Africa.com: the self-representation of sub-Saharan nations on the World Wide Web

In a textual analysis of government Web sites of 29 sub-Saharan countries, we evaluate how African nations use the Internet to construct a self-image for the world. Our analysis finds that the sites echo the ongoing struggle over the definition and purpose of the nation-state in relation to a global economy. Rather than representing a variety of domestic concerns, African countries present a “reflected” identity mirroring Western interests. Their governmental Web sites position the nation as a “brand” and construct citizens as exotic Others who can be marketed to foreign investors and tourists. The tensions between primordial loyalties and modernizing ambitions dissipate in favor of branded identities celebrating ethnicities and natural beauty to attract global investments. Moreover, the technological logic and aesthetics of the Internet reinforce the dependence of these texts on Western knowledge production. Our analysis challenges common assumptions of both post-colonial and Internet research.