12 °c
London
Saturday, December 9, 2023
No Result
View All Result
FurtherAfrica
  • Countries
    • Angola
    • Botswana
    • Cape Verde
    • DRC
    • Eswatini
    • Ethiopia
    • Kenya
    • Malawi
    • Mauritius
    • Mozambique
    • Namibia
    • Nigeria
    • Rwanda
    • South Africa
    • Tanzania
    • Uganda
    • Zambia
    • Zimbabwe
  • Interviews
  • Understanding
  • Videos
  • Travel
  • Weekend
  • About
FurtherAfrica
  • Countries
    • Angola
    • Botswana
    • Cape Verde
    • DRC
    • Eswatini
    • Ethiopia
    • Kenya
    • Malawi
    • Mauritius
    • Mozambique
    • Namibia
    • Nigeria
    • Rwanda
    • South Africa
    • Tanzania
    • Uganda
    • Zambia
    • Zimbabwe
  • Interviews
  • Understanding
  • Videos
  • Travel
  • Weekend
  • About
No Result
View All Result
FurtherAfrica
No Result
View All Result
Home Africa

The gold mine in Africa’s ‘internet economy’

The Exchange by The Exchange
August 28, 2020
in Africa, Communications, Development, DFI, Digital Inclusion, Infrastructure, Mobile, Tech, Telecom
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
0

Africa accounts for 40 per cent of the global population not covered by a mobile broadband network.

Only 47 per cent of the world’s population is covered by a mobile broadband network, according to the GSMA’s Mobile Internet Connectivity 2019 report.

While there has been an acceleration in mobile broadband coverage, the continent still lags behind since it accounts for a minority stake out of the 3.5 billion mobile internet subscribers worldwide.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) notes that only about 22 per cent of Africa’s population has access to an internet connection, the lowest of any region in the world.

According to the GSMA Sub Saharan Africa factsheet, mobile data has become more affordable but remains above 2 per cent of the monthly income threshold for more than 75 per cent of countries in the region.

A survey of consumers indicates that the two largest barriers to mobile internet adoption in SSA are a lack of digital skills and literacy followed by affordability. Noteworthy is that mobile internet adoption is not equitable where women are 41 per cent less likely than men to use mobile internet. In rural areas, populations are 58 per cent less likely to use mobile internet than urban populations.

And these challenges are probably what the IFC is targeting to address.

The World Bank Group member announced this month that it was loaning the West Indian Ocean Cable Company Ltd (WIOCC) to help the telecoms infrastructure provider expand and improve affordable internet connectivity as it continues to serve over 30 countries in Africa.

WIOCC has received some US$20M from the IFC’s global US$8B fast-track covid-19 response facility announced in March to help sustain economies and preserve jobs during the pandemic.

Also read: Orange launches Orange Bank Africa, its mobile money service

This support will help WIOCC upgrade subsea capacity, including the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), and roll out terrestrial fibre optic networks across the region. EASSy is an undersea fibre optic cable system connecting countries in Eastern Africa to the rest of the world.

The African Union has set the goal of connecting every individual, business, and government on the continent by 2030. IFC’s partnership with WIOCC is a step toward helping address the connectivity gap in Africa.

WIOCC is a private company jointly owned by 14 African telecommunication operators. It makes strategic investments in digital infrastructure to support reliable and scalable connectivity in Africa. The entity will be making additional investments in digital infrastructure in the immediate term in light of increased demand because of the covid-19 pandemic.

The pandemic has slapped the continent with severe socioeconomic consequences including increased unemployment, lost incomes and wealth depletion since reserves cannot be replenished as fast.

With this, the disruption has increased the importance of digital technology on the continent in response to the unfolding crises caused by the virus as well as planning for recovery.

On the positive side, the pandemic has the potential to accelerate Africa’s digital transformation creating decent and resilient digital jobs for the millions affected by the disruption.  ​

With Africa being majorly youthful, this crisis could be just what the continent needed to shift from the analogue way of doing things to moving the office online.

As seeking livelihoods shifts online with the working from home policies to the creation of new opportunities, there is a goldmine in digital technology and the internet economy could balloon with good investments in the sector.

