[AfrICANN-discuss] Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

[Anne-Rachel Inné]

Oh and for those intetrested in REN, AfREN works in a lot of areas you may
help with - you can contact them directly via Aminu Ibrahim <
aminu at forum.org.ng> or Boubakar Barry <barry at aau.org> with the Association
of African Universities.
Cheers
ar

On 8/14/07, Dr Yassin Mshana <ymshana2003 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Cher AR,
>
> Well desk-researched, presented and said BUT when are all concerned start
> contributing by doing something about it?
>
> More volunteers are required to contribute their Talents, Time and any
> other resources they may have.
>
> It seems to me that there has been too much of finger pointing - the Time
> in now!!!, please everybody, look around for what you can volunteer to do in
> order to make a change - however little it can be - No One else out there
> will do for You and for FREE!!??
>
> Cheers
>
> Yassin
>
> On 13/08/07, Sophia B <sophiabekele at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi AR-
> >
> > Thank for the interesting article.  I read some of the surveys. It
> > really is exemplary of the education system In the countries.
> > Also, is heart throbbing stories of the capacity issues these kids suffer
> > from.  I am so glad to see a lot of attention is paid to the Educational
> > system in Africa nowadays and no other than technology as the enabler.  The
> > rise of India and China's economies have really put the education equation
> > in question, even in the US and developed countries.
> > Africa should naturally be a beneficiary from these issues and dialogs.
> >
> > Bisous,
> > Sophia
> >
> > On 13/08/07, Khaled KOUBAA <khaled.koubaa at topnet.tn > wrote:
> > >
> > > Interesting article.
> > > My question is when research group and think tank understand that if
> > > you want a real-like research you have to be in region and not in a nice
> > > office downtown DC :)
> > >
> > >
> > > Anne-Rachel Inné wrote:
> > >
> > > For those interested -
> > > http://www.arp.harvard.edu/AfricaHigherEducation/Online.html
> > >
> > > Computing and Online Knowledge
> > > ------------------------------
> > >
> > >   Computers in African Universities
> > >  ------------------------------
> > >
> > > Are computers necessary for a university education? It is possible to
> > > teach most subjects well and thoroughly without expensive technology. But
> > > computers offer a solution to a problem identified by all the students
> > > surveyed: outdated textbooks and course materials. They are also vital for
> > > much of modern science, engineering, and business. Leaving students without
> > > programming skills may leave them underprepared for graduate school or
> > > unemployable in industry.
> > >
> > > Access to the internet is so desirable to students in Africa that they
> > > spend considerable time and money to get it. Many students surveyed, with no
> > > internet connection at their universities, resorted to private, fee-charging
> > > internet cafes to study and learn. The fees are not small: several US$/hr,
> > > exceeding in many countries the average daily income. One student reports
> > > spending large amounts of time walking to the internet cafe because he could
> > > not afford both the internet fee and the taxi fare. (Imagine, by analogy,
> > > U.S. college students walking for hours and paying $100/hr to do
> > > optional reading). Connection to online knowledge is valued enough by
> > > students in Africa that they will make that sacrifice.
> > >
> > > [image: Internet cafe in Ghana (image from the BBC World News
> > > Service)]
> > >
> > >   Internet cafe (Ghana)
> > >
> > > -- read this survey<http://www.arp.harvard.edu/AfricaHigherEducation/Essays/essays/Ethiopia_1.pdf>from Ethiopia for the trauma of trying to write a research paper without
> > > textbooks, research journals, instruction, or an internet connection.
> > >
> > > Programming is essential for at least graduate-level science,
> > > engineering, and business: all use computer-based data analysis, modeling
> > > and numerical simulation. Computer use for data analysis can also, if taught
> > > well, help focus science instruction more on problem solving than on
> > > memorization of received knowledge. The students surveyed here, mostly
> > > participants in an international postgraduate program for science and math
> > > graduates, universally report that its chief benefit was practice in
> > > scientific computing. They also cite lack of programming instruction as one
> > > of the chief faults of their undergraduate educations.
