Africa needs 5 bln USD for ICT infrastructure annually: UN agency
Xinhua
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ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The African continent needs close to 5 billion U.S. dollars annually for ICT infrastructure development as the continent's digital infrastructure lags behind from the rest of the world, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) revealed Monday.

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File photo: VCG

The remark was made by Oliver Chinganya, Director of the Africa Centre for Statistics at the ECA, as he also emphasized the need to upgrade the ICT infrastructure across Africa so as to boost its speed, volume and reliability.

"When discussing smart cities and digital citizenry, it is equally important to remember that perhaps only a third of Africans are on the Internet's and half own a mobile phone," an ECA statement quoted Chinganya as saying on Monday.

Chinganya, who is also Director of the ECA's Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resource Management Division, stressed that Africa's digital infrastructure is "far from the world's best in terms of speed, volume and reliability. Early estimates suggested that Africa needs about 5 billion U.S. dollars a year for ICT infrastructure."