ICT in Africa

ICT in Central Africa

In a continent where approximately 33% of a population of more than a billion people live in poverty, the digital footprint of its inhabitants is surprisingly low. Only around 18% of Africans are connected to technology, a number significantly less than the global average of 30%. These figures, while low compared to the world average, are much higher than the initial predictions announced by ICT experts in the 1990s, when they were asked to forecast the use of ICT in Africa after 2000. Currently Africa is the fastest growing information technology market in the world and its various regions already have an enviable reputation as ideas and resource generators in the technological world.

What exactly motivated this growth?

The introduction of the mobile phone in the late 1990s and early 2000s revolutionized the continent. In 2000, 11 million people in Africa had mobile phones. By 2005, that number had grown to nearly 200 million, and as of 2020, that number appears to exceed 500 million. Mobile phones were the forerunners of Internet use across the continent in Africa, and for people who couldn't afford laptops or personal computers, a cheap smartphone quickly became a useful business asset.
South Africa was one of the first African regions to adopt the use of technology entirely, with the national telecommunications company MTN, which soon became one of the most valuable ICT companies on the continent. South Africa was closely followed by West Africa, where Nigeria, with its 200 million inhabitants, gave rise to the great expansion of the technology center that emerged in West Africa in the mid-2000s. Another region that had a A slow start but one that has already almost surpassed its neighbors is East Africa. East Africa, dominated by Kenya, experienced the introduction of mobile money on the continent. A phenomenon that targeted unbanked and positioned mobile phones as a mass tool, rather than a luxury item. East Africa joined the greats in the race to become Africa's Silicon Valley, with an enviable network of technology infrastructure and a focus on providing the Internet to its youth population, to position them for success.
Africa could have defeated its detractors and earned its place on the global ICT scene, however much work remains to be done.
Technology investment strategies are crucial but few and far between on the continent, the acclaimed "Father of the Internet" in Africa, Nii Quaynor (chairman of the board of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) and director of The Internet Society in Ghana) has shared the opinion that "it is increasingly difficult to help create supplies, because established companies are getting stronger and eventually there is no space left, the fact is that most countries focus on the use and technology consumption, but not in production, which is what builds the economy. " Large-scale technology producers are needed, not just users.
Furthermore, the technological infrastructure, although abundant, still needs to be strengthened. Submarine cables have exponentially increased transmission capacity and reduced time and cost, but as recently seen, a minor failure in one region can impact the entire continent.
In January 2020, the South Atlantic 3 / West Africa (SAT-3) and the West Africa Cable System (WACS), both from Africa to Europe, had a technical problem. A total of 13 countries were affected, and the local media described cases of slow Internet speeds and outages in countries as distant as South Africa, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Gabon and Cameroon. This should not be happening in these times.
The expansion of the Internet in Africa is expanding, its users are growing, its sector is increasing and its global impact is greater. However, your digital story is still being written and we are all part of the result.