> > >
> > > -- read this survey<http://www.arp.harvard.edu/AfricaHigherEducation/Essays/essays/SouthAfrica_1.pdf>from the comparatively wealthy South Africa for the conditions for learning
> > > programming at understaffed and underequipped universities
> > >
> > > Hardware. The most common response that students gave to the question
> > > "what can international donors do for African universities?" was "provide
> > > computers." Although lack of instructors in programming may eventually
> > > become an issue, at present the first need of African universities is
> > > hardware. One student surveyed described programming classes where all
> > > programs were written on paper; there were no computers available for
> > > running them. Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria, with 30,000
> > > undergraduates, had exactly 19 computers and 1 printer in its libraries in
> > > 2006 (see this study of Nigerian universities<http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/%7Embolin/etim.htm>).
> > >
> > >
> > > [image: $100 laptop from the One Laptop Per Child project. The first
> > > production models are now available (early 2007).]
> > >
> > >   $100 laptop
> > >
> > > One possibility for upgrading African universities' computing
> > > facilities at low cost is to use the $100 laptops designed by the One
> > > Laptop Per Child <http://www.laptop.org/vision/index.shtml>project.
> > > The laptops were targeted at children (6-12 years), and several governments
> > > and the UNDP have signed agreements<http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/january-2006/100-dollar-laptop-20060128.en;jsessionid=a_Q884XX38gg>to purchase and distribute them to primary schoolchildren. The OLPC machines
> > > would be a tremendous resource for university students as well. At minimum
> > > they can serve as e-books, accessing freely available textbooks and other
> > > online course material (see below<http://www.arp.harvard.edu/AfricaHigherEducation/Online.html#curriculum>).
> > > "Mesh networking" allows efficient connectivity and sharing of material with
> > > any other OLPC laptop within 1/4 mile; an entire university can then be
> > > "meshed" together and can share a single internet connection.
> > >
> > > At maximum the laptops could also be used for scientific computing.
> > > They use the same Linux operating system as do scientific workstations and
> > > can run the standard open-source software used for scientific programming
> > > and publishing ( e.g. Python, TeX). The laptops have relatively small
> > > data storage and memory (128 MB), but are sufficient for most programming
> > > courses and can be upgraded for more substantial data analysis.
> > >    ------------------------------
> > >
> > >   Online curriculum materials
> > >  ------------------------------
> > >
> > > The students surveyed all mentioned out-dated and overly theoretical
> > > curricula as a failing of their universities. This is a symptom of low
> > > spending (lack of money to buy new textbooks or install laboratories) and of
> > > isolation (professors have little access to science outside their own
> > > graduate training). Both can be remedied given internet connections.
> > >
> > > Lecture notes and curricula. There is a growing movement in the U.S.
> > > and elsewhere to make university-level educational materials freely
> > > available to all. A leader in this movement is MIT with its Open
> > > Courseware <http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html> project, in which
> > > professors place their lecture notes, problem sets, exams, and even videos
> > > of lectures online for all to use, reaching 1.5 million users each
> > > month (see also this summary<http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/ocw-facts.html>and articles from
> > > MIT <http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/ocw.html> and Information Week<http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198000568>).
> > > All of MIT's courses will be on the web by the end of the 2007. Other
> > > universities participating in open courseware efforts include Tufts, Johns
> > > Hopkins, U.C. Irvine, Univ. of Notre Dame, Utah State (see here<http://www.ocwconsortium.org/use/index.html>),
> > > and Yale (see article<http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/school/20070216-chaker.html?cjpos=home_whatsnew_major>).
> > > The Open Educational Resources Commons<http://www.oercommons.org/oer/oer-categories>also gathers university course material and videos of lectures and
> > > demonstrations. The movement is not confined to the U.S.: Britain's
> > > Open University, a fee-charging distance-learning university, is now making
> > > some courses freely available (see article<http://education.guardian.co.uk/elearning/story/0,,1728283,00.html>).
