Huawei has successfully held the second Africa Broadband Forum, with the hosting by Informa Tech. The theme of the event was “Unleashing the Power of Home Broadband under New Normality in Africa”. Experts and industry stakeholders from all over the world shared their experiences and explored how to further develop the broadband industry in Africa under new normal, to accelerate the Africa digital transformation.
With the quick development of emerging technologies, such as ultra-broadband, cloud, AI, big data, IoT and others, countries around the world are experiencing the digital transformation in all aspects. To be the foundation of this transformation, broadband connections are weaving the socioeconomic development and the welfare of everyone in this modern age. Meanwhile, according to the report by Omdia, a famous ICT research institution, by the end of 2019, the average fixed home broadband penetration rate in Africa was 9.2% only, which was much lower than the world average of 56.7%. The life of most Africa people and social productivities are not benefited from the broadband development. Digital divide is still huge between Africa and other continents, also between the different countries inside the continent.
Huge divide means huge potentials. “The pandemic has made home broadband particularly important. A new model called ‘home economy’ is taking place, pushing the home from a single entertainment center to diversify, which will become an unstoppable trend in the coming future,” said Mr. Gary Lu, president of Huawei network marketing and solution sales department, “The key is to strengthen the digital value of homes, by enhancing the high speed broadband access, full coverage of home network and diversified service assurance, to ensure the development and prosperity of home broadband.”
Mr. Matthew Reed, the practice leader of Omdia in MEA region shared his long-term observation and recommendations: “Africa needs the infrastructure for a modern economy and society just as much as the rest of the world. A key part of that infrastructure is broadband. The telecoms industry and authorities across Africa should keep up to date with global broadband markets, learn from peers around the world to boost broadband development on the continent.”
It is also a most important topic in the forum, that how to utilize the broadband connections to raise the welfare and living qualities of Africa people. Mrs. Chérine Magora, the strategy partnership director of TikTok in MEA region expressed her opinions. “TikTok is the home of joy and creativity. We are the most downloaded App for more than 4 consecutive months (in Africa)…gives us an idea how important Tiktok is to inspire creativity and to entertain all age groups.”
Africa is the future of the world. In the next decades, the importance of Africa as a whole will be highlighted, and broadband connections are the key infrastructure to carry the future development. To accelerate the broadband construction in Africa based on the conditions, and popularize the home broadband access together with the utilizing of digital applications, Huawei will continue to work together with partners to build fast-growing broadband in Africa, bridge the digital divide, bring the digital world to every person, home, and organization, for a fully connected, intelligent Africa.
