[governance] Africa, ICT and electricity - things are happening

[kwasi boakye-akyeampong]

Nnenna,

Thanks for sharing your experience. 

While I believe we should be a bit optimistic and have hope that things will change sometimes the pace of change can be frustrating. When it takes too long for the object of hope to be achieved, frustration takes over. 

You are right, we have been talking about the problems and the solutions of the digital divide for close to a decade now, but how far have we gone forward? That is the most important question? In 2001, in the UK, not many people had Internet and broadband was not very common. One could go to the community library or phone and book to use the few (4 or 5) computers available to the public for Internet access. In fact, booking in advance was the wisest thing since priority was given to those who had made prior booking and there were not many computers for public Internet access. 

I travelled to other parts of the UK outside London and the situation was the same. In about 2 years, these same libraries had a pool of computers available for Internet access and I'm not talking about just one library in one town.

In a relatively small town like Telford with about 138,241 inhabitants in 2001(http://www.myjobsinshropshire.co.uk/jobstelford.cms.asp) has about 6 public libraries. How many public libraries do we even have in a typical african city. Lack of these structures makes it more difficult to implement things. In the developing world, while you build on existing structures, in Africa, you must necessarily start from the ground and that is what the problem is. What you refer to in Burkina Faso is an exception, a pilot project, I suppose, that might not even be around in say 5 years. Sustainability of such projects in Africa is also another issue.

Nnenna, something is fundamentality missing in our quest to find solutions and a few examples here and there doesn't mean we are getting there. We need to get a bit more serious. You and I and the other Africans on this forum should begin to critically look at the issues that are somewhat similar regardless of which African country one is from. It can be done, I believe, but I think the major problem is that those who are spearheading these efforts don't understand the underlying issues. 
Sorry, I got to pop out but let's keep talking.

good day,
Kwasi
Nnenna <nne75 at yahoo.com> wrote: Hi Folks
  
  I am reading through the thread here and I am smiling.  The issues  being raised here, we have raised them a million times.  But I  still believe that experience is the best teacher.  Analysts can  say what they want, but living in the situation is worth a million  analyses.
  
  Two weeks ago, I was in 5 town in Burkina Faso to do an evaluation of  the pilot projects that the Digital Solidarity Fund is supporting.
  
  In truth, electricity alone is not the only problem.  But problems  are not the only things that I saw.  I also saw hope, optimism and  a strong will power to rise beyond problems.
  
  There are options - Satelite is one of them.  Solar power is one  of them.  Community access points too.  In a far away village  called Ouahigouya -  the DSF has provided a Satellite Internet  connection.  In that center alone, the Internet is being offered  to the public.  They have  video conferencing equipment and  telemedicine is a reality.  I was surprised that the cybercafé ran  on Open Source Software and that local people are well adapted to it.
  
  In that same town, I slept in a hotel that was using solar panels for power.  
  
  I am not speaking about what can happen.  I am saying what has already happened.
  
  Cheers
  
  Nnenna

Lee McKnight <LMcKnigh at syr.edu> wrote:  Bertrand, David,

Not  to be a naive utopian, but there are a wide variety of technological  and business model alternatives being explored within Africa and  elsewhere, and yeah by the usual suspect major multinationals, as well  as start-ups and non-profits like One Laptop Per Child.

So  assuming cel phones/mobile Internet devices will have the same  constraints for Internet access  for long in Africa or anywhere else is  probably not safe; paying for and powering infrastructure, ah there's  the rub. But still alternatives are emegring.

Lee

Prof. Lee W. McKnight
School of Information Studies
Syracuse University
+1-315-443-6891office
+1-315-278-4392 mobile

>>> bdelachapelle at gmail.com 9/12/2007 4:11 AM >>>
(Sorry, I hit the send button inadvertently on the previous post before it
was finished)

Hi David,

You mentionned this quote :
"Most Ghanaians do not have access to the internet, in spite of the
proliferation of ICT in the country, due to cost. Many more Ghanaians have
access to mobile telephony than they have access to the internet."