> > >
> > >
> > > Textbooks. The movement to make educational materials freely available
> > > extends to textbooks as well. Numerous authors have placed their work online
> > > for others to use. Wiki Books <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page>includes texts on many subjects. Individual highly-regarded textbooks
> > > available online include the science text Motion Mountain<http://www.motionmountain.net/>,
> > > with 30,000 downloads a year, and others in computer science
> > > <http://www.htdp.org/>, physics<http://www.lightandmatter.com/area1book1.html>,
> > > and many other subjects. Project Gutenberg<http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page>(2 million downloads a month), Google Books, and other digital library
> > > projects are placing out-of-copyright volumes online for anyone to read.
> > >   ------------------------------
> > >
> > >   Research journal access
> > >  ------------------------------
> > >
> > > Economics of science publishing. Internet access and open courseware
> > > can be a great asset for African universities, but cannot alone fully
> > > connect African universities to the international scientific community.
> > > African universities would still lack access to the journals in which
> > > essentially all of academic research is published.
> > >
> > > The largest item in a university library budget is no longer books but
> > > rather subscriptions to these journals. For a serious research university,
> > > annual subscription costs are now in the millions: MIT paid $4 million in
> > > 2006 for science and engineering journals alone. These costs, and their
> > > steep rise (a 150% increase in the last 10 years) are a source of concern
> > > throughout the academic world. (See articles from Brown University<http://www.brown.edu/Administration/George_Street_Journal/vol24/24GSJ19c.html>and Library
> > > Journal <http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA516819.html>). The
> > > rise is not due to publishers' expenses. In 2004 the private journal
> > > publisher Elsevier reported profits of nearly $900 million (and spent $2.8
> > > million lobbying the U.S. Congress). U.S. universities are cutting
> > > back on subscriptions ( e.g. Florida<http://www.libraryjournal.com/clear/CA6314773.html#news2>and
> > > Stanford<http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2004/2/6/facSenDiscussesJournalFees>;
> > > see also this review<http://www.createchange.org/archive/librarians/issues/silent.html>).
> > > Developing-world universities cannot afford access at all. If African
> > > researchers do publish in international journals, they cannot access even
> > > their own published work. (Note that U.S. taxpayers are in the same
> > > position, unable to read the research results their taxes have paid for.)
> > >
> > > [image: A subscription for a single research journal in certain fields
> > > can cost more than total educational costs for six African undergraduates.
> > > Image from the U. of Maryland Health Sciences and Human Services Library.]
> > >
> > > $14,000/yr for a single journal
> > >
> > > more here <http://astech.library.cornell.edu/ast/engr/about/car.cfm> and
> > > here<http://www.hshsl.umaryland.edu/information/news/exhibits/money/index.html>
> > >
> > > How can access be opened? One possibility is to persuade publishers to
> > > make journals available at low or no cost to developing-world universities.
> > > The UN has begun an archive for agricultural research ( AGORA<http://www.aginternetwork.org/en/>),
> > > and the WHO sponsors a similar archive for health studies (HINARI<http://www.who.int/hinari/en/>).
> > > (See here <http://www.udsm.ac.tz/library/ejournal.html> for
> > > e-resources at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania; note their use
> > > of AGORA). Some individual publishers have also taken independent steps to
> > > open access (see article about the Royal Society for Chemistry<http://pubs.acs.org/cen/science/84/8420sci1.html>).
> > > But a broader and simpler strategy is to pass legislation mandating that all
> > > federally funded research results must be placed in publicly accessible
> > > archives. The Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006<http://cornyn.senate.gov/index.asp?f=record&lid=1&rid=237171>(Cornyn & Lieberman), introduced in the 109th Congress, would have required
> > > this (see also this summary<http://www.arl.org/sparc/advocacy/frpaa/frpaafaq.html>).
> > > This legislation would force a reshaping of the publishing world that would
> > > have widespread support from libraries, universities in both the U.S.<http://www.arl.org/sparc/advocacy/frpaa/institutions.html>and developing world, and scientists themselves. Most people agree that the
> > > current system must change, but individual scientists feel constrained to
> > > publish in prestigious existing journals and publishers have no incentive to
> > > release copyright on their articles. U.S. legislation can break this
> > > logjam. Open research access is supported by many groups, including the American
> > > Library Association<http://www.ala.org/ala/godort/godortresolutions/20060626308.htm>and the Alliance
> > > for Taxpayer Access <http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/frpaa/> .
