How Nigeria, others can attain full digital economy, by experts

A new report released by the Internet Society has highlighted key strategies that can be adopted by Nigeria and other countries in Africa to achieve a full digital economy. The report, titled “Internet Development and Governance in Africa,” was issued at the Africa Internet Summit 2015 in Tunis, Tunisia. It provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of the Internet in Africa and highlights the importance of the multistakeholder model of Internet governance as an essential part of Africa’s Internet ecosystem.

In light of the rapid growth experienced by the continent in the past 10 years, the report finds that the time is right to maximise that potential. “As Africa’s user base grows, the need to coordinate and manage the growth and development of the Internet becomes increasingly important,” said Internet Society Regional Bureau Director for Africa, Dawit Bekele. “If Africa has to make the progression towards a digital economy to real the full benefits of the Internet, it needs to transition from basic connectivity to interconnectivity of networks and to interoperability of systems, and enable the development of applications and services that drive economic and social well-being.”

The report highlights steady adoption of this transformative technology since the introduction of the Internet to Africa in 1991, reaching just over 20 per cent continentwide, but these aggregate indicators mask glaring disparities in Internet development levels from country to country. Morocco has Internet penetration rates above 50 per cent, while other African countries have penetration rates just under 2 per cent. The majority of countries have Internet penetration below 10 per cent, well below the 20 per cent threshold found to be critical for countries to reap economic benefits.

According to the report, one of the ways identified by the report to improve the interconnectivity of networks is to establish Internet eXchange Points (IXPs) at the local level. Africa now has more than 30 IXPs and is well on the way to achieving the goal of at least one IXP per country.

The establishment of IXPs can catalyse the build-out of terrestrial infrastructure, which in turn would make access to the Internet cheaper and faster. One example of this effort, the report said, is the East African Backhaul System (EABS), which will serve Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. Through the infrastructure, the report said the landlocked countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi have established backbones that gain access to submarine fiber almost at the same price as that of the coastal countries. An area that could be transitioned faster is the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting, which offers more opportunities to increase Internet access by freeing up unused spectrum.