{"id":71854,"date":"2024-02-28T00:13:32","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T05:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=71854"},"modified":"2024-02-28T00:13:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T05:13:32","slug":"africa-needs-china-for-its-digital-development-but-at-what-price","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/africa-needs-china-for-its-digital-development-but-at-what-price\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa needs China for its digital development \u2013 but at what price?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Digital technologies have many potential benefits for people in African countries. They can support the delivery of healthcare services, promote access to education and lifelong learning, and enhance financial inclusion.<\/p>\n

But there are obstacles to realising these benefits. The backbone infrastructure needed to connect communities is missing in places. Technology and finance are lacking too.<\/p>\n

In 2023, only\u00a083%<\/a>\u00a0of the population of sub-Saharan Africa was covered by at least a 3G mobile network. In all other regions the coverage was more than 95%. In the same year,\u00a0less than half of Africa\u2019s population<\/a>\u00a0had an active mobile broadband subscription, lagging behind Arab states (75%) and the Asia-Pacific region (88%). Therefore, Africans made up a substantial share of the estimated\u00a02.6 billion<\/a>\u00a0people globally who remained offline in 2023.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0key partner<\/a>\u00a0in Africa in unclogging this bottleneck is China. Several African countries depend on China as their main technology provider and sponsor of large digital infrastructural projects.<\/p>\n

This relationship is the subject of a\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0I published recently. The study showed that at least 38 countries worked closely with Chinese companies to advance their domestic fibre-optic network and data centre infrastructure or their technological know-how.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s involvement was critical as African countries made great strides in digital development. Despite the persisting digital divide between Africa and other regions, 3G network coverage\u00a0increased from 22% to 83%<\/a>\u00a0between 2010 and 2023. Active mobile broadband subscriptions increased\u00a0from less than 2% in 2010 to 48% in 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For governments, however, there is a risk that foreign-driven digital development will keep existing dependence structures in place.<\/p>\n

Reasons for dependence on foreign technology and finance<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The\u00a0global market<\/a>\u00a0for information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure is controlled by a handful of producers. For instance, the main suppliers of fibre-optic cables, a network component that enables high-speed internet, are China-based Huawei and ZTE and the Swedish company Ericsson.<\/p>\n

Many African countries, with limited internal revenues, can\u2019t afford these network components. Infrastructure investments depend on foreign finance, including concessional loans, commercial credits, or public-private partnerships. These may also\u00a0influence a state\u2019s choice of infrastructure provider<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The African continent\u2019s terrain adds to the technological and financial difficulties. Vast lands and challenging topographies make the roll-out of infrastructure very expensive. Private investors avoid sparsely populated areas because it doesn\u2019t pay them to deliver a service there.<\/p>\n

Landlocked states depend on the infrastructure and goodwill of coastal countries to connect to international fibre-optic landing stations.<\/p>\n

A full-package solution<\/strong><\/h4>\n

It is sometimes assumed that African leaders choose Chinese providers because they offer the cheapest technology.\u00a0Anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise<\/a>. Chinese contractors are attractive partners because they can offer full-package solutions that include finance.<\/p>\n

Under the so-called\u00a0\u201cEPC+F\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(Engineer, Procure, Construct + Fund\/Finance) scheme, Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE oversee the engineering, procurement and construction while Chinese banks provide state-backed finance. Angola, Uganda and Zambia are just some of the countries which seem to have benefited from this type of deal.<\/p>\n

All-round solutions like this appeal to African countries.<\/p>\n

What is in it for China?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As part of its\u00a0\u201cgo-global\u201d<\/a>\u00a0strategy, the Chinese government encourages Chinese companies to invest and operate overseas. The government offers financial backing and expects companies to raise the global competitiveness of Chinese products and the national economy.<\/p>\n

In the long term, Beijing seeks to establish and promote Chinese digital standards and norms. Research partnerships and training opportunities expose a growing number of students to Chinese technology. The Chinese government\u2019s expectation is that mobile applications and startups in Africa will increasingly reflect Beijing\u2019s technological and ideological principles. That includes China\u2019s interpretation of human rights, data privacy and freedom of speech.<\/p>\n

This aligns with the vision of China\u2019s \u201cDigital Silk Road<\/a>\u201d, which complements its\u00a0Belt and Road Initiative<\/a>, creating new trade routes.<\/p>\n

In the digital realm, the goal is technological primacy and greater autonomy from western suppliers. The government is striving for a more\u00a0Sino-centric global digital order<\/a>. Infrastructure investments and training partnerships in African countries offer a starting point.<\/p>\n

Long-term implications<\/strong><\/h4>\n

From a technological perspective, over-reliance on a single infrastructure supplier makes the client state more vulnerable. When a customer depends heavily on a particular supplier, it\u2019s difficult and costly to switch to a different provider. African countries could become locked into the Chinese digital ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Researchers like\u00a0Arthur Gwagwa<\/a>\u00a0from the Ethics Institute at Utrecht University (Netherlands) believe that China\u2019s export of critical infrastructure components will\u00a0enable military and industrial espionage<\/a>. These claims assert that Chinese-made equipment is designed in a way that could facilitate cyber attacks.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch, an international NGO that conducts research and advocacy on human rights, has\u00a0raised concerns<\/a>\u00a0that Chinese infrastructure increases the risk of technology-enabled authoritarianism. In particular, Huawei has been\u00a0accused<\/a>\u00a0of colluding with governments to spy on political opponents in Uganda and Zambia. Huawei has\u00a0denied<\/a>\u00a0the allegations.<\/p>\n

The way forward<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Chinese involvement provides a rapid path to digital progress for African nations. It also exposes African states to the risk of long-term dependence. The remedy is to diversify infrastructure supply, training opportunities and partnerships.<\/p>\n

There is also a need to call for interoperability in international forums such as the\u00a0International Telecommunications Union<\/a>, a UN agency responsible for issues related to information and communication technologies. Interoperability allows a product or system to interact with other products and systems. It means clients can buy technological components from different providers and switch to other technological solutions. It favours market competition and higher quality solutions by preventing users from being locked in to one vendor.<\/p>\n

Finally, in the long term African countries should produce their own infrastructure and become less dependent.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Stephanie Arnold is a PhD Candidate at the Universit\u00e0 di Bologna<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Digital technologies have many potential benefits for people in African countries. They can support the delivery of healthcare services, promote access to education and lifelong learning, and enhance financial inclusion. But there are obstacles to realising these benefits. The backbone infrastructure needed to connect communities is missing in places. Technology and finance are lacking too. […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[434844],"tags":[12387],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-71854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-digital-development","tag-digital-technologies"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAfrica needs China for its digital development \u2013 but at what price? - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/africa-needs-china-for-its-digital-development-but-at-what-price\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Africa needs China for its digital development \u2013 but at what price? - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Digital technologies have many potential benefits for people in African countries. 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