> > >    ------------------------------
> > >
> > >   Internet connectivity
> > >  ------------------------------
> > >
> > > The proposals above for strengthening African universities with online
> > > knowledge depend on being able to actually access that knowledge. That would
> > > not have been possible a decade ago: the American Association for the
> > > Advancement of Science (AAAS) found in 1999 that students could not download
> > > research articles from a number of African universities because data
> > > transfer rates were so slow that connections were dropped (see report<http://www.aaas.org/international/africa/oljreport/index.shtml>).
> > > In 2007, using online resources in sub-Saharan Africa is a possibility.
> > > Still, serious challenges remain.
> > >
> > > Explosion of demand for internet connectivity. Internet access is now
> > > possible in all African countries and demand is growing from all sections of
> > > society. The change is recent and steep. In 1996 no countries in sub-Saharan
> > > Africa other than South Africa and Namibia had connections faster than
> > > 64Kbps (still painfully slow to U.S. users accustomed to a hundred
> > > times that), and many had none at all. By 2001 the entire continent had
> > > reasonable connectivity and the total number of internet users was estimated
> > > as 5-8 million (see here <http://www3.sn.apc.org/africa/afrmain.htm>).
> > > By 2007, users in sub-Saharan Africa had grown fivefold to 33 million,
> > > nearly 4% of the population. (See these data<http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm>;
> > > growth is some 30% per year). Many African universities now maintain
> > > websites (see here<http://www-sul.stanford.edu/africa/africaneducation/african-universities.html>).
> > > The internet cafe is a ubiquitous feature of African cities, along with the
> > > storefront computer training school. Demand for access is high outside major
> > > cities as well: see these articles by a local entrepreneur starting an
> > > internet cafe in rural Kenya ( 1<http://startupkenya.blogspot.com/2007/01/internet-in-village.html>2<http://startupkenya.blogspot.com/2007/01/laying-groundwork-for-rural-cyber.html>
> > > 3 <http://startupkenya.blogspot.com/2007/02/cyber-cafe-with-edge.html>).
> > > Maasai students in Tanzania have begun applying to university, because the
> > > internet allows the first to enter a way to send information home to others.
> > >
> > >
> > > [image: Internet use in Africa, 2007, and growth in usage from
> > > 1997-2007 (New York Times, data from World Bank, Miniwatts Marketing Group)]
> > >
> > >     Growth of internet in Africa
> > > (NYT, from 2007 World Bank data)
> > > NYT article: (link)<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/business/yourmoney/22rwanda.html>
> > > (pdf)<http://www.arp.harvard.edu/AfricaHigherEducation/Reports/NYT_AfricaOffline.pdf>
> > >
> > > High costs. The most remarkable aspect of the rising demand for
> > > internet connections in sub-Saharan Africa is that it is occurring despite
> > > the the highest connection costs in the world. The African consumer (or
> > > university) pays 50-500 times more than an American for an equivalent
> > > connection ( e.g. $3,000/month instead of $30/month for a 1 Mbps
> > > connection; prices vary by country). African universities therefore cannot
> > > afford the bandwidth they need to make efficient use of online resources.
> > > The average African university, with tens of thousands of students and
> > > faculty, has the same aggregate bandwidth as a single household connection
> > > in the U.S. (see article<http://www.idrc.ca/es/ev-84498-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html>or this
> > > study<http://www.foundation-partnership.org/pubs/bandwidth/index.php?chap=chap2&sub=c2c>by the Partnership
> > > for Higher Education in Africa<http://www.foundation-partnership.org/index.php?sub=about>).
> > > The principal reason for high costs is the lack of optical fiber
> > > infrastructure (discussed below).
