Our partnership with BLUETOWN has brought internet to rural communities in Ghana, creating digital transformation in schools. Photo credit: BLUETOWN
When it comes to internet connectivity, sub-Saharan Africa continues to celebrate positive new, milestones on an ongoing basis. The region is undoubtedly on an upward trajectory, with the number of online users increasing every year thanks to mobile connectivity.
But despite this progress, the status quo across the region still puts many people on the wrong side of the digital divide. In fact, according to the GSMA, mobile internet adoption currently sits at just 24 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, with the region accounting for a significant 40 percent of the global population not covered by a mobile broadband network.
Leaving more than three quarters of the region without access to the electricity of today’s age – internet access – means that existing inequalities, poverty and insecurity will persist, worsen and become increasingly difficult to address.
Efforts to accelerate internet access across sub-Saharan Africa are not new. But, it’s clear looking at current figures, that the region needs a new approach to this work.
That is why Microsoft is reaffirming its commitment to connectivity this week through the launch of a new international track of the Airband Initiative, called Airband International. The goal is to extend internet access to 40 million unserved and underserved people around the globe by July 2022, focusing on areas such as sub-Saharan Africa that also have regulatory interest in solving connectivity issues.
“We’re focusing our efforts on regions such as sub-Saharan Africa because this is where we feel we can make the biggest difference in people’s lives. Not only does the region have one of the most underserved populations from a connectivity perspective, but it’s also a region in which there are strong ecosystems of players operating in the connectivity and energy access space. We believe that by working together with them we can make some truly exciting progress around increasing connectivity in the region,” says Amrote Abdella, Regional Director of Microsoft’s 4Afrika initiative.
How the programme will work
Like Microsoft’s current work across the continent, the goal of the programme is to empower local partners who know their communities’ geographies and needs to solve their community’s last mile connectivity challenges.
“Bringing broadband access to the world’s unserved communities will require much greater reliance on innovative technologies, regulatory approaches and business models. Our experience has shown us that a multi-stakeholder approach is needed to close the connectivity gap. While we might go faster alone, we go much farther together. For this reason, these programmes seek to combine our and our partners’ expertise and assets,” says Shelley McKinley, Head of Technology and Corporate Responsibility at Microsoft.
Airband International will rely on a four-part approach:
- Removing regulatory obstacles to TV White Space (TVWS) and other technologies that help partners extend their networks quickly in unserved, predominantly rural, areas.
- Partnering with local internet service providers (ISPs) to provide affordable, reliable internet services.
- Putting technology to work in newly connected areas, with a focus on supporting agriculture, education, rural entrepreneurship and telemedicine, as well as off-grid energy sources where necessary.
- Building a larger ecosystem of support, with a focus on stimulating international financing, to grow connectivity beyond Microsoft’s own projects.
Early signs of success
New technologies like TVWS can be incredibly useful in meeting rural connectivity needs at an affordable price. However, regulatory frameworks in many parts of the world have not kept pace with innovation. Microsoft has seen great progress from engagements to date. In Ghana, the company partnered with government officials to ensure strong regulations were in place to deploy long-term solutions such as TVWS.
Once these hurdles are removed, partners around the world are poised to move quickly and deliver big results. BLUETOWN is an ISP committed to making broadband connectivity more accessible. With regulations in Ghana now permitting access to the TVWS, BLUETOWN is on a path to bring affordable broadband to over 800,000 people living in the rural eastern part of Ghana who were previously underserved.
Leveraging current momentum
Extending internet access to 40 million people around the world in the span of three years is a big task – but it’s informed by our ongoing work in connectivity, experience with partners and engagement from development finance institutions.
Microsoft formalised its connectivity work in 2017 by launching the Airband Initiative to extend internet connectivity around the globe. As part of the Initiative, Microsoft set up an Airband Grant Fund, through which it partners with African start-ups that are overcoming barriers to affordable internet access in unconnected communities by using TVWS and other innovative last-mile access technologies.
To date there are 21 Airband pilots active in nine countries across Africa. This includes initiatives such as Mesh Power in Kigali, Rwanda, which is focused on off-grid regions. They have developed a smart, internet connected, PV DC microgrid, providing 48V DC energy to customers at a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions.
Agsol is another beneficiary of the fund. The Kenyan start-up, based in Nairobi, manufactures solar-powered agro-processing machines for off-grid farming communities. Their village-scale machines process crops and its excess power is used for lights, phone chargers and small appliances. Its grant fund will be used to help develop and deploy these cloud-connected agro-processing machines in East Africa to increase efficiency for agricultural workers, make energy more accessible for off-grid farming communities, and improve yields.
Looking forward
Closing the digital divide once and for all requires the engagement of companies like Microsoft, but importantly, the financial support of international financing organisations around the world. Internet connectivity and technology infrastructure has made up a very small percentage of development bank funding historically, and that will need to change to bring connectivity to the more than three billion people around the globe who lack access to some form of internet connection.
To help tackle these challenges, international financing organisations also need to be willing to make bets on local entrepreneurs deploying innovative new technologies and business models better suited to reaching the remaining unconnected communities.
Through Microsoft’s work and engagement, the goal is not just to connect people, but provide a blueprint for other public and private sector entities to think about connectivity as a core part of their investments in health, gender equity, water, energy or any other core area of sustainable development.
“There are too many things that divide us in the world today. The internet can bring us closer together, foster new understandings and connections and remove structural barriers to opportunity and equality. Airband International is focused on doing just that and we hope that you’ll add your support to these efforts as we move forward,” concludes McKinley.
