Cellular Telephony and Its Impact on Globalization on the African Continent
BY LINDSEY POULIN
Technology is regarded as the potential key to industrialization on the African continent. The introduction and proliferation of cellular telephony is having a significant impact on the continent’s drive to join the globalized world. According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), over the last half decade, Africa has been the fastest growing region in mobile telephony in the world, averaging 78 percent a year. Despite this, on average, the continent lags behind the rest of the world with a penetration rate of about 4 percent, compared to 50 percent in Europe.
In 1995, based on ITU statistics, South Africa dominated the continents’ market, with 535,000 of Africa’s 646,500 cellular subscribers. In 2003, South Africa’s hold fell to about 32 percent of the continent’s subscribers, while usage in Egypt, Morocco, and Nigeria is currently 14 percent, 11 percent, and 7 percent respectively. Presently, the Africa Research Bulletin states that more than 60 percent of all telephone users in Africa are cellular subscribers. This makes the continent a unique market for outside investment and inner advancement because mobile telephony has significant growth potential based on predicted market size and interest. Cellular telephones have found a market in Africa because they alleviate infrastructure problems associated with main telephone lines, allow for market competition, increase international investment, and improve intercountry cooperation on the continent.
Postindependence, many African countries adopted state ownership systems. Because of state industry monopoly, there has been a lack of competition, investment, and infrastructure creation. Cellular telephony, however, aids the deregulation and competition process by encouraging companies to open their markets to U.S. and European companies that bring expertise, enhance technology transfer, and in many cases, such as Algeria, install the network or infrastructure that benefits both the international company and the state-owned industry.
Cellular telephones have introduced a new way of life in many African countries. They connect both rural and urban areas to the world, as well as the rest of Africa. Calls were previously funneled through Europe or the United States, making calls to neighboring countries more expensive than those to other international destinations. Furthermore, this new industry is creating jobs, allowing homegrown multinational corporations to form, and encouraging brain gain—all qualities that can positively impact development on the continent. The New African reported that a combination of African intelligence and technology that can bypass infrastructural problems could facilitate competition between continental companies and international ones.
Mobile telephones alone will not propel Africa into the developed world, but they are connecting this continent, separated by both technology and distance, to the rest of the world. Problems still exist, including bandwidth saturation and infrastructure, equipment costs, basic politics, and a lack of technical experts, but as solutions become available, an increasing number of countries will emerge with sizeable markets to potentially rival the current continent leaders.
Lindsey Poulin is a PhD student in George Mason University’s School of Public Policy (policy.gmu.edu) working at the International Center for Applied Studies in Information Technology (ICASIT) (http://www.icasit.org/). Her areas of interest include technology and Africa, intrastate conflict, and terrorism.
