[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][show-team ids=’17535′ url=’active_new’ layout=’grid’ style=’img-square,img-white-border,text-left,img-left,normal-float,card-theme’ display=’photo,freehtml,location,name’][/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]On January 31, 2015, on the sidelines of the African Union heads of state summit, Gabon took the lead of the Smart Africa Alliance, the technological conglomerate between Gabon, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Chad, Uganda, South Sudan, Senegal, Burkina Faso
These nine countries have the noble ambition of building a shared internet access infrastructure that will reduce the digital divide in this region of the continent.
After the usual congratulations, a reality check is necessary: Gabon possesses an internet infrastructure that sparks envy; the country was, for example, the first to grant 4G internet licenses in the Cemac zone (Chad, Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic). This leadership unfortunately contrasts with the level of digital creation in a country where the web ecosystem is still in its infancy.
Created in 2013 during the IUT summit, Smart Africa intends to raise 300 billion dollars by 2020 to realize its project. Without questioning the utility of South-South cooperation in this field, one can legitimately wonder, given the global technological news focused on Africa, if “building an internet infrastructure” is relevant in this case.
The continent as a whole is considered an eldorado for web content providers because of the low ratio of local content production. Two internet giants have understood this well:
First, Facebook, the social network with a billion users, will launch in collaboration with Intelsat its “internet.org” initiative to cover the growing connectivity needs in Africa via satellites, with, as one might expect, the provision of services that are not totally free and a docile audience.
Google, the other web giant, also wants to connect Africa using airships perched 20 km above our heads. This is the goal of the Loon project.
The enthusiasm for African connectivity from these giants, for whom raising 300 billion is small change, could be a source of reflection and reorientation for the Smart Africa project as a whole. Because even if the financial ambitions of Facebook and Google deceive no one, the fact remains that these initiatives largely popularize internet access in the poorest areas of the continent.
In view of the above, the members of Smart Africa should first equip themselves at the local level with real internet and citizen governance, as well as real public policies in favor of community connectivity, particularly among young people. It is only on sound foundations that this alliance can build a viable digital Africa; in this field, Rwanda and Kenya are very good students and need no introduction. In education, for example, Rwanda launched the OLPC (ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD) project in 2008, which allowed the introduction of more than 500,000 computers into public primary education; this project is part of the Rwandan authorities’ vision until 2020.
The second, Kenya, will provide one million laptops in its primary education as part of its digital learning program. These two examples show the interest for governments to propel digital initiatives at the local level before creating international synergies.
The cost-to-objective ratio of this project is also matter for reflection. Several countries among the Smart Africa members are facing a budgetary crisis linked to the fall in prices of certain raw materials on which their economies are ultra-dependent. So, 4 years to raise 300 billion dollars for an internet infrastructure that will exist in any case “for free” thanks to the internet giants from the north—is this really realistic and relevant for developing digital technology in Africa?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
