Amid slowing economic activity, Covid-19 has accelerated the need for digital inclusion across the globe. The use of digital technologies in e-commerce, health, education and service delivery has obligated developing countries including Eswatini to leapfrog into a digitalised economy.
Unfortunately, Eswatini has not fully benefited from the opportunities presented by the digital economy, given that a majority of the country’s population has no access to the internet. According to Simon Kemp in an article titled ‘Digital 2020: Eswatini’ only 47% of the population are internet users and the growth rate per year stands at 1%.
The inequalities born by the lack of access to a digitalised economy are even worse for those that lack access to internet connectivity, electricity, digital skills, or affordable devices.
Therefore, despite the potential for digital technologies to accelerate social and economic development, a significant share of the population is left behind.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic magnified the persistent structural and institutional challenges within the ICT sector. Accessibility and quality of ICT infrastructure, access to electricity and affordability of basic internet services came up top of the list for Eswatini. The pandemic exposed that Eswatini is far from achieving universal access to ICTs and closing the digital divide. This is preventing a significant share of the population form harnessing the innovation and potential brought by digital technologies.
Further compounding the problem, according to Henry Lancaster in an article titled ‘Eswatini (Swaziland) – Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband – Statistics and Analyses’, issued in November 2020, is that one internet provider still controls 80% of the market.
On the other hand, Gil, T and colleagues report that the pandemic stressed Wi-Fi capacity by an 80% increase in PC uploads to cloud computing platforms with additional peaks from video conference calls. For an economy like Eswatini, a high demand in broadband affected the capacity, reliability, and stability of internet connection, due to weak infrastructure and poor service delivery.
It is an indisputable fact that the pandemic has brought to light a new domain of exclusion and privilege for some, leaving some populations isolated from the vast digital realm. Hence it is now more than ever, where countries need to rigorously pursue strategies to fast track digitization and expedite digitalisation strategies.
Low market penetration and high prices are perpetuating the digital gap, such that, unemployed youth, the vulnerable and rural populations cannot afford internet services, yet it is imperative to sustainable social and economic inclusion. This calls for more governments to invest strategically and systematically in developing digital infrastructure, services, skills and entrepreneurship.
In essence, digital inclusion brings together high-speed internet, access to information technologies, and digital literacy in ways that promote success for communities and individuals trying to navigate and participate in the digital realm.
Hence, to improve Eswatini’s state of digital inclusion: Firstly, there is a need for the expansion of high quality and high speed ICT infrastructure – moving towards more stable internet infrastructure such as optic fibre, increased 3G, 4G or even 5G coverage, and internet speeds of above 3-5Mbps, and increase digital coverage for broadcasting to less serviced areas. Secondly, the provision of free or low cost ICT access centres/hubs and access to low cost ICT devices and internet(data) – reduce the cost of 1GB in the country, will enable more people to use the internet for productive activities. Thirdly, increase the generation of and access to a range of digital content to communities, through the support of local content creation initiatives and funding. Within the education sector, the digitization of curricula and translation of books and visual teaching aids to digital platforms is a necessity. Lastly, there is a need to provide digital literacy services that assist and empower individuals to navigate, understand, evaluate, and create digital content using a range of information and communications technologies.
Maintaining momentum is not enough. We need to bring together and scale up our efforts to close the digital divide. Strong partnerships across all sectors will make digital inclusion a success, starting from the digitization of public services within government and in the private sector. Having more people accessing more services within their vicinity will create a demand for more diverse ICT services and needs. Thereby, increasing the number of people that are financially included, have access to electricity, education and good public health services will help tackle wider social issues, support economic growth and achieve better digital inclusion. Digitization should come hand in hand with the actual digitalisation of our communities to create a digital economy in Eswatini.
