|
  
As an introduction the famous book „At the crossroads: ICT policy
making in East Africa” by Florence E. Etta/Laurent Elder (2005) should be quoted:
“It is quite remarkable how quickly the new ICTs have spread across
Africa and have come to be seen as essential to the continent’s
economic development, political democratization, social advancement,
cultural progress, as well as for its global presence and
competitiveness.”
The planned submarine cable links to the SAFE cable along the Eastern
coast of Africa to Djibouti, with planned landing points in Tanzania
and Kenya (Mombasa), will radically improve the infrastructure
conditions in East Africa. For more information about the cable please see the
"Kenya" category.
Across the internet you can find some case studies you can read
there. Also detailed figures will not be pointed out here because
they are changing continuously and mostly included also in the
former. For East Africa (apart from Kenya which has its own category
here) for the following states summaries are interesting to publish:
1.
Uganda,
2.
Ethiopia,
3.
Tanzania,
4.
Rwanda.
Business links cooperation:
Uganda
ICT investment alone from 1998 to 2001 has increased by more than
250 % becoming an important part of the economy, after 2001 Uganda’s
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector is dynamic
and vibrant. The sector has registered double digit growth since
2000 and grew by 33% in 2006/2007. Investment inflows have been very
strong additionally from private sources. Direct employment stands
at 6000 while over 350,000 people are indirectly employed. Players
in the market are telecommunication operators and companies,
Internet service providers, software and hardware vendors, IT
services and consultancies.
The increased demand for ICT skills from the 1990s has led to the
mushrooming training in the use of computers (from courses and
workshops to university diploma and degree courses), since 2002 ICT
has become also a (examinable) subject in schools.
In
1999 Draft ICT policy has been endorsed and action plans have been
developed.
Further challenges lay ahead in the spread of hardware and the
internet as there is generally
a substantial amount of investment in e-Government/ telecommunications
infrastructure in the country owing to Uganda’s liberalised telecommunication sector. Developments are ongoing in 2012.
Ethiopia
According to “The reporter” (Addis Abeba) from 25.0.07 is “Ethiopia’s
investment in Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
considered to be one of the highest in the world, taking into
consideration the level of poverty prevailing in the country.”
(Debretsion G. Michael) which is a committed 10% of the country’s
GDP.
The mobile sector has been growing by 100% or more per annum in
recent year.
 
African ICT week (AICTW), 14 - 20 November 2011
Ethiopia to Host 2012 Africa Digital Summit on March 27-29, 2012
Tanzania
Milestones in the Tanzanian ICT development were the creation of the
Tanzanian Communication Commission (the regulatory authority) in
1993, the publishing of the National Telecommunications Policy of
1998 and the recent ICT policy adopted by Cabinet in 2003.
Tanzania will soon be home to an Information, Communication and Technology
(ICT) park comprising the first ever 'Smart Village' of its kind in East Africa's
geographic cluster.
National ICT Strategy:
The Tanzania Development Vision 2025 envisages a nation imbued with five main attributes: high quality livelihood;
peace, stability and unity; good governance; a well educated and learning society; and a strong and competitive economy
capable of producing sustainable growth and shared benefits. It is also noteworthy that Vision 2025 explicitly includes ICT by noting, "The new opportunities that ICT is opening up can be harnessed to meet the goals of the Vision".
Rwanda
Experts of Rwanda (World Bank, UNO, NGOs) see Rwanda as the coming
“Silicon Valley of East Africa“. The master plan
VISION 2020 should establish the
ICT economy systematically.
Terracom installed the wireless broadband internet in Kigali.
Microsoft has been building several training centers. Nokia has
provided telephone programs to the rural population. The year 2007
started with the OLPC contract (one laptop per child). Terracom laid
more than 350 km fiber optic cable in 2007. Thus, Rwanda has become
the most densely wired country in Africa. Rwanda has been elected
the headquarters of EASSY (East African Submarine Cable Project)
administration. Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa und
Tanzania are united in this project and Rwanda will take up
presidency.
On 18th June, 2007 Rwanda and Burundi formally joined the East African Community (EAC) as full members. They signed treaties of accession to the EAC bringing the membership of the regional body to 5 countries with a population of 100 million.
This event is important to all ICT practitioners and investors in Kenya. This is because Rwanda was developing its ICT industry before its regional neighbours had an inkling of the potential and competitive edge ICT gives nations. Rwanda has a knowledge-based economy that is only matched in the region by Mauritius.
The dot-com tuned President of the country - Paul Kagame - initiated the whole process when his ideas were actualised through the Vision 2020 which was launched in 2000. It focused on IT as a crucial cornerstone for future development. This is similar to our Vision 2030. Contrast this with Mauritius whose Ministry of Information and Communication was busy with ICT policy formulation, implementation and physical development in 1997.
Anyway Kagame’s confidence and steely determination was remarkable when you consider he was pushing this new approach against a backdrop of national recovery from the genocide trauma.
His vision had logic stamped on it. With no port access, expensive airfreight rates and instability around it, Rwanda needed a new kind of economy. It chose the knowledge economy.
Much has been achieved. In January 2007 Kagame informed fellow heads of state, at the 8th African Union summit, that the country had set its science and technology spending at 1.6 percent of GDP. This is comparable to the OECD countries. Other developments include the building of telecentres, computerisation of primary and secondary schools, a $10 million e-Government project and continued investment in the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST).
ICT has transformed Rwanda. The Economist recently reported that Rwanda is well on its way to achieving several of the Millennium Development Goals due to the impact ICT has had on this emerging economy. With substantial business process redesign, government support and focussed leadership, Rwanda has demonstrated to East Africa that much can be accomplished when ICT is used as an engine for development. However this feat is not unique to Rwanda. It was achieved earlier by Mauritius where its ability to harness ICT has enabled it achieve one of the highest GDP per capita rates in Africa.
Rwanda cited as an ICT success story in East Africa:
Rwanda has been named East Africa’s number one ICT nation by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The country has benefited from ICT-based investments by lucrative international players such as Microsoft, Nokia, and Terracom.
|
