South Sudan: Embracing ICT for Faster Growth

 

The Republic of South Sudan gained its independence in 2011. As a nation that has to build everything from scratch, it faces many challenges but also has many opportunities. The government knows the importance of technology and is ready to use ICT to accelerate its social and economic development in both urban and rural areas. At ITU Telecom 2013, held in Bangkok, ZTE TECHNOLOGIES interviewed Rebecca Joshua Okwaci, minister for telecommunications and postal services in South Sudan. She talked about her country’s plans and progress in ICT as well as her views on social welfare. She is a journalist by profession and an advocate for women’s role in achieving peace. 

 

Q: What are the unique characteristics of South Sudan’s telecom market?

 

A: South Sudan is a new country. The Republic of South Sudan gained independence in 2011, after a very long period of war. After all the destruction in terms of human lives and property, it is time for us to start putting things back together and moving forward. Everybody is moving towards development, and we cannot remain behind. What we know is that we will continue to develop, but ICT will help us develop faster. South Sudan is a fertile land for ICT and telecommunications. That’s a very important feature; you can talk about other countries that have already moved ahead in terms of technology, but this is a fertile land. There are still a lot of opportunities for expansion of mobile, internet, and fiber optic technology. South Sudan’s great demand for technology creates big opportunities.

 

Q: How have you improved efficiency in South Sudan in terms of technology?

 

A: Despite the fact that we have only been an independent country for a short time, we have managed to put infrastructure in place. In terms of government, we have the executive, ministerial cabinet, parliament, and institutions.

We have also moved in the area of mobile services. Today, we have four mobile operators in the country, and another is on its way. This new telecom operator will be a national, public one. We have already made a start in terms of telecom operations.

Today we have about 11 licensed ISPs in the country. They might not have expanded very well into the rural areas, but there is a good semblance of that. We need to further expand and reach the rural areas. People in the rural areas are very important: we are not only going to be in the towns. The policy of our government is to move into the rural areas and get everyone connected. We have a clear policy, the Communications Act (2012), in place. We are now working on our regulator, the National Communications Authority (NCA), which will help us regulate our system and create a good environment for operators and those doing business in the Republic of South Sudan. We have also established an ICT institute in order to train and increase the capacity of our people. This will help in the advocacy, expansion and sensitization of the people there.

We are working on VAS, and that’s why the fiber optic is very important because we are talking now about moving into broadband. If we want to benefit from technology in terms of education, health, banking system and e-commerce, we need to have better bandwidth and better spectrum. Now we have a plan for national broadband fiber; that is, a national backbone. We already have the design, and we are aware of which lines can connect us with the submarine cable. We can go through the eastern, southern, and western part of our country into neighboring countries. The submarine cable is in Kenya, which is our eastern neighbor. That is a very good opportunity. Uganda is another neighbor (to our south) that is connected to the submarine cable. We have strategic plans to run fiber optic from Juba, the capital of South Sudan, down to Uganda in order to connect to the fiber that will give us better broadband. Today, we have 3G in our mobile system, so if we have the broadband connection, then we’ll move like other countries that are going for 4G at the moment. 

We also have plans for e-government, which is important because it means we improve our network and connect our institutions with computers to increase efficiency. With e-government, you can send documents with the click of a button. This helps us better manage our time