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Reshaping the African Internet
Fanou R., Valera F., Francois P., Dhamdhere A. Computer Communications113 (C):25-42,2017.Type:Article
Date Reviewed: Nov 30 2018

When the focus of one’s teaching happens to relate to a topic that one is reviewing, it is a good way to share knowledge from one field to another. I happen to be teaching a course on African government and politics this semester, and this paper on the African Internet is a very interesting piece on the status of technology in the continent. When the advancement in technology that spurred development in countries such as Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea is oftentimes referred to as the “stimulus to growth,” one wonders if what is needed for African development to take place is a vigorous investment in such technology.

This particular paper contains the major ingredients for understanding the state of connectivity in various African countries, and suggests that socioeconomic, political, and geographical factors need to be considered in order to make such connectivity happen. Africa is a geographically vast continent where basic infrastructure is wanting. Many countries are highly indebted and poor; they cannot afford an enormous investment in the basic infrastructure of roads and bridges, let alone investment in telecom infrastructure; thus, terrestrial fiber deployment remains fragmented. And of course there is the question of political instability in the region. Terrorist attacks, wars, riots, and rebellions are commonplace in many countries. Conflicts between nations also play into the equation. Many are considered “unsecured countries,” which according to the authors are those countries that have suffered from rebellion and terrorism over the last five years.

It is the purpose of this work to account for the various factors that may be responsible for the slow change in Africa when it comes to technology, for example, data shows that “only 23 percent of its population has access to the Internet as of June 2016.” The authors identify “a major reason behind the stunted growth of the African Internet ecosystem”: the lack of local content--most content is derived from the US and the European Union (EU). The paper indicates that “even the most popular regional websites are hosted abroad.”

What the authors hope to come up with is a plan that will help build a distributed Internet exchange point (IXP) structure made up of secure local IXPs; select regional IXP hubs; connect “those local IXPs and regional hubs in a secure and economical manner”; and propose “strategic points where content providers could deploy [material from].” Their research makes use of available data, knowing that some of it may be difficult to obtain. They consulted with various government leaders, investors, and stakeholders in the region. In the paper, they make good use of figures, maps, tables, graphs, and diagrams to present their various points. Interestingly enough, they came up with a scheme that connects the continent in pretty much the same way that it has been traditionally divided and connected--North, West, East, Central, and Southern.

The authors recognize that there are many factors that need to be considered in order for their approach to succeed. It will require Internet service providers (ISPs) “to be more open to participation at IXPs and interconnection with other local networks.” Countries should also “encourage cross-border fiber deployment to enable the growth of the Internet ecosystem.” Furthermore, “the African Internet suffers from significant performance problems due to a number of systemic issues,” and the authors indicate that future work in the area will require looking into additional socioeconomic factors beyond the ones explored here. They recognize that using “terrorist attacks and riots in the identification of unsecured countries may eliminate countries that do not appear safe.” However, if companies are investing there anyway, then maybe “cables are extensively deployed within their borders” and maybe “their governments implement a policy environment that attracts those investments.” Such issues need to be taken into consideration.

The paper is a good beginning to a noble project, which I hope is successful for the sake of African development.

Reviewer:  Cecilia G. Manrique Review #: CR146331 (1902-0029)
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