OGR July - August Edition 2020

TOP STORY
They advised the African Government to
work with the private sector to develop
favorable policies that will support
indigenous companies, create more jobs,
and skills development in their respective
countries. And, there should also be digital
connectivity in Africa in terms of creating
an enabling environment for the tech
industry to thrive as there is a lot of
potential in the region which haven't been
fully utilized.
“Africa can also be a
Contributor to combating
Global Pandemic.”
A new report published by the Internet
Society explains the steps African countries
can take to bring faster and less expensive
Internet connectivity to the African region.
The report titled
"Anchoring the African Internet Ecosystem:
Lessons from Kenya and Nigeria's Internet
Exchange Points Growth" noted that better
connectivity represents a key opportunity
for countries to continue to develop more
resilient digital economies.
It reveals how a vibrant Internet ecosystem
is critical to bringing faster, and more
affordable Internet to Africa. It stated that
Internet exchange points (IXPs) are
locations where Internet service providers
(ISPs) and other network operators meet
and exchange Internet traffic. They are a
critical piece of technical infrastructure that
improves Internet access by keeping
Internet traffic local.
Without a local IXP, Internet service
providers have to use expensive
international Internet connectivity to
exchange and access content (which is
usually hosted abroad). Allowing traffic to
remain local results in faster and more
affordable Internet access.
The Society disclosed that the growth of
the IXPs in each country was exponential,
as were the cost savings from exchanging
traffic locally rather than using expensive
international transit.
It noted that Kenya's KIXP grew from
carrying peak traffic of 1 Gigabit per second
(Gbps) in 2012 to 19 Gbps in 2020, with
cost savings quadrupling to USD six million
per year. In Nigeria, IXPN grew from
carrying just 300 Megabits per second
(Mbps) to peak traffic of 125 Gbps in 2020,
and cost savings increased 40 times to USD
40 million per year.
"Kenya and Nigeria are in a better position
than ever before to cope with – and
contribute to – the digital revolution that
COVID-19 has accelerated as the Internet
becomes a lifeline for many people.
"It's clear Africa is ready to embrace the
digital revolution to spur economic
development. But reaching this goal will
depend on our community of passionate
people on the ground, policymakers,
regulators, and businesses embracing IXPs
and working in collaboration to create these
essential local traffic anchors," explains
Michuki Mwangi, Senior Director of
Internet Technology and Development for
the Internet Society.
The rapid pace of Internet development in
both Kenya and Nigeria underscores the
critical role that IXPs and the accompanying
infrastructure play in the establishment of
strong and sustainable Internet ecosystems.
The achievement is a significant step
towards the vision set by the peering
community in Africa 10 years ago: for 80
percent of African Internet traffic to be
local.
Among the reasons cited in the report for
Kenya and Nigeria's progress, is that the
governments in both countries adopted
policies that made it easier for an Internet
ecosystem to thrive. Both governments not
only made it easier for different service
providers to develop sub-marine cables, but
they also adopted data protection
regulations that spurred confidence and
attracted international service providers.
Both countries count on the Internet to
develop their service economies, that thrive
on financial, trade, and professional
services. Kenya, for example, is a 40 percent
service economy with many essential
government services that have moved
online.
Moreso, experts also revealed that the
African Continental Free Trade Agreement
(AFCFTA) is a key factor that should be
playing a vital role during this period, noting
that the AFCFTA will provide a platform for
local content to thrive as well as African
companies to position themselves to
compete globally and build resilience into
the Pan-African Supply Chain. They
explained that the implementation of
AFCFTA will also serve as an enabler to
strengthening regional collaboration within
the continent. And, the African Continental
Free Trade Agreement is a major resource to
combat Global Pandemic. The AFCFTA was
scheduled to launch in July 2020, but due to
the COVID-19 Pandemic, it has been
postponed till 2021.
Africa had over 600 million people without
access to energy. Despite the challenges,
Africa still holds a huge resource base and
there are more hydrocarbon discoveries
throughout the continent.
According to the report, there are about 128
billion barrels which stands at 7.5 percent of
world proven oil reserve, 503.3 TCF (86.8
billion BOE) which stands at 7.6 percent of
the world's proven gas reserves and 26
billion barrels of shale oil - Libya 5th globally.
Algeria ranks third globally of about 707
TCF which stands at 121.9 billion BOE. It
has been estimated that Africa's
hydrocarbon resources will increase by up
to 74 percent by 2050.
Following the agreement of the OPEC+
Production Cuts to stabilize the oil market,
along with other African producing
countries, Nigeria has joined other OPEC+
counterparts in a historic curtailment of
crude oil production to rebalance and
stabilize the global oil markets. Nigeria,
Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Congo-
Brazzaville, Gabon, Tanzania, Uganda,
Angola, Mozambique are key oil and gas
producers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Nigeria stands as Africa's largest oil
producer and is expected to become the
largest refiner and exporter of petroleum
products in Africa by 2022 as soon as the
refineries come on stream. The
Nigerian Government has reconfirmed its
commitment to comply with OPEC+
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OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION