Governing regional telecommunication networks in a developing region: the SADC case

Includes bibliographical referencesOne of the political and economic responses to globalisation and the associated rise of multilateral trade agreements is the integration of national markets and their governance within regions. As developing economies have become increasingly integrated into the global economy, the harmonisation of policies and standardisation of regulations to create economies of scale and scope, has been one of the primary strategies to improve regional competitiveness. With the global economy underpinned by a dynamic communication infrastructure, African regional economic communities (RECs) have increasingly recognised the importance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in realising the vision of regional integration, and as a major determinant of national and regional competitiveness. Despite member states' acknowledgement of the need for regional connectivity, many initiatives across Africa aimed at supporting and establishing harmonised ICT policy frameworks have not had the intended outcomes. Strategies for developing seamless regional ICT infrastructures - necessary for the achievement of universal policy objectives of improved access to, and usage of, affordable broadband services now widely demonstrated to drive economic growth - have not been realised. Through a case study of regional policy-making in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the thesis examines the political economy underlying regional processes and structures for the development and the implementation of ICT policy frameworks, as shaped by epistemic communities. A conceptual framework is constructed as a lens through which to assess the role of capacity building as a tool in foreign affairs in the institutional arrangements within SADC countries and ICT policy outcomes in the region. This reveals the wider political, economic and more specific policy and regulatory constraints hampering the development of the information society from a developing region perspective. Applying a hybrid methodology, empirical information was gathered through quantitative secondary data but using qualitative methods to gather the primary evidence for the case. This evidence from multiple sources is examined through a broad political economy framework to contextualise the research problem and develop a rich narrative of regional integration efforts in the area of information communication technologies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Following rigorous and extensive gathering of information from face to face interviews following an exhaustive document analysis, detailed coding of the data and triangulation of findings enable d an analysis of how institutional arrangement s in the region -despite the accepted rationale and logic of market integration -have largely failed to achieve the intended IV ICT policy objectives stated in SADC protocols and declarations despite considerable advances in the formal harmonisation of aspects of ICT policy and regulation

Telecommunication, Regulation and Economic Development in Botswana: A Quantitative Analysis

This study is a quantitative analysis of the relationship between telecommunication infrastructure and economic development in Botswana from 1995 to 2003. The study used Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita as a measure for economic development and telephones per 100 people as a measure for telecommunications. A statistical correlation test was used to analyze the relationship between telecommunications and economic growth. The results of the analysis found that the two are significantly related. Looking at the results of this study, they reaffirmed the claim made by numerous previous researchers that indeed telecommunications is positively linked to economic development. However, it still remains to be seen how the relationship between telecommunication infrastructure and economic development occurs. This study also looked at telecommunication regulation and liberalization. From the results of this study, it is concluded that regulation stimulates economic development through market access

Foreign Direct Investment in Africa: What are the Key Factors of Attraction aside from Natural Resources?

This input, essentially empirical by nature, analyses the FDI determinants in Africa independently from the already clearly identified attraction of natural resources. Do powers of anticipation as to the general prospects for these economies influence incoming flows of capital? What role is played by socio-political instability connected to the social consequences caused by conflicts? Are the processes of regionalization enhancing the appeal of countries that are going down that path? From a panel of 28 African countries, the results from estimations obtained using the Hausman-Taylor method of instrumental variables show that the impact of projections on any ongoing decision to invest in the continent is not statistically significant. Our results also show that, although negative, the direct correlation between social risk, a proxy of socio-political instability, and flows of foreign investment is not systematically significant.. However, the fact remains that these instabilities undermine national competencies (human capital) and compound certain ills such as HIV/Aids, whose impact on foreign investment increases along a negative curve in the presence of social risk. However, the simultaneous introduction of regionalization processes into our estimations tends to lower the adverse effects of instability on certain explicative FDI variables.Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), African economies, projections/anticipations, risk and socio-political instability, regional integration

Telecommunications Liberalisation in Africa: Proposed Regulatory Model for the SADC Region

The liberalisation of the telecommunication industry in Africa, and the further development of the region’s physical infrastructure was accompanied by the further development of Africa’s information, communication and technology infrastructure. Competition within the industry stimulated heavy economic investment in other sectors of the economy. The outcome of liberalisation also included the establishment of community-based structures that continue to enable communities to manage their own development and gain access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in an unprecedented manner. The telecommunication infrastructure further stimulated the fast development of other related services, for example, ecommerce and mobile commerce (m-commerce), e-government, internet banking, mobile banking etcetera. Latest reports and statistics disclose that in Africa m-commerce is set to even overtake the development of e-commerce, through the popular use and penetration of mobile telephony whilst ecommerce development is constrained by difficulties in rolling out speedily fixed telephone lines. These new methods of communication have so intensified that there is hope that further penetration of mobile telephony would leap-frog economic growth and development in Africa, especially in rural communities. Therefore, innovations and investment in ICT’s are changing the world in a number of ways, resulting in a globally connected digital economy. However, there are regulatory challenges that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Certain sections of the continent’s population, especially those in rural areas, have very limited access to ICT’s. This prevents them from exploiting opportunities offered by ICT’s. The main barriers to ICT access relate to inadequate regimes and their supporting legal frameworks, high cost of internet access, connectivity problems, the lack of technical skills to support maintenance and low number of computers with internet connectivity at schools, libraries and other public places. In this paper such challenges are identified and further reforms suggested. The ultimate recommendation is the one that states that a SADC telecommunication independent regulatory agency be established, independent of any government ministry, though consulting with a SADC Ministerial Council. Already, some countries in West Africa have developed a harmonized regulatory framework designed to integrate the Acts covering ICT markets in the sub-region and to keep policy and regulatory frameworks in line with the constant evolution of technologies, applications and services

