Viewpoint, Digital Divide, Emerging Markets, Global: NOVATECH, the ICT Africa Market Place opened in Addis Ababa almost exactly as MWC closed its doors in Barcelona. It has taken Developing Telecoms' reporter  a whole month longer to return from Ethiopia and file a report but it is of no less importance in understanding the path of future ICT development in emerging markets. The Addis event may be less well attended than Barcelona and lack the glitzy exhibition stands and product innovations. But it is here where you can find some of the most important issues being addressed.

The name - NOVATECH, the ICT Africa Market Place - reflects the difficult birth the event has experienced as NEPAD Council has fought to get it established. It's current home, as part of the EU Pro-Invest sponsored NOVATECH appears to offer stability at last. It also enables the event to claim greater international significance as it draws in institutions from the ACP States (Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific). Over 300 participants came from more than 40 countries in Africa and elsewhere.

The key concerns to emerge during the conference were about ICT infrastructure projects, networks, internet connectivity, business trends, ICT financing and outsourcing. Speakers called for stronger cooperation between Africa and the West, especially Europe. In an opening address Ethiopia's Minister of Capacity Building, Hon. Tefera Waluwa, stressed Ethiopia's commitment to the development of ICTs to promote its poverty alleviation and economic development programs. The Minister said, "ICTs would help in consolidating the gains of the ongoing State transformation with a special emphasis on improving service delivery and creating a sense of accountability and transparency, which are the bedrocks for the flourishing of democratic institutions and the establishment of good governance."

NEPAD Council came out of the conference with an action list of items to address to move ICT development forward in Africa which includes:

• The need to change the regulatory environment in Africa and make it more conducive to ICT business development
• The need for ICT training - Africans may not be able to take part in the large infrastructure projects being rolled out because of lack of skills
• The development of inventive e-applications which do not necessarily require heavy infrastructure
• There need to involve the private sector more closely in future development and strengthen the public-private dialogue
• Innovation is possible in Africa especially given mobile and wireless technologies
• The need to deploy satellite and optical fiber (terrestrial and sub-marine) as a possible solution to address the lack of infrastructure.

Infrastructure Projects Update:

A highlight of the conference was a review of significant infrastructure projects being deployed in Africa. Three projects were covered:

SWANSAT (Super-Wide Area Network Satellite): the planned constellation of a minimum of four high powered geosynchronous orbit (GSO) telecommunications satellites licensed for global provision of two-way broadband services utilizing ten GHz of electromagnetic frequency in the W-band. Each SWANSAT bi-directional signal will cover the globe, except for the North and South Poles. Each spacecraft in the SWANSAT constellation will be capable of delivering 600 million 2 Megabit/second broadband Internet connections and about 250,000 video channels to island nations and other world communities that are now either underserved, not being served at all, or served at high cost to the end user. (see Nauru: a tiny territory with large leverage; 2Mb connection across the world - and for US$1 per month? & SWANSAT canvasses for support from Africa).

SEACOM: A company planning to construct a 15,000 km submarine cable system to connect South Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya to India and to the new TE cable station in Ras Sidr, Egypt near Suez, where TE will land the SEA Cable System.  From Ras Sidr, SEACOM will own a system within TE North cable system permitting the full SEACOM system to reach France seamlessly. When fully functional in 2009, SEACOM will be a service provider of international fiber optic bandwidth along the East Coast of Africa linking Southern and East Africa, Europe and South Asia. SEACOM has an enormous capacity of 1.2TB/s, to enable high definition TV, peer to peer networks, IPTV, and surging Internet demand and pricing will be significantly lower than current satellite or fiber pricing. SEACOM will be ready to serve Southern and East African markets from 2009, well in time to meet the bandwidth needs of the Confederations Cup and the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa, and the growing requirements of the economies in the countries it serves.

TEAMS (The East African Marine System): An initiative spearheaded by the government of Kenya to link the country to the rest of the world through a submarine fiber optic cable. First proposed as an alternative to EASSy, the East African Submarine Cable System, the submarine fiber cable will run from Mombassa to Fujairah. There are considerations to extend the network plan to include landing points along the coast in countries South of Kenya.

NEPAD Council to challenge over regulation in ICT

One of the most important issues addressed at the conference was ICT regulation. Many African countries still have government controlled telecommunication monopolies that make it difficult for other companies to compete effectively in the ICT sector. Cross border projects are taking long to implement because of the complexity of acquiring necessary international gateway licenses.

NEPAD Council pledged to discuss deregulation with bodies including the African Union. Dr. Jabulani Dhliwayo, NEPAD Council's acting president said, "NEPAD Council has taken the action item to start discussions with the AU, through its Washington, DC, Embassy on improving the regulatory environment in Africa". Regulation will be one of the themes to be addressed at the next ICT Africa event in 2009, which is scheduled to take place in South Africa.

African Universities Network

Another key area covered by delegates was the development of an African Universities network. Dr. Gilford Hapanyengwi from the University of Zimbabwe discussed a planned network to connect 12 Zimbabwean Universities. However, given Zimbabwe's current economic and political situation it is hard to see how this project can move forward until there have been wider changes in the country.

More positively, on a pan-continental basis, Hidega Tiku from France Telecom proposed an African Research and Education Collaborative Network program based on the French Renater model. The project would connect academic institutions throughout the continent. NEPAD council has pledged to support this initiative and engage other stake holders such as the African Union and AfrISPA. The project will benefit from AfrISPA's Internet exchange points initiative. NEPAD Council plans to convene a further session on the project at the ICT Africa 2009 in South Africa.

All change in African ICT?

So did NOVATECH, the ICT Africa Market Place offer solutions to any of Africa's ICT issues and will it result, however remotely, in long term change and improvement in ICT services in Africa? The problem with many conferences is that much of the real business takes place behind closed doors in private meetings between suppliers, service providers and end users.

It is clear a significant number of agreements were signed which will make a difference and will result in change. The business to business meetings organized by Pro-Invest brought together many entrepreneurs seeking partnerships as well as educational and research institutions seeking collaboration. Approximately 750 meetings took place, leading to around 70 partnership memoranda. Agreements signed included

• Joint-ventures
• Distribution deals
• Sub-contracting agreements
• Equipment supply deals
• Export advice and technical assistance agreements

NOVATECH, the ICT Africa Market Place is succeeding in establishing itself as one of the key events in ICT development in Africa. It will be back in 2009 and we wish it continued and growing success.