88226 ICT competitiveness in Africa eTransform AFRICA AFRICAN UNION This document, on ICT Competitiveness in Africa, is the summary of the full thematic study which was carried out by a team from TNO/Excelsior led by Javier Ewing and comprising Nicholas Chevrolier, Matthijs Leenderste, Maryanna Quigless and Thomas Verghese. The full report is available at www.eTransformAfrica.org. This document forms chapter nine of the publication edited by Enock Yonazi, Tim Kelly, Naomi Halewood and Colin Blackman (2012) “eTransform Africa: The Transformational Use of ICTs in Africa.” Funding for the publication came from the AfDB Korean Trust Fund, the WB Pfizer Trust Fund and the WB Africa regional department. eTransform AFRICA AFRICAN UNION ICT competitiveness in Africa Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to transform business and government in Africa, driving entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth. A new flagship report – eTransform Africa – produced by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, with the support of the African Union, identifies best practice in the use of ICTs in key sectors of the African economy. Under the theme “Transformation-Ready”, the growing contribution of ICTs to Agriculture, Climate Change Adaptation, Education, Financial Services, Government Services and Health is explored. In addition, the report highlights the role of ICTs in enhancing African regional trade and integration as well as the need to build a competitive ICT industry to promote innovation, job creation and the export potential of African companies. introduction ICT competitiveness in Africa 1 3 The ICT sector has proven to be a penetration remains comparatively strong driver of GDP growth in na- low in Africa, never before in the his- tions across the world. From devel- tory of the continent has the popula- oping countries such as India and the tion been as connected as it is today. Philippines, to developed nations such as the United States of America and This summary outlines the current Ireland, the ICT sector has contributed to and historical landscape of the lo- the success of each of these nation’s econ- cal ICT sector in Africa, explains the omies, the advancement of its people’s primary areas of ICT that would most skills and capabilities and positioning benefit the continent, makes tactical the nation as a place for global firms recommendations to continue the mo- to more efficiently do business. The mentum of growth, lists roadblocks to ICT sector is socially and economi- overcome in order to implement the cally relevant to Africa in that it has recommendations and describes case been the major economic driver in studies from specific African nations Sub-Saharan Africa over the past de- that currently lead the way. cade. Although mobile and internet landscape analysis ICT competitiveness in Africa 2 5 The opportunity in ICT for Africa is growth, expenditures in ICT within significant. Provided the ICT market Africa could exceed US$150 billion by continues its impressive double-digit 2016 (see Figure 1). Figure 1 Projected ICT expenditures in Africa to 2016 Estimate for rest of Africa 155-180 Set of 10 Countries representing 65-70% of African GDP* 95-100 60-65 110- 125 US$ billions 11% 66 Assumes ICT 45 annual maintains growth share of GDP 2005 2009 2016 ICT expenditures (% of GDP estimated) 6.3% 6.7% 6-7% * Countries in sample set are Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia. Note: ICT expenditures include computer hardware and computer software, computer services (information technology consulting, computer and network systems integration, Web hosting, data processing services, and other services); and communications services (voice and data communications services) and wired and wireless communications equipment. Source: World Bank Databank - African Development Indicators, ITU Measuring the Infor- mation Society, 2011, consultant analysis. Nevertheless, although current perfor- services but the continent largely lags mance indicators and financial predic- behind the rest of the world in terms of tions are largely positive, there are still ICT readiness. The ITU Development challenges for the continent in the ICT Index, for instance, indicates that the sector. A number of African countries African region has made slower prog- have made progress on access to ICT ress when compared to other regions 6 in the past 2 years, with roughly half ITU, most of the limited gains have the improvement on an aggregate taken place in providing greater access basis (see Figure 2). According to the to ICT. Figure 2 ICT Development Index indicators Score of weighted factors of ICT Access, Use and Skills. Regional Scores 2008 2010 6.42 5.80 3.62 4.08 4.06 3.61 3.50 3.89 3.18 3.85 1.68 1.93 World Africa Europe Asia-Pacific Americas Com. Of Indep. Sates Africa examples 7.80 8.04 4.00 3.43 3.29 2.60 2.29 1.74 1.54 1.85 1.40 1.53 0.94 1.08 Korea, Rep Mauritius Morocco Kenya Nigeria Cameroon Chad Rank within Africa #1 #4 #12 #15 #26 #38 (out of 40 rated countries) Source: ITU Measuring the Information Society, 2011. A key indicator in determining access However, broadband costs continue to and usage is the price of service, such be beyond the reach for most Africans. as for voice and data. Pricing of voice Furthermore, when differences in GDP services