Connecting the next billions for Social and Economic Growth

1
Connecting the next billions for Social and
Economic Growth Development

• by

Jimson Olufuye PRINCE2, CISA, CISM, PhD Chair,
AfICTA CEO, Kontemporary Konsulting
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Agenda

• Introduction
• Solution Approach thro PM
• Where are we?
• Challenges and Impediments
• eFrictions
• How to reach the Goals?
• Conclusion

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Introduction

• Noting the essence of connecting more people to
  the Internet is to foster social and economic
  growth and development and the improvement in
  the living standard of the people, I've taken
  liberty to tweak the topic a little to
  Connecting the next billions for Social and
  Economic Growth Development.

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Introduction

• Since this is Africa IGF, I'll also add
  connecting the next 100m in Africa for social and
  economic growth and development. I believe if we
  identify solutions in Africa, they would most
  likely be applicable to the rest of developing
  world.

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Solution approach through Programme/Project
Management

• Approaching the next billion through
  Programme/project management perspective by
  considering 5 important Principles and 7 themes
  that MUST be considered throughout connecting the
  next 1billion Internet users project

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Solution approach through Programme/Project
Management

• The principles are
• Continued business justification (pursuing the
  project has benefits and helps to fulfil the
  SDGs if we're truly connecting this with the
  SDGs then we should be talking about connecting
  the whole world by the year 2030)
• Learn from experience What was reaching the
  initial 3 billion like? What did we do right to
  make that happen

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Solution approach through Programme/Project
Management

• the principles are
• Defined roles and responsibilities Who and who
  is to do what and what?
• Manage by stages Break the implementation into
  measurable phases
• Focus on products The end result.

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Solution approach through Programme/Project
Management

• And the themes are
• Business case Why? Focus on the objectives
• Organisation Who? Describes the role of the
  organisation to manage the project effectively in
  our countries
• Quality What the output will be? Narrow band or
  broadband. Anything from 1mbps access is
  broadband.

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Solution approach through Programme/Project
Management

• ... the themes are
• Plans How? How much? When? This is the focus of
  communication and control throughout the project.
• Risks What if? How uncertainty is managed?
• Changes What is the impact?
• Progress Where are we now? Where are we going?

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Where are we?

• Around 40 of the world population has an
  internet connection today.
• In Nigeria, it's 50 of the 170m people (by NCC
  data) and close to 40 in Africa.
• In 1995, global Internet penetration was less
  than 1. Likewise in Africa and Nigeria.

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Where are we?

• The number of internet users has increased
  tenfold from 1999 to 2013.
• The first billion was reached in 2005. The
  second billion in 2010. The third billion in
  2014.

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Where are we?

• We may by inference reach the next billion by the
  year 2017! Or the next 100m in Africa considering
  that 10 of global Internet users are in Africa.
  I expect that Africa would do better by 2017.
• More than 23tbps fibre rings cover Africa and
  that is more than enough for broadband in Africa
  talkless of narrow band.

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Challenges and Impediments

• Bandwidth supply exist in a way, the challenges
  are lack of adequate terestrial connection to the
  inter-land from the coasts and tackling the
  demand side.
• These are the challenges to achieving the next
  billion globally and 100million in Africa and
  even getting those to be connected connected.

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Challenges and Impediments

• E-frictions as alluded by the Boston Consulting
  Group (BCG) are impediments to connecting the
  next 1billion and are also the challenges on
  boosting the demand side on the available
  bandwidth.

