Working Paper

Training African Regulators

infoDev Working Paper #18

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The need for improved and expanded training for telecommunication regulators has been demonstrated by the national authorities in developing and least developed countries, especially in Africa. This paper addresses the need for ICT regulatory training amongst African policy makers, parliamentarians, regulators, and judges. However, it is less clear that the systems are in place to identify the true scale of demand and to ensure that those participating in training are not subsequently lost to industry or to the brain drain to developed countries. The challenge is to find mechanisms that are appropriate, cost-effective, and scalable and anchored in Africa.

This paper was commissioned by the Global Information and Communication Technology Department of the World Bank to serve as a companion piece to infoDev Working Paper #16, on “Building Local Capacity for ICT Policy and Regulation: A Needs Assessment and Gap Analysis for Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific - Supply Analysis”. Taken together, these two studies provide the basic research underlying the new joint infoDev / ITU Global Capacity Building Initiative for ICT Regulators (GCBI). For more information, please see http://www.ictregulationtoolkit.org.

By The World Bank / infoDev. Published November 2008.

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Comments on this Publication

Andrew Kaahwa said: |

Thanks for the services done to the world. I hereby now incquire that are you also serving Uganda as in terms of ICT because am also inclusive in that field. I work as a computer teacher at the school of NDA because I work with Sisters of Notre Dame Uganda an organisation based in the US as their main headquater. I will be graetful to hear from you

Andrew Kaahwa East Africa -Uganda.

Laurent Gille said: |

Training african regulators is a critical issue and the report presents very well the challenges and difficulties of the task. We especially regret that the report completely ignores the initiatives of the francophone Africa, which has adopted one of the most comprehensive training for regulators and operators. This training, the Badge Régulation des Télécommunications, which has existed for 5 years, has trained nearly 120 people from 15 African countries. This training has also contributed to research on ICT in Africa through the writing of more than 100 dissertations on regulatory issues. This training is operated by Telecom ParisTech with the support of African Regulators (Burkina Faso, Cameroun), the french regulators (Arcep, ANFR) and the Fratel.

Brett Tarnutzer said: |

This report addresses a very relevant issue - finding ways to share the global experience in ICT regulation with the developing world. My company, KB Enterprises, was fortunate to have been funded by a not-for-profit foundation to travel to South Africa and present a first-hand account of the issues involved in spectrum management and the potential ways of auctioning licenses for spectrum to encourage their use and speed their assignment. ICASA was interested in the testimony of a former US regulator who could give first hand accounts and offer suggestions, but the cost of travel often prohibit this type of exchange. We have been inspired to develop more directed material on the subject and pass it along as we can, but often getting access to the regulator is difficult, as is finding funding for these tasks. I look forward to following the development of this report and hope to be able to participate more in the future. The testimony and other materials we've developed can be found at www.KBspectrum.com.

Kennedy Lukhando said: |

Thanks for your initiative in supporting ICT policy training in Africa particularly Kenya. What do you intend to do with this trained policy makers? Do you have any mechanism of finding out whether your initiative server the intended noble purpose?

Kennedy Lukhando - Kenya

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