in many African countries are taken into account as compared to has become competitive and com- global benchmarks, Africans pay even parable with the rest of the world. more owing to the lower GDP base. 7 The ITU’s ICT price basket analysis de- Morocco spends 3.5 times its GDP on tails the extent of the gap: for mobile ICT than Nigeria. cellular calls, Africans pay on average 25 per cent of monthly gross national Africa has improved its relative share income (GNI) per capita versus 11 of foreign direct investment (FDI) per cent in other developing nations. over the past two decades, albeit from On the other hand, the story of mo- a small base. From 1995 to 2010, bile penetration across the continent Africa’s FDI inflows grew at 16 per is far better than the internet. Overall, cent compared with 11 per cent for 45 per cent of African residents have a developing world counterparts, and mobile subscription; this is more than 9 per cent globally. Furthermore, four times the penetration of the inter- Africa’s perception as an investment net. Spending on ICT within Africa is destination, including ICT, has im- roughly in line with the global average, proved tremendously in the past few although there is a considerable varia- years, according to Ernst and Young’s tion between countries. For example, Africa attractiveness survey. opportunities and challenges ICT competitiveness in Africa 3 9 The continent is primed to continue Areas where these opportunities can be its momentum in the ICT sector. capitalized are with eCommerce, mi- Continent-wide opportunities include: crowork, and the establishment of ICT parks. These areas not only already have • increasing industrialization of the a relatively strong presence throughout ICT industry, Africa, but multinational firms are in- creasingly looking to Africa to leverage • greater fragmentation and differen- these areas for greater efficiencies and tiation within software, productivity. • continued growth of the business The most prevalent challenges across process offshoring sector, the continent to fully move forward in these business areas are infrastructure, • leveraging open source software energy constraints and the ICT skills adoption, which has lowered barriers gap (compared to other parts of the to entry for firms, and world), which impacts users as well as the pool of available, skilled labour for • encouraging greater intra-Africa firms wanting to do business in Africa. FDI to allow sharing of solutions These challenges are further outlined in already proven on the continent. a few case studies throughout the study. case studies ICT competitiveness in Africa 4 � Kenya p11 � Morocco p14 � Nigeria p16 11 Three nations that are emerging in the each of these nations’ opportunities and area of ICT are Kenya, Morocco and roadblocks are included in the study. Nigeria. Case studies which outline Some of these insights are as follows. Kenya The Kenya ICT Board (KICTB), government intends to raise produc- the implementation arm for ICT tivity and efficiency through increased policy in Kenya, focuses on action- resource allocation to scientific re- oriented approaches to boost ICT search penetration. including partnerships with MNCs. The board’s eGovernment initiatives Within the BPO sector, three players have attempted to replicate best- have risen to the top as full service BPO in-class Ethiopian and US eGovern- providers: ment systems to streamline public ser- vice delivery. In addition, the KICTB’s • DDD Kenya is a data entry and public-private partnership initiatives back office services provider backed (PPPs) have enhanced self-sustaining by US philanthropic organizations development projects and skill build- that train disadvantaged Kenyan ing initiatives around the country. youths to play an active role in the The board is now focused on closing BPO sector. other gaps such as rural connectivity, lagging business process outsourcing • KenCall is the first independent (BPO) performance relative to global Kenya based company that provides providers, content exports, and en- a full suite of BPO services from call abling ICT in the private sector be- centre functions to supply chain yond mobile finance. management (in partnership with Seven Seas). Kenya has made great strides in ICT development in the past few years and • The third major BPO player is Hori- is now considered to be a leader with- zon, which has carved out a niche in in Africa. The government’s focus on IT maintenance and HR provision. developing an ICT-enabled country has contributed to development of a The emergence of these three players robust ICT landscape. Science, tech- on the Kenyan local ICT landscape is nology and innovation (STI) are core important as it offers proof of concept pillars of Kenya’s Vision 2030 plan. of Kenya as a potential global hub for Through STI initiatives, the Kenyan specialized ICT services. 