A New Connectivity Strategy for Ghana
Photo Courtesy of CIC Bechem Blog
Integra, under its Global Broadband and Innovations program, is supporting the government of Ghana to better promote broadband Internet use throughout the country. Ghana has a long and successful record of promoting ICT use – it was one of the first countries in Africa to establish a Universal Service Fund (in 2005) and was recently found to have the fastest Internet speeds in Africa. Yet with Internet penetration remaining at 10%, much work remains to be done.
The Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) is tasked with expanding broadband Internet into unserved and underserved areas, and it currently oversees a broad portfolio of projects. GIFEC has installed over 200 public telecenters nationwide (called Community Information Centers) and set-up Internet access in a number of public libraries and schools throughout the country. Yet as mobile broadband speeds become faster and handheld devices become cheaper, GIFEC is considering changing its access strategy.
To effectively do this it needs to understand the unique nature of the digital divide in Ghana. What types of households and individuals access the Internet, and for what purpose? What are the information needs of those that do not, and what are their major constraints in accessing that information? GIFEC will implement a survey, with Integra’s support, that will inform a study that clarifies the challenges people face to accessing the Internet in Ghana. Integra will assist with the preparation of the study and will work with GIFEC to move from the study to a new strategic plan. The strategic plan will then be validated by the joint implementation of pilot connectivity projects between GIFEC and Integra.
The project is moving forward rapidly. This week a penultimate draft of the survey instrument was produced, and we foresee enumerators carrying out the survey before the end of May. We are aiming for pilot projects to be implemented before the end of the summer.
Dale Rachmeler said on April 18, 2012
This is a crucial effort as the use of the internet is severely curtailed here in Ghana. Having the fastest speed on the continent in a Vodafone cyber cafe in Cantonnements in Accra is nice and indeed with the landing of two new fiber optic backbone undersea cables last year (Main One and Glo) this should be the case in many more places than this one cyber cafe. However, it is a one off situation as the rest of country is sorely behind with respect to broadband internet usage and understanding what its use can do to further develop the country. Ghana is a politically stable country with positive economic growth and the potential to deliver much more to its citizens with respect to economic opportunities to allow them not just to meet MDG goals of middle income status, but to really change the lives of the more than 80% of the workforce in the informal sector where low income is a huge limiting factor. However what is interesting is the cross sectoral issues that can be dealt with using ICT and the internet as a tool to transmit information, training, advice, marketing, product development, communications and social interaction. In 2009 Internet penetration statistics varied by who did the survey and was cited at 0.2% of the population (47,000 internet subscribers mainly cybercafes, businesses and certain individuals) by a local Ghanaian ICT company and ranged to an estimate of 990,000 plus individuals by the UN’s ITU. This is still only 5% of the population as of mid 2010. Statistics are important and do not tell the story as there are many wonderful instances of uses of ICT technology that can transform lives overnight such as the Ministry of Health’s program to use telecommunications, internet and health service providers to follow pregnant women and allow them to obtain instant advice on issues that arise over the course of their pregnancy without having to visit health clinics that dot the landscape but are not in sufficient numbers to cover the vast rural communities. The USAID TradeNet Initiative to use ICT to facilitate commodity trading in the wider West African market place has allowed isolated producers to link to registered buyers and implement negotiations via ICT facilitated networks. Here at the BUSAC Fund we provide advocacy grants to business associations to influence regulatory and policy reform. Business growth must be more robust in the future but is constrained by the enabling environment surrounding economic actors across sectors. We use a completely computerized grants management system that relies on the internet to identify potential grantees, manage the selection process, manage grants and facilitate reporting and communications. Data management is controlled by locally created software customized for our specific needed. The survey announced here will further identify the profile and scope of what is to be done, what has been done and hopefully generate sufficient information to push this initiative forward. Having lived and worked in Africa as a project manager and technical specialist mainly for USAID since 1978, I can say that Ghana is still lagging very far behind with respect to the use of the internet in everyday life. It is expensive and even though telecommunications penetration is over 85%, the availability of PCs is still very limited. When I ask Google for information multiple times a day, I know what to ask and what is needed from such a search. Google Ghana has made wonderful efforts to map the country and you can now find village names and road names online that otherwise are simply not available. The real issue is that Google is not a household word at all yet. It could be though one day. One of the real limiting factors is the cost of access. You can buy bandwidth from an ISP or you can buy data packages. Both are pricey and the service delivery is patchy at best. With arrival of the new fiber optic backbones, there was hope that internet connectivity costs would fall for the consumer and speeds and use would increase dramatically. That has yet to unfold. Speed is increasing for sure, but prices are still very high with ISPs saying that access costs to the consumer will remain high while the quality of service will increase. An interesting tactic, but one that does not inspire a lot of hope for affordable access that would dramatically facilitate increases in use. These quality increases are not yet here. There is also a lack of coordination and desire to connect Ghana is realistic and volumetric way such that a 5% penetration rate in 2010 becomes a 50% rate in 2014. This initiative is part of the solution for sure, and patience is a virtue here on the African continent. But as we wait, the global market advances with lightning speed and there is a possibility of being left behind that can be seen using the internet access analogy where the desire to connect is there but the cost and lack of connectivity remains a barrier to its use, indeed its use is at the heart of Ghana’s future economically and socially speaking.
Eric White said on April 19, 2012
Hi Dale- Thanks for the comment. All very good points. I would just like to add that the issue of affordable access is, to my mind, the next big policy hurdle continent-wide. We have had inquiries from officials at the ministerial level from all parts of Africa asking what can be done to lower the retail price of Internet service. They are still too high, despite the arrival of undersea cables. Some common sticking points are beginning to emerge: who bears the demand risk – the cable company or the land-side wholesaler (or the government)? How can we strengthen governments to either pass or enforce local loop unbundling (LLU) laws? There remain interesting problems to solve, but we feel they are indeed solvable, and are hopeful that progress can be made in the not too distant future.
Eric