Regulatory Imperatives for the Future of SADC’s “Digital Complexity Ecosystem”

This article uses a “digital complexity ecosystem” framing to delineate the challenges facing regulation of the digital economy in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The digital complexity ecosystem approach, grounded in the field of complexity science – and in particular the study of complex adaptive systems (CASs) – is used to illuminate the sources of uncertainty, unpredictability and discontinuity currently present in the SADC digital sphere. Drawing on examples from three regulatory areas, namely mobile financial services, Internet of Things (IoT) network and services markets, and e-health services, the article argues that SADC regulatory bodies will themselves need to adopt highly adaptive, nonlinear approaches if they are to successfully regulate activities in the digital ecosystem moving forward. Based on the findings, recommendations are made on SADC regional regulatory agendas and, at national levels, matters of concurrent jurisdiction.CA201

Telecommunications Reform In Botswana: a Policy Model for African States

Since the mid-1990s, Botswana has pursued a policy of telecommunications liberalisation. This article, based on fieldwork conducted in Botswana in the summer of 2000, analyzes several notable aspects of the process of reform and denotes those worthy of emulation by other African states. The participation and protection of domestic telecommunication users, transparency in decision-making, the creation of an independent regulatory agency, and the introduction of competition in the form of private cellular service providers are among those policy features that are recommended for replication. Various facets of the tendering process and subsequent licences granted to the mobile operators as well as recent legislation are also examined and commended

Southern African Development Community Cybersecurity Maturity Report 2021

Cybersecurity has become a priority area in the digital age. The need for well thought-out cybersecurity policies has become even more apparent in a post COVID-19 pandemic world, where the internet is considered a critical resource for almost all aspects of life. Users, organisations, and governments access and offer services and products online and more than ever before. For this reason, there is need to ensure that information and users are safe online. To contribute to having a digital space that promotes the well-being and prosperity of all, it is important for countries to understand their cyber risks, threat, and vulnerability landscape before they can improve on their capacity to deal with cybersecurity. While there are various national and regional reports examining the cybersecurity status of various territories, understandings of regional cybersecurity capacity landscapes are lacking Sub-Saharan Africa. The goal of this study is to evaluate the cybersecurity status of countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and determine the capacity maturity of the region in light of emerging vulnerabilities, threats, and risks. SADC is one of the least explored regions concerning cybersecurity capacity. The study used the Cybersecurity Capacity Maturity Model for Nations (CMM) as an analytical and a benchmarking tool by means of which to evaluate the status of cybersecurity maturity in the region. The granular assessment of the CMM allows for specific regional policy recommendations for the different dimensions of the model with the aim of informing countries, with empirical evidence to take the necessary steps to increase the scale and effectiveness of cybersecurity capacity-building initiatives. This study used both published and unpublished previous CMM assessments conducted by C3SA partners, including the GCSCC, the World Bank, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisations (CTO), which were available at various repositories. In addition, we reviewed other existing metrics and reports on the status of cybersecurity maturity in the region. The reports we reviewed include the NCSI by the e-governance academy foundation, the GCI by the ITU, academic literature such as published papers and grey literature, including regional reports and news articles. To fill any gaps on missing data, subject matter experts were identified and approached to provide more information through semi-structured interviews. The collected data was synthesised according to the relevant dimension for each country, which consequently allowed for a regional analysis based on the five dimensions of the model. Based on these findings, the report makes specific policy recommendations targeted at helping countries in the SADC region to improve their cybersecurity capacity. This report was compiled by C3SA researchers in collaboration with researchers from the GCSCC and NUPI

African E-Government Research Landscape

Over the past decade, African governments have followed the worldwide trends towards establishing e-government with the aim of improving public service delivery to citizens through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). As a consequence, authors from academia, government departments and agencies, civil society, industry, non-governmental and international organizations have embarked into e-government research focusing on Africa. However, the state of the art of e-government research in Africa is poorly documented. This study analyzes the status of e-government research in Africa. A qualitative technique based on online searches and literature reviews is used to collect data that have addressed any aspect of e-government development in Africa. Thereafter, the content analysis of the reviewed literature is performed. The results of the study show: (1) the growth pattern of Africa e-government research within a period of 10 years from 2002 to 2012, (2) the issues addressed by the researchers on e-government development in Africa, (3) the African countries and regional participation in e-government research in Africa, and (4) the affiliation and expertise of authors undertaking research on e-government in Africa. These results provide useful insights that might be of interest to African governments, industry and academia for the future development of e-government on the continent. Also included in the paper is an annotated bibliography of e-government research