Broadband - Afrikan Heroes

Why Broadband Connectivity is Crucial to Sustainable Development in Africa

May 23, 2021

By Leo Chen

Over the past year or so, digital transformation accelerated at an unprecedented rate in societies around the world. Whether we were working, learning, or staying in touch with friends and family, being online became more critical than ever.

Even as vast numbers of people were adapting to their new realities, it became increasingly apparent that equally large numbers of people were shut out from being able to do so.

Leo Chen President of Huawei Southern Africa — Leo **Chen, President of Huawei Southern Africa**

In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, approximately 800-million people are not connected to the mobile internet. Of those, some 520-million can access the mobile internet but don’t, because of factors such as smartphone penetration and lack of skills while 270-million cannot access the mobile internet because they don’t have the requisite coverage. Across the region, 4G broadband coverage is at just 21%.

The figures are even starker when it comes to fixed-line internet connectivity. According to figures from research firm Ovum, there are just 6.6-million fixed-line internet subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa. While numbers are projected to grow three-fold by 2023, that still represents a small fraction of the region’s population. Those figures make it clear that the region needs to address a major internet infrastructure shortfall.

The benefits of growing internet accessibility and access are obvious. In 2019, in Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 650 000 jobs were supported directly by the mobile ecosystem and more than 1.4-million informal jobs in 2019. It also contributed more than US$17-billion to public funding through the course of the year.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has also established that a 10% increase in mobile broadband penetration in Africa would generate an increase of 2.5% in GDP per capita. That’s to say nothing of the benefits that better and more affordable mobile internet can have on education, healthcare, and government services.

With easily accessible internet connectivity, people can search for jobs, gain new skills, and access government services without having to travel to a physical location and potentially stand in long queues.

As we have seen, the pandemic has caused economic and social devastation and changed the way we live, work, study and socialize, bringing about an era of social distancing. One of the most significant changes is the acceleration of digital transformation. African policymakers have realised that access to broadband is critical for mitigating the effects of the pandemic and boosting economic recovery in the post-COVID era.

With changes in people’s behaviours and mindsets, broadband will also continue to provide opportunities for African countries to leapfrog obstacles to sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development.

Of course, the responsibility to create access doesn’t lie with the government alone. Corporates also have a role to play. For example, Huawei has backed a number of initiatives that aim to help grow access in areas where it’s needed most.

From a healthcare perspective, meanwhile, with broadband connections, Lifebank, a pioneering Nigerian startup delivers blood and other essential medical supplies to hospitals. By keeping the startup and its riders connected, we can ensure that hospitals get urgent supplies when they are needed.

These kinds of projects, however, only serve to illustrate how much need for accessible, affordable broadband there really is across Sub-Saharan Africa. They represent a glimpse at the kind of access that everyone should have and which players across society should look to provide.

For more than a decade, the United Nations has recognised that the internet is a catalyst for sustainable development. As the events of the past year or so have shown, however, far too many people are unable to enjoy those rights because they lack access and connectivity. We will all benefit from widening access and bridging this divide. There is no question that it should be a major priority for governments, corporates, and civil society players alike and that it should be an ongoing one.

Chen is the President of Huawei Southern Africa

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Why Broadband is Critical to the Success of Small Businesses

February 15, 2021

By Dumisani Bengu

In an age where a business is now largely conducted online, access to reliable and fast internet connection is now more important than ever. Due to COVID-19, supply chain systems and customer service have moved online, and business broadband is playing an essential role in making this happen.

**Dumisani Bengu is the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Telkom Business**

The pandemic has escalated the need for more SMMEs to embrace fast and reliable internet connection for selling their products, engaging with customers, marketing and communicating with suppliers and this is where business broadband comes in.

Business broadband may be considered more costly than home broadband on a rand and cents basis; however, it is cost-efficient and inexpensive when you consider the value-added services that often come with business broadband packages which are of great value for small-medium enterprises.

This kind of broadband is packaged with tools and instruments that are tailored for each enterprise that includes security features and various software packages that help protect company data against cyberattacks.

Through the fast internet connectivity provided by business broadband, small businesses can do daily transactions, sell solutions while providing business owners with cost-efficient and easy access to the digital economy.

Higher speeds

Compared to home broadband, business broadband offers higher speeds, creating stronger and reliable connectivity. Standard broadband consists of speeds up to 30 Megabytes per second (Mbps) and lower and it is found in technologies such as DSL and older dial-up systems.

Super-fast broadband speed can go up to 300Mbps from 30Mbps, a preferable speed for most businesses needing reliable and fast internet for normal day-to-day business. Ultra-fast fibre is the gold standard of broadband connectivity with speeds of more than 300MBps and some industry players can go up to 1G per sec.

Ultra-fast fibre should be considered by businesses largely in fields such as data science, digital ecosystems, eCommerce and others whose core products and value propositions are distributed digitally.

Innovations requiring high bandwidth and lower latency

Businesses push through a lot of data through broadband access and speed is imperative. As technology develops, there are a lot of solutions in other verticals, such as smart offices, distributed energy supply such as renewables, close circuit plant monitoring systems, etc and it is only a matter of time before they proliferate South African market and broadband speed is going to be a distinguishing factor.

