This presentation was meant to be delivered at the Mauritius ICT Conference on December 7, 2013 by Equinox Advisory Ltd. CEO, Bernard Mallia. It dealt with the brief given for the plenary session in which this presentation was meant to be delivered: "Connectivity and Telecommunications remain at the forefront of any country’s development, and particularly for the ICT sector if it were to be viewed from the lens of inclusive development. While mobile platforms are available aplenty, focus on consumerism without adequate emphasis on increasing productive capacities of citizens’ results in spectacular failures as evidenced in many parts of the world. How should African nations come together to develop collaborative models where technical infrastructure is viewed as a shared model, and growth is pursued collectively across chosen economic sectors?" Ultimately, the chair decided not to go for a presentations approach but to structure the session in the form of a debate. Although the presentation was not delivered, parts of its content was through the debate that ensued. It is being made available on www.equinoxadvisory.com for reference purposes.

1. CREATING, LEVERAGING & ESTABLISHING
INTEROPERABLE INFRASTRUCTURES
MAURITIUS 6 DECEMBER 2013
Bernard Mallia

2. A MODERN ECONOMY
Distinguished by certain features:
Trade
Skills Transfers
Foreign Direct Investment
Diplomatic ties with other regions &
nations
Increasing Interconnectivity &
Digitisation

3. A MODERN ECONOMY
Basic Requirements
•
•
•
•
Institutions
Infrastructure
Macroeconomic Stability
Health And Primary Education
Key for
Factor-Driven
Economies
Efficiency Enhancers
•
•
•
•
Higher Education And Training
Market Efficiency (Goods,
Labour, Financial)
Technological Readiness
Market Size
Innovation Factors
•
•
Business sophistication
Innovation
Source: WEF
Key for
Efficiency-Driven
Economies
Key for
Innovation-Driven
Economies

4. ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES
OF DEVELOPMENT
A Taxonomy Of Markets
And Their Relationship
With Regulation:
Basic Irrepressible & Selfenforcing Markets
Sophisticated Sociallycontrived Markets

5. ICT IN DEVELOPMENT
POLICY
ICT an end in itself only to a limited extent
ICT As An Enabler & An Enhancer
Helps Achieve Market Efficiency
Alone, Not Enough
Can Lead To Inclusive Development Only If It Is
Widely Available
This Means That Prices Should Be Affordable
And Then Only If It Is Part Of A National Strategy
That Goes Beyond ICT
Any Economy That Aspires To Be Successful
Needs To Aspire To Integrate Itself Within The
Global Economy

6. SEEING THE BIGGER
PICTURE
Economic Development
Policy
Industrial Policy
National Competitiveness
Policy
National Politics
Supranational Politics
Electronic
Communications
Regulatory Policy

7. INDUSTRIAL POLICY
• Strategic effort to encourage
development and growth of
specific sectors of the economy
• Governments take measures to
improve competitiveness and
capabilities of domestic firms
while promoting structural
transformation.
• Macro-level infrastructure
(transportation,
telecommunications, sanitation,
health & energy) is key
• Regulatory Intervention (through market and cost analyses) can
make other sectors that depend on electronic communications
as their input more competitive BUT it can also make the telecoms
industry itself less competitive

8. NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS
POLICY
• Macro-level effort to remain
competitive in relation to other
competing destinations
• Regulating to achieve a level of
competitive electronic
communications services can be
the key to unleash the potential
for services in a country
• However, this should not be done
at the cost of disincentivising
infrastructural investment unless
Govt is willing to undertake such
investment itself

9. ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT POLICY
• Electronic Communications have
already unleashed previously
untapped economic potential
even in underserved areas
• Example of farmer in rural Africa
• Having an efficient and
affordable electronic
communications backbone is
going to be even more essential
in the future than it has been thus
far
• Important to get things right;
failing to do so causes
widespread harm

10. ELECTORNIC
COMMUNICATIONS
REGULATORY POLICY
Why We Regulate Public Utilities
Operative Scale Involved Makes SMP Common
First-Mover Advantage Common (Network
Economies)
Duplication Of Infrastructure Not Ideal Where
Spare Capacity Exists Already
Ensure Benefits To End-Users
Ensure Technical Efficiency
Ensure Competitiveness Of A Jurisdiction Is
Maintained
“Maximise Social Welfare”

11. BEST PRACTICES IN
REGULATION
Incentive Mechanism Design
Institutional Design With Built-in Checks And Balances
Stability And Predictability
Regulator As A Standards Setter
Regulator As An Enabler
Regulator As An Impartial Watchdog
Regulator As A Mediator
Regulator As A Monitor Of Markets & Events
Regulator As A Remedy-Issuing Authority To Ensure Benefits
Rule Of Law

12. THE POLITICAL PROCESS
• Nothing takes place in a vacuum
• Regulation is no exception
• The political process (both on a
national level and on an
international level) can and will
affect regulation
• Operators are usually good at
lobbying for their interests
• Consumers, on the other hand,
are usually not organised and
despite their numbers, their
interests
will
be
underrepresented

13. ADOPTING & ADAPTING
SUCCESSFUL MODELS
• Not Only A Question Of
Transposing Regulatory Models
& Regimes
• Local Peculiarities Need To Be
Taken Into Account
• Institutional Context (Not
Only Public Institutions But
Private As Well)
• Infrastructure
• HR Skills
• Available Funds
• Need Therefore To Give
Regulation A Local Character

14. CONCLUSION
ICT Problems In Africa Are NOT
Insurmountable
Surmounting Such Problems Is Not Only A
Matter Of Building Infrastructure And Letting
It Lie Idle
Requires Political Will And Championship As
Well As A Stable Environment
Requires The Bridging Of The Digital Divide &
Capacity-Building
In Facing These Problems: Africa Does Not
Lie Alone & It Can Learn From The Successes
& Mistakes Of Other Countries