Financing Telecommunications in Africa
141
Figure 4.9 Total DFI Financing of the ICT Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1998–2009 800
759.2
700
dollars (millions)
600 500 400 271.5
300
283.8
260
200
155
100
49 4
0 IFC
PROPARCO
FMO
DEG
EIB
BOAD
BCIE
Sources: DFIs; World Bank PPI database; World Bank 2010. Note: The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Development Bank of Southern African (DBSA) are believed to be significant sources of finance for the telecommunications sector in Africa, but data on financing provided by these institutions were not available. BCIE = Banco Centroamericano de Integracion Economica; BOAD = Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement; DEG = Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH; EIB = European Investment Bank; FMO = Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V., also known as the Netherlands Development Finance Company; IFC = International Finance Corporation; PROPARCO = Société de Promotion et de Participation pour la Coopération Économique.
that the total amount of financing provided by these institutions to the telecommunications sector in Sub-Saharan Africa between 1998 and 2009 was in the neighborhood of $1.8 billion, although authoritative data were not available for all DFIs at the time of publication (figure 4.9). Other development institutions are also involved in providing financing for telecommunications infrastructure in Africa. The World Bank, for example, provided $338 million in financing for investment in the ICT sector in Africa between 1998 and 2008. Not all of this, however, was invested in physical infrastructure: It covered a wide range of activities, from policy and regulatory reform to e-government and information technology–industry development. Bilateral ODA for investment in physical telecommunications infrastructure was very limited over the period.
Impact of Public Investment on the Telecommunications Sector Public sector financing of the telecommunications sector has implications for both its performance and for the public sector as a whole. State-owned