Revolutionizing access for marginalized communities

Broadband Commissioner Cheick Sidi Diarra is United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Special Adviser on Africa and High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States

Cheick Sidi Diarra is in no doubt about the value of broadband to the 97 developing countries he represents. The path to development, he observes, is increasingly through value-added services that broadband networks can support.

“Developing countries need to move up the value chain by producing services,” he says. “Broadband would open the door to many opportunities, giving people access to real-time information and a window on the outside world.”

Narrowing the ‘digital divide’ should be a development priority, he argues, because it will be one of the keys to diversifying economies, creating wealth and pulling people out of poverty. “The bigger the digital divide, the more developing countries will lag behind.”

Information technology boosts efficiency, productivity, reduces administrative delays and makes information more accessible, he notes. Even basic mobile telephone technology has enabled poor people in the developing world to perform financial transactions, access health information and check market prices, to take just three examples.

The ‘unbelievable’ explosion in the number of mobile phone users in poor countries gives Diarra confidence that demand for broadband services will be equally forthcoming, making investment in broadband networks an attractive proposition for private companies.

“I believe the money is there. What is important is having a good project and creating a friendly environment to attract private investment. As in mobile telephony, the return is huge. The potential for investment is there.”

His role on the Broadband Commission, he says, is to ensure that the perspective of the poorest and most vulnerable countries is taken into account in the commission’s conclusions and Recommendations. These should include discussion of how to mobilize resources for countries that might have difficulty raising sufficient private sector funds (very poor countries or small island states, for example) and the generation of content and applications suited to their needs.

However, Diarra says it is time to stop thinking about poor nations in negative terms or as needy recipients of outside aid. “Just imagine,” he says, “the impact of connecting 900 million Africans to the Americas. These are people who are hungry for knowledge, who want to share the prosperity they see on television, who want to create things. Access to broadband could revolutionize their lives.”