K. A. PANZEREV
Candidate of Philological Sciences
Keywords: information society, information technologies, Tropical African countries
Today, the world is entering a new era in which information and knowledge objectively acquire a decisive role in the socio-economic development of modern society. A fundamentally new way of social relations that is being formed today is usually called information, post-industrial or network, and any state strives to build it. In this article, the author comprehends the key problems of the development of the information society in the countries of Tropical Africa, which have declared the creation of appropriate new technologies as one of the main national priorities.
The Internet began to reach Africa in the mid-1990s, but it did not really develop until the beginning of the new millennium. In 2000-2010, the countries of Tropical Africa achieved some success in this direction.
INFORMATION SOCIETY IN AFRICA: MYTH OR REALITY?
From our point of view, the most interesting example is that of Nigeria. By mid-2001, there were only 400,000 fixed-line telephone lines and 25,000 analog mobile lines in the country. This meant that in one of the most populous countries in Africa, only a few people (only 0.4% of the population) used telephone service. Mobile communications were virtually unknown in Nigeria at that time.
The liberalization of the Nigerian information and telecommunications market was declared in 2000. As a result, in a very short period of time, a large number of enterprises providing telecommunications services have appeared in Nigeria.
In 2005-2010, the country managed to achieve significant progress in the development of information technologies and became a regional leader in this area. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that in Nigeria, as in a number of other countries in Tropical Africa, the principle of public/private partnership was proclaimed, which brought noticeable results.
The essence of such a partnership is that the entire information and telecommunications space of the country is left to private companies. The state is assigned exclusively regulatory functions in this sector. In Nigeria, this task is assigned, in particular, to the Ministry of Information and Communications, as well as to the Ministry of Science and Technology.
In 2006, the National Nigerian Telecommunications Company (Nitel) was privatized, which remained the sole national telephone operator until 2002.
Currently, the total volume of private investments in the industry has exceeded $12 billion. (in 2001-barely $50 million). Today, investment in the information and telecommunications sector in Nigeria is second only to investment in the oil sector. This, in our opinion, indicates the role that modern information technologies are designed to play in the country's economy. The appearance of new private investors in the market has led to a sharp increase in the total number of telephone lines. Thus, at the end of December 2008, according to Ernest Ndukwe, Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, the total number of fixed and mobile telephone subscribers was 64 million (45.7% of the total population).1. According to statistics provided by the Commission, the number of mobile subscribers in the country increases by a total of 1 million people every month2.
There are several major telephone operators in Nigeria. Among them is Airtel Nigeria, a subsidiary of the large international telecommunications corporation Zain, which operates in 14 African countries. The company started its activity in Nigeria. It was established in 2000 under the name Celtel Nigeria (renamed Zain Nigeria in August 2008, November 2010).-
Airtel Nigeria) and became the first mobile operator in the country's history3.
Another major mobile operator is MTN Nigeria, which was established in 2001 and is a member of the Pan - African telecommunications company MTN Group, which also operates in Uganda, Rwanda and Swaziland. Currently, MTN serves 223 cities and 10 thousand villages, most of which have thus gained access to modern information technologies for the first time4.
In 2003, Nigerian entrepreneur Mike Adenuga founded Globacom, which became the leading provider of telephone services in West Africa. The total number of subscribers of the company reaches 25 million people. In addition to Nigeria, Globacom operates in the telecommunications markets of Benin, Ivory Coast and Ghana. In addition, she took part in laying an underwater fiber optic cable from the UK to Nigeria. This project with a total cost of $800 million was named Glo-15.
The dynamics of growth in the number of mobile subscribers is clearly demonstrated in Table 1.
Table 1
Quantitative growth of mobile subscribers in Nigeria in 2009
Operator |
March 2009 |
June 2009 |
September 2009 |
MTN Nigeria Communications |
25 910 000 |
27 340 000 |
28 740 000 |
Globacom Limited |
15 489 297 |
15 905 515 |
16 228 556 |
Celtel Nigeria Limited |
14 068 332 |
14 646 472 |
14 935 770 |
EMTS Limited |
784 480 |
1 044 465 |
1 835 870 |
Total |
56 252 109 |
58 936 452 |
61 740 196 |
Source: Nigerian Communication Commission - http://www.ncc.gov.ng
There are about 20 other smaller mobile operators and Internet service providers operating in the information market in Nigeria.
