CASE STUDIES FROM AFRICA

Due to labour shortages for young graduates, we observe that telemarketing positions in call centres
in Senegal are staffed by employees with higher education degrees (Bac+4 and Bac+5), whereas in
Europe they are staffed by employees with less training (Bac).
As reported by stakeholders consulted, the higher education system in Senegal has greatly
contributed to the emergence and success of ITS start-ups.
Infrastructure and Technological Endowments
Infrastructure and technological endowments are critical to the export of any modern ICT-intensive
service, but in particular with regard to ITS and BPO exports. Table 7 shows that the infrastructure
for ICT/BPO service delivery (telecommunications networks) has improved dramatically in Senegal
since 2002.
Table 7: Access and Use of Telecom Indicators in Senegal, 2002–2012
2002 2007 2012
Access Indicators
Fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants 2.1 2.2 2.6
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 5.1 29.3 87.5
International Internet bandwidth per Internet user (bit/s) 752 2,079 5,363
Proportion of households with computer 1.7 7.8 9.0
Proportion of households with Internet 0.5 1.0 5.8
Use Indicators
Internet users per 100 inhabitants 1.0 6.6 19.2
Fixed broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants – 0.3 0.7
Mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants – – 3.8
Source: International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Measuring the Information Society, different years.
In terms of ‘openness to technology’, in 2013 Senegal ranked 95 th (out of 148 countries) (see Figure
6a), coming behind Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritius, and South Africa. It scored better than Ghana and
Egypt, however.
Other measures of infrastructure quality—such as the quality of international Internet bandwidth,
the quality of the electricity supply, and the overall quality of infrastructure—highlight some of
Senegal’s weaknesses relative to other African ICT/BPO performers (Figure 6). While these
difficulties are recognised, it should be noted that Senegal was among the first African countries (in
the early 1990s) to invest in a rural fiber optic network to provide access to underserved rural areas.
It was also the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to offer asymmetric digital subscriber line
(ADSL) data services (in 2003).
In this regard, Senegal has benefited greatly from the national transmission network built by
Sonatel, the incumbent provider. Sonatel co-owns several submarine fiber optic cables around the
world, including (i) the Atlantis 2 cable, which was the first fiber optic cable landing in Dakar, and
put into service in February 2000 between Senegal, Cape Verde,, Spain, Brazil, and Argentina; (ii)
the SAT3/WASC/SAFE cable with a length of 28,000 km, the first fiber optic underwater link
connecting Europe and Asia, inaugurated in Dakar in May 2002; and (iii) the ACE cable, 17,000 km
long with 22 underwater stations, in which Sonatel is the largest investor, with a combined budget
of over CFAF 11.9 billion (approximately € 18.2 million). This cable connects 23 countries, including
16 African countries.
With investments such as these, Sonatel has positioned Senegal as the main gateway for Internet
transit in West Africa. With an Internet bandwidth of 13.7 Gbit/s in 2012 (against 53 Mbps in 2002
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