at market research firm IDC,
Johannesburg, South Africa.
“It’s interesting to see Western and Chinese telecommunications companies coming
into Africa and making the
same mistakes: underestimating Africa’s size and complexity, and trying to use one
go-to-market plan,” he says.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s larg-
est economy, Nigeria, under-
scores this learning curve. To
properly plan an ICT project,
organizations have to be on
the ground to understand how factors such as the
country’s underpowered electrical grid and snarling
traffic affect day-to-day business, says Mr. Walker.
could enable the region to develop more quickly
than industrialized countries have in the past.
For the “leapfrog” benefit to be realized, however, multinational organizations executing ICT
infrastructure projects—often in partnership with
local governments and companies—must learn
to navigate one of the world’s most ethnically
and linguistically diverse regions. Whether their
initiatives are large (building a broadband network) or small (building a cell tower), executed in
one country or many, practitioners must identify
unique project challenges. All 49 governments
operate differently—and each country’s transportation and energy infrastructure make their
own demands on ICT projects. To assume that a
strategy that proved effective in Ghana will also
work in Rwanda is foolhardy, says Mark Walker,
associate vice president for sub-Saharan Africa
“It’s interesting to see
Western and Chinese
telecommunications
companies coming
into Africa and making
the same mistakes:
underestimating Africa’s
size and complexity, and
trying to use one go-to-
market plan.”
—Mark Walker, IDC, Johannesburg, South Africa
4. KENYA
Mobile phone
subscriptions: 71. 2
Wired/wireless
broadband subscrip-
tions: 0.1/2.2
Project: Internet service
provider AccessKenya
will spend KES7.2 million
by the end of 2017 on a
project to provide primary
and secondary schools for
the blind with broadband
Internet connections and
“assistive technology labs.”
All Over the Map
Sub-Saharan African nations’ economies are in different stages of development—and so are their ICT
sectors. That’s no coincidence: Rising mobile phone usage and broadband connectivity rates stimulate broader economic development. Here’s a look at mobile phone and broadband usage rates and
projects underway in four countries—including the region’s two largest economies, Nigeria and South
Africa. All usage rates represent the number of subscriptions per 100 people. —Imani Mixon
1. NIGERIA
Mobile phone
subscriptions: 66. 8
Wired/wireless broadband
subscriptions: 0.01/18.4
Project: Sponsored by the Nigerian government and the World
Bank, the US$10 million Nigerian
Research and Education Network
project gives 27 universities fiber-optic Internet connections. The first
phase was completed in March. The
second phase aims to give an additional 3. 4 million students access
by the end of 2015.
2. SOU TH AFRICA
Mobile phone
subscriptions: 130.6
Wired/wireless
broadband subscriptions:
2.1/25.2
Project: The Western
Cape provincial government is sponsoring Project
Isizwe, which is scheduled
to deliver free Wi-Fi to all
government educational
institutions by 2016.
3. SENEGAL
Mobile phone
subscriptions: 83.6
Wired/wireless broadband
subscriptions: 0.7/3.6
Project: Senegal’s government and the African Development Bank are co-sponsoring a
US$120 million project to build
a 25-hectare (62-acre) “digital
park” in the port city of Diamnia-dio. Construction is scheduled to
begin in 2016 on the site, which
will feature broadband access and
an ICT and data training center.
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