Africa’s future is clear: Youth, Technology & Broadband

[Commentary] Technology is not an end unto itself. While it needs to reward shareholders and management, it has to address the improvement of human well-being. Only then will it drive a revolution of ethics and morality that resolve the grand challenge of development in Africa and the world.

I remember in the mid-90s as Minister of Communications in the Mandela Cabinet that there were 600,000 mobile phones in sub-Saharan Africa. Today it exceeds 750 million and is one of the fastest growing markets. We can build on the incredible talent coming out of the technology hubs in Africa. In Nairobi, one of the cutting edges of new technology, public innovation, has produced some of the most successful applications. It is estimated that anywhere up to 20% of the Kenyan GDP is circulating on the back of mobile platforms like M-pesa, putting effective financial services into the hands of the previously unbanked. Over 17 million customers can deposit, withdraw and transfer money, pay bills, buy airtime from a network of agents that includes airtime resellers and retail outlets. We can use technology to drive education content and teaching and to deliver telemedicine.

To do this we need:

• Governments to lead through clear policies and regulations
• Each country needs a broadband rollout plan
• Clear policy and regulations that drive competition, attract private sector investment and drive down tariffs
• Introduce financial incentives that support entrepreneurs in public innovation
• Universal service obligations to subsidize education and rural Internet access
• Local governments to drive connectivity and increase citizen access to public services and information
• Define incentives for operators and stakeholders in the broadband value chain
• While there is no single recipe that is likely to work for all countries – instead, countries need to relate the options they choose for universalizing broadband to their market needs.

[Jay Naidoo is a member of the UN Broadband Commission]