CASE STUDIES FROM AFRICA

Institutions
When it comes to services, certain institutions may be relatively more important than others. 30 In the
ICT/BPO context, the quality of regulatory and contract-enforcing institutions is especially relevant
as a key source of comparative advantage. This is attributable in large part to the intangibility of
services—a consumer buying a service primarily delivered online cannot inspect this service before
buying it. Effective regulations help to mitigate this uncertainty, as does the knowledge that
contracts will be enforced in a relatively predicable and reliable manner.
In Senegal, the main institution governing ICT and BPO services is the regulator, ARTP. ARTP is
generally seen as having played an important and positive role in the development of the ICT and
BPO sectors in Senegal, especially early on.
In 2008, Senegal adopted a series of laws to fill the legal vacuum created by the advent of ICT,
creating a competitive and secure regulatory environment within which its firms could operate. The
five laws relate respectively to (i) data protection, (ii) cybercrime, (iii) electronic transactions, (iv)
cryptography, and (v) ISOC-Senegal. These laws were supplemented by four decrees concerning
electronic commerce, electronic communications, electronic certification, and the implementing
decree on the protection of personal data. With this legal framework in place, Senegal and its firms
were well positioned to comply with emerging new data protection requirements, such as those the
EU has imposed on non-EU states wishing to process European data remotely. Furthermore, in
2015, Senegal submitted a request to the Council of Europe to accede to Convention 108
(Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal
Data) and its Additional Protocol.
Several private-sector ICT service providers have become increasingly critical of ARTP, however,
especially in terms of the close relationship it maintains with the incumbent operator, Sonatel. Here
they cite a variety of concerns, including (i) an alleged lack of transparency for ensuring that all ICT
service suppliers are provided access to public telecommunications transport networks on
reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions, 31 (ii) the fact that ARTP’s staff is largely
made up of former Sonatel employees, and (iii) the lack of skills and equipment to enable ARTP to
perform its duties without having to rely too much on Sonatel.
Providers of VAS have also expressed concerns about the lack of regulations for VAS, including
with regard to potential anti-competitive pricing. They cite the lack of transparency in revenue
sharing with telecom operators (i.e., the inability to verify the revenues being passed to them vs.
those kept by the operator). ARTP is currently undertaking a study to consider how to better
regulate this area.
From the private sector side, the main institutional actor is the Organisation des Professionnels des
Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (OPTIC). OPTIC effectively serves as the ICT
arm of the Conseil National du Patronat (CNP), Senegal’s largest business association. Feedback
from stakeholders consulted indicates that OPTIC is widely perceived as an effective, competent,
and honest representative of industry.
30
Goswami et al., 2012.
31
For its part, ARTP indicated it was currently reviewing interconnexion rates as part of a broader review to promote
lower costs for VASPs.
180