And said :

Reading this, it means the future of internet access in much of Africa could
be via handheld devices (mobile phones, smart phones...), and so planning on
governance issues probably should be done with this in  mind.

This development of mobile telephony in africa and the relatively slower
penetration of other modes of Internet access is an important element
because the business models for both are very different.

At the moment, mobile telephony can be very profitable even in poor
countries because a brief phone call can save a day trip to another village
or town. Therefore, even if the cost per minute is high, the replacement
cost is even higher. But this will mean that the priority of business actors
will be on mobile phone networks rather than on general Internet access with
cheap monthly fees. Using market forces to develop connectivity is certainly
positive and is going to work, but one can wonder if it will be enough to
bring the normal Internet Access, and particularly broadband (the second
dimension of the digital divide).

If mobile telephony becomes the main communication channel, will that not
mean that Internet  access will remain much rarer and more expensive in these
countries ?

I wonder if the Access session in the Rio IGF will address this point.

Best

Bertrand



On 9/12/07, David Goldstein  wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I've just finished reading an article in The Economist -  Electricity in
> Africa: The dark continent. See
> http://economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9660077.
>
> This had me thinking back to a discussion here recently on ICT in Africa.
> The article notes "Africa accounts for over a sixth of the world's
> population, but
> generates only 4% of global electricity. Three-quarters of that is used
> by South Africa, Egypt and the other countries along the north African
> littoral."
>
> Other points made are "Only 6% of Congolese have access to electricity and
> more power will be needed  to get at the country's trove of minerals. ...
> Aggreko, a company based in Scotland, is the world's biggest supplier
> of temporary electricity in the shape of back-up generators. It meets
> up to 50% of Uganda's power needs, and 10% of those of Kenya and
> Tanzania. It believes that the global power shortfall in the next
> decade will be much greater than predicted, perhaps over 500,000MW. The
> ensuing competition for energy, it argues, will see the world split
> between those countries whose economies grow faster than their power
> consumption and those, including most of Africa, whose power
> consumption grows faster than their economies."
>
> There are obviously huge issues in just providing power to much of Africa
> before the vast majority of the population can even be connected to the
> internet. And then with a global shortfall of power, where does that leave
> the ongoing  development of ICT?
>
> For those interested in ICT in Africa, I was sent a link to an article on
> Ghana (thanks Kwasi) - Ghana's internet growth slowed by high cost. See
> http://myjoyonline.com/features/200709/8441.asp.
>
> The article starts, "Most Ghanaians do not have access to the internet, in
> spite of the
> proliferation of ICT in the
> country, due to cost. Many more Ghanaians have access to mobile telephony
> than they have access to the internet."
>
> Reading this, it means the future of internet access in much of Africa
> could be via handheld devices (mobile phones, smart phones...), and so
> planning on governance issues probably should be done with this in mind. But
> then, a handheld device of any sort still needs electricity to work. Even if
> the device can be powered by some form of wind-up mechanism, for example,
> the infrastructure still needs to b  developed, and powered.
>
> Anyway, something to think about.
>
> Cheers
> David
>
> ---------
> David Goldstein
> address: 4/3 Abbott Street
>            COOGEE NSW 2034
>            AUSTRALIA
> email: Goldstein_David @yahoo.com.au
> phone: +61 418 228 605 (mobile); +61 2 9665 5773 (home)
>
> "Every time you use fossil fuels, you're adding to the problem. Every time
> you forgo fossil fuels, you're being part of the solution" - Dr Tim Flannery
>
>
>
-- 
____________________
Bertrand de La Chapelle

Tel : +33 (0)6 11 88 33 32

"Le plus beau métier des hommes, c'est d'unir les hommes" Antoine de Saint
Exupéry
("there is no better mission for humans than uniting humans")
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