> > >
> > > Low capacity. High costs unfortunately go hand in hand with low
> > > capacity. Sub-Saharan Africa currently has the lowest data transmission
> > > bandwidth in the world (below even the steppes of Central Asia) and is
> > > falling further behind: its capacity is growing more slowly than in any
> > > other region. A 2006 report by the Association for Progressive
> > > Communications (APC) states: "Bandwidth is the life-blood of the world's
> > > knowledge economy, but it is scarcest where it is most needed ..." The
> > > report also concludes that sub-Saharan Africa has the world's "highest unmet
> > > demand for telecommunication services". (See report summary<http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/apc0612.php>or full
> > > pdf<http://www.arp.harvard.edu/AfricaHigherEducation/Reports/open_access_EN.pdf>).
> > >
> > >
> > > [image: Africa has the world's lowest internet bandwidth (data
> > > througput) to North America, and its capacity is growing more slowly than in
> > > any other region: the continent is behind and falling further behind.
> > > (Figure from the International Committee for Future Accelerators (ICFA)
> > > Standing Committee on Inter-Regional Connectivity (SCIC), Jan. 2006]
> > >
> > >     Internet capacity worldwide
> > >
> > > Optical fiber links. Optical fiber infrastructure is the cheapest and
> > > most efficient way of transferring data. Only 14 of 49 sub-Saharan countries
> > > have any fiber connection to each other or to the rest of the world (NEPAD,
> > > 2004). The remainder must use expensive satellite or radio connections. A
> > > single cable runs along the West coast of Africa. Few overland networks
> > > penetrate the interior, and East Africa is completely isolated.
> > >
> > > [image: Submarine optical fiber cables around the world. Color of
> > > cable denotes bandwidth. Note how poorly Africa is connected, and the total
> > > absence of cables to East Africa]
> > >
> > > World submarine optical cables
> > >
> > > Absence of a $200 million investment in an East African cable is
> > > likely hurting local economies many times over. Interest in building such a
> > > cable has however risen in recent years. The first proposal, made in 2002,
> > > would be funded by a consortium of private operators (the East African
> > > Submarine System, or EASSy). As of July 2007 four separate proposals for
> > > East African submarine cables are in play; the expectation is that one will
> > > succeed. (See article<http://fibreforafrica.net/main.shtml?x=5059738&als%5BMYALIAS6%5D=Fibre:%20Questions%20need%20answering&als%5Bselect%5D=%3Cdiv%3ENo%20item%20found%3C/div%3E>from Fibre for Africa). Only one of these proposals is based on an
> > > open-access model. No international donors have offered majority funding to
> > > date.
> > >
> > > Lack of guaranteed open access is a concern because a single cable
> > > operated as a private monopoly will not generally reduce costs for the
> > > consumer. Although West Africa is now linked to Europe by optical fiber (the
> > > SAT-3 cable), communications costs there are generally no lower than via
> > > satellite. In the absence of strong regulatory agencies, the consortium of
> > > investors who funded the cable have kept bandwidth costs prohibitively high.
> > > The SAT-3 pricing strategy has been termed "high cost, low volume":
> > > bandwidth is sold for $4500-$12,000 per Mbps/month and the cable is
> > > underutilized. (Prices differ by country; the $4500/month figure was
> > > obtained only after a 2-year court fight in Ghana). Even the low Ghana price
> > > is 20 times higher than could be offered by a non-profit cable (less than
> > > $250 per Mbps/month, estimate by Eric Osiakwan of the African Internet
> > > Service Providers Association <http://www.afrispa.org/>). The original
> > > SAT-3 operating licenses expired in June 2007 and are being renegotiated,
> > > possibly opening an opportunity to drop communications costs for W. Africa.
> > > (See article <http://www.cipaco.org/spip.php?article903>and commentary
> > > <http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/2006/11/07/open-access-sat3/>). The
> > > Association of African Universities <http://www.aau.org/index.htm>has
> > > pleaded for, if nothing else, special rates for universities (see
> > > article<http://www.scidev.net/content/news/eng/scholars-call-for-communications-cable-access.cfm>).
