Support for Harmonization of the ICT Policies in Sub-Sahara Africa (HIPSSA)

1. Support for Harmonizationof the ICT Policies in Sub-Sahara Africa(HIPSSA) Regional Development Forum 9-11 May 2012 Kigali, Rwanda Ms. Ida Jallow HIPSSA Senior Project Coordinator International Telecommunication Union

2. Summary • Introduction • Institutional context • Objectives and principles • Governance • Project methodology • Regulatory harmonization cycle • Harmonized content • Implementation • Activities at global, regional and national level • Implementation methodology • Comparative study of regional initiatives for regulatory harmonization • Discussion • Research on ICT regulation, when technology and human sciences meet • HIPSSA, an example for inclusive and multilateral governance

3. ITU-EC Project for Harmonization of ICT Policies in ACP ITU and the European Commission launched a global project to provide “Support for the establishment of harmonized policies for the ICT market in the ACP states” in December 2008 It is a component of the “ACP-Information and Communication Technologies” programme (@CP-ICT) within the framework of the 9th European Development Fund This global project entails three regional sub-projects addressing specific needs of each region 1 HIPCAR Enhancing competitiveness in the Caribbean through the harmonization of ICT Policies, Legislation and Regulatory Procedures HIPSSA Support for harmonization of the ICT Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa ICB4PIS Capacity Building and ICT Policy, Regulatory and Legislative Frameworks Support for Pacific Island States

4. Objectives and Principles 1 • Global objective • Support towards creating harmonised policies for ICT and an efficient regulatory environment, conductive to massive investments required by ICT infrastructures and applications in the ACP countries • Detailed objectives: • Supporting regional integration organizations to develop and promote the use of harmonized ICT policies and regulations in their region • Assisting individual beneficiary countries to adopt and implement ICT policies and regulatory guidelines • Building human and institutional capacity in the field of ICT through a range of targeted training and knowledge sharing measures at regional and national level • ITU-EC Project for Harmonization of ICT Policies in ACP countries • Builds on experience gained from previous project in West Africa • Uses a demand-driven bottom-up approach • Pays specific attention to link substance of policy/regulation to capacity building • Incorporates all past and current projects of international and regional organizations

5. Co-chairmanship Pan-African organizations (AU body and UN agency) Regional Economic Organizations (REC) Regional Integration Organizations (RIO) Regional Regulators’ Associations (RRA) HIPSSA Governance and Steering Committee 1

6. Regulatory Harmonization Cycle 2

7. Common list of priorities articulated around eight (8) main subjects. Harmonized Content 2

8. Modular implementation of priorities based on four (4) AU geographical sub regions (WA, CA, EA & SA) to reflect the heterogeneity between them. Global, Regional and National Activities 3 Global • Comparison of regional initiatives for regulatory harmonization • Cross-border frequency coordination (HCMC4A) • Monitoring and evaluation / Regulatory benchmarking • Analog to Digital Broadcasting Migration Regional National

9. Pairing of national or regional expert with international expert for bilateral knowledge transfer and human capacity building Methodology for activity implementation 3

10. Study of regional initiatives for regulatory harmonization 3 • Context • Diversity of regional organizations as to their means and harmonization methods • Similarity of telecoms/ICT regulatory harmonization challenges • Regional harmonization “volume effect" vs. national implementation efficiency • Some main findings • Three levels of governance make the process intricate and complex • Regional organizations are not progressing at the same rhythm (same for MS) • Most initiatives do not have a binding nature and enforcement mechanisms • Collaboration between regional regulators' associations and their respective regional organizations is heterogeneous • Some recommendations • Set common streamlined processes for all regional organizations • Reduce the level of regulatory discretion at national and regional level • Create a pan-African independent regulatory agency • Adopt pan-African common principles such as: objectivity, transparency, proportionality, non-discrimination, technological neutrality, etc.

11. Discussion 1 4 • Further to its primary objective of policy implementation,… • …the report has been designed to offer other possibilities as a training material… • Few specialized publications on ICT regulation in Africa • First comprehensive study on regulatory harmonization • Collection of regional acts in electronic version • …but could also stimulate research in a potential new priority area • It could serve as a base survey for untapped research questions • Academic research would complement one of the project’s objectives: institutional and human capacity building

12. Discussion 2 4 • HIPSSA, an example of governance in development cooperation • Multilateralism: EC mandates ITU, a UN specialized agency • EU-AU Partnership: AUC is co-chairing with ITU the HIPSSA Steering Committee • Regional integration: REC are project’s beneficiaries and members of Steering Committee • This EU-funded global project is an platform for additional bilateral assistance actions • This EC project has a global geographic scope and an inclusive approach • EU Member States support some modules in this global scheme Regional National

13. Contacts Thank you for your attention For more information: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/projects/ITU_EC_ACP/index.html Ida JallowHIPSSA Senior Project Coordinator Ida.jallow@itu.int Phone: +251 11 551 4977 Fax: +251 11 551 7299 International Telecommunication Union Regional Office for Africa P.O. Box 60 005 Addis Ababa Ethiopia Sandro BazzanellaITU-EC Project Manager sandro.bazzanella@itu.int Phone: +41 22 730 6765 Fax: +41 22 730 5484 International Telecommunication Union Headquarters Place des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 20 Switzerland ITU-EC Project - Harmonization of ICT Policies in ACP countries