The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has announced the launch of the Africa Broadband Maps project, which aims to establish broadband mapping systems in 11 sub-Saharan African countries to help narrow the digital divide.
According to a statement from the ITU, Africa-BB-Maps will use the data from the mapping systems to identify internet connectivity gaps in coverage, quality and affordability in countries covered by the project. At launch, that includes Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The ITU – which announced the Africa-BB-Maps project last Thursday on the sidelines of the ITU Global Symposium for Regulators 2024 in Kampala, Uganda – said the programme will "enable data-driven decision-making for investments in digital infrastructure", which in turn will "foster investment and digital transformation in Africa".
The initiative, led by the ITU Telecommunications Development Bureau (ITU BDT), will be funded by the European Commission, which has authorised a budget of 15 million euros (US$16.2 million) from 2024 to 2027.
The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development – co-founded by the ITU and UNESCO – developed a roadmap in 2019 to achieve “universal, affordable, and good quality broadband across Africa” by 2030. The roadmap calls for at least $100 billion to be invested over ten years to hit that target, with 80% going to network deployment and maintenance, 17.5% for local digital skills development, and the remainder for development of an adapted regulatory framework.