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It
was a great experience meeting, networking and deliberating with experts in
ICT and Telecommunications on issues of internet access and affordability during
the April 2017 edition of the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4ai) Nigerian
coalition meeting. The meeting held on the 25th April in Lagos.
Key persons in the industry were in attendance such as the Minister of
Communications, Barr. Adebayo Shittu and past Chairman of the Nigerian Communications
Commission (NCC) Engr. Ernest Ndukwe. I was able to repeat the full potpourri
of emotions during the IFF held on the 26th and 27th
April
Asides
from the joys of gathering in a room full of ICT experts, key takeaways for
me are as follows-
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Nigeria ranks 3rd in Africa in A4ai
affordability index- Nigeria ranked third in A4ai’s Africa Affordability
Drivers Index, out of 27 countries. A4ai’s Africa Regional Coordinator, Onica
Makwakwa, made the disclosure at the unveiling of the Africa Affordability
Report 2017. The report examines the policy and regulatory framework that
allows some countries to make internet more affordable, accessible and
universal. Mauritius
topped the table with 61.70 per cent, followed by Morocco with 57.75 per cent. Nigeria came
third with 56.58 per cent.
According to the report, only five out of the
27 African countries have affordable internet– they are Mauritius, Morocco,
Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan. Affordable internet according to A4ai is one Gigabyte
(1GB) of mobile pre-paid data for two per cent or less of average monthly
income. In Africa however, 1GB of data costs an average citizen nearly 18 per
cent of their monthly income.
African countries including Nigeria need room
for improvement as we score less than five out of 10 in all policy areas
We need to be committed to more
action and less talk- The
honourable Minister emphasised on the need for his ministry to work with A4ai
on the outcome and resolutions of the Nigerian coalition April meeting going
forward. It also served as a call to action to me and other advocates for internet
access and affordability to ensure that we make more concerted efforts to
achieve our aims
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The main barrier to access is locally
relevant content and not affordability- From the Asia experience, the key
challenge of ensuring internet access for all is the availability of locally
relevant content and not affordability. This is a sign that we need to
develop content appealing to the locals in order to encourage them to come
online
Access and affordability are equally
important and should be advocated for simultaneously- While
responding to an interesting question about whether we should push for access
first before affordability, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe admitted that it was an
interesting and valid proposal but that in reality for telecommunications and
ICT, it may be impossible to have good access without making the internet
affordable for most people. It is therefore imperative that we advocate for
both to be achieved hand in hand
Your voice on the internet doesn’t always
lead to influence. We need to do more- We get caught up in the virtual world and
discussions in online spaces about internet rights that we forget we may also
need to respond offline to get make any real progress in campaigning for
internet freedoms. Anriette Esterhunsen, Director of Alliance for Progressive
Communications (APC) while revealing this at the IFF urged participants to be
aware, Act, not get lost in the virtual world and to also use and enjoy the
internet. It was also emphasised by a participant, Nnenna of Web Foundation
that we need to also re-orientate people that internet freedoms is not about
social media issues but includes issues of net neutrality and data protection
Multi-stakeholder approach is important for
effective ICT policy making – During the panel on policy and
regulatory landscape at the IFF, it was concluded that we need an all
inclusive multi-stakeholder approach to ICT policy making in Nigeria where relevant
stakeholders are invited and consulted and issues taken to the grassroots to
create awareness on how it affects them. Rather than presuming the locals are
not interested and shutting them out, we should ask the locals s what kind of
web they want
We need sex disaggregated data to get a
complete picture of ICT use- Gender disaggregated data is very important
for a holistic picture of the gender divide and disparity in the use of the
internet. We need to find out how internet shutdowns and monopolise in
countries affect women and girls. We need to realise Women also need to build their own army of
supporters when they have issues
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