THE ICT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA - in reference to Nigeria

Only a few years ago, the African continent represented the region of major concern to the international community because of its inability to adopt and utilize essential technologies that are required to facilitates economic development of the region.
Infrastructural facilities such as roads, transportation system, public power supply, communication and information technologies were inadequate in most of the 52 countries in the continent. Since modern infrastructure is required for sustainable economic growth, the essential infrastructure inadequacy is the major reason Africa countries has the least economic development in comparison to other regions of the world.
Three major infrastructure components I have identified as pivotal for Africa to improve its standing in the global reckoning are:
1. Efficient and reliable public electric power supply
2. Pervasive, reliable and modern infrastructure
3. Communication technology
I personally believe that any African country that can get these three infrastructure components right, would firmly be on the path of major economic growth and development.
With respect to the ICT infrastructure component, the wave of market liberalization that swept across the world in the last two decades has positively impacted the continent with several African countries opening up to private local and foreign investment in the sector. Such countries have embraced market reform and liberalization resulting in several notable success stories in the region, thus providing useful examples for other developing nations to emulate.
In the last decade, several African countries have been part of this revolution that has been propelled mostly by digital mobile services. With the licensing of competitive operators across Africa, the growth of these services has been geometric in respect to Nigeria, for example, an average growth of 8 million lines per annum has been recorded since the year 2001.
Information and communications technologies have been widely acknowledged as presenting opportunities for the creation of unprecedented economic growth for Africa. Thankfully, most African government has demonstrated the political will need to faster an environment conducive for investment in the sector.
Indeed there has been a revival in the telecom industry and history has been made. A report by Wireless Intelligence had put the mobile subscriber base in Africa at 280 million users by the end of March 2008.
The African continent has thus surpassed the North America in terms of mobile subscribers by early 2008. By the end of 2009 the ITU stated that the mobile teledensity in Africa was 42%. Wireless Intelligence also reported and rated Africa as the fastest growing mobile market of today.
Within the continent, the Republic of South Africa had over the years maintained a lead as Africa’s largest telecom market by subscriber number until January 2008, when Nigeria took over the lead as Africa largest telecom market in terms of subscriber base.
THE NIGERIA EXPERIENCE.
The open market approach adopted by Nigeria has promoted rapid deployment of ICT services nationwide, resulting in exponential growth in the number of telephone lines. Though a lot has been achieved, there remains lot more to be done. Government is also fully aware of the fact that economic development and sustenance of any modern nation is dependent on the adequacy of the nation’s telecommunications and information technology infrastructure.
The progress made in this sector in Nigeria has made it possible for the nation to become the largest telecom market in Africa in terms of subscriber telephone lines. In the last decade, this has presented Nigeria as an African example of how a well articulated and well executed sector reform program can transform the fortunes of a nation. Within this period, subscriptions to telephone service have risen to the current level of about 76 million active connected lines. This growth has been made possible by the injection of about 18 billion US Dollars private sector investment into building infrastructure, development on local manpower, empowerment of local companies that provide support services, employment creation as well as stimulating social interactions and economic activities. Advancement in the telecommunications sector within the last decade has improved the nation’s ICT ran and impacted other sector positively.