(This is guest blog from Joel Kelsey, a grassroots organizer for Consumers Union, the sponsor of this blog. He is attending a Freedom of Expression Project workshop in Nairobi, Kenya this week. He can be reached at kelsjo@consumer.org.)

According to many East African consumers, after landing in Ethiopia and passing through the airport you'll notice that your international cell phone is completely useless. If you're not a resident of the country, the only way to get your phone up and running is to illegally hire a SIM card, which can cost up to US$200 for a short period of time. Even if you are able to hurdle this rather large economic hurdle, you'll then discover that sending text messages is impossible. This is because the Ethiopian government has disabled texting, in fear of the political implications such a networked digital community presents.

Restrictions like these have fueled a debate surrounding the growth of the communications network throughout the African continent. How does a networked communications environment increase the options for the expression of information and ideas? How is Africa limited by its technological infrastructure deficit? What latent market potential exists in building out of this communication infrastructure? What potential does this digital network have to increase understanding, or to end conflict and violence? To promote it?

The political and economic potential of this growing market is certainly vast. However, on a continent where the governments have often been the worst abusers of human rights, one of the central questions becomes; how do the African people create protections for speech and consumer rights and increase global connectivity, outside of framework of governmental regulation?

Dozens of leaders from civil society organizations across the globe have convened in Nairobi to begin an attempt to answer these questions in the latest installment of workshops in the Freedom of Expression Project. A brainchild of the Ford Foundation, the project seeks to explore the implications of the growing digital community on the human right to communication and the rise of civil society organizations across the world. Thought leaders in media, telecommunications infrastructure, academia and human rights spent three days here in Kenya exploring the factors and forces shaping the development of communications in Africa.

Although these three days represent a baby step towards reaching solutions to these questions, one dynamic became clear. However the global communications infrastructure expands within Africa, in order to benefit the African people this infrastructure must be reflective of the many languages and cultures found across the continent. This means true participation by the African people in the build out, development and ownership of this vast market. Indeed, how to achieve this goal may pose the largest question of all.