Collective action essential for Tanzania digital advancement

Dar es Salaam. With collective actions from the government, private sector, and citizens, Tanzania's digital transformation can pave the way for inclusive growth, improved services, and a brighter future for all.

Government support and political willingness are one of the major opportunities that drive the transformation.

To drive the digital transformation agenda in Tanzania amid the global fourth phase of the industrial revolution, the President Samia Suluhu Hassan on September 12th, 2021 launched the Ministry of Information, Communication, and Information Technology.

The ministry’s mandate is to formulate and monitor implementation of policies on information, IT, telecommunications, and postal services.

During the 5th Innovation and Technology Forum in Dar es Salaam in April this year, the Deputy Minister for Information, Communication and Information Technology, Mr Kundo Mathew revealed that nearly Sh400 billion have been spent during the two years of President Samia’s administration towards digital infrastructures.

The deputy minister said the government understands that strengthening the communication infrastructure is a vital step in stimulating and motivating technological innovation.

“President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration continues to improve the investment environment primarily to attract people to invest in the communication sector and the information and communication technology (ICT) industry. We shall work on the recommendations of this forum to promote President Samia’s efforts towards attracting investors in our country,” he said.

The private sector has also played a key role in supporting government efforts with the introduction of new digital technologies, putting Tanzania on the map among global tech-active nations.

A new generation of wireless networks was first introduced in the country by telecom company Vodacom Tanzania Plc in September this year providing users with a fast internet speed of up to 400 megabits-per-second (Mbps).

The 5G technology is characterized by faster download speeds, low latency, and more capacity and connectivity for devices.

Speaking on the economic potential for the 5G minister for Communication and Information Technology, Mr Nape Nnauye, said it’s a breakthrough tech in Tanzania that has the power to transform lives and help the country achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets in areas such as health, agriculture, energy, logistics and many more.

“I call on entrepreneurs, businesses, innovators and ministries to tap into this 5G network and transform this nation. The government pledges its support to you,” Mr Nnauye said during the launch.

The emerging technologies of the fourth industrial revolution would be fully complemented by the network include Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, Big Data and/or Data Science, 3D printing, Blockchain technologies, neuro-technologies, genetic modifications, drones, autonomous vehicles, and machine visions among others.

A report on the mobile economy in Sub-Saharan Africa by an international organization GSM Association (GSMA) highlighted that countries in the region are now focusing on realizing the potential of mobile connectivity to drive economic growth and development in a post-pandemic world.

Its reports showed that in 2021 alone mobile technologies and services generated around 8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product across Sub-Saharan Africa, a contribution that amounted to almost $140 billion of economic value added.

The mobile ecosystem also supported more than 3.2 million jobs (directly and indirectly) and made a substantial contribution to the funding of the public sector, with $16 billion raised through taxes on the sector, the reports say.

Having more than 61.7 million people Tanzania has 61.9 million in total telecom subscriptions according to the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA).

The number represents a count of all active SIM cards which have been registered and are active.

The authority also estimates that internet subscription has reached 33 million as of March 2023.

Challenges

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), nearly 70 percent of the African continent is still not connected to the internet.

Some of the issues that delay digital takeover in Africa are common in most countries including Tanzania and these are the undeveloped ICT infrastructure, low mobile network connectivity and limited digital skills.

Other challenges are the expensiveness of digital devices like smartphones, computers, etc., and access to reliable and affordable electricity supply especially in rural areas where the majority of population usually resides.

ITU is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for all matters related to information and communication technologies.

In its report titled ‘Information and communication technology trends and developments in the Africa region, 2017-2020’ ITU assesses that there is still a larger gap of internet access to Africa than any other part of the world.

“Lack of infrastructure is not the main reason for the relatively low numbers of individuals using the Internet, that much bigger gap is associated with individuals living in areas covered by a mobile network, but not using the Internet,” the report reads in part.

At the end of 2019, 272 million people were connected to the mobile Internet across sub-Saharan Africa, while 800 million were still offline, mainly because of the high cost of smartphones, relative to average income levels, and limited digital skills among rural and less literate populations.

Access to reliable and affordable electricity is a major constraint because the lack of electricity results in higher costs of Internet access through, for example, having to use diesel generators to power mobile base stations, or requiring users in rural areas to travel to recharge their devices.

Another issue of concern in adaption of Africa into the digital technology is the digital divide, as according to the UN agency ITU, there is still a significant gender gap in the Africa region, one of the largest globally.

While, on average, 48.3 percent of women and 55.2 percent of men used the Internet globally in 2019, in Africa the ratio was 20 percent of women and 37 percent of men. This problem of gender is cultural and mostly because most of the traditional African communities prioritize the education of men over that of women, thus men became more exposed and skilled to digital technology than females.