Mwananachi Communications Ltd Managing Director, Bakari Machumu (left) and Vodacom Tanzania CEO, Sitholizwe Mdlalose pose for a photo after the conversation on challenges and opportunities in the digital space as well as possible solution, in Dar es Salaam on Monday. PHOTO|ERICKY BONIPHACE
Dar es Salaam. Digital opportunities are now a key to economic growth.
These opportunities come with digital advancement in both urban and rural areas and as for Tanzania, experts say that the government has to now employ new
strategies to develop digitally.Speaking ahead of the Mwananchi Thought Leadership Forum (MTLF), a symposium themed ‘leave no one behind; uniting to bridge the digital chasm’ that is set to climax this week, different digital expertsand stakeholders have detailed the root causes of digital divide In Tanzania and how both the government and private sectors can fill the gap between rural and urban areas in terms of digital advancement.
Asha Abinallah, founder and CEO of Media Convergency explains that in Tanzania, there is no equality in terms of technology advancement because all the necessary infrastructures are well constructed in urban than rural areas.
“Digital development differs from urban areas to rural areas in according to development of soft and hard infrastructures in those respective areas. It also differs from one urban area to another. For example, the government had done well in broadband coverage in urban areas and now the ministry is tasked by 2025 to make sure that 80 percent of the country is covered by broadband backbone,” MsAbinallah explains.
Despite the digital advancement in urban parts of the country, she advises that there are multiple strategies that should be done to ensure the improvement of digital industry in its totality.
“Digital adaptation and transformation should be mandatory for some criteria with capacities to do so. There should be localization of key digital skills across sectors whilst considering all vulnerable groups. The government should also collaborate with private sectors since this calls for every useful solution to be put on the table for actual execution,” MsAbinallah says.
She further explains that Information Communications Technology oriented studies should be introduced from primary schools to education levels where students can choose for themselves to enhance early understanding of digital industry.
For his part, JumanneMtambalike, Sahara Ventures CEO, digital divide is caused by lack of digital infrastructures penetrated into rural areas causing residents living in those rural areas to not have digital advancement compared to people living in urban areas.
He explains in detail that in developing countries, the lack of these infrastructures is caused by not having enough investments that could fully fund such projects.
“The digital divide is a context in a wide concept because it is more than rural and urban divide. There is gender divide whereas in places that are well connected digitally, men have more access to digital connectivity than women and this is caused by social cultural issues including believes that women should not be exposed to such connections,” he reveals.
Mr Mtambalike said that most developing countries are still stumbling when it comes to digital advancement because they are more focused on developing other tangible sectors including agriculture, education and health. He explains that it is about Tanzania learns to connect the digital world and other paramount sectors as they can rely on each other in terms of evolvement.
“Before we bridge the digital divide, Tanzania should highly be focused on ways they can first improve the quality of digital connectivity so that by the time digital connectivity in urban and rural areas becomes equal, it also becomes of high quality,” Mr Mtambalike notes.
He mentions that despite Tanzania investing a lot on the nation ICT backbone in the past few years to ensure that the connectivity even reaches to the grassroots level of the communities, there should be policies that could guide the whole towards the road to ‘a digital Tanzania’.
“There should also be guidelines that will basically map out the directions that the country wants to take in terms of connectivity and penetration for example understanding the areas that we would want to connect, be it hospitals or schools. If we were to go by the book, we would definitely do it right,” Mr Mtambalike details.
He lastly explained that for Tanzania to succeed in digital connectivity, there must be digital literacy in all sides; the consumers (users), content creators as well as regulators whereas they are all important key players in any digital playground.
“There should also be creation of intervention projects or programs that will basically focus on marginalized groups in our societies so as to enhance digital access to every person in our societies,” Mr Mtambalike avers.
According to Mihayo Wilmore, head of Habari Hub at MCL, the way metrics are subdued by TCRA is that any sort of connectivity should be put where it is economically feasible and where money can easily be made.
“There is an agency called Universal Communications Service Access Fund (UCSAF) where a certain fee is paid on a timely basis by communications operators to cover areas which seem feasible to them. The agency is the one responsible to focus on developing infrastructures in the areas that do not appeal communications operations financially,” Mr Mihayo explains.
He detailed despite the efforts made by both the government and private sectors to construct supportive infrastructures across Tanzania, there are places especially in the southern part of the country that are difficult to reach due to terrains and density of forests covering those areas.
“Two of the most raised questions are; does the local rural society in a particular area understand the need for the digital connectivity and how can the need for the connectivity be created to enhance digital advancement in rural communities,” Mr Mihayo avers.
He further entails that the need for digital connectivity in rural areas in Tanzania can be created by linking technology and other developmental sectors like finance, health, education and agriculture.
“For the country to bridge the digital divide between rural and urban areas, it should not only focus on availability of broadband, the government and private sectors have to also look at accessibility and affordability of the broadband so that digital connectivity can be a long forgotten drawback,” says Mr Mihayo.
According to Sitholizwe Mdlalose, Vodacom MD, one of the leading telecoms in the country, the new sites Vodacom is taking up with UCSAF are targeting 3G and 4G, rather than 4G which means more investments for Vodacom.
“Our rural sites are cheap, using solar power and offers hybrid solutions to more people to reduce costs.The subsidy in devices is meant to address this gap and it is done by offering affordable low cost devices to rural communities like our smartkitochi,” he said.
MrMdlalose further hinted “We are also designing products and services that are relevant for all communities including those in the rural areas, services like M-kulima, M-Koba and E-Fahamu (Our zero rated education portal).”
For the past five years, Vodacom has invested over Sh 753.8 billion in their network by constructing new towers while at the same time upgrading the existing ones and they have so far reached about 92 percent of the country.
“The biggest challenge is mobile broadband usage gap which is defined as the percentage of the population covered by mobile broadband networks but not using mobile internet. it is necessary to improve access to affordable devices and data plans, build digital skills, invest in local ecosystems to make services more relevant and ensure that the internet is safe and secure to usein order to close the usage and coverage gaps,” he explained.
Mr Mdlalose details that improving the business environment was also needed to support the significant investment required to achieve universal broadband access.
“We need to make sure that our innovators and governments making use of the huge network that we are rolling out, while making sure that we provide digital literacy to the public,” he says.
Mr Mdlalose further explains that “The National ICT Broadband Infrastructure Fibre Optic Backbone (NICTBB) is a backhaul system of our internet traffic so it has helped to minimize our investment in fiber. As we lease instead of investing. It mitigates eventual cost to the consumer. Eventually it has helped us go faster and reach further to rural communities since it stretches further. On the other hand this has helped in improving user’s quality and experience.”
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