Internet for All by 2020?The 2015-16 Affordability Report

Onica N. Makwakwa

Africa Regional Coordinator

Alliance for Affordable Internet

#C2CPretoria@a4a_internet #affordableinternet

We are the

world’s broadest technology sector alliance

working to

drive down the price of broadband

by

transforming policy and regulatory

frameworks.

What is A4AI?

Hosted at the Web Foundation

Conducting robust original research

to underpin evidence-based policy

Annual

Affordability

Report

Newest edition

published

February 2016

Thematic

briefings

Universal Access

& Service Funds;

Zero-rating &

other mobile

data plans

Case studies

Ghana, Nigeria,

Cameroon, Peru,

Brazil, Dominican

Republic,

Myanmar,

Bangladesh

International advocacy through

global partnerships

Working together to expand access & achieve the SDGs

• Operationalizing recommendations from the 2016 WDR report to

close the digital divide & expand digital dividends (World Bank)

• Building capacity to develop strong ICT & gender policy (ECOWAS,

CRASA, ECLAC & other regional organizations)

• Advocate for gender responsive policy and better & improved

gender data and indicators (UN-Women, GSMA)

• September 2016: Africa Summit on Women & Girls in Technology

(UN Women, AfDB, AITI-KACE)

Direct support & action: Where are we

working?

The 2015-16 Affordability Report

• http://a4ai.org/affordability-report/

• Released February 2016

• Examines policies & regulations in place across 51 developing & emerging countries

• Takes a closer look at how income & gender inequalities impact affordability

• Why have some countries succeeded in making Internet access more affordable, accessible and universal, and what can others do to catch up quickly?

What is the current state of affordability?

The high cost to connect is

excluding billions from

the digital revolution

• Over half the world’s population is still offline

• 70% of people in the world’s least developed countries

cannot afford a basic broadband connection (500MB)

Internet for all by 2020?

Affordability Drivers Index (ADI)

ADI

Access Infrastructure

ADI Rankings

Top 5 Overall ADI Scores Top 5 LDCs ADI Scores

Colombia 65.32 Rwanda 53.13

Costa Rica 64.6 Uganda 49.4

Malaysia 63.28 Gambia 45.82

Turkey 62.35 Myanmar 42.57

Peru 61.82 Tanzania 41.93

Poverty & income inequality are

masking the true state of affordability

111 countries have met the UN affordability target of basic broadband

priced at 5% or less of average monthly income

YET

just

9 countries meet this target for the bottom

20% of income earners

0 countries meet this target for those

living in poverty

Exploring the true extent of the gender

digital divide

Accessibility: The price of a broadband for lowest 20% of

income earners

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Moçambique Botswana Tanzania South Africa Zambia Nigeria

Pric

e o

f 5

00

MB

pla

n/

Av

era

ge

Mo

nth

ly

Inc

om

e o

f L

ow

es

t 2

0%

of

inc

om

e

ea

rn

ers

UN target <5%

Mozambique Botswana Tanzania South Africa Zambia Nigeria

The Penetration of Mobile Broadband in Africa

(Q4, 2015)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Moçambique Ghana Nigeria South Africa Uganda Tanzania Africa

Su

bs

crib

ers

of

mo

bil

e b

roa

db

an

d a

s %

of

po

pu

lati

on

NigeriaGhanaMozambiqueMozambique UgandaSouth Africa Tanzania Africa

What about device costs?

• If we consider a smartphone of around US$50 then on average 20% of

the population can no longer afford the phone+data

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

Mobile Broadband Penetration : Unique subscribers of mobile broadband as a % of population

What about device costs?

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%50.00%60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

Smartphone connections (as a % of all device connections)

Non broadband connections (as a % of all connections)

Driving progress toward universal access

Commit to a

new “1 for 2”

affordability

target

1GB of mobile

data priced at

2% or less of

average monthly

income

Prioritise &

expand public

access

initiatives

Critical to

bringing

connectivity to

the most

marginalised

Design

policies with a

gender focus

Closing the

digital gender

gap will require

policies to

reduce barriers

for women

Thank you!

Onica N. Makwakwa

onica.makwakwa@webfoundation.org

@AfroDiva

@a4a_internet#affordableinternet #C2CPretoria