12 Kenya is unique in that a single, sector can achieve scale through non-government owned operator, international trade. The Kenyan Safaricom, dominates the market, Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) was with a 70 per cent and 92 per cent created to provide a single corporate share of mobile and internet subscrip- voice for Kenya so that dialogue with tions respectively (CCK, 2nd Quarter). government could add more value. This market dominance has enabled It is currently managing a number Safaricom to launch initiatives that of projects and initiatives, includ- have rapidly changed the cadence of ing a US$15m programme on Youth Kenyan ICT at a retail level. Most nota- Employment that has created 700 in- ble is the ubiquity of Safaricom’s mobile ternships to date. KEPSA has been payments platform, M-PESA, that has particularly praised for its systematic served as a foundation for eCommerce approach to setting and monitoring and mobile BPO companies like Virtual key performance indicators to track City and Seven Seas. With a widespread programme objectives. and common platform for sending and receiving payments, barriers for eCom- Another constraint for Kenya is its lack merce have come down from both a of reliable data centres and general vendor and purchaser perspective. infrastructure. This has led to higher costs for software-as-a-service (SaaS) A difficult but important task is to or “on-demand” offerings. Research change Kenya’s image on the interna- suggests that the largest constraint tional stage as the perception of cor- within the East African region is the rupt practices at both corporate and existence of affordable and sustain- government levels has stymied the able ICT infrastructure, implying that inflow of international capital. Kenya the existing infrastructure is neither has recently implemented policies cost effective, nor scalable. Although ensuring accountability and transpar- current mobile penetration rates are ency across both political and busi- over 60 per cent and growing rapidly, ness mediums but should also focus Kenya’s internet penetration rate re- on acquiring credibility through part- mains low at about 15 per cent, attrib- nerships with international organi- uted to limited cable installation in ru- zations with trusted brand equity. ral areas. Also, constant power outages In the same vein, the government as well as hardware security risks have needs to relax labour restrictions on constrained overall productivity. Kenyan businesses so that the private 13 Table 1 Kenya roadblocks and pathways to success Roadblocks Pathways Examples of success as a motivator: Raise profile of tech successes in Kenya, continue to attract high value competitions Small pool of qualified young tech graduates: Limits pool of to make income generation potential of tech tangible talent to enable scale in existing companies, reduces likelihood of breakout tech entrepreneurial ventures Additional rigor of university level ICT programmes: International standards applied to University technology curricula Lower cost of failure via fellowships and development pro- grammes: De-couple professional and personal success High cost to entrepreneurship: Reduces tendency of talent to move into young innovative ventures Implement guarantees for small business AR: Reduction of cash conversion cycle, starting with most reliable payers serves to improve small business cash management and prospects Conduct joint initiatives between international bodies and Low perception of quality and trust in Kenyan businesses: local companies Boost credibility through partnerships Kenyan businesses must be "that much better" to succeed, limits tendency to execute large, outside of network, initiatives Implement counterparty verification: Objective assessment of risk of doing business with reviewed counterparties Limited exposure to foreign innovations and markets: Increase pathways to foreign exposure: Support efforts to Few beyond Diaspora benefiting from innovations developed inroduce foreign experts to Kenya and vice versa elsewhere and bringing international perspective Collaboration with governments to dialog on labor policy: Initiate conversation between business leaders and government Unclear government policy and protectionist tendencies: on specific areas for labor policy improvement Strict labor policies reducing ability to do business internationally and benefit from scale Central policy clearinghouse and interpretation: Develop hub for dissemination of easily understood policy information 14 Morocco In Morocco, the Government has cre- the Moroccan government’s action to re- ated two different public bodies along duce trade restrictions for IT equipment with an ICT federation to facilitate de- has helped to lower prices for enterprise velopment, research and legislature in grade networking hardware and retail de- the sector. The Moroccan Telecommu- vices. In 2009, Morocco joined the WTO nications Regulatory Agency (ANRT) is Information Technology Agreement (ITA) in charge of granting telecom licences, that removed all tariff barriers to IT prod- implementing ICT framework and ucts. In addition to reduced hardware costs, supporting development and research the strong brick and mortar retail pres- in the sector. Although not solely cre- ence of telecoms providers has also helped ated for the ICT sector, the Ministry of to boost telecoms penetration by lowering Finances and Privatization plays a large barriers to access. In fact, in most major role in the ICT sector by preparing tax travel hubs (train stations and airports), and finance law to aid the ICT sector as there are several providers offering afford- well as to create value added services in able prepaid and subscription based tele- the field of eGovernment. coms