Committed to Connecting the World
African Telecommunication/ICT
Indicators 2008:
At a Crossroads
Vanessa Gray
vanessa.gray@itu.int
Market Information and Statistics Division
Telecommunication Development Bureau
International Telecommunication Union
International
Telecommunication
Union
Committed to Connecting the World
Content
Sector overview
Universal service and access
Enhancing the enabling environment
Recommendations
African Telecommunication/ICT
Indicators (21 country/regional tables)
 African Telecommunication/ICT
Organizations
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May 2008
2
Committed to Connecting the World
Mobile:
The African success story
 Even the most optimistic projections have been surpassed!
Today Africa is home to more than one quarter billion mobile
subscribers or more than one mobile for every four people.
100
300
Subscribers, millions
250
90
Subscribers per
100 people
80
Sub-Saharan
70
200
South Africa
60
50
150
South Africa
100
40
AFRICA
30
20
50
10
North Africa
North Africa
Sub-Saharan
0
0
2000 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07
May 2008
2000 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07
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At a crossroads
 While there has been rapid
expansion in access to ICTs, Africa
must sustain and deepen growth
and expand access, especially in
Internet.
 2 paths:
 ICT policy makers continue as is, with
an unfinished liberalization framework.
Additional use of ICT services needs to
come from lower income segments.
These customers are highly sensitive to
pricing. Without deeper reform, it is
unlikely that prices will drop sufficiently
to sustain growth.
 Unleash fresh growth and investment by
dealing with regulation, taxation and
electricity issues that are hampering the
sector’s development. This will lower
costs and prices.
May 2008
4
Committed to Connecting the World
Mobile affordability
 Competition has been a
key driver in reducing
mobile prices across the
region.
 ARPU has fallen in line
with tariffs.
 There is plenty of scope
for prices to come down
even further, in order for
mobile phone ownership
to reach new customer
segments among the
broader population.
Mobile ARPU, US$
$40
$35
Africa
India
$30
$25
$20
$15
$10
$5
20
00
20
01
20
02
20
03
20
04
20
05
20
06
20
07
$0
May 2008
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Committed to Connecting the World
Mobile – South Africa
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First African country to
introduce mobile competition
Has remained at forefront of
mobile liberalization:
 Only African country to
introduced Mobile Virtual
Network Operator (June
2006)
 1st to introduce mobile
number portability (Nov.
2006)
Highest mobile penetration in
Africa and on target to reach
100% by end of this decade
Highest number of 3G
subscribers in Africa
Monthly prepaid basket price is
3% of income, one of lowest in
Africa
May 2008
Mobile subscribers per 100 people
Households with a mobile phone (%)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30 31
92
73
20 19
10
0
2000 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07
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Committed to Connecting the World
Fixed telephony
 Africa's dramatic growth in mobile communications has
left fixed telephone lines behind. At the end of 2007,
there were 35 million fixed lines on the continent,
equivalent to an overall teledensity of 3.3 fixed
telephone line subscribers per 100 inhabitants. This is
up only slightly from 2.8 fixed lines per 100 inhabitants
in 2002.
 Incumbents and new entrants are seeking to increase
the popularity of fixed telephony through the expansion
of fixed wireless networks. CDMA2000 1X has emerged
as the de facto technology for fixed wireless in Africa
with 31 countries deploying the technology.
May 2008
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Committed to Connecting the World
Internet

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Africa has about 50 million
Internet users = about one
user among twenty persons.
Over half of the region's
Internet users are estimated to
be located in North African and
South Africa.
Bandwidth is scarce and
Internet access is relatively
expensive in most countries
Levels of international Internet
connectivity are quite low in
most African countries. Africa
as a whole had in total around
40 Gbps of international
bandwidth in 2007, of which
over 90 percent was devoted to
North African countries and
South Africa.
50
40
30
Internet users as percentage of total
population
45
38
31
2007
2004
30
20
18
10
9
0
Oceania Americas Europe
Asia
3
5
Africa
Fixed broadband subscribers by
region (millions), 2007
Europe
112
Oceania
5.2
May 2008
42
41
Asia
Africa 127
1.7
Americas
86
8
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Wireless broadband
 3G and WiMAX starting to emerge as viable
broadband solution for Africa
 Provide promising alternative to shortage of fixed
broadband options
 Countries with both wired and wireless broadband
options have lower prices and higher broadband
take-up
May 2008
9
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Broadband - Morocco
 Inter-modal competition


