South Africa is slipping down the global ICT development index at a time when other African countries are making big gains.
This is according to the World Bank’s economic update for South Africa, which saw the country’s growth rate cut to 0.6%.
The World Bank warned that poverty in South Africa is expected to worsen, with low levels of innovation and declining productivity holding us back.
Telecommunications and IT can help the country grow and create employment, but poor governance is hurting these industries.
A modern economy requires fast and cheap ICT infrastructure to connect businesses with domestic and international consumers, and to enable the delivery of public services.
According to the World Bank, urgent reforms are needed to increase investments in mobile and fixed broadband infrastructure.
The reforms should also increase competition among Internet service providers, and improve the quality and reduce the price of ICT services.
“South African consumers are paying more for broadband services of lower speeds than other emerging economies in Africa and other regions,” said the World Bank.
Development
The report cited the ICT Development Index from the ITU, which showed that South Africa’s ranking has fallen from 77 in 2002 to 88 in 2016 – while other African countries are making gains.
The underlying constraint is not a lack of capital for investment or a lack of interest from foreign companies in the South African market.
Instead, the constraint is attributable to outmoded regulatory approaches and the lack of competition among telecommunications service providers.
“A particular failing is that 4G mobile services have still not been licensed in South Africa, even though such services are thriving elsewhere in Africa,” said the World Bank.
South Africa’s relatively high tariffs, low broadband penetration, and slow Internet speed are directly affecting the poorest households.
High Internet costs constrain the growth of the ICT industry and contribute to the slow development of e-government applications, it stated.
“Ensuring the regulator’s policy independence and confirming its field of action should help expedite stalled actions such as 4G licensing.”
“A more liberal approach to spectrum management and price competition would support these objectives,” stated the report.
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Quelle/Source: MyBroadband, 20.09.2017
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