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Growing the Internet 17 November 2015

The Role of Regulators & Governments in Boosting Connectivity across Africa

By Dawit BekeleRegional Vice President - Africa

The Internet Society invites all attendees to its panel discussion on “Examining the Role of Regulators & Governments in boosting connectivity across Africa.”

The panel is discussing barriers to connectivity in Africa – with a particular focus on its landlocked countries. It will also look at how to encourage investment in things like infrastructure, challenges encountered by investors, infrastructure sharing between operators, solutions and national broadband development plans, and what’s standing in the way when it comes to local content development.

The panel is part of the 18th  AfricaCom conference from 17-19 November 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa, where the African telecoms and Information technology industry is converging. 

Africa has made major strides to build its network infrastructure since the turn of the millennium. This has contributed to an increase of more than 6800 % in Internet penetration in the last 15 years, which is much higher than any other region of the world. However, there are many challenges that need to be solved in order to reach the remaining Africans which include providing affordable access to remote rural areas and landlocked countries. This meeting addresses those challenges, the solutions as well as the role of governments and regulators to solve these problems.
 
Top executives of the South African Regulator, the Botswanan regulator, the Lesotho Regulator and ECOWAS will be participating in the panel. The panel discussion will be pushing forward Internet Society’s Interconnection and Traffic Exchange program’s vision of 80% local and 20% international traffic balance in Africa by 2020.

Visit Us!

We’ll be present at the lounges in the VIP village. Attendees are invited to meet Internet Society staff to discuss Internet Society’s programs and activities in Africa as well as Internet issues on the continent. 

This year’s AfricaCom is under the theme: “Innovation, Transformation and Leadership for Digital Africa”. It comes at a critical period when most African nations have reached new heights in Internet connectivity and are striving to connect their remaining unconnected citizens. 

AfricaCom’s opening keynote is expected to bring together operators, digital brands, tech companies and start-ups to debate innovation and the future of digital Africa. Speakers from across the digital landscape have and will be covering issues such as:

  • Innovating for Africa’s Digital Future
  • New Digital Model
  • Sustainable Profitability

Over 10,000 people have registered for AfricaCom 2015, and its schedule boasts over 350 inspirational speakers.  It is a great platform for essential insights and thought-provoking discussions on issues such as Cost efficient operators, Connecting Africa, New revenue streams, Digital Entertainment Africa, Digital CX, SDN&, Network virtualization, and more. 

Find out more about AfriCom

Disclaimer: Viewpoints expressed in this post are those of the author and may or may not reflect official Internet Society positions.

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