As for the direct Internet coverage, it should be noted that almost all regions of the country have access to it, and efforts are now being made to internetize remote villages. In particular, MTN recently completed the construction of a state-of-the-art fiber-optic cable network with a total length of 3,500 km6. This is one of the most significant infrastructure projects in Nigeria. If the implementation of the Glo-1 project is to significantly reduce the cost of telecommunications services in the country, then the laying of high-speed land-based communication lines should provide the technical ability to access the network of the vast majority of Nigerians.
Nigeria has become one of the few countries in Tropical Africa where about 60% of the population has real access to modern information technologies.
Senegal can also be classified as a regional leader in terms of the level of distribution of telecommunications equipment. Here, as in Nigeria, the real development of information policy began after 2000. In particular, a National Strategy for the development of the information technology market was developed; a new telecommunications code was issued; a special agency responsible for continuous monitoring of the development of the information market was established; the Ministry responsible for the dissemination of information technologies and the State Bureau of Computer Technologies were established. In addition, a specialized Organization of professionals in the field of information technology and communications of Senegal was created, bringing together IT specialists of the country.
Today, the country has a fairly diversified information and telecommunications infrastructure, compared to many other African States. By the end of 2004, there were 250,000 landline telephone lines in Senegal, which is certainly a high figure for Africa. The country even has a special program for rural telephony, with the interim result being the telephony of 1,429 villages by 2005.7 In 2006, the number of fixed-line telephone subscribers in Senegal was 274,000. However, in the following years, the development of traditional landline telephony significantly slowed down, and by April 2010 the total number of subscribers reached 292.6 thousand.
Mobile communications, on the other hand, continue to develop rapidly. For example, in 2004 there were 700,000 mobile subscribers in Senegal, 3.5 million in February 2007, and more than 7 million in March 2010. The development of a modern broadband communication line has also become widespread. Senegal has one of the most extensive fiber-optic networks in Tropical Africa with a total length of about 2,200 km8. At the same time, the number of active Internet users in 2007 reached 100 thousand people (see Table 2).
The liberalization of the telecommunications market in Senegal has attracted a large number of foreign investors. So, when the question arose about the need for technical modernization of the capacities of Sonatel, which was privatized in 1997 and is the leading telecom operator in the country, a part of its shares was transferred to the state-owned company.
Table 2
Telecommunications system in Senegal
Number of mobile subscribers |
7 239 203 (March 31, 2010) |
Number of fixed-line telephone subscribers |
292,625 (March 31, 2010) |
Number of TV sets per 1000 people. |
79 (2007) |
Number of radios per 1000 people. |
126 (2007) |
Number of landline phones per 1000 people. |
25 (2007) |
Number of mobile phones per 1000 people. |
31 (2007) |
Number of personal computers per 1000 people. |
18,6 (2007) |
Number of Internet users |
100 000 (2007) |
Number of public Internet centers in rural settlements |
24 (2007) |
Source: Fall B. ICT in Education in Senegal // Survey of ICT and education in Africa: Senegal Country Report. June 2007 - http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.354.html; Chiffres cles-Principaux Indicateurs. Mars 2010. Observatoire sur les Systemes d'Information, les Reseaux et les Inforoutes au Senegal (OSIRIS) - http://www.osiris.sn/article26.html
purchased by the French corporation France Cables Radio (a branch of France Telecom).
Since 2004, many new companies have entered the Senegalese telecommunications market, but Sonatel continues to occupy a leading position. With access to the Atlantis 2 transatlantic fiber-optic cable running under the Atlantic Ocean from Portugal to Latin America, as well as the SAT-3 subsea cable running along the coast of West Africa, the company remains the largest infrastructure provider in the sub-region. It participates in all the most significant projects initiated by the government. For example, in 2004, Sonatel entered into an agreement with the Senegalese Ministry of Education to provide Senegalese schools with Internet access at a reduced cost (50-75%). This program covers more than 233 schools and about 2/3 of all higher education institutions in the country.
Senegal's largest mobile operator and Internet service provider, Manobi-Senegal, is a joint venture between Sonatel (34%) and France's Manobi-France (66%). The company's strategic partner is the French corporation Alcatel.
Manobi-Senegal has initiated a number of important innovation projects for Senegal, one of which was awarded the World Summit Award, an annual competition held by Alcatel for its partners. We are talking about marketing services for fishermen. Anyone working in the fishing industry can receive up-to-date information via the Internet on their personal computer or via WAP technology and SMS messages on their mobile phone, primarily about market prices for their products, as well as the volume of their deliveries to local markets and the availability of these goods in warehouses. Local experts from Manobi-Senegal collect information of interest to Senegalese fishermen and regularly monitor and analyze the local seafood market.
