Over the past week, we’ve found 91 stories of how ICT is changing Africa. Notable events come from Rwanda (4G service is in the works), and Tunisia (who hosted an online freedom conference), but interesting insights also come to us from The Gambia (Guardian article on the digital divide, Mauritania (Q&A with an activist blogger), and Sierra Leone (mobile computer lab).
Dalberg Global Development Advisors, with support from Google, surveyed more than 1,300 businesses in Senegal, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria as part of the April 2013 “Impact of the Internet in Africa” report. Interviews with a variety of experts gave further meaning to the data. The hope is that the information contained in this report can give policymakers the tools to build thriving internet ecosystems. The growth trajectory of ICT in Sub-Saharan Africa is on the right path, but countries still need to invest in core infrastructure and good usage conditions.
Four nations represent SSA in this particular report. {Dalberg}
From the Executive Summary we can find the key points of the Dalberg report:
Recommendations focus on cooperation among all parts of society, with the government as the primary driver:
Two key visuals:
The array of ICT solutions is impressive across all sectors:
Selected examples of Internet-enabled solutions driving impact on socioeconomic development. Click to enlarge. {Dalberg}
Conditions for use can only go so high without also strengthening core infrastructure. For example, no African country has a strong ICT core with low conditions for usage.
Mapping of countries based on conditions for use and core infrastructure. {Dalberg}
Read the full 102-page report to find detailed profiles of agriculture, health, education, SMEs, finance, energy, and governance.
Source: “Impact of the Internet in Africa: Establishing conditions for success and catalysing inclusive growth in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal,” Dalberg, April 2013, http://www.impactoftheinternet.com.
Last year, we came across first edition of the Submarine Telecoms Industry Report, a new resource for the latest in global undersea telecommunications news and outlooks. The annual report provides a snapshot of the state of the many sectors within the 150+ year-old industry. In addition, the publication helps others recognize how important undersea fibre optic communication cables are to the global economy.
Beautifully enough, the report is written at a level for everyone to understand. Quite a few sections mention the past, present, and future of African fibre optic cables. Notably:
The outlook for African submarine cables is very favorable given the profitability of national telecommunications operators. The main challenge continues to be deploying local fibre networks that are able to connect international capacity to national backbones, and in turn, last mile fibre to the home.
Source: “Submarine Telecoms Industry Report, Issue 2,” Terabit Consulting, Submarine Telecoms Forum, Inc., March 2013.
The eLearning Africa Report 2013 – a survey of the experience and opinions of more than 400 professionals and practitioners from 42 African countries – covers successes and failures in how technology is being used to support African learning.
Smile Communications, with the support of Alcatel-Lucent, launched Tanzanian 4G LTE service in May 2013. Weeks later, Smile launched the same service in Kampala, Uganda.
Like last month, the majority of YouTube videos highlighting ICT progress come from East Africa and Ghana, but this month also includes Namibia and Tunisia.
As of 2013, there is little evidence supporting the notion that computer science courses, let alone computer training is common in Nigerian schools.
Two stories from the past couple of days paint very different pictures about the intentions of MTN Swaziland. One is of a company dedicated to improving primary education. The other is of a company involving itself in a nation’s controversial politics.
This week’s African tech news round-up consists of 134 stories from 32 countries.
oAfrica is a showcase of the dynamic African digital landscape. We addresse a variety of aspects of African Internet connectivity with an understanding that every nation has different tools and ideologies to utilize. Although every African citizen may not have the chance to access the Internet for years to come, African digital opportunities are rapidly expanding. We do our best to objectively share those stories.
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