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Challenges and Impediments

• The e-frictions are in five categories viz
• Infrastructure
• Industry
• Individual
• Information and
• Policy

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Challenges and Impediments

• On Infrastructure, the following factors are
  responsible
• Access limitation affordability
• Lack of terrestrial fibre pipes to major towns
  and cities
• High frequency licence cost
• Delay in reaping the digital dividend due to
  digital migration delays
• Security

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Challenges and Impediments

• On Industry, the following factors are
  responsible
• Shortage of capital funding
• Shortage of skilled labour. Most graduates are
  unemployable at the go
• Low capacity to access on-line services

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Challenges and Impediments

• Individual-related e-friction factors include
• Inability to use payment platforms to buy and
  sell products
• Frustration in getting desired information for
  on-demand transactions e.g. feedback delays on
  government portals
• Awareness challenges
• Privacy concerns and
• Concerns related to security of data
• data jurisdiction

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Challenges and Impediments

• Information-related e-friction factors include
• Lack of content on the government services
  particularly in local languages
• Lack of openness
• Obstacles to accesing certain types of content

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Challenges and Impediments

• Policy-related e-friction factors include
• Lack of political will
• Lack of effective monitoring and evaluation
  process
• Multiple taxation issues

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Challenges and Impediments

• All the above are frictions that need to be
  removed to reach the next millions in Africa and
  billions in the world...

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How?

• Ministry of Communications InformationTechnology
  or departments responsible ICT should review
  their ICT broadband policy/plans through
  enhanced multi-stakeholder cooperation involving
  diverse stakeholder group towards ensuring that
  all are involved in the policy implimentation.

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How?

• In Nigeria for example, Ministry of CommTech
  while concerned mainly with policy formulation
  has articulated 3 key policy documents through
  the multi-stakeholder approach.

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How?

• The documents are ICT Policy, Broadband Plan (for
  100 broadband coverage in Nigeria by 2020) and
  Local Content Policy and are committed to
  realising the goals set in the documents through
  NCC, NITDA and NIGCOMSAT.

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How?

• NCC has licensed Infracos to provide access to
  the interior using the Universal Service
  Provision Fund. NCC preparedness to license
  frequency white spaces on digital migration.
  Positive effect of the initiatives on the
  Nigerian economy is anticipated between 2016 and
  2017.

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How?

• NIGCOMSAT on its part has connected over 80
  polytechnics and is currently focusing on
  providing connectivity to rural and unreached
  locations. NITDA on its part has concluded the
  eGovernment masterplan and on approval by the new
  government plans to reach out to stakeholders.
  The primary purpose of the plan is to deliver
  government content for public use.

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How?

• Government should demonstrate requisite political
  will to impliment viable policies already in
  place. There are cases like once a government
  replaces another it abandons on-going project by
  the previous governments.

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How?

• Smart Initiatives pioneered by President Kagame
  at the regional level should be sustained to help
  remove e-frictions in states/countries such as
  right of way challenge, multiple taxation and
  deployment of government services on-line using
  the open data model.

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How?

• Effective monitoring and evaluation of programme
  using online realtime portal reportage.

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How?

• Some stakeholders said at the recently conculded
  Highway Africa Conference in Grahamstown, South
  Africa that AU HoS have been meeting for 50years
  and Africa is not united, they recommended it is
  high time AU changes course and embrace enhanced
  multi-stakeholder approach to its meetings with
  governments, private sector, civil society and
  academia/technical cooperating and collaborating.

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How?

• Last week exclusive meeting of Ministers of ICTs
  of AU was a good start but without the engagement
  of other stakeholders is not enhanced
  multi-stakeholder cooperation. AfICTA reached out
  to governments to participate at AfICTA Summit
  but none sent any representation. Again that is
  NOT enhanced multi-stakeholder cooperation.

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Conclusion

• One of the outcomes of 3rd AfICTA Summit is the
  Johannesburg Declaration in which AfICTA commits
  to create 1,000,000 jobs in Africa by the year
  2020. I'd like to throw a challenge to African
  governments to support this initiative.

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Conclusion

• So, connecting the whole world and not just the
  next billion to the Internet for social and
  economic development depends on policy makers and
  thought leaders working together in Africa in
  particular for the benefit of all.

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• Thank you...
• jolufuye_at_kontemporary.net
• jolufuye_at_aficta.org