services and mobile phone setup time takes less than five minutes as SIM registra- The local ICT sector in Morocco is tion is currently not required. The conflu- largely concentrated in the outsourc- ence of low cost, easy access and relatively ing (BPO), advisory, and infrastructure high GDP per capita of about US$5,000 space though there is a strong concen- has led to a country with one of the highest tration of content and solutions devel- penetration levels on the continent. opers. In fact, over two hundred tech- nology and BPO focused companies To become a global hub, Morocco cannot operate from technology complexes sequester itself from continental expo- in Casablanca and Rabat and four ad- sure; it must open knowledge and eco- ditional complexes around the country nomic pathways into Sub-Saharan Africa are in development stages. and the world. One way to do this is by hosting international ICT symposiums There are over five major telecommunica- and engagements. The country also needs tions companies serving the domestic space to focus on becoming a research and de- in Morocco. This high level of competition velopment destination and unlock some has led to a high quality of phone and in- of the value hidden in its universities. ternet service at affordable prices with To achieve this, the country should bor- internet penetration nearing 50 per cent, row best practices from Israel, which was mobile penetration eclipsing 100 per cent, able to boost its research capabilities in and the average cost of broadband ranging part by loosening constraints on the com- from US$15 to US$30 per month. Further, mercialization of technology developed 15 in universities by offering professors Despite the rapid pace of technology a greater share of any realized profits. adoption among the Moroccan popu- Another educational initiative that Mo- lation and accelerated development of rocco should focus on is increasing sup- local businesses through government port for government programmes to part­nerships, Morocco faces high hur- enhance digital literacy. In 2008, only 20 dles to developing into an ICT hub that per cent of public schools in Morocco maximizes the likelihood of scale among had computer labs and equipment to locally developed companies. Utiliza- enable greater digital literacy and a tech-­ tion and locally developed content has competent labour force. ICT adoption not yet been maximized as the majority and uptake have a greater chance of suc- of Moroccans are still adapting to using cess if the population has had ICT expo- technology for more than just checking sure during seminal stages of education. basic email and making phone calls. Table 2 Morocco roadblocks and pathways to success Roadblocks Pathways Knowledge exchange events in sub-Saharan Africa: Use education as a means to open up markets and support other Limited exposure to sub-Saharan Africa: Limits extent to wich African countries Morocco serves as a continental leader and scope of market access for domestic tech companies International partnerships and engagement in continental symposiums: Leverage opportunities for in person meetings with potential partners Lack of research and development commercialization: Top Lower barriers to University researcher participation in talent largely in Universities with limited ability to commercialize upside to commercialization: Leverage Silicon Valley and Israel technology models to tech research acceleration Opportunity for greater exposure of top technology talent to Expand exchange programmes to include greater diversity non-Africa innovation hubs: Current exchange programmes of Morocco (age and sector) and increase number of people limited to only a few participants (ex. Only 20 in South Korea who are able to attend exchange) Increase familiarity with technology at a young age: Provide Limited utilization of technology by broad population beyond continued support to educational initiatives (ICT as a right not a basic services: Adoption in schools still in transition period privilege) with some push-back from teachers. Few popular organically developed websites. Limited use of mobile and purely online Provide greater support to very young, innovative compa- payments nies: Offer stepping stone incubators to support companies not yet prepared to enter techno-parks 16 Nigeria In 2008, the Nigerian government in co- solution to authenticate payments and ordination with the World Bank began reduce the overall risk of theft. Effective implementing an integrated personnel mobile payment companies have pro- and payroll information system (IPPIS) vided the Nigerian population with an to decrease fraud and increase account- innovative and detailed payment man- ability in payroll administration and HR agement process that covers the entire recording. Some estimates say the tech- scope of the value chain across all the nological implementation has already participants in the mobile payment sys- saved 12 billion Naira (US$120 million) tem. The recent focus on initiatives and solely in the pilot phase by eliminating licensing opportunities in both the mo- “ghost workers” or fraudulent payees bile and financial industry on mobile on the payroll. Nigeria has also recently banking and payment services has driv- partnered with Intel to increase access en a number of companies to develop