The GEO Blog

On April 15th, I attended an open panel discussion of the first annual Maghreb Academic Symposium, hosted by U.S. Africa Command and the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA).  The symposium brought together specialists from academia and Washington think tanks, with the aim of better understanding Africa Command’s Area of Responsibility (AOR).  The Maghreb, which in Arabic means “place of sunset”, refers to five North African countries: Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania.  The region faces many of the problems commonly associated with Africa as a whole -- problems often stemming from low per capita GDP, such as famine, war, and disease.  Some of these North African countries are oil rich but continue to have stagnant economies due to poor wealth distribution.  They also deal with fears for the future security of their wealth, which stem from aging leadership and uncertainties of succession.

Keep an eye on Africa! Although most ICT levels are nowhere near the industrialized nations’ levels, African nations are quickly catching up with 21st century technology and emerging trends.  Foreign investors (mainly from neighboring Middle Eastern countries) are rallying to the continent to capitalize on business opportunities and the booming markets, especially in North Africa.  Although this report focuses more on West African states but based on extensive research, our assessment is that emerging technologies and trends are going to have a ripple effect throughout the continent.

Although growth levels have been huge and the number of internet users has far exceeded other regions, Africa’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) penetration rankings in 2009 still fall short behind the rest of the world with very few African countries attaining ICT levels equivalent to global averages. Recent Internet statistics report that Africa has over 67 million users or about 3.9 percent of world users and a 6.8 percent (% population) penetration rate.  Nonetheless, fixed and mobile broadband penetration levels are insignificant.