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

Fri Sep 14 03:01:15 EDT 2007

Dear Nnenna,

Thanks for this very, very interesting information full of hope, which also bring in an environment friendly  aspect to the debate of technology!

Yours
Kicki 

Kicki Nordström
Synskadades Riksförbund (SRF) 
World Blind Union (WBU)
122 88 Enskede
Sweden
Tel: +46 (0)8 399 000
Fax: +46 (0)8 725 99 20
Cell: +46 (0)70 766 18 19
E-mail: kicki.nordstrom at srfriks.org 

kicki.nordstrom at telia.com (private) 

________________________________

Från: Nnenna [mailto:nne75 at yahoo.com] 
Skickat: den 13 september 2007 18:18
Till: governance at lists.cpsr.org
Ämne: [governance] Africa, ICT and electricity - things are happening

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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