to rural healthcare and boost delivery innovative mobile payment solutions to systems via ICT related to health care transform Nigeria’s banking landscape. providers. Multiple stakeholders in- cluding ethnic leaders, the Ministry of Nigeria needs first and foremost to ad- Health, Intel executives and participat- dress its endemic power issue, one that ing hardware and software vendors have if left unaddressed will keep not only come together to increase productivity the ICT industry but also the coun- and the IT presence in rural areas. try in economic stasis. Even though Nigeria’s political leaders have prom- In recent years, a number of entrepre- ised to solve the crises for years now, neurial companies throughout Nigeria it is still a huge barrier to growth. have realized the potential opportu- Multilaterals such as the World Bank nity within the mobile payments space, and African Development Bank should which could create a new set of mobile galvanize sustainable energy and pow- entrepreneurs and new business mod- er experts, issue tenders, offer financ- els with strong value realization in a ing, and share resources to tackle this market of over 90 million mobile sub- problem. scribers, a large segment of whom re- main unbanked. The impressive growth In addition to enhancing infrastruc- recorded in the Nigerian telecommu- ture, Nigeria needs to focus on enabling nications market has unfortunately its people with enterprise-scale devel- been challenged by criminal activ- opment skills and literacy in ICT via ity and as such, the success of the mo- educational initiatives and dedicated bile payments sector appeals to many training programmes for students and Nigerians as it provides a cost-effective business owners. 17 Table 3 Nigeria roadblocks and pathways to success Roadblocks Pathways Mobile phones as digital gateway: Increased access to smart phones, mobile enabled web pages, mobile as information Low digital literacy: Constrains ICT adoption and innovation at portal, mobile application monetization consumer and commercial levels ICT education: Increased access to ICT in schools, dedicated training for students and business owners International leadership enabler: Mix of domestic and foreign managers, advisors, and directors Lack of exposure to external markets, few domestic forums: Exposure as a two way street: Expert exchange and learning Reduces visibility into new technology and scale of business trips, in country forums and incubators Online tech community portal: Development and networking tools for African tech skateholders Investment rather than aid: Low returns to early stage venture in Nigeria, but necessary for growth High barriers to business development: Little early stage capital, high cost of operation, high cost of failure Operating cost parity: Support for high cost of power, connectivity, and facilities Limited access to virtual payments: High non-banked popula- Mobile money adoption: Support for regulation and encour- tion (80%) and limited means for online payment limits ability to agement of mobile money movement and interaction across automate for domestic needs banking and alternative systems Technology as a fraud reduction tool: Business automation to enable scale and increase intra business accountability via Rampant fraud and msitrust: High levels of distrust within transparency businesses and among partners, strong reliance on relationships rather than capabilities, international perception of risk Certification promotion: Objective certifications of ability and reliability among individuals and businesses to enable non relationship-based counter party verification recommendations ICT competitiveness in Africa 5 19 Despite the successes and the road- develop to sustain and further grow the blocks, there are specific, proven in- ICT sector. These recommendations terventions that African nations can include: Recommendation 1 Reduce the cost of access for mobile and broadband Addressing the direct cost challenges costs and drive up usage. Interven- will require improving the regulatory tions may include allowing for longer and competitive environments for periods of validity for pre-paid credit, operators as well as better coordina- enabling per second billing, nation- tion in developing the infrastructure. wide tariffs, low denomination re- There will be some negative near-term charges, and enabling discounts for effects on the largest or incumbent “friends and family” networks. players, since many of these interven- tions encourage increased competition. Regulators will have to own most of However, the improvement of the long- these initiatives. The nature of the un- term outlook for the ICT sector should derlying barriers is business compe- benefit operators by expanding the tition and product design. That said, customer and business base for these there is a potential role for donors to services. provide limited subsidies to jump start ICT usage in countries with high retail One method is to encourage nimble access costs. billing approaches to lower end-user Recommendation 2 Support government/private-sector collaboration While government and the private example of this. Established five years sector may not agree on all issues, ago to be the implementation arm for it is important that the two have an ICT policy in Kenya, this board has