#FASTAfrica (“F.A.S.T — Fast, Affordable, Safe, and Transparent Internet for Africa Growth and Development)
A speech delivered by Ogunbowale Oladayo at the #FASTAfrica (“F.A.S.T — Fast, Affordable, Safe, and Transparent Internet for Africa Growth and Development) on Thursday 5th of May 2016 at the Mike Okiro e-Learning Centre, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan.
“Information is critical to the social and economic activities that comprise the development process. Telecommunications, as a means of sharing information, is not simply a connection between people, but a link in the chain of the development process itself. “
Heather Hudson. 1995. World Bank report on Economic and Social Benefits of Rural Telecommunications.
The Internet in Africa is limited by a lower penetration rate when compared to the rest of the world. Measurable parameters such as the number of ISP subscriptions, overall number of hosts, IXP-traffic, and overall available bandwidth all indicate that Africa is way behind the “digital divide“. Moreover, Africa itself exhibits an inner digital divide, with most Internet activity and infrastructure concentrated in South Africa, Morocco, Egypt as well as smaller economies like Mauritius and Seychelles
While the telecommunications market in Africa is still in its early stages of development, it is also one of the fastest-growing in the world. In the 2000s, mobile telephone service in Africa has been booming, and mobile telephone use is now substantially more widespread than fixed line telephony. Telecommunication companies in Africa are looking at Broadband Wireless Access technologies as the key to make Internet available to the population at large. Projects are being completed that aim at the realization of Internet backbones that might help cut the cost of bandwidth in African countries.
The International Telecommunication Union has held the first Connect the World meeting in Kigali, Rwanda (in October 2007) as a demonstration that the development of telecommunications in Africa is considered a key intermediate objective for the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals
WORLD INTERNET USAGE AND POPULATION STATISTICS
NOVEMBER 30, 2015 — Update
World Regions
Population
( 2015 Est.)
Population
% of World
Internet Users
30 Nov 2015
Penetration
(% Population)
Growth
2000–2015
Users %
of Table
1,158,355,663
16.0 %
330,965,359
28.6 %
7,231.3%
9.8 %
4,032,466,882
55.5 %
1,622,084,293
40.2 %
1,319.1%
48.2 %
821,555,904
11.3 %
604,147,280
73.5 %
474.9%
18.0 %
236,137,235
3.3 %
123,172,132
52.2 %
3,649.8%
3.7 %
357,178,284
4.9 %
313,867,363
87.9 %
190.4%
9.3 %
617,049,712
8.5 %
344,824,199
55.9 %
1,808.4%
10.2 %
37,158,563
0.5 %
27,200,530
73.2 %
256.9%
0.8 %
7,259,902,243
100.0 %
3,366,261,156
46.4 %
832.5%
100.0 %
Access
With bandwidth becoming more available and less costly, the first to benefit will be institutions and companies that already have Internet access. In order for the network to reach a larger part of the population, solutions are needed for the last mile problem, i.e., to make bandwidth available to the final user. To be feasible for Africa, last mile solutions must be found that take into account the limited penetration of fixed telephony lines, especially in rural areas. Of about 400.000 rural communities that are estimated to exist in Africa, less than 3% have PSTN access. Note that providing network access to rural communities is one of Millennium Goals defined by the World Summit on the Information Society.
Most studies on this subject identify Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) technologies such as WiMAX as the most promising solution for the end user’s Internet access in Africa. These technologies can also benefit from the wide availability of the mobile telephony network. Even in smaller countries like Seychelles, most Internet users already access the network via the GSM network Providers that have 3G licenses will be able to provide WiMAX services.
Some experimentation is already being conducted in a few countries. In Kenya, the Digital Village Scheme project aims at providing government services in rural areas via wireless access. In Nigeria, Horizon Wireless is running a broadband (3.5 GHz) wireless network. Since 2007, MTN Rwanda has been working to provide broadband wireless access in Kigali. In Algeria, the Icosnet ISP and Aperto Networks have been collaborating for a business WiMAX solution. The South African authority ICASA has already assigned WiMAX licences to several providers, and Neotel is implementing WiMAX-based last mile solutions in Johannesburg, Pretoria,Cape Town and Durban
The Internet with its different services has recorded a great expansion through the whole of the industrialized world. The developing world, on the other hand, has benefited only marginally from this explosion. This is due to the weak level of technology in these developing countries, but also to the mixed feeling shown by the authorities, who say that data processing networks rely on heavy technology and are generators of high expenses in telecommunications.
