From Africa Recovery, Vol.13#4 (December 1999), page 19 (part of special feature on information technology)

Computers are few, the issues many

Computers in Africa are relatively few -- recent estimates are 1-3 computers per 1,000 people, with the ratio peaking near 20 per 1,000 in Botswana, Mauritius and South Africa. They are also relatively expensive. There is little local assembly, they are taxed as luxury imports in many countries and retailers make sure of their own margins. The notable exceptions are Mauritius, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. Import taxes there are under 10 per cent but communications equipment and computer peripherals are still charged at higher rates. In 1995, only five African countries could connect to the Internet. By early 1999, only the Republic of Congo, Eritrea and Somalia could not. Still, Internet use remains prohibitively expensive.

Most Internet service providers (ISPs) are in urban centres where local call charges are often too high for most people. Outside the towns, it takes an expensive, long-distance call to reach an ISP. So far, only 13 countries have tackled this problem by allowing phone companies to set up a special "area code" for Internet access, charged at local call rates.

Meanwhile, ISP charges range from $10 to $100 a month. Internet access is generally cheaper in countries with several ISPs such as Uganda, which has at least eight. State-owned telecommunications companies now provide Internet services in 31 countries, controlling the international "gateway." Where the national company competes with the private sector -- Côte d'Ivoire, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia -- Internet access costs are lower.

The cheapest Internet access for ISPs in countries outside South Africa is through two-way, satellite-based services using very small aperture terminals (VSAT) to connect directly to the US or Europe. This has been quickly adopted wherever regulations allow, namely Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Most of Africa's Internet connections are to the US, with a few to the UK and France. The exceptions are some ISPs in Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland that use South Africa as a hub. Aside from a link between Mauritius and Madagascar, there are no Internet links between neighbouring countries in Africa. High international tariffs discourage ISPs from setting up multiple international links. ISPs must therefore put all their traffic on a single, high-cost international circuit.

The result is a growing burden of payments to US or European service providers for Internet traffic between African countries. Africans are trying to raise the issue in international meetings, and could collaborate with Asian telecommunications operators and regulators who oppose the same imbalance in Asia.

Africa has so far been marginal in global policy making on Internet issues. African ISPs took a step forward in 1998 when they began setting up a regional body (AfriNIC) to take over management of some African Internet governance matters from the US and Europe.

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