Africa's Least Developed Countries' Teledensity Problems and Strategies: Telecommunications Stakeholders Speak

The thrust of this book is on the assessment of some factors and obstacles (or constraints) that limit teledensity growth, and possible strategies for enhancing teledensity in subSaharan Africa. Teledensity is the average number of main telephone lines per 100 inhabitants in a given geographical entity. The data gathered and analysed in the book were from a survey of telecommunications stakeholders from the region. The stakeholders were classified either as governmental or non-governmental. Furthermore, the author classifies the stakeholders by affiliation (operators, regulators, or academia/research/development), in order to analyse the data from multiple perspectives. The book underscores the extreme variety of conditions across the continent, and points out that making generalisations about Africa’s telecommunications and/or socio-economic indices could be particularly misleading. The author then narrows the focal point to sub-Saharan Africa. Suffice it to say, strategies for improving the various issues that were raised in the book (with teledensity being the central theme) need to take into account the fact that average incomes across the continent vary widely between countries. Annual per capita GDP levels range from $200 to $7000. Also, the market sizes vary from 1 million to well over 100 million people [1]. The potential for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to enhance socio-economic development around the world is now receiving great attention worldwide. Using the catchphrase ‘Bridging the Digital Divide’, national governments, NGOs, corporations, and global compacts such as the UN and the G8 are all marshalling resources to use ICTs for improving development across Africa. Given that ITU figures indicate that Africa (particularly sub-Saharan Africa) is the least developed region in the world, it is natural that much of this effort is now focusing on the continent [1,2]. Telecommunications infrastructure is a basic precursor to the effective use of ICTs, which in this context are seen as an enabling tool with a multiplier effect that can cut costs and improve the quality and delivery of a wide variety of basic infrastructure and services. The prospect of new opportunities for economic growth is also heralded. Hopefully, this in turn would provide more finances for government programs.