Global system for mobile comunication

A RURAL ICT TOOLKIT
FOR AFRICA

AFRICAN CONNECTION
Centre for Strategic Planning

Funding for the preparation of this Toolkit was provided by the info Dev Program of the World Bank

This Toolkit is available electronically at http://www.infodev.org/projects/telecommunications/351africa/RuralICT/Toolkit.pdf (World Bank Publication information)

Principal Authors:

Andrew Dymond
Sonja Oestmann of I ntelecon Research & Consultancy Ltd.
Telecommunications & Information Technology Consultants www.inteleconresearch.com AFRICAN C ONNECTION – R URAL ICT TOOLKIT

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RURAL ICT TOOLKIT FOR AFRICA
FOREWORD
The African Connection (AC) is a region-wide, African led and managed initiative to harmonize improvements in telecommunications and ICT across countries. The AC has the support of many stakeholders and donors, in particular from the African Telecommunications Union under whose auspices its program has been developed. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development
(NEPAD) has endorsed ICT as a crucial component of sustainable development and poverty eradication in Africa, and has nominated AC as one of the platforms for accelerated ICT development and diffusion.
AC is seeking to accelerate the development of rural ICT markets, initiatives and strategies across the continent. It aims to create a positive business environment for attracting expanded private investment and new operators into telecommunication infrastructure and information technology, as key planks in a broader effort to foster socio-economic development and growth.
This has been perceived as a mammoth task. For example, in 2001 it was estimated that reaching a fixed teledensity of 2% by 2005 would require investments totalling about US$ 8 billion into telecommunications. However, the good news is that more than this is even now being invested every year in African telecommunications. Two-thirds of this is accounted for by investment in mobile