African Researchers and Regulators Dominate WDR Cairo Forum

At the WDR Expert Forum in Cairo, 2-4 May 2004, the major players in the African ICT research and regulatory networks led a series of lively discussions on the WDR Dialogue Theme, Stimulating Investment in Network Development: Roles for Regulators.

The event began on 2 May with a review of research on telecom reform in Africa and its implications for network investment, bringing together WDR researchers and key contributors in the new Research ICT Africa (RIA) network. The LINK Centre at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa played a major role as both WDR research partner and central node in the RIA network. http://www.researchictafrica.net/

The following day the researchers were joined by leading African regulators and industry players in the official WDR Expert Forum, to compare research results with the actual experience of regulators and practitioners. Ernest Ndukwe, CEO and DG, Nigeria Communications Commission, and Chair of the West Africa Telecommunication Regulators Association (WATRA) was special guest speaker, and explained the institutional changes in Nigeria that have permitted the recent explosion in mobile network investment. Other leading regulators speaking at the forum were Ashok B. Radhakisoon, Chair, Information and Communications Technologies Authority (ICTA), Mauritius; Mandla Langa, Chair, ICASA, South Africa; Sammy K. Kirui, DG, Communications Commission of Kenya; F.F. Tusubira, Uganda Communications Commission and University of Makerere; Patrick Masambu, DG, UCC and Chair, ARICEA; and Rohan Samarajiva, former DG, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, Sri Lanka. Cuthbert Lekaukau, Executive Chairman, Botswana Telecommunications Authority and Chair, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO) missed the event due to last minute urgent business at home. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, CEO of the CTO gave the dinner speech, introduced by the Honourable Albert Kan Dapaah, Minister of Communication and Technology, Ghana.

The research presentations included country studies for South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Somaliland, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Zambia, Rwanda, Kenya, Sri Lanka, India and Denmark. Additional research reports covered Regional Regulatory Associations, African Telecom Regulator Website Development, Regulation and E-commerce in Developing Countries, Cost-based Interconnection, Internet Access in Africa, and Developing an E-Usage Index for Africa. Executive summaries of the main research reports were provided to participants. The summaries and the forum programs can be downloaded from the links at the bottom of this page.

On 4 May, researchers discussed the plans of several related programs for the next year with a view to promoting synergy across the different programs. These included:

WDR, led by William Melody and Rohan Samarajiva, which will be focusing heavily on Asian countries, building on the network investment dialogue theme >>more information on the 2004/05 dialogue theme>>;
RIA, led by F.F. Tusubira, which will be strengthening its ICT Sector Country Performance Reviews, as well as its Internet Access and E-Usage Index research, See http://www.researchictafrica.net/
ITU, with its Strategy and Policy Unit led by Tim Kelly, will be focusing on Internet Governance and Digital Divide issues, as well as its annual Trends in Telecom Reform, supplemented by regional indicator reports and a report on the Portable Internet. See http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/
IDRC Canada, led by Randy Spence, which will be developing a new initiative, tentatively called "Pro Poor, Pro-Market", focusing on changes that permit the poor to have easier access to participation in the telecom/ICT markets.

Thanks to WDR Partner, IDRC Canada, for catalyst funding to establish the Research ICT Africa network, and sponsorship of the WDR Cairo Expert Forum and research meetings.