The widespread use of this service in Senegal confirms the thesis that in each individual country, modern information technologies should be introduced, first of all, in sectors of the economy that are of strategic importance.
In East Africa, we estimate that Kenya and Mauritius have the most developed information and telecommunications markets.
In Kenya, as in Nigeria and Senegal, the principle of partnership between the state and private business is respected, complete liberalization of the telecommunications industry has been announced, which, in turn, has led to the introduction of a significant number of new companies to the market, which ultimately significantly reduced the cost of both fixed and mobile communications. For example, the cost of international calls fell from $0.9 to $ 0.2 per minute by June 2006. The cost of calls from mobile operators also decreased - from $1.5 to 0.76 per minute, which contributed to its popularization among Kenyans, mainly residents of rural areas that do not have fixed telephony.
Currently, approximately half of Kenyans use mobile phones (see Table 3).
In June 2009, the construction of an underwater fiber optic cable running under the Indian Ocean from Johannesburg via Mombasa to the United Arab Emirates was completed. After the national fiber network connected to it, market prices for high-speed Internet plummeted.
Currently, the country's three largest service providers - Telcom Kenya, Kenya Data Networks and Access-are developing high-speed communication infrastructure. Kenya Data Networks, which has been operating since 2003, has the most extensive network of fiber-optic cables. So far, only the largest cities - Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and Kisumu-are covered by high-speed Internet. The company intends to connect 80% of the country's territory to high-speed broadband networks.
Table 3
Number of mobile subscribers (1999-2009)
Year |
Number of subscribers |
Mobile communication prevalence (in % of the population) |
Year |
Number of subscribers |
Mobile communication prevalence (in % of the population) |
1999 |
15 000 |
0,053 |
2006 |
7 340 317 |
21,62 |
2000 |
114 000 |
0,38 |
2007 |
11 440 077 |
33,65 |
2001 |
585 131 |
1,90 |
March 2008 |
11 986 077 |
35,25 |
2002 |
1 325 222 |
4,20 |
September 2008 |
14 503 964 |
41,7 |
2003 |
1 590 785 |
4,95 |
December 2008 |
16 233 833 |
43,64 |
2004 |
2 546 676 |
7,77 |
September 2009 |
17 938 706 |
46 |
2005 |
5 263 676 |
15,74 |
December 2009 |
19 364 559 |
49,7 |
Источник: Communications Statistics Report 2008; Sector Statistics Report Second Quarter 2008/09; Sector Statistics Report Second Quarter 2009/10 - http://www.cck.go.ke
In the future, it will become an infrastructure provider for other African countries as well.
There are four major mobile operators in the country: Safaricom, Zain, Yu and Orange, which also provide mobile Internet access, and Safaricom also provides fast electronic money transfer services.
The on-line money transfer system, due to its wide popularity, is the main advantage of Safaricom over its competitors and has allowed it to maintain its leading position in the market, and after merging with Vodacom Tanzania and MTN Uganda, it even announced the creation of an integrated East African mobile network.9
Kenyans are very proud of the current system of "mobile money" - M-pesa (pesa means money in Swahili) and consider it almost the main real achievement in the field of information technology. There are now a huge number of M-pesa locations throughout Nairobi and several other cities. After paying a small commission, the client transfers money to the operator and indicates the subscriber number of the recipient; the latter receives an SMS notification on the actual transfer of money to the account, which he can pick up at any convenient time at any point of M-pesa.
Despite some successes and a fairly rapid growth in the number of subscribers, mobile communication in Kenya continues to develop exclusively in its southern regions, where the largest cities and industrial centers of the country are located.
At the same time, based on the results of our own field studies conducted in Kenya in April 2010, we can note that the best communication quality is observed only in the vicinity of large urban centers. The further away from them, the weaker the signal level, which periodically disappears altogether, preventing the effective use of cell phones and mobile Internet.
Apparently, this explains the fact that the number of regular Internet users in the country today does not exceed 12%, in 2009 their number was approximately 3.3 million people. 10
In turn, Mauritius is significantly ahead of the leading countries of continental Africa in terms of the level of information technology dissemination. In the post-colonial period (i.e. since 1968), this island State has developed into a dynamically developing country with fast-growing industrial, financial and tourist sectors of the economy. The government of Mauritius has declared the country a "cyberstroke", the IT center of the East African region.
As early as 2004, 505 out of 1,000 people in Mauritius were mobile subscribers. In 2008, their number reached 1.033 million people. Considering that as of July 2010, the total population of the island was 1.284 million, it can be concluded that the overwhelming majority of Mauritians use mobile communication services.
