STUDY ON
TELECOMMUNICATION REGULATION IN AFRICA
Through a EU-sponsored grant, ECA is working in several African countries to support
national governments to develop and formulate NICI plans and policies. In addition, the
grant is supporting efforts at developing indicators for measuring the impact of ICTs in
two pilot countries Ethiopia and Mozambique. Consequently, the impact of liberalization,
and the effectiveness of regulatory policies constitute one key indicator for measuring
the effects of the Information Society in African countries.
The study would contribute to assessing the impact of the Africa Information Society
Initiative (AISI) since its launch in 1996 and provide a useful reference point for
countries with regard to the state of their regulatory policies in advancing Information
Society goals.
Specific aims of the study are to:
1) Provide an overview on the state of telecommunication regulatory
policies in Africa with regard to current trends and developments at the national,
sub-regional and global levels. This should include issues such as accounting rates, and
an assessment of regional and national market structures.
2) Assess the role of major actors in this field in Africa, their
partners and the kind of activities underway on the continent. This includes examining and
evaluating the role and activities of organizations such as ITU, ATU as well as
sub-regional economic groups such as SADC, ECOWAS, CEMAC, etc.
3) Critique and appraise current and existing regulatory frameworks
within countries with respect to developments in the sector.
4) Assess where possible how policies are being implemented, their
impacts and/or benefits for the countries and the various stakeholders.
5) Identify the impediments/factors hindering the effective development
and implementation of sound regulatory policies the consequences for countries from a
social, economic, and political context.
6) Provide an analysis of the state of regulation with respect to
telecommunication liberalization/deregulation policies and NICI/National ICT strategies
with recommendations as to the way forward. |
