1. Project RASCOM
Themes AEROSPACE, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY, RURAL DEVELOPMENT
UN-SDGs
Main
Characteristics
Client: RASCOM (Regional African Satellite Communications Organization)
Project: RASCOM STAR | The 1rst Pan-African Satellite & satellite based communication system
Value: USD 400M of contracts
Performance: ●Strategy Advisory ●Development Consultancy ●Lobbying, Public & Government Relations ●Presentations and service contract negotiations with 45 Member States and their National
Telecommunication Companies ●Effective launch of the “RASCOM STAR” satellite on the Ariane 5GS le 21/12/2007, latest launch on the 04/08/2010
Macro Socio-
Economical
& Historical
Context
▪ Africa is home to 1.1Billion people, and projected to double to 2.4Billion in the next three decades. Africa’s people, need to communicate to each other and to connect to the rest of the World.
Millions of people on the African continent do not have access to, and are underserved due to the scarcity of, telecommunications infrastructure in rural areas.
▪ The non-existence of direct links between African countries has forced them, to transit through Europe or the United States, entailing unnecessary charges. Hence the urge to control a common
platform by African states.
▪ Recognizing that investment in telecommunications considerably increases the level of productivity and effectiveness of all the other sectors as well as improve the quality of life, African
leaders decided to combine efforts in providing the continent with telecommunications infrastructure capable of ensuring the sustainable development of the continent and each African country,
with special emphasis on service to rural areas.
▪ Thus contributing to Africa's Information Society Initiative: An Action Framework to Build Africa's Information and communication Infrastructure coordinated by the U.N to promote and provide
guidance for the role of information, communication and knowledge in shaping African information society and to accelerate socio-economic development. Communication is empowerment and
helping to fill in the gaps in connectivity is helping to deliver this promise.
Stakeholders
Ecosystem
/ Frameworks
▪ Member countries & Signatories of the Rascom Convention →
Including their respective Telecommunication Operators & National Regulatory Bodies
▪ Technical Partners: ARIANE ESPACE, ALCATEL, THALES ALENIA SPACE, ViaSat;
Global Telesat, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
▪ Regulatory Bodies: International Telecommunication Union (ITU),
▪ 45 countries out of a total of 54 African states::
ALGERIA, ANGOLA, BENIN, BURKINA FASO, BURUNDI, CAMEROON, CAP VERT, COMOROS,
CONGO, DJIBOUTI, IVORY COAST, EGYPT, ERITREA, ETHIOPIA, GABON, GAMBIA, GHANA,
GUINEA, GUINEA-BISSAU, ILE MAURICE, KENYA, LIBERIA, LESOTHO, LIBYA, MALAWI, MALI,
MAURITANIA, MOZAMBIQUE, NAMIBIA, NIGER,NIGERIA, UGANDA, REPUBLIQUE CENTRALE
FRICAINE, REPUBLIQUE DEMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO, SENEGAL, SIERRA LEONE, SOUTH
AFRICA, SUDAN, SWITZERLAND, TANZANIA, CHAD, TOGO, TUNISIA, ZAMBIA, ZIMBABWE
The Vision
▪ Bring the economic and social benefits of telecommunications to the thousands of rural communities living in the heartlands of Africa.
▪ Design, develop and facilitate the construction and deployment of a pan-African satellite based telecommunications infrastructure, extending voice & data services to all regions on the continent
Our Mission Promote, commercialise, and accompany new and existing operators and investors, in reaching the Telecommunication Infrastructure & Services Goals for the African Continent

2. OBJECTIVES PERFORMANCE - DELIVERABLES - MEASUREMENT CRITERIA
▪ Provide an affordable infrastructure on a large scale to rural areas of the continent by using appropriate
technology;
▪ Provide facilities for radio and television broadcast in each country and enable the exchange of radio
and television programmes between African countries;
▪ Support international connectivity: pursue connectivity where others cannot go;
▪ Provide a range of services, voice, data, multi-media, tele-education, tele-medicine and video
conferencing, etc
▪ Assess and map the current coverage and services provided
▪ Define most appropriate technology and service providers relative to current regional
specifications and long term strategies
▪ Sell infrastructure installations and integration contracts to service rural regions
▪ Demonstrate scope of possibilities and improvements provided
▪ Increase client and investor commitments ▪ Consolidate the win-win relationship with stakeholders
▪ Improve clarity and transparency of the communication, increase information and logical
down-to-earth reasoning in the marketing constituents
▪ Demonstrate the economic and social impact of the value propositions on the short,
medium and long term
▪ Develop new and pertinent impact vectors and measurable criteria
▪ Maintain rigorous & precise relay and reporting of advancements and benefits induced
▪ Increase the overall South African utilisation; commitment, reservations of bulk commercial agreements
from Telecom and TV operators
▪ Lobbying the South African Authorities & Parliament for guiding and recommending SA
operators into a more favourable stance towards the use of RASCOM services
▪ Set up of dedicated events and conferences showcasing the impact and benefits of
RASCOM I.e.: for the Ministries - Department of Trade & Industry, Department of Foreign
Affairs; for the South African Parliament Portfolio Committee on Telecommunications &
Postal Services
Mgmt. Systems
& Tools
/ Regulatory
Frameworks
/ Evaluation
Methodology /
Reporting
▪ Mutually developed stakeholders' Sustainability Frameworks & Objectives' Benchmarks for Success -
CSR and SRI reporting against those benchmarks
▪ Dedicated Progress Reports produced for the various Stakeholders
▪ ISO Ecosystem (9001/14000) & BS OHSAS (18000)
▪ Project Management Institute Principles (PRISM, PRINCE2, MS Project)
▪ Prospero Investment Portfolio Management System (SAGE)
▪ Quantitative percentage Impact performances
▪ Coordinate census of existing situational assessments to constitute base line benchmarks
on the current state of the telecommunication coverage and usage and induced benefits
on the African continent
▪ Proprietary evaluation systems and tools developed with the stakeholders including the
South African Bureau of Standards, from ISO management quality systems
▪ Reconcile and attune forecasting & management systems with high quality standard
international regulatory institutions for Governance and Measurement of progressive &
continuous improvement, I.e.: U.N frameworks