Wednesday, May 05, 2004
And the verdict is?By Haru Mutasa
Imagine a remote African village far removed from the hustle and bustle of urban life. The inhabitants of this island barely have running water or electricity let alone a telephone.
Life is relatively simple and people go about their lives making ends meet in whatever way they know how. For one individual this is done through the community phone shop – the only form of regular communication with the outside world.
Stewart White, Vodafone Group Public Policy Director speaking at a panel discussion on the state of the telecommunications industry in Africa painted this picture in his mind's eye, "Perhaps bean farmers in Kenya could, before exporting their crop to London for sale, use this phone shop to call up their contacts in the UK and find out what the trading prices are like before shipping their cargo."
His scenario is probably true of what is possible on the continent thanks to the proliferation of phones, both fixed and mobile, that have gripped the continent and refused to let go. "Over 100 million minutes of calls are made every month from a community with just one community phone shop," he said, "and in the three years since Johannesburg (Telecom Africa 2001), mobiles have overtaken fixed lines significantly."
Telecom Egypt chairman Akil Hamed Beshir, echoing the general sentiment of delegates at the sixth International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecom Africa conference in Cairo Egypt said, "Africa has had its ups and downs when it comes to telecommunications. However for some time now figures of mobile users have been increasing when other countries around the world are seeing stagnation in subscribers. But there has not been enough investment and what we need to see are African operators entering partnerships and mergers with global companies."
As one foreign eager beaver itches to leap onto the band wagon, the future looks bright for Africa. "It is only through privatisation and deregulation that foreign direct investment and joint ventures between foreign and local investors can materialise," said Italian business man Stefano Mazzitelli of Telecom Italia Sparkle, "This will be good for the continent socially and economically encouraging competition which ultimately drives markets down."
Telecom Italia Sparkle is owned by the Telecom Italia Group, a leading Group in the ICT world Telecom Italia Sparkle in Italy. It provides telecommunications services to fixed and mobile operators, ISPs, and multinational companies.
"We want this done in a cooperative way – not a paternalistic one and we want to assist and support Africa in telecommunications advancement," he explained.
When asked why Italy is keen on investing in Africa his reply was short, sweet and to the point. "The high numbers speak for themselves so I will not elaborate on that," he said, "Internet is reasonably distributed across the continent and voice technology is showing interesting growth factors - all translating into economic growth and wealth for the continent."
With several African operators emerging as regional powerhouses with the ability to spread investment across the continent, a positive lucrative future seems inevitable for Africa if countries openly embrace offers from foreign companies – offers which could very well benefit Africa's ICT landscape.
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Imagine a remote African village far removed from the hustle and bustle of urban life. The inhabitants of this island barely have running water or electricity let alone a telephone.
Life is relatively simple and people go about their lives making ends meet in whatever way they know how. For one individual this is done through the community phone shop – the only form of regular communication with the outside world.
Stewart White, Vodafone Group Public Policy Director speaking at a panel discussion on the state of the telecommunications industry in Africa painted this picture in his mind's eye, "Perhaps bean farmers in Kenya could, before exporting their crop to London for sale, use this phone shop to call up their contacts in the UK and find out what the trading prices are like before shipping their cargo."
His scenario is probably true of what is possible on the continent thanks to the proliferation of phones, both fixed and mobile, that have gripped the continent and refused to let go. "Over 100 million minutes of calls are made every month from a community with just one community phone shop," he said, "and in the three years since Johannesburg (Telecom Africa 2001), mobiles have overtaken fixed lines significantly."
Telecom Egypt chairman Akil Hamed Beshir, echoing the general sentiment of delegates at the sixth International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecom Africa conference in Cairo Egypt said, "Africa has had its ups and downs when it comes to telecommunications. However for some time now figures of mobile users have been increasing when other countries around the world are seeing stagnation in subscribers. But there has not been enough investment and what we need to see are African operators entering partnerships and mergers with global companies."
As one foreign eager beaver itches to leap onto the band wagon, the future looks bright for Africa. "It is only through privatisation and deregulation that foreign direct investment and joint ventures between foreign and local investors can materialise," said Italian business man Stefano Mazzitelli of Telecom Italia Sparkle, "This will be good for the continent socially and economically encouraging competition which ultimately drives markets down."
Telecom Italia Sparkle is owned by the Telecom Italia Group, a leading Group in the ICT world Telecom Italia Sparkle in Italy. It provides telecommunications services to fixed and mobile operators, ISPs, and multinational companies.
"We want this done in a cooperative way – not a paternalistic one and we want to assist and support Africa in telecommunications advancement," he explained.
When asked why Italy is keen on investing in Africa his reply was short, sweet and to the point. "The high numbers speak for themselves so I will not elaborate on that," he said, "Internet is reasonably distributed across the continent and voice technology is showing interesting growth factors - all translating into economic growth and wealth for the continent."
With several African operators emerging as regional powerhouses with the ability to spread investment across the continent, a positive lucrative future seems inevitable for Africa if countries openly embrace offers from foreign companies – offers which could very well benefit Africa's ICT landscape.
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