Moving forward in Zimbabwe - Brooks World Poverty Institute - The ...

Moving forward in Zimbabwe
Reducing poverty and promoting growth
Table 9.3: Selected regional economies’ internet and broadband users and penetration.
Country Internet users Internet penetration (Fixed) internet subscribers Broadband subscribers
Zimbabwe 1,351,000 11.9 % 100000 15,200
Zambia 500,000 4.3 % 12,578 2,300
Malawi 139,500 1.0 % 85,029 1,600
Namibia 101,000 4.5 % 90,000 300
South Africa 4,590,000 10.5 % 4,279,200 378,000
Tanzania 400,000 1.0 %
Uganda 750,000 2.4 % 15,500 1,900
Kenya 3,000,000 7.9 % 186,801 17,700
Sudan 3,500,000 8.7 % 42,500
Sources: Extracted from Internet World Stats for 31 March 2009; ITU African Telecom Indicators 2008 (fig. 2007).
The number of personal computers per 100 people has risen
from 1.5 per 100 in 2000 to 6.5 per 100 in 2007. This is higher than
the average 1.8 per 100 for Sub-Saharan Africa. This may have a
correlation with the higher levels of literacy in the country and may
be a good sign of the adoption readiness, should other inhibiting
conditions be attended to.
The major impediment to internet usage in many developing
countries, and in Zimbabwe, is cost. Because of the scarcity of
broadband, most internet access is dial-up, and most countries
charge for dial-up at conventional voice calling rates. A monthly
usage of 20 hours of internet access costs almost US$50 in Africa,
almost twice as much as the next highest region, the Americas.
Internet pricing shows a very wide variation among African
countries; but, more than one-third of the economies have monthly
price baskets of more than 25 percent of per capita income.
The price basket for internet per month in Zimbabwe was 24.6
in 2007 – much lower than the 29.2 average for the lower income
countries , and even lower than the 43.1 for the Sub-Saharan
countries (World Bank 2009 ICT at a Glance - http://devdata.
worldbank.org/ict/zwe_ict.pdf)
Figure 9.4: Difference in prices of ICTs between
developing and developed countries, 2008.
This sounds like a piece of good news, but not when seen
within the broader context of the low income of the population.
It should also be borne in mind that inflation eroded the value of
the Zimbabwe dollar such that, when denominated in US dollars,
every service looks cheap.
Broadband
When available, broadband in Africa is very expensive. The
average price for an entry level broadband (256kbps) is US$100
per month, when the average for the OECD countries is US$45.
Price variations are widest in the broadband market, ranging from
US$18 per month in Morocco, to US$40 in Senegal (ITU, 2008) to
as much as US$1,000 in Zimbabwe. There is no way that internet
usage can become pervasive when the costs are so prohibitively
high. When comparing the three technologies of fixed telephones,
mobile telephones and broadband, it is clear that broadband in
developing countries is much too expensive when compared to
prices in the developed countries, as shown in Figure 9.4.
There is no quick solution, and probably no other solution
than to allow as many players into this market as possible and
eliminate the current predatory pricing practices by the oligopolistic
providers. Again, wireless comes to the rescue, as this now allows
alternative ways of delivering broadband. It is hoped that planned
undersea optical fibre projects in Africa, such as SEACOM’s
undersea cable connecting south and east Africa, the East African
Submarine Cable System (EASSY) and the East African Marine
System (TEAMS), will lead to a lowering of broadband prices in
Africa.
Source: ITU, 2009b.
106