Customisation

Business broadband users have other customer-specific solutions such as dedicated lines to your business which will not be shared with others in the area to avoid throttling the speed. Customers get a dedicated IP address, providing reliable access points when using tools such as VPN.

Through business broadband packages, one may also access multiple voice access points on your device, depending on the needs. It also provides voice access at competitive rates as IP voice is more cost-effective.

The challenges of setting up broadband in areas with little infrastructure

The lack of infrastructure in rural and remote areas presents a great challenge in terms of bringing strong and reliable connection to small businesses in such areas. Service providers have various challenges in setting up broadband networks in rural areas, including uneven terrain and sparse populations, among others. But these challenges can be addressed by actively engaging in government and private sector partnerships.

The future of business broadband

Broadband is a crucial driver of job creation and economic growth. The applications enabled by the Internet are especially important for small businesses because they have become crucial platforms for innovation in healthcare, education, entrepreneurship, and communications. Business broadband will play an important role in the future of business productivity, growth, customer service and customer experience.

Dumisani Bengu is the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Telkom Business

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Low Broadband Penetration Hinders Tech Growth in Nigeria

September 1, 2020

Nigeria’s continued slow pace of broadband penetration is a stumbling block to take off of the tech sector and ancillary industries. In an age the Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the landscape of everything in sight, Nigeria, unfortunately is lagging behind its potential to lead in providing affordable and accessible broadband for its young and teeming population. This is inpite of the recorded leap 10 per cent in the last three years from an average growth of two per cent annually since the year 2000.

Speaking on the need to speed up broadband growth in the country, the Minister of Communications, Dr. Isa Patami said that the federal government remains committed to digitalising the Nigerian economy, saying the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the need for the government to aggressively achieve a digital economy.

Pantami made this remark at the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria’s (CIBN), 2020 Graduates’ Induction/Prize Awards day, which was held virtually over the weekend. The CIBN inducted 1,311 new members and awarded the best performing students in its different professional certification categories.

Speaking on the feat recorded by his ministry, Pantami said: “In less than a year, when I came on board, the broadband penetration was a little higher than 30 per cent, from 2000 to 2019. But, by the end of July this year, broadband penetration was over 42 per cent. We achieved almost a 10 percent increase in less than a year. “With all sense of humility and modesty, before we came on board, the penetration annually was averagely less than two per cent. But this year alone, the penetration is 10 per cent which is highly unprecedented.”

He further said the growth of the digital economy was reliant on continuous innovation and entrepreneurship. “COVID-19 is clearly showing us why it is important to fast-track the digitalisation or rather the digital transformation of Nigeria. To drive the digital economy, there are two components that are key. One is digital innovation and digital entrepreneurship.” In her presentation, A Professor of Information Systems/Academic Director, Lagos Business, Prof. Olayinka David-West, noted that the digital economy was birthed alongside the information age and represents the levels of economic activity from digital connections between people, businesses and extending to devices, data and processes. According to her, such connections or interactions depend on the interconnectedness of people, organisations and machines facilitated by the internet, mobile technology and the internet of things (IoT).

“We have seen jobs transition from place to space, where work is not just a place we go to but an activity we carry out. Given that not all work is digitally enabled, the value of some roles in the organisation will be re-validated. An example of this is in the civil service, where workers below a certain grade have been away from work and unable to work for months.

“Digitally enabled work means that work activities or business processes are executed digitally (without paper) end-to-end (inter-departmental and inter-organisation). Related to this is that organisations are distributed and aggregating quality digital infrastructure at one location is inefficient because now, our homes are our workplaces and our organisations have to accommodate this shift.

“This also raises the issue of the digital tools we buy. Because our models have been place-based, desktops have dominated the workplace; but how portable are those desktops? Again this raises the dilemma of information security and data theft when organisational information is dispersed across machines. The digital infrastructure and tools deployed in our homes require hard infrastructure like electric power and housing conducive to home-based work,” David-West said.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

AFRICA NEEDS BROADBAND FOR FASTER ECONOMIC GROWTH

October 24, 2019

THE question of broadband internet infrastructure is at the core of Africa’s overall development. Panellists at the seminar on Connecting Africa Through Broadband which took place on the sidelines of the just concluded IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington D.C. USA, contend that the earlier the 54 nations on the continent are able to cue into the universal trend, the faster the pace of development of Africa.

With experts drawn from different fields and countries, the importance of broadband internet accessibility to Africans was dissected and projected as the panacea to its advancement in health, education, and technology.

One of the panellists, Aurelie Adam Soule Zoumarou, Benin Republic’s Minister of Digital Technology, said that though her country is a small, it is propelled by a monumental vision to work towards digitalisation. She was optimistic that with the determination of the people and the unflinching support of the country’s policy makers, it’s just a matter of time before a functional broadband infrastructure becomes a reality in Benin Republic.

The discussants were inspired by a report titled: Connecting Africa through Broadband: A Roadmap for Inclusive Growth. The report, one of the first to quantify the cost of bridging the broadband gap in North and Sub-Saharan Africa, calls for urgent action to close the internet gap while providing a roadmap and action plan for reaching universal broadband connectivity in Africa by 2030.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.