Review of "Digital Economy for Africa" Panel Discussion

The second part of the Digital Economy for Africa event saw an exciting, insightful and eye-opening panel discussion. Panelists included Bilha Ndirangu, COO of Africa’s Talking; Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, Minister for Finance and Planning of Rwanda; Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications of Ghana; Omobola Johnson, Honorary Chair of Alliance for Affordabe Internet; and Seni Sulyman, Vice President of Global Operations at Andela. The panel shared their unique experiences on how to build the African digital economy. This post summarizes issues I found interesting as relates broadband infrastructure, securing capital, government regulation, and globalization.

According to the honorable Minister of Communications of Ghana, the major cost of laying terrestrial fiber is in excavation. Thus, alternative methods like aerial fiber could be used to cut down cost. There are myriad of devices and networks that can be used to deliver Internet with even more efficiency (think mesh networks, whitespace, etc.). Identifying such costs are useful for technologists and entrepreneurs who may develop cheaper and more appropriate methods. Different network architectures should be experimented with, with last mile and ad-hoc connectivity in mind. And of course, this applies to electricity too. Without basic essential infrastructure, the digital economy will remain under-exploited.

The issue of capital was very interesting. Omobola Johnson discussed how innovative financing was crucial in this regard. Admitting that broadband infrastructure is capital-intensive, she called for governments to provide grants to complement private financing from Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and promote ICT sector investment as viable. She also implored the DFIs to advance a new narrative which describes a technological Africa, one where technology isn’t foreign. This, I’d argue, is a call to the media world to consider the narrative they propagate, and more importantly to tell our own stories.

A central component of the digital economy, Government regulation came up more than once. There seemed to be a consensus that governments should deregulate as much as possible to allow for innovation to bloom. The ministers of state also conveyed their will to support innovation by investing in science parks, broadband networks, and education. But herein lies the paradox, if the government doesn’t control, who controls the tech companies? This comes at a time when data privacy is of immense importance with major scandals rocking companies like Facebook. But exactly what kind of regulations are needed to both spur innovation and keep companies in check? Should bloggers be asked to obtain licenses as is the case in Tanzania?

Perhaps, Seni said it best when he advocated for a global view of the digital economy rather than a continental one. There seemed to be some interpretation that the African digital economy would be self-sufficient, rely on other parts of the network, and exist as a separate entity from the rest of the globe. That self-defeating for the digital economy which, by nature, is valuable because of the network that underlines it. Essentially, value mobility is enhanced globally and accessible across all nodes of the network. What that also means is that there is no second place in the digital economy; competition is for the market, not in the market. These seemed to be lost on some of the panelists as was displayed in their comments about positive discrimination and scalable projects. I will address this in another post on the digital economy.

There were several other interesting issues that were brought up for discussion. You can watch the entire discussion here. Like I stated in my earlier post, it is important that we discuss the very concept of development so that we don’t unnecessarily borrow alien concepts. Korea is a great model for Africa, and that’s because they crafted their own model in what we have come to know as the Miracle on the Han River. We need everyone on board, each playing their part; together, that forms a beautiful chorus -the digital economy we seek and aspire to build.