Kathy Gibson reports – Africa is lagging the rest of the world in connectivity and access to digital opportunities – and it’s not going to catch up any time soon unless we fundamentally change the way we provide access, power, and devices.
And, while South Africa is doing a lot better than the rest of the continent, it has still failed to connect almost half of its citizens.
In an exclusive interview with IT-Online, Angela Wamola, GSMA head of sub-Saharan Africa, points out that South Africa’s connectivity rate is 54% – exactly double that of the rest of Africa, which still languishes at 27% of people connected.
But we are standing at the point now where we could either act purposefully to start closing the digital divide, or allow it to continue widening, Wamola points out.
We talk about the digital economy, but for millions of Africans it is an unattainable dream that will remain forever out of reach due to a lack of access and electricity – and the high costs of power, connectivity, and devices.
Rural communities are most affected by poor connectivity, but often it’s not for lack of infrastructure, Wamola points out. Across Africa, a massive 710-million people live within reach of a cell phone tower that they are not connected to.
These users are probably not worth the capital outlay required to connect them because the high cost of this connectivity is competing for more urgent needs within their households.
“In Africa, we are dangerously poised to enhance the digital divide,” Wamola stresses. “The signals we sent to the private sector about the 4G rollout – that they need to expend more capital but accept longer ROIs – is having an effect on their appetite for 5G investment.”
The many challenges facing South Africa’s nascent digital economy start with a sluggish overall economy that has grown at just 0,8% a year over the last decade – not enough to drive economic transformation and poverty reduction.
At the same time, macroeconomic conditions like the cost of capital and poorly-performing rand make it difficult for companies to invest and expand at the rate they need to. This means any revenue generated by the technology sector is under sustained pressure – which makes it difficult for operators to meet new and more onerous regulatory requirements.
On the ground, people are simply unable to afford devices – and unable to use them effectively because they lack skills or the wherewithal to buy the data needed to make them a tool for improving their livelihoods.
Wamola recommends that government look to seizing the low-hanging fruit by removing taxes, excise, and SIM card duties to help keep the cost of devices low.
“And let’s also boost the development of hydro, wind, and solar to stop relying on diesel to provide energy. If we always rely on fossil fuels, the rural users will never be able to afford to be connected. Already, if you live in a rural area, you are 58% less likely to go online than an urban dweller. And women are 32% less likely as well – because women are more aware of the cost and of what that money could buy instead.
“For many rural people, the smartphone is not seen as a tool to increase their productivity or improve their lives, but is regarded as a luxury item.”
Simple arithmetic demonstrates that rural users, faced with high connectivity costs, subsequently use less data – and this pushes the cost per Gigabyte up. “The economics can never balance,” Wamola says. “What we need to do is to stimulate usage. But the lack of infrastructure further adds to the cost.”
Add to this the fact that the average connectivity cost for rural users equates to 7% of their income – compared to 2% for the rest of the world – and the picture about why Africa is lagging becomes clearer. “For these users, connectivity is competing with things like food or fuel – things they need to survive.”
A massive elephant in the room is the availability and affordability of clean, reliable energy.
“5G, data centres, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) – all technologies needed to unlock the digital economy – require a lot of energy, which is still a challenge in South Africa,” Wamola explains.
Continuing to rely on non-renewable energy sources means that costs cannot be controlled, while the use of fossil fuels devalues our currencies. And, so far, these power sources have failed to provide adequate or affordable power for the majority of the continent’s people.
“But Africa is blessed with abundant water sources, sunshine, and wind; we have an opportunity to focus attention on renewable energy,”Wamola says.
Yes, mining is a big contributor to the economy and produces the fossil fuels that drive the existing coal- and diesel-powered energy plants, but this energy is prohibitively expensive – especially for people living in rural areas.
But Wamola sees no reason why these energy sources cannot exist in harmony with renewable sources, with solutions like solar micro-grids being used to power remote areas.
The GSMA has put forward six policy changes it believes will help South Africa to accelerate better inclusion to extend the digital economy to underserved citizens:
Sustainable investment policies and decisions
Measures to enable a sustainable investment environment and reduce regulatory constraints on digital and tech sector companies should be included in proposed new policy direction recently announced by the ICT and Digital Economy Masterplan.
They should involve evidence-based socio-economic impact assessments to determine how they will impact all stakeholders. Investors want long-term policy certainty, so government needs to deliver sector stability, policy, and regulatory certainty to create an attractive environment for long-term investments.
Spectrum policy decisions which promote investment to enable digital objectives
The Department of Communications and Digital Technology’s spectrum policy, together with ICASA’s long-term spectrum outlook and IMT spectrum roadmap, must ensure sufficient spectrum assignment and take a balanced approach to setting the terms of such assignments. This includes establishing a robust oversight framework and implementing market-led and collaborative strategies for the sunset of 2G and 3G networks. This will help to create a sustainable investment environment.
Measures to provide more effective deployment, energy supply, and protection to the electronic communications networks
ICASA is urged to issue rapid deployment regulations for harmonised and efficient processes for access to public and private land. At the same time, government and regulators should work with the sector to evaluate and adopt measures to support the mobile sector’s energy requirements by exempting telecoms infrastructure from loadshedding, providing a diesel tax rebate, reducing regulatory burdens, and providing incentives for innovative renewable energy projects. Government should also recognise that telecommunications infrastructure is strategic and protect it accordingly. This will help to reassure investors and also drive down costs.
Progress digital adoption through increased device affordability and digital skills
This includes accelerating the Digital Masterplan programme for affordable smart devices by revisiting taxes, establishing recycling and upcycling programmes, and scaling up existing incentives for manufacturing. The Digital Skills Forum could also be used to promote public-private partnerships, co-ordination, and oversight of digital skills development.
Implement the Digital Masterplan and other policies
It is crucial that the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies updates the Digital Masterplan and that progress is made on implementing current programmes such as infrastructure, digital government, digital skills, device affordability, and reforms to ensure investment while removing regulatory barriers.