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
between ADSL and 3G
Broadband prices are the
cheapest in Africa, at
US$ 18 per month for a
256 kbps package
Offers highest broadband
speeds in Africa
(20Mbps)
The 4th highest
broadband penetration in
Africa and practically all
Internet access through
broadband
First African country to
launch IPTV
May 2008
Share of Internet subscribers
100%
90%
Fixed
broadband
subscribers
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
Dial-up
20%
10%
0%
2002
'03
'04
'05
'06
'07
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Committed to Connecting the World
Payphones - Togo
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West Africa is a leader in
the liberalization and spread
of privately operated pay
phones
Togo has the highest ratio
of public pay phones as a %
of fixed lines
Almost 25% of Togo's main
lines are connected to
private telephone cabins
Togo's two mobile operators
provide public telephony
through GSM cabins which
numbered over 10’000 in
2006
Average distance to reach a
public telephone facility in
the country is around
400 meters
Private telephone cabins
As % of main lines
Thousands

30
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
25
20
15
10
5
0
2001
May 2008
'03
'05
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Committed to Connecting the World
Deepening reform
 Create fully independent and adequately resourced
regulatory authority
 Only half of countries have private incumbents.
 More competition and lower prices through
 Infrastructure sharing
 Mobile termination
 MVNO & MNP to increases competition
 Internet Exchange Points
 VoIP
 Reduce licensing fees and unify licenses
May 2008
12
Committed to Connecting the World
Taxation
• Import duties on IT equipment, VAT
•
•
•
Ghana
Seychelles
Burkina Faso
Chad
Cote d'Ivoire
DRCongo
Gabon
Gambia
Guinea
Madagascar
Senegal
Cameroon
Morocco
Zimbabwe
Tunisia
Kenya
Tanzania
Zambia
Rwanda
Uganda
•
Mobile taxes
35%
on goods and services and excise
taxes on communications services
30%
Excise
raise prices, limit take-up and
discouraging use.
VAT
25%
A 1% drop in the price of a handset
in Africa could boost mobile
20%
penetration by 2.4 per cent.
15%
A 1% reduction in taxes could lead
to an average increase in
10%
penetration of 0.5 per cent.
5%
“…elasticity of demand is estimated
to be higher in Africa than
0%
elsewhere, reflecting the potential
for further marginal consumers,
and hence to increase penetration
greatly by a reduction in [mobile
related taxes].“
Reduction in excise taxes can boost
tax revenues for governments due
to a larger number of users and
spillover effects throughout the
Source: GSM Association.
economy.
May 2008
13
Committed to Connecting the World
Electricity
North Africa
Latin America
Middle East
Developing Asia
 Alternative sources of energy
(wind, solar and biofuel
powered base stations).
 Synergies between ICTs and
electrical utilities ( fiber optic
networks; broadband over
electricity power lines)
 Tax rebates to offset high costs
of energy such as import duty
waivers and tax reductions for
companies supplying
renewable-based power and
equipment to mobile operators.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Africa
Saharan Africa is a serious
impediment to the
development of ICT markets.
Per cent of population with access to
electricity, 2005
Sub-Saharan Africa
 The lack of electricity in Sub-
Source: Adapted from World Energy Outlook 2006.
May 2008
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Committed to Connecting the World
African Telecommunication/ICT
Indicators 2008 includes:
Recommendations
 Enhance liberalization
and privatization and
strengthen regulatory
agencies
 Lower costs through
license and spectrum
efficiency, reducing
telecom related taxes,
infrastructure sharing
and energy incentives
 Promote wireless
broadband
 Incorporate mobile into
universal access policies
 Expand public Internet
access
May 2008
 Analytical section
 21 regional tables
covering
telecommunication/ICT
indicators (2006/2007)
 53 individual country
pages with a five year
profile from 2002-2007
 A complete list of
telecommunication
ministries, regulators and
operators in the region
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