December 14, 2002

Abstract

"...there is a danger that 'the have and have-not' scenario of the industrial age will be replaced with 'the knows and knows-not' of the information age.

"...Currently Africa has more than 700 million inhabitants with an average telephone penetration of 19 lines for every 1,000 people. The sub-Saharan Africa has even lower penetration with just five (5) lines for every 1,000 inhabitants. Simply put, the telephone infrastructure in many African countries does not adequately meet demands of the growing populations and is, in most cases, outdated.

"Take the Zambian situation for example. The state owned Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel) has a total of 138,307 installed 'land telephone lines' out of which only 82, 317 lines were said to be in service last year.

"At that time, the tele-density or number of available telephone lines for 100 people was put at 0.76 amid complaints that the number of connected lines in service had been declining.

"...though the Internet is a very important tool in the development of any nation, under the prevailing situation in Zambia and other African countries, its introduction is likely to widen the knowledge gap between the rich and the poor.

"The fact is that, as is everywhere else, the basic requirement for internet access in Africa are a telephone line, a computer and a modem. The cost of a computer, a modem and renting a telephone line is more than the average African worker's annual salary, making ownership of the hardware needed for Internet access prohibitively expensive. As the initiated say, in telecommunications lies not only cell and telephone issues but also broadcasting and now Internet.

"How this sector is managed is, therefore, crucial to the attainment of freedom of information, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of the media and, consequently, democratic governance.

"...African countries have to create a conducive environment to ensure that ICTs take root in rural and per-urban areas. Measures to be taken should include:

Click here for the full article on the allAfrica.com site.

The Times of Zambia (Ndola), Opinion column.