As for fixed-line telephone service, there were 364,500 lines on the island in 2008. The Internet is also developing at a good pace in Mauritius: in 2008, the number of Internet users was 380 thousand people.11
IS INDUSTRY LIBERALIZATION A GOOD THING OR A BAD THING?
It is generally accepted that the success of the development of information technologies in Tropical Africa is based on the course they have taken to fully liberalize the internal information and telecommunications market. However, it is advisable
take a critical look at this process.
On the one hand, market liberalization has had visible positive results: many new private companies have emerged in Africa to develop the necessary information and communication infrastructure. However, in reality, these are joint ventures, mixed in terms of capital, with such major multinational corporations as France Telecom of France and Vodafone of Great Britain. African businessmen are not yet actively involved in the creation of information and telecommunications infrastructure. From our point of view, among purely African telecommunications companies, the most notable success was achieved by the Nigerian Globacom, owned by Mike Adenuga, who is rightfully considered one of the most influential and wealthy Africans.
It seems that before carrying out a massive liberalization of the telecommunications system, African countries should have developed a regulatory framework for this reform earlier, but not turned it into an uncontrolled spontaneous process, which in fact meant the direct sale of the African information space to foreign private entrepreneurs, who today have such a strong position in the region that they can actually dictate their will regarding the nature and key directions of the planned telecommunications reforms.
Most likely, it is the financial and technological dependence on external assistance that can explain the fact that many national strategies for the development of information technologies are actually focused solely on creating a favorable climate for attracting private foreign investors to this strategic industry.
Full liberalization of the information sector of the economy can lead to irreversible negative consequences. If African countries follow the path of full liberalization of the information and communications sector, they will open the door to TNCs with large funds, financial technologies and capabilities, which in a very short time will be able to buy up almost the entire African telecommunications sector and put it under their control, which is actually happening at the moment.
In general, there is now a steady trend towards turning Africa into a completely dependent information territory on Western capital. There are concerns that the degree of this dependence will only increase over time. The only way to counteract this negative process is to establish balanced state regulation in the domestic information and communication market.
At the same time, we are not talking about creating full state monopolies, on the contrary, healthy market relations will be created, and the consumer will have a real opportunity to independently choose an Internet service provider based on their personal preferences and guided by the basic price-quality formula. But the state should establish certain "rules of the game" in the local information market and maintain general supervisory functions.
The main telecommunication lines must remain in the real ownership of the state, and under no circumstances can they be transferred to private hands.
Private companies, including Internet service providers, can be leased by the State on non-discriminatory terms and at a single fixed tariff. At the same time, the share of foreign capital in telecommunications enterprises should be strictly regulated by law in order to create a favorable climate for the development of local private entrepreneurship in this sector. There will also be a real opportunity to create an independent African information and communication infrastructure, to which foreign investors will be allowed, but under certain conditions and within the limits limited by current legislation.
Under these conditions, African countries will be able to count on equal integration into the global information and telecommunications space, otherwise they will remain weak players on the periphery of global information and communication processes.
Ndukwe E. 1 ICT Revolution and Vision 2020: the Position of the Nigerian Editor. Nigeria, Kaduna, 2009 - http://www.nigerian-guildofeditors.com
Ndukwe E. 2 ICT as a Tool for Achieving the Millennium Development Goal in Nigeria. October 2007 // Nigerian Communication Commission - http://www.ncc.gov.ng
3 Zain Nigeria - http://www.ng.zain.com
4 MTN Nigeria - http://www.mtnonline.com
5 Globacom - http://www.gloworld.com
6 MTN Nigeria - http://www.mtnonline.com
Sagna O. 7 Le Senegal dans la societe de I'information: Etat des lieux. Dakar, 2005, p. 19 - http://www.osiris.sn
8 http://www.ambassen.ru/eco/telecom. htm; Fall B. ICT in Education in Senegal // Survey of ICT and education in Africa: Senegal Country Report. June, 2007 http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.354.h tml; Chiffres cles-Principaux Indicateurs. Mars 2010. Observatoire sur les Systemes d'Information, les Reseaux et les Inforoutes au Senegal (OSIRIS) - http://www.osiris.sn/article26.html
9 Towards a Knowledge Based Economy. Strategic Plan: 2008 - 2012, p. 16 - http://www.information.go.ke
10 Communications Statistics Report. Second Quarter 2008/09 // Communication Commission of Kenya - http://www.cck.go.ke
11 The World Factbook: Mauritius - https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mp.html
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