> > >
> > > Note that predatory pricing by the SAT-3 monopoly consortium is not a
> > > purely African problem. Although many of the SAT-3 consortium members are
> > > African telecoms, the three largest investors were non-African: in order of
> > > stake, TCI (at that time a subsidiary of AT&T) + AT&T itself ( U.S.A.),
> > > France Telecom (France), and VSL (India/Singapore). The U.S. stake in
> > > the cable may now have passed to Comcast. ( SAT-3 ownership
> > > <http://fibreforafrica.net/main.shtml?x=5039398&als%5BMYALIAS6%5D=SAT3%20consortium%20contract%20emerges&als%5Bselect%5D=4887798>information
> > > is carefully guarded).
> > >
> > > The E. African cable proposals, also consortium operated, have raised
> > > similar concerns about monopolistic pricing (see commentary here<http://www.arp.harvard.edu/AfricaHigherEducation/Reports/RichardBell_EASSy.pdf>,
> > > and here <http://www.ralden.com/C1/EASSy/default.aspx>, analysis by
> > > the APC<http://fibreforafrica.net/main.shtml?conds%5B0%5D%5Bcategory........%5D=%27Why%20we%20need%20affordable%20international%20bandwidth%27&als%5Bselect%5D=4051582&als%5BMYALIAS6%5D=Why%20we%20need%20affordable%20international%20bandwidth>,
> > > and the APC report<http://www.arp.harvard.edu/AfricaHigherEducation/Reports/open_access_EN.pdf>mentioned above). (EASSy consortium
> > > members
> > > <http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act_359.html#internet>include
> > > AT&T (USA), Verizon/ex MCI (USA), France Telecom, BT (UK), Saudi Telecom,
> > > VSNL/Teleglobe (India), and Etisalat (United Arab Emirates), as well as 29
> > > public and private Africa-based telecoms). A single East African cable
> > > operated on the SAT-3 model would yield no price benefits for E. African
> > > consumers, would provide minimal economic benefits and would leave E.
> > > African universities isolated. Either multiple competing cables or regulated
> > > or non-profit operation are necessary to lower costs for African internet
> > > users.
> > >
> > > Updates<http://www.fibreforafrica.net/main.shtml?conds%5B0%5D%5Bcategory........%5D=%27News%27&sort%5B0%5D%5Bstart_date......%5D=d&als%5Bselect%5D=4887798&als%5BMYALIAS6%5D=News>on both SAT-3 and E. African cables are posted by Fibre for Africa. The
> > > subject is also frequently covered in the online newsletter Balancing
> > > Act <http://www.balancingact-africa.com/> which reports on telecoms
> > > and internet in Africa.
> > >
> > > Reverse Subsidies. An additional factor raising connectivity costs for
> > > Africa is a perverse pricing structure in which African users subsidize all
> > > data transfers to and from the continent. (Imagine that you paid telephone
> > > charges on both incoming and outgoing phone calls, while your neighbor paid
> > > for neither). These charges alone nearly double the cost of African internet
> > > usage, costing Africa between $250-500 million/yr. They also further
> > > entrench the stalemate: the African market remains small, investment in
> > > infrastructure is discouraged, and the companies that provide international
> > > bandwidth (IBPs) can continue to insist on predatory pricing arrangements.
> > >
> > > Why does international connection cost matter so much to local users
> > > within Africa? Because the lack of optical fiber lines and local data
> > > aggregation points means that even traffic within Africa is typically routed
> > > through Europe. An email sent from the Central African Republic to nearby
> > > Kenya, for example, is routed through London via two satellite connections.
> > > One means of remedying the pricing inequity is an international trade
> > > agreement. Another is to build up local land-based networks and regional
> > > aggregation points to reduce the need of European connections in the first
> > > place. Aggregation also pushes the international providers to come to Africa
> > > instead, after which they would bear connection costs equally.
> > >
> > > Current actions. Many governments in Africa are now planning and
> > > building infrastructure to reduce the need for intercontinental traffic.
