ICT policies and infrastructure Global trends and regional challenges

1. ICT policies and infrastructureGlobal trends and regional challenges Presentation at CTA side event on ICTs mobilizing farmers 3rd European Forum on Sustainable Rural Development Palencia, 29 March 2011 Rémi Lang ICT Analysis Section UNCTAD-DTL

2. Summary • Trends in access to ICT in ACP countries • ICT in enterprises and impacts on rural development • Policies to leverage ICT’s contribution to poverty reduction in rural areas.

3. Trends in access to ICT in ACP countries Rest of World 2009 (per 100 inhab.): Cell phone: 72.64 Fixed lines: 19.61 Internet users: 28.86 Broadband: 7.80 Source: UNCTAD, based on ITU data

4. No or very little fixed broadband in a number of ACP countries in 2009 (small islands, landlocked nations) Prices of ICT declining, especially for Broadband (-36% 2008-2009), albeit often remaining at prohibitive level Mobile costs falling most quickly in Africa but remains very high in relative terms, in particular among African LDCs . ICT: access and costs vary greatly across ACP countries Source: ITU data

5. Gap remaining in access to mobile between urban and rural areas … but progress expected …By 2015 ITU expects that 90% of rural African population could be covered by mobile signal Source: ITU and national sources.

6. ICTs in enterprises can help the rural poorInformation search and transaction costs • Information search and transactions costs lowered in particular by mobile phones • For poor farmers savings for information search concerning: inputs, production, marketing and sales, transport, customer relations, support activities. • Information obtained by one farmer often passed on to neighbours with no access to ICT • Examples in IER-10: • Grain traders in Niger (50% reduction in information search costs), which is reflected in market prices. Cell-phones allow traders to operate over much wider geographical areas. • Dairy farmers in Bhutan, subsitence farmers in Northern Ghana

7. ICTs in enterprises can help the rural poorimproved communications in supply chain • Improved communications within supply chains and improvements in overall market efficiency • Gains in transport and communication costs • Examples IER-10 • Onion farmers and traders in Ghana can improve their coordination responding quickly to variations in market demand in Accra. Benefits the trader and producers. Allows traders to monitor employees.

8. ICTs in enterprises can help the rural poorImproved support functions • Mobile money services • E.g. M-PESA, M-Kesho, Wizzit, GCash • Voice-based services • Helplines, agro-messages • SMS services • Agro-related information (Uganda) • M-commerce (Bangladesh) • Mobile micro insurance • E.g. Kilimo Salama, Kenya • Burkina Faso, Mali (index-based crop insurance)

9. Some policy recommendations • Expand mobile coverage in places with no mobile signal • Make mobile and other ICT services affordable • Focus more on ICT adoption at low levels of economic activity and sophistication, e.g. for subsistence enterprises • Use mobile solutions in business support services and exploit opportunities for combinations of different ICTs • Make interventions more demand-driven rather than technology-driven – needs of enterprises differ • Work in partnership with development partners, private sector and civil society Development agencies need to stay abreast of ICT trends • Feature ICT and enterprise policies in poverty reduction strategies

10. Thank you! TheInformation Economy Report 2010 can be downloaded free of charge at www.unctad.org.