The second edition Mobile World Congress Africa (MWCAfrica 2023) opened in Kigali, Rwandan today with a call on African governments to partner with the private sector to effective bridge the digital gap on the continent and set the tone for Africa’s development through digitalization.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame made has call in his keynote address, in which he strongly underscored the importance of public-private sector partnership in bridging the digital gap in Africa.
The three-day conference, which is under the theme “Velocity: Unleashing Tomorrows Digital Technology, Today”, is happening at the iconic Kigali Convention Centre from October 17 – 19, 2023, alongside the Africa Healthtech Summit and Smart Africa, which convenes public and private sector organizations focused on accelerating the socio-economic development of the continent through digitalization.
Presdent Kagame noted that Africa has all the means to deal with the problems it is faced with today, but it will require regional integration powered by faster and more reliable broadband to actually make good the resources available to the continent.
He noted that the African Union and Smart Africa are now leading the charge with strong support from many partners, saying that “We can get more results faster by working together.”
Airtel and MTN commended
Amidst thunderous applauds, President Kagame commended Airtel Rwanda and MTN Rwanda for specific measures they have put in place to make 4G accessibility very affordable to Rwandans, taking advantage of the enabling environment created by the Rwandan government.
“I would like to commend Airtel Rwanda for bringing the cost of 4G data within reach of nearly every Rwandan – in collaboration with Netflix, Airtel is offering 4G enabled phones at under $20 to enable Rwandans take advantage of its 4G data offers.
“MTN has also offered very competitive pricing to its customers – this is also good news and we thank MTN for that,” he said.
According to him, Government’s role was only to provide the enabling environment and ensure a level playing field to make the private sector players able to provide affordable data to citizens, adding that “This shows the power of collaboration between the private sector and government.”
President Kagame also emphasized the need for African countries to prioritize digital skills and literacy, saying that globally there is support to Africa to reach those goal.
“The ITU partnership in a digital coalition is a very good example of this support – we have seen $32 billion already mobilized in pledges towards that and that will mostly benefit hard-to-reach (unserved and underserved) communities on the continent,” he said.
The Usage Gap
Director-General of GSMA, Mat Granryd noted that whereas members of the GSMA have provided coverage for over 95% of the world, with Africa accounting for some 489 million of that number, there is still a huge connectivity, usage and investment gaps in Africa as far as digitalization is concerned.
He said the most worry gap is the usage gap, reflected in the fact that only 25% of connected people actually use digital tools, and that is due to four main challenges – affordability, low digital skills, language barrier and concerns about safety and security of the digital space.
The GSMA boss said operators who belong to the GSMA are set to invest over $75 billion in Africa to help bridge the digital gap, but that will require governments to reciprocate their effort by providing affordable spectrum to enable operators reach far and provide affordable services, while not risking the collapse of their businesses.
According to him, at the forthcoming WRC-23 in Dubai, the main focus will be on how to obtain more low band spectrum to help bridge the digital gap in Africa, particularly, adding that regulators will be expected to come on board and create the enabling environment for operators.
Mat Granryd said currently, there are over 280 million mobile wallets doing over $830 billion worth of transactions in a year in Africa – that is $26,000 every second – which presents a great opportunity to propel Africa’s development on the back of digital finance.
According to him, the GSMA is therefore in the process of creating an Open API gateway for young developers to innovate, take advantage of huge opportunities in mobile finance, and contribute effectively to bridging the digital gap on the continent.
Action need
Vice President, Markets, at MTN Group, Eben Asante said for Africa to be able to bridge the digital gap and also leapfrog the the risks that digitalization presents, stakeholders must move away from the rhetoric and start taking decisive and purposeful actions to get the job done.
“On that score, Rwanda presents a living and seminal example to the continent and the world,” he said.
He noted that per recent GSMA reports, more than 75% of people in Africa are not connected, which is almost a billion people including half of the adult population and several children.
Eben Asante also stated that per MTN’s own readings, about 90% of connected people use their phones for mainly voice calls, while a combined usage of phones for voice, data and digital finance (mobile money) is below 20%.
“So the digital divide is real and it is clear and there is much work to be done by us all,” he said. “The future looks very challenging but also presents opportunities in health, agriculture, education, financial services, government and governance, industry and everyday life for African citizens,” he said.
He said it is time for Africa to stop talking about the existing development gap as a digital gap because “it is just about bridging the gap of inhumanity: rural-urban gap, male-female gap, the north and south gap, the haves and have nots gap – that is the real gap of inhumanity we must bridge.”
Eben Asante said MTN is committed to already closing coverage and usage gaps, adding that just last year MTN brought some 45 million people under coverage in 3G and 4G, with nine million of them being under 4G alone.
“We covered 88% of the population last year and by 2025 we have a target to cover 95% of the population with advantage technology,” he said.
MWCAfrica 2023 continues with various sessions where discussions focusing mainly on affordable internet as a way of bridging the usage gap on the continent.