> > > East African countries have been most aggressive in pursuit of this goal,
> > > with Rwanda as the strongest leader. Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda are all
> > > constructing inland optical fiber backbones (Uganda with funding from the
> > > Chinese government). Tanzania is at least in the planning stage (see report "Optical
> > > Fibre for Education and Research Networks in Eastern and Southern Africa"
> > > <http://www.arp.harvard.edu/AfricaHigherEducation/Reports/OpticalFibre.pdf>).
> > > Connectivity Africa<http://www.idrc.ca/acacia/ev-87391-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html>,
> > > sponsored by Canada's International Development Research Center, has also
> > > done preliminary work on aggregation in six countries (South Africa,
> > > Mozambique, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania). A coalition of African
> > > Internet Service Providers has proposed a broad outline for regional
> > > aggregation and cost reductions (the "Halfway Proposition"<http://www.afrispa.org/Initiatives.htm>).
> > > And the United Nations and the Rwandan government are sponsoring a
> > > telecommunications conference in Kigali in October 2007 to bring together
> > > African governments, businesses, and global telecommunications firms to
> > > discuss infrastructure and regulatory changes to boost connectivity ( "Connect
> > > Africa"<http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/connect/africa/2007/summit/index.html>).
> > > Note however that all of these efforts still depend on construction of an
> > > East African submarine cable. It is difficult to orchestrate any solution to
> > > Africa's connectivity problems if the continent remains digitally isolated.
> > >
> > > Additional factors for universities in particular. One additional
> > > factor in connectivity costs that may affect African universities in
> > > particular is lack of capital to buy equipment that would result in eventual
> > > savings. A AAAS study<http://www.aaas.org/international/africa/oljreport/recs.shtml>of connectivity in African universities in 1999 found, for example, that
> > > Makerere University in Uganda paid steep monthly phone bills for a dialup
> > > connection because they could not afford a one-time cost of $18,000 for a
> > > radio link. These kind of situations may or may not exist in 2007.
> > >
> > > Helping universities in Africa. Several organizations work with
> > > African universities to help use existing bandwidth more effectively. The
> > > U.K. International Network for the Availability of Scientific
> > > Publications <http://www.inasp.info/programmes/> works with African
> > > university libraries. The eGranary Digital Library project<http://www.widernet.org/digitalLibrary/index.htm>places widely used free academic materials on local servers in African
> > > universities so that they can be accessed with only a local connection.
> > >
> > > Many organizations are working to lower bandwidth costs for
> > > universities and increase capacity. Several countries in Africa have formed
> > > National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) seeking high-speed and
> > > affordable connections for universities, and have organized as the UbuntuNet
> > > Alliance <http://www.ubuntunet.net/>. (Participating nations are
> > > Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and South Africa). The target goal is
> > > university connections equivalent to those of the developed world: 1 Gbps or
> > > more. The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa<http://www.foundation-partnership.org/index.php?sub=about>(including the Ford, MacArthur, and Rockefeller Foundations) has helped a
> > > consortium of 13 African universities to lower connectivity costs. The
> > > Partnership has donated over $5 million
> > > <http://www.fordfound.org/news/view_news_detail.cfm?news_index=155>to
> > > make satellite bandwidth available to the consortium at $2330 per Mbps/month
> > > instead of $7300 (see also here<http://www.foundation-partnership.org/index.php?sub=pr&pr=2>).
> > > This effort will be welcomed by students and researchers. It is not a
> > > long-term solution, however, and some local connectivity activists argue
> > > that giving subsidies to foreign satellite firms actually hinders long-term
> > > solutions. Even with the Partnership's support, universities would pay over
> > > $1800/month for the same household-scale connection that Verizon advertises
> > > in the U.S. with an introductory rate of $9.99/month. Purchasing the
> > > bandwidth of a normal U.S. university (1 Gbps, the UbuntuNet target)
> > > would cost an unaffordable $2.3 million/month. The digital divide will
> > > ultimately be bridged only with optical fiber, and those investments are
> > > large in scale.
> > >
> > > Last update: July 23, 2007
> > >
> > > --
> > > Anne-Rachel Inne
> > >
> > > ------------------------------
> > >
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> > >
> > >
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-- 
Anne-Rachel Inne
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