Calvillo-Gámez E.H. Guang H.K., Lim S., Mutuku F.L.,
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Context
Internet development in Ghana is constrained by low teledensity, high dial-up tariffs, a workforce that is severely lacking in IT education, and low bandwidth both intra- and inter-nationally. Ghana hence faces grave challenges in building its national information infrastructure:
- A digital divide is rapidly forming between the capital Accra and the other towns beyond the metropolitan magnetism of the country’s commercial core;
- Within Accra, where fixed line telephony infrastructure is well established, there is increasing demand for affordable and reliable broadband Internet access services from enterprises and industries both multinational and local.
This project proposes ICT initiatives to address commercial and social development needs that are fundamental to socioeconomic development in Ghana. Specifically, two initiatives are proposed:
- ICT for Enterprises: Provision of cost-effective broadband Internet access and services for industries and enterprises
- ICT for Connectivity and Education: Provision of basic Internet access and basic IT training to secondary school students and local communities (businesses and private individuals) via school-based telecenters.
As an emerging economy with a sound basic education system, a strife-free society and a business-friendly environment largely free of the meddling of kleptocratic politicians, Ghana today is at the stage of development shared by the East Asian ‘tiger’ economies at the start of their respective industrialization processes in the 1960s. These initiatives therefore aspire to achieve the following outcomes:
- Cognizant that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and local enterprises established by local entrepreneurs will form the engines of growth, the ICT-for-Enterprises initiative aims to provide a model for the provision of adequate, low-cost and reliable information in the metropolitan areas and industrial zones to attract MNCs and high-tech, IT-enabled SMEs (small-medium enterprises).
- Universal access, at least in urban areas, is an achievable goal that can be achieved via the provision of low cost public access facilities for telecommunications and the Internet, and is one aim of the ICT-for-Connectivity-and-Education initiative.
- The second aim of the ICT-for-Connectivity-and-Education initiative is to provide IT education and training to students and members of local communities so as to create a workforce that can ultimately be assimilated into the emerging, high value-added, knowledge-based service and high-tech sectors.
The proposed initiatives therefore support Ghana’s broad economic goals, and in terms of implementation, they are designed to be financially self-reliant to the extent possible, with a rollout process that is incremental and demand-driven. The ICT-for-Enterprise initiative is expected to be fully financially self-sustainable, with its growth determined wholly by market demand. The ICT-for-Connectivity-and-Education initiative is expected to be, at minimum, operationally sustainable, with possible financial relief from the State or NGOs required in covering its initial capital expenditure. The costs and revenue structures for both initiatives conceivably differ given the different intentions, policies, and factors that govern development in each case.
Conclusion
This project hence proposes two initiatives that seek to address key challenges that will dominate Ghanaian socioeconomic development in the coming decade in ways that are cost-feasible and attractive. Further work will be necessary in reaffirming many of the findings and projected results that have been arrived herein, as well as to explore the ways by which greater international bandwidth, so sorely lacking and yet difficult to obtain at affordable cost, can be acquired.
"Information Infrastructure Enhancement Initiatives: A Case Study in Ghana".
MIT, DHP P232/ ESD.127
