O African continent has below average numbers in relation to the rest of the world regarding interconnection, with approximately 40 percent of the population accessing the Internet, according to data from the AFRINIC (Internet Regulatory Organization in Africa), which were presented by Eddy Keyura (Executive Director of the organization), during the 31st conference of the AFRINIC.
As for our country, in the context of the E&M Conference “Digital Transformation in Banking and Electronic Commerce in Angola, which also took place at the end of 2019, the telecommunications consultant, Abdul Santos, guaranteed that Angola has a rate well below the African average in terms of Internet access.
O expert made this statement during the presentation of the topic “Investments in Telecommunications as the Engine of the Digital Economy”, which preceded three intense debates that, among other stakeholders, included the participation of representatives from the banking and telecommunications sector, with emphasis on the PCA of the Banco BIC, Fernando Duarte, and the director general of ITA, engineer Pinto Leite.
The scope of the E&M Conference “Digital Transformation in Banking and Electronic Commerce in Angola. The Present and the Future ", the telecommunications engineer also said that the country is still far below South Africa, Mauritius, Namibia and Zambia, which have the highest tele-density rates on the continent.
For Abdul Santos, the telecommunications sector in Angola stagnated about four years ago, considering that “there is no evolution both in tele-density and in the increase in Internet users”. The situation has not changed, added the expert, referring that these indicators worsen as the Angolan population increases substantially. On the other hand, he said that it is not easy to know exactly what is the financial behavior of companies operating in the telecommunications sector, as there is not much financial information available. If there are data, he stresses, “they are reserved only for the boards of directors of the respective companies”.