The shift has the potential to positively impact labour supply and demand since projections by several institutions including the World Bank showed that an estimated 230 million digital jobs would be created in Africa by 2030.

To fill them, some 650 million more training opportunities would be created showing that the internet was a haven of opportunities for the continent.

Since the pandemic hit, online retailing and digital trade in services have increased on the continent. This means that there are several opportunities innovation, e-commerce and the creation of digital jobs for both intra-African and other markets beyond the continent.​

And to make all this a reality, countries like Kenya are already launching floating cell sites to offer internet coverage to millions not covered by the current infrastructure.

Also read: 2Africa: A transformative subsea cable for future internet connectivity in Africa announced

In 2018, Telkom Kenya and Loon, a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s parent company partnered to offer the high-altitude balloons. The partnership was timely since now the two companies can afford the masses the much-needed connectivity.

While most jobs remain informal, the internet which has limitless opportunities has now become the next frontier for African youth out to make a dime. Service providers enabling this venture will be the biggest beneficiaries of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

Original article on The Exchange

Related

Tags: africaafrican techAfrican UnionEASSyEastern Africa Submarine Cable SystemGoogle LoonGSMA’s Mobile Internet Connectivity 2019 reportInternational Finance Corporationinternet economyinternet infrastructureLoonsubsea cable systemsTechtelecomTelkom KenyaThe gold mine in Africa’s ‘internet economy’WIOCCWorld BankWorld Bank Groupафрикаأفريقياアフリカ非洲
The Exchange

The Exchange

News analysis and comment from the The Exchange, a leading publication providing economic news and analysis on the capital markets of Africa, with a specific interest in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Congo. We provide features in banking, capital markets, energy, mining, manufacturing and industrial development.

Related Posts

Travel

Diani and Zanzibar – the top destinations this December

by See Africa Today
December 9, 2023
Travel

Top clubs to rave in Nairobi 2023

by See Africa Today
December 9, 2023
Fashion

The hidden beauty of Zanzibar International Fashion Festival

by See Africa Today
December 9, 2023
Africa

AfDB warns of US$25B drain on Africa with new EU carbon tax

by The Exchange
December 8, 2023
Finance

Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund Invests in 3 Funds

by Africa Global Funds
December 8, 2023
Mozambique eVisa
 
MozParks

Translate this page

Read the Latest

Travel

Diani and Zanzibar – the top destinations this December

by See Africa Today
December 9, 2023
0

If you are to pick a holiday destination in East Africa, would it be Diani or Zanzibar? Zanzibar, an idyllic...

Read more

Top clubs to rave in Nairobi 2023

December 9, 2023

The hidden beauty of Zanzibar International Fashion Festival

December 9, 2023

AfDB warns of US$25B drain on Africa with new EU carbon tax

December 8, 2023

Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund Invests in 3 Funds

December 8, 2023

FurtherAfrica Partners Network

The Exchange Farmers Review Africa 360 Mozambique
TechGist Africa Energy Capital & Power Club of Mozambique
Taarifa Rwanda Web3Africa See Africa Today
Africa Global Funds Novafrica CrudeMix Africa
Harambee Africa Botswana unplugged Financial Insights Zambia
O Económico Digilogic Africa  

Subscribe to FurtherAfrica

Enter your email address to receive new articles on your email.

Join 107.2K other subscribers
FurtherAfrica

© 2021 FurtherMarkets

FurtherAfrica is a FurtherMarkets Limited platform

  • Countries
  • Interviews
  • Understanding
  • Videos
  • Travel
  • Weekend
  • About

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Countries
    • Angola
    • Botswana
    • Cape Verde
    • DRC
    • Eswatini
    • Ethiopia
    • Kenya
    • Malawi
    • Mauritius
    • Mozambique
    • Namibia
    • Nigeria
    • Rwanda
    • South Africa
    • Tanzania
    • Uganda
    • Zambia
    • Zimbabwe
  • Interviews
  • Understanding
  • Videos
  • Travel
  • Weekend
  • About

© 2021 FurtherMarkets

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?