ongoing, structured dialogue. In order played the role of mediator between to ensure this, the first task would be the government and private sector to create a vehicle and the expecta- and, more importantly, advocate for tion for interaction between the two the sector and its advancement. groups. The Kenya ICT Board is an 20 Areas where such partnerships can can also spotlight private sectors on create success include jointly develop joint priorities to engage and attract and manage infrastructure projects, donors and MNCs to promote the lo- e.g. large broadband projects like cal BPO industry. EASSy and SEACOM. Governments Recommendation 3 Improve the eCommerce environment Governments, the private sector and communication campaigns to promote donors all play a role in improving the eCommerce, adopt model eContract- eCommerce environment. All three ing/transactions and eSignature leg- can set an example by themselves em- islation for a region, develop data and bracing eCommerce in their own oper- electronic security laws to include data ations, by engaging in online (mobile) protection and develop online consum- procurement practices and creating er/supplier protection laws including incentives for companies to go online. IP sections. Other methods include launching Recommendation 4 Improve ICT worker skill levels African countries need to continue and improve infrastructure to execute to invest strongly in education as seamlessly. the complexity and competition for vendors in the arena is increasing. Methods to develop skills amongst the Human capital is a weakness for most local population include supporting African countries and BPO success is broad primary and secondary education largely predicated on reliable talent. efforts, customizing tertiary schooling Owing to intense global competition efforts to reflect greater context of busi- in virtually every segment of the BPO ness and supporting technical skills value chain, African countries need development through incubators and to delineate exactly where they would the private sector. For example, Kenya, like to participate (medical transcrip- Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda have tion, coding, billing), build up rel- all established networks and academies evant experience in these niche areas, to advance BPO skills and capabilities, 21 including BPO certifications support­ on skills to work for global BPO firms ing global standards. Nigeria has estab- and ultimately qualify students for the lished the BPO Academy and the As- BPO Certification Institute’s (BCI) sociation of Outsourcing Practitioners globally accredited certification. The of Nigeria. In Uganda, the School of programme is currently aiming to train Uganda’s Makerere University, a lead­ 3,000 young Ugandans. Donors can ing computing school in East Africa, provide both technical and financial has collaborated with Orion Outsource support to design and implement these World and the African BPO Academy initiatives. to offer a training programme focused Recommendation 5 Encourage innovative business models that drive employment, such as microwork Microwork represents the promise of creating standards on workflow man- ICT as an enabler of broad economic agement to allow for interchangeabil- impact. This is possible due to the dis- ity between the various players in the aggregation of complex problems into value chain, and creating voice-enabled work products that can be addressed by interfaces to expand the labour pool a variety of skill levels and the ability to of microworkers. The standard setting leverage the relatively well-distributed exercise would be a particularly criti- mobile phone as a work interface. cal area for donor involvement, as the standards would need to be continent- Tactics to encourage microwork can wide, if not world-wide, to drive trans- be divided into both the demand side formative business impact and visibil- and the Supply-side. Demand side tac- ity for this sector. tics include expanding the number of business issues that can be addressed Likewise, the BPO opportunity is large through microwork, creating a market- but highly competitive. Even operating place for retail/individuals for micro- in the right business environment and work-related solutions, and creating an maintaining strong BPO fundamentals, internal demand for microwork from there are industry pitfalls that need to local African governments or large cor- be avoided for African BPO compa- porations. Supply side tactics include nies to survive. An example of a pit- addressing the standard basket of ICT fall is BPO firms locking in long-term SME challenges (e.g. technical skills of unprofitable deals in a reaction to the the microworker), as many of the issues intense competition, thereby doom- will be similar for the microworker, ing the partnership to ultimately fail. 22 The large amount of upfront cash in- the marketplace so that with the right vestment required for large BPO deals due diligence a firm can avoid them. often causes vendors to increase capac- There may be a role for the donor com- ity very quickly, putting them into a munity to disseminate these business situation with excess capacity. Although decision best practices to BPO players these pitfalls are substantial, there are on the continent. enough methods and experience in Recommendation 6 