours.
Similarly, journalist Irene Ngunjiri has been working from home since Monday, relying on her phone and internet to file her stories.
"I went to the office on Monday and we were asked to work from home to reduce risks associated with sitting around or commuting in public transport," said the journalist who is based in central Kenya. Thanks to a cheaper and stable internet, she has been able to do the work without any hitch, with her story mirroring that of tens of other Kenyan workers.
Similarly, a number of Kenyan schools and colleges have turned to virtual lessons, with the affordable internet coming as a boon to thousands of students in different parts of the East African nation.
African Nazarene University, Technical University of Mombasa, Catholic University and the University of Nairobi are among those engaging students online, with the learners being able to access materials on laptops and smartphones.
Similarly, the Kenya Publishers Association has uploaded online books for primary and secondary schools accessed for free on laptops or mobile phones for students.
Association chairman Lawrence Njagi said the e-books are part of their contribution to beat coronavirus spread.
"We want to ensure learning continues during this crisis. All the materials are free as long as one has internet," he said.
Besides on the internet, students are also accessing lessons on TV and radio, with the national broadcaster Kenya Broadcasting Corporation airing the lessons.
Kenya's internet costs have been on the decline over the years, falling to lowest in 2019 as citizens buy 1 GB for 0.33 U.S. dollars due to intense competition between the three telecommunication firms in the East African nation namely Airtel, Safaricom and Telkom.
Bernard Mwaso of Edell IT Solution, a software development start-up in Nairobi, said Kenya's faster and affordable internet is a boost to the digital economy.
"This is a crisis but we should use it as an opportunity to do a dry-run of how we people can work away from offices and access crucial services digitally and pay for them via mobile money. This is one of the positive aspects we can pick from this crisis," he said.
Some 52 million Kenyans have subscribed to the internet, with 99 percent of them accessing the service on their mobile phones, according to the latest data from the Communications Authority.
