The International Telecommunications Union Versus African Countries

                     

                                                      Developing countries :

A developing country, also called a lower developed country is a nation with an underdeveloped industrial base, and low Human Development Index [HDI]. Amo,gst all the countries in the world, only one institution [The International Monetary Fund] has the mechanics of classifying a country on one side or the other. That is, a country is rated developed or underdeveloped according to the International Monetary Fund [IMF]

There is criticism of the use of the term «developing country». The term implies inferiority of a developing country or underdeveloped country compared to a developed country, which many countries  dislike. It assumes a desire to develop along the traditional «Western model » of economic development which a few countries choose not to follow.  http.//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki /Developing_country 

That not withstanding, the International Statistics Institute has a list of developing countries. According to this list, a majority of the said developing countries are from the African continent.  www.isi-web.org/component/content/article/5-root/root/81-developing

« A long time ago, the International Telecommunications Union |ITU] summoned many African countries trailing behind to conform themselves to the Numeric Television Technology. A drastic change that implies poor Africans get rid of their old and ancient cathode tube TV sets. My country Cameroon has not been able to meet up to the deadline of yesterday June 17 2015. What about your country ? »

This is the interrogation that got an enthusiastic team of ladies and gentlemen mobilized in order to give a down-to-earth answer of the question.

The International Telecommunications Union [ITU] gave a date limit. Yes. But, it should be noted that this was in accordance with the different African countries who since 2006 pledged they will undertake this Digital Migration pilgrimage. For these African countries, this meant they would adhere to the new technological practices. And, whosoever says new technology, says new investments. This is how many over enthusiastic African countries found themselves before huge amounts of money [in terms of millions of Euros] to be invested in order to make the switchover from Analogue to Digital Broadcasting a reality within their territories. The International Telecommunications Union, aware of this huge financial aspect that comes along with realising Digital Migration, did make certain financial provisions [between 20 and 50 million Euros] for governments to respect and not go beyond. Sanctions were put in place for countries who would go for exaggerated costs. Certain leak sources say Cameroon’s case in under study as its government signed a contract worth many hundreds of million Euros.

On the other side, based on this market opportunity, gigantic multinational companies specialised in the domain of telecommunications immediately sniffed the air. It scented like an enormous business cake. Effectively, in sub saharan Africa, two telecommunications giants are fighting for this cake. One, a company from France and the other from China. In Cameroon and Senegal, the market of Digital Migration was given to the Chinese entreprise. A palpable demonstration of China’s economic reforms and entry in Africa.

Nonetheless, time has passed and the lot of African countries who sometime in the past, did solemnly accept to conform themselves and go digital come june 17 2015 have not respected the appointment as established. Though there exist some good students who did their homework well ahead of time [Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambic, Rwanda and Tanzania], the majority are still trying to « catch as catch can ». The biggest surprise came from the part of Africa’s emerging economies [Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Morocco] as they are still far from making Digital Migration come true in their territories. Many of these countries are now strongly engaged in the process of pleading for mercy. They say, should the International Telecommunications Union grant them some more time, they will multiply efforts to make Digital Migration become a reality in their different countryside.  www.theafricareport.com/West-Africa/ghana-digital-migration-deadline-to-be-missed.html

Now, this situation creates another case between the International Telecommunications Union [ITU] and these countries. Will the [ITU] grant them more time ? If yes, on what conditions ? Given that at the first place, these countries did not respect their own words.

Courtesy of Globalvoicesonline.org, this report is a collective work carried out by committed authors though living in different countries [Sub Saharan Africa]

May their courage be saluted.