Page 59 - SAMENA Trends - July-September 2024

ARTICLE SAMENA TRENDS

ARTICLE

Open-Source Solutions as a Way to Reduce the Cost of

Connectivity in Africa

Africa has shown good momentum in the telecom industry in recent
years and is generally one of the most dynamically developing
regions in the world. In 2022, subscriber penetration in Sub-
Saharan Africa was 43%, and by 2030, it is expected to increase
by almost 50%, from 489 to 692 million, while CSPs’ revenues and
investment will grow from $48 to $58 billion. Also, smartphone
adoption in the region is predicted to expand from 51% to 88% in
2022-2030. African countries are actively launching digitalization
processes, which is in line with the African Union’s Agenda 2063,
and telecom is the foundation for the growth of the digital sector.
However, despite a universal desire to build a digital economy,
there are obstacles to realizing these intentions. In this article, we
look at factors affecting the development of mobile connectivity in
the region and open-source technologies as a way to overcome the
major cost-related challenges.

Factors Affecting Digitalization in Africa
Primary factors influencing digitalization in the African region
include problems with the development of digital infrastructure,
a shortage of accessible and affordable connectivity, a lack of
experts for digitally enabled industries, insufficient regulatory and
policy environments, and cultural features.

However, one of the primary problems with the digitalization of
Africa is the extremely high cost of connectivity. African countries
are amongst the regions with the highest prices of mobile data:
in 2023, one gigabyte of mobile internet in Sub-Saharan Africa
amounted to $3.31, and in Northern Africa, it was $0.86 on average.
In general, the price of broadband Internet services is about 3%
of the monthly gross national income (GNI) per capita globally; in Maxim Nartov
Africa, it is estimated almost at 15%. According to the International Chief Business Officer
Telecommunication Union (ITU), Internet prices are considered Nexign
affordable when they are equal to or less than 2% of GNI. High
connectivity costs arise due to low purchasing power, a common
reason in low-income countries, but also due to insufficient telecom
infrastructure, electricity problems, old technologies, and high
costs of network and IT infrastructure maintenance and support.

Finding a Way to Cost-Efficient Connectivity with Open-Source
Technologies
As stated by key stakeholders and policymakers, the problem of
expensive connectivity should be resolved as soon as possible, as
it hampers integration and economic processes strongly required
by the continent's countries. One of the potential strategies to
achieve this goal is to reduce the price of network and IT solutions

59 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2024