Africa will only reach the information and communication technology (ICT) goals set out in the continent’s Agenda 2063 action and vision plan if countries establish an enabling environment that allows for investment in this sector.

This, Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Dr Siyabonga Cwele said in December, should go hand in hand with ensuring that the ICT sector was used effectively and for public good.

“We have set up a target that we should try and connect all government offices to broadband by 2020. This is the only way that small business and small villages will have access to this infrastructure,” he said, noting that do-it-yourself installations would be too expensive.

“We are leading this route to stimulate demand, use and expansion of this infrastructure. We must focus on rolling out infrastructure to the marginalised areas first, as we have a lot of broadband in [big cities], such as Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, but, as soon as you leave these cities, there is a real lack of infrastructure,” he stated.

Cwele, meanwhile, praised fixed-line operators for continuing the provision of the necessary backbone and capacity complemented by mobile networks and devices, as it put broadband applications and services directly in the hands of the users.

Speaking at a Telkom-hosted roundtable on broadband in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, the Minister added that high-speed broadband further enabled user-generated content and locally relevant services that drove innovation and transformed peoples’ lives in developed and developing countries.

Cwele said South Africa had a culture of importing things, including equipment, ideas and applications, and stressed that it was time the country started looking at SADC-relevant applications.

Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko noted that access to the Internet and broadband services was “at the heart of the digital divide”.

Citing research, he pointed out that a 10% increase in broadband in low- and middle- income countries resulted in a 1.4% increase in economic growth.

“Our vision for South Africa is one where broadband, like water and electricity, should be within everyone’s reach,” he noted.