Create ICT parks in countries that meet infrastructure requirements The development of the ICT sector governments and have the right bal- has been proven to contribute heavily ance of both government and private to the growth of a nation’s GDP and, sector interest and sponsorship. therefore, expanding that investment in developing countries in Africa would The location of an ICT park is also quite be a strong initiative for the continent crucial in supporting these success cri- and its future growth. Not all countries, teria. For example, the proposed Konza however, are poised to successfully City in Kenya is being built 60 km from implement, operate and sustain an ICT Nairobi, on the opposite side of the park. However, there are common suc- perennially crowded central business cess factors across the most successful district from the airport. At the same parks from which countries can learn time, it is building the infrastructure as they determine their own viability to improvements to ensure that this is not establish a park. a bottleneck, e.g. independent power supply incorporating green elements, Some of these success factors include water management and a mass-transit park organizers having very clear and transportation model. concise plans to address and mitigate the critical barriers of lack of spon- Clearly, governments have been the sorship, availability of skilled labour, primary drivers behind these efforts, weak university curricula, infra- which is appropriate given the scale of structure challenges and programme the operational and regulatory chal- leadership. Successful parks are, fur- lenge. The donor community can be thermore, located in countries or helpful in sharing best-practices and sub-regions where literacy rates and providing access to finance to develop Human Development Index (HDI) the projects (e.g. IFC, AfDB, other de- ratings are high, have relatively stable velopment banks). 23 Recommendation 7 Support ICT entrepreneurs Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria have es- into innovative ventures. A solution to tablished themselves in the ICT mar- this includes reducing that cost by de- ketplace, and, although there are still coupling business and personal success many challenges that each nation faces, through the creation of fellowships and they have successfully advanced their business development programmes. journey to offer best practice to their Another challenge is the perceived lack fellow African nations. In particular, of quality and trust in African business. all three have removed roadblocks However, through the creation of joint and created pathways for ICT entre- initiatives with local companies and preneurs to be successful from which partnerships with international bodies, others may learn. this too can be overcome. The donor community can support these pro- One example is overcoming the high grammes through both financial and cost to entrepreneurship, which re- technical assistance. duces the tendency for talent to move 24 Further reading Calandro, E. and Moyo, M. (2011) “Models and strategies for ICT Infrastructure investment in selected African countries: a regulatory perspective” http://www.researchictafrica.net/publications/CPRafrica_2011_-_Presentations/Calandro_-_ Moyo_-_Models_and_strategies_for_ICT_Infrastructure_investment_in_selected_African_ countries_-_a_regulatory_perspective.pdf Boateng, R. Molla, A., Heeks, R. and Hinson, R. (2011) “Advancing e-commerce beyond readiness in a developing economy: experiences of Ghanaian firms” Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations, Vol 9, No. 1, pp 1-16 http://www.igi-global.com/article/advancing-commerce-beyond-readiness-developing/49645 Ernst & Young (2011) It’s Time for Africa: Ernst & Young’s 2011 Africa Attractiveness Survey http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/2011_-_Africa_Attractiveness_Survey/$FILE/Attrac- tiveness_africa_low_resolution_final_WEB.pdf The Excelsior Firm (2011) Transforming the ICT Sector by Creating a Business Engine for SMEs InfoDev http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.1040.html Sudan, R., Ayers, S., Dongier, P., Muente-Kunigami, A., and Qiang, C. (2010) The Global Opportunity in IT-Based Services: Assessing and Enhancing Country Competitiveness The World Bank http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTINFORMATIONANDCOMMUNICATIONANDTECH- NOLOGIES/Resources/Global_Opportunity_IT_Based_Services.pdf UNCTAD (2011) Information Economy Report 2011: ICTs as an Enabler for Private Sector Development United Nations Conference on Trade and Development http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/ier2011_en.pdf www.eTransformAfrica.org Publications for eTransform Africa include the Summary Report, Main Report which includes an overview chapter and summary chapters of the full reports, and the full reports themselves covering the following sectors and cross-cutting themes: Sectors themes: Agriculture Climate Change Adaptation Education Financial Services Modernizing Government Health Cross-cutting themes: Regional Trade and Integration ICT Competitiveness For a more detailed presentation on ICT competitiveness in Africa, see the full eTransform Africa theme report: http://www.etransformafrica.org. Graphic design by Marie-Anne Chambonnier eTransform AFRICA AFRICAN UNION