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The importance of cheap, high-quality telecommunications services for economic development and growth are frequently stressed by policymakers, as is the need for greater regional integration and cooperation in Southern Africa. The link between the two is less well understood. Better, cheaper telecoms services can facilitate regional trade and integration, while cooperation\u00a0between policymakers and regulators across countries to share learnings and best practice can assist in ensuring effective, pro-competitive policies and regulations\u00a0which allow the sector to thrive and consumers to benefit. Unfortunately, current outcomes in both respects are disappointing. Southern Africa performs poorly on measures of access, price and speed. In 2017, less than 2% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa had access to fixed line internet and less than 60% had access to 3G coverage according to the World Bank and the GSMA. The cost of communicating both within and between countries in the region is often high, and can be traced, at least in part, to insufficient competition and a lack of pro-competitive regulation.<\/p>

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CCRED and UNU-WIDER<\/a> are jointly holding a seminar to elaborate on these challenges based on insights from two studies conducted by CCRED for a Southern Africa \u2014 Towards Inclusive Economic Development<\/a> (SA-TIED) work stream on Regional growth for Southern Africa\u2019s prosperity<\/em><\/a>. The first paper explores and contrasts the competitive dynamics of the telecommunications sectors in South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe while the second paper compares the different approaches economic regulators have taken in each country and how this has helped to shape outcomes. We reflect on how the alignment of regulation (or lack thereof) across the region has influenced the current state of telecoms development in southern Africa and how it may be better harnessed in future for regional integration and growth.<\/p>

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Panelists: <\/strong>Ms Genna Robb (Research Associate, CCRED)<\/p>

Chair<\/strong>: Dr Ryan Hawthorne (Acacia Economics)<\/p>

Venue:<\/strong> CCRED Seminar Room, 1st Floor, 6 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg.<\/p>

Click here for map<\/a><\/p>

Date:<\/strong> 13 February 2020<\/p>

Time:<\/strong> 16:00-18:00<\/p>

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RSVP by email to infoccred@uj.ac.za<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The importance of cheap, high-quality telecommunications services for economic development and growth are frequently stressed by policymakers, as is the need for greater regional integration and cooperation in Southern Africa. The link between the two is less well understood. Better, cheaper telecoms services can facilitate regional trade and integration, while cooperation\u00a0between policymakers and regulators across […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public-platforms"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n