The global Internet continues to grow at an exponential rate, bringing with it new ways of transacting, communicating, learning, socializing, and transforming just about every aspect of daily life. But the benefits of the Internet are not yet evenly distributed. In Africa, despite a slow start, Internet use is now rapidly accelerating, and its transformative effects are increasingly accessible
In the past five years, submarine cables have brought a twenty-fold increase in international bandwidth. In the same period, the terrestrial infrastructure also doubled. These developments have brought dramatic improvements in many areas. But to make the most of this capacity, more investment is needed in national backbones and cross-border connectivity. Considerable work is now underway to improve the conditions that currently mean users in Africa pay up to 30 or 40 times more for Internet access than their peers in developed countries. One example is the establishment of Internet exchange points (IXPs) at the local level. Africa now has more than 30 IXPs and is well on the way to achieving the goal of at least one IXP per country. Efforts to establish at least one regional IXP in each of the five geographic regions are also well underway. IXPs can catalyse the build-out of terrestrial infrastructure, which in turn makes access to the Internet cheaper and faster.
Migrating from analogue to digital broadcasting offers more opportunities to increase Internet access by freeing up unused spectrum. However, this opportunity is not yet being grasped — by June 2014, only 19 countries had started their digital transition and by December 2014 only three (Tanzania, Rwanda, Mauritius) had switched off their analogue signals
As Africa’s infrastructure and user base grows, the need to coordinate and manage Internet growth and development becomes increasingly important. Several institutions and processes have emerged over the last 15 years, each playing a role in strengthening Africa’s Internet ecosystem. Africa has embraced the multistakeholder model of Internet governance which enables policymakers to draw from the expertise of the relevant stakeholders to develop sustainable Internet public policy approaches that can meet the policy challenges of the digital age. Internet governance fora have emerged at continental, regional and national levels and are proving to be an essential part of Africa’s Internet ecosystem. Africa’s significant growth in mobile communications and steady growth in Internet penetration are in large part attributable to efforts by African governments working in partnership with other stakeholders to create an enabling environment, fostering the development of Internet infrastructure. Africa’s Internet Institutions are driving this development and putting the multistakeholder model of Internet governance into practice. The high growth in Internet and mobile access since 2005 can be attributed in part to the strengthening of existing institutions, the emergence of regional and national IGFs, and the increased commitment of African governments to ICT development. As Africa continues to make further strides in building its Internet economy, the multistakeholder model will continue to be an important element helping Africa to reach a critical mass of access and usage translating into sustained economic benefit.
— The numerous controls imposed by governments continue to retard the development of Internet access in some countries.
— Each government should develop a well-planned scalable telecommunication infrastructure that is capable of utilizing new technologies as they arise.
— The telecom infrastructure must be maintained and upgraded constantly in line with modern technology.
— Web presence should be promoted with the use of the country code top-level domain name. In this regard ccTLD management should be a public service charging a minimal fee for domain name registrations. Private companies will then act as registrars and value-added sellers.
— A policy is needed for every player in the hi-tech industry and related fields that a certain quota of their services be offered to the rural community and another quota towards education in the rural community for each year.
SDGs
While the SDGs do not have specific goals related to ICTs, there is recognition that ICTs are cross-cutting and that open data and big data initiatives will be critical to ensuring access to data and information necessary for implementation and monitoring of the 169 targets and 304 indicators of the SDGs
Way forward
At the end of the Twentieth Century, people in rural and remote areas of developing countries are facing many unprecedented challenges brought on by the changing global economy, dynamic political contexts, environmental degradation and demographic pressures. The number of food insecure around the world continues to increase. To deal with these challenges, and to make critical decisions, people at all levels of society, and especially the food insecure and the organizations that serve and represent them, must be able to access critical information and communicate. Improved communication and information access are directly related to social and economic development (World Bank, 1995). Participatory development is fully dependent upon communication and information sharing processes.
One cannot expect poor farmers and food insecure residents of rural communities to list computers and digital telecommunication services as high priority items for improving their lives. However, there exist various intermediaries that serve these populations which, together with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in rural areas, can take advantage of these technologies to improve their work, improve communication capacity, gain efficiencies and reduce telecommunication costs. An integrated approach that fosters horizontal and vertical channels of communication is key to insuring that such benefits are realized.
Intermediary organizations such as extension field offices, rural NGOs, health clinics, government offices, and church organizations together with SMEs, can offer benefit to their rural client groups in numerous ways. Strategies for improving Internet access and use for rural and agricultural development will necessarily involve full participation of intermediary organizations and other rural stakeholders. As Internet services become more widely used among these organizations it becomes more important to facilitate the exchange of lessons learned and best practices that emerge from on-the-ground experience.
It is hence recommended that the following 11 activities be considered to assist rural stakeholders in gaining access to, and developing creative uses for, Internet services:
1. Promote regional coordination of Internet strategy for rural and agricultural development.
2. Establish pilot projects.
3. Use a communication for development approach.
4. Support efforts to liberalize telecommunication policies in developing countries.
5. Support local Internet entrepreneurs and other service providers in developing countries.
6. Assist stakeholders in advocating for Internet service provision and telecommunication infrastructure and policy improvements.
7. Orient existing Internet information services to users in developing countries.
8. Support rural and agricultural education sector Internet capability.
9. Provide Internet awareness building and demonstration.
10. Support rural and remote infrastructure development.
11. Support creative Internet applications and information services for rural and agricultural development.
Conclusion
The Internet has the potential to transform societies, with benefits for education, health, agriculture, transportation, governance, culture, business, economies — in fact the benefits of the Internet can reach into every aspect of modern human society. But a certain threshold of Internet development — including penetration, access, awareness, and human capacity — is required before countries and regions are able to realize the Internet’s full transformative potential. After a slow start, the Internet in Africa is now rapidly improving and developing. Much has been achieved, yet much more remains to be done. The challenges of investment, infrastructure, regulation, capacity building, and governance are deeply interlinked, requiring the commitment and cooperation of stakeholders from across sectors, nations, and regions. But Africa has a strong and thriving Internet community which, in partnership with the global community, clearly has the ability to continue and accelerate the progress made to date. Over the past decade, Africa has experienced significant growth in mobile communications and steady growth in Internet penetration. This can, in large part, be attributed to efforts by African governments working in partnership with other stakeholders to create an enabling environment that fosters innovation. Furthermore, important institutions have emerged in Africa’s Internet ecosystem that are driving development and putting the multistakeholder model of Internet Governance into practice. The high growth in Internet and mobile access since 2005 also reflects the strengthening of existing Af institutions, the emergence of regional and national IGFs, and the increased commitment of African governments to ICT development. Just as we must celebrate the success stories, we must also acknowledge the shortcomings. Averaged figures, even those that depict strong progress, can mask the disparities in distribution of benefits across and within countries. Certainly more work is needed to ensure that people in all parts of the continent — urban or rural, coastal or landlocked — benefit from Internet development. IPv6 deployment is dominated by only two countries — this is becoming a critical issue as IPv4 resources are rapidly diminishing. And the coming failure of most countries to meet the deadline for the digital broadcasting transition sends a stark reminder of the need to grasp opportunities that arise. As Africa continues to make further strides in building its Internet economy, the multistakeholder model will continue to be vital for success, helping African countries reach the critical mass of access and usage that can translate into sustained economic and social benefits
References:
Internet development and Internet governance in Africa By Towela Nyirenda-Jere & Tesfaye Biru, May, 2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Africa
http://globelics2009dakar.merit.unu.edu/papers/1238296264_MA.pdf
Best Practices” For Supporting Internet And Development Initiatives via http://www.fao.org/docrep/w6840e/w6840e06.htm
Internet Development in Africa: The Case of Cameroon via https://www.isoc.org/inet97/proceedings/E4/E4_1.HTM