|
Botswana, Uganda ahead in terms of state owned utilities
‘Africa’s Infrastructure: A Time for Transformation” a study that was recently carried out by the World Bank has revealed that Africa has the weakest infrastructure in the world.According to the report released last week, transforming African infrastructure will require an additional $31 billion a year which transforms into an estimate of US$93 billion which will be needed annually over the next decade, more than twice previous estimates.The study is part of the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), a project designed to expand the world’s knowledge of physical infrastructure in Africa which the World Bank is implementing under the guidance of a steering committee that represents the African Union (AU), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Africa’s regional economic communities, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA), and major infrastructure donors.According to the report, Botswana and Uganda have shown that fully state-owned African utilities can deliver high-quality performance. The report indicates that the state owned and operated Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) has long provided reliable, high-quality service and has over the years expanded its network in both urban and rural areas, covered its costs, posed no burden on the government budget, minimised system losses (10 percent), and earned a decent return on assets.It has also been found that majority of Africans resort to traditional alternatives, such as wells, unimproved latrines, or kerosene lamps as opposed to the alternatives being standposts, improved latrines, or street lighting.The study states that significant challenges exist in increasing the coverage of these alternatives, particularly because their public good nature makes some of these technologies more difficult for service providers to operate on a commercial basis.On information communications technology (ICT) it has been revealed that the number of African mobile phone users has increased from 10 million in 2000 to more than 180 million in 2007. During 1992-2005, private sector investment in ICT infrastructure topped $20 billion but high prices of services remain a problem.In 2007 the average price of prepaid mobile services cost $12.58 a month in Africa, six times the $2 cost in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.Botswana has over the past few years also experienced growth in the ICT sector. The latest mobile services provider, Be Mobile announced that they have reached around 200 000 customers barely a year after starting operation. Botswana has three mobile operators – Mascom, Orange and be Mobile - competing for the country’s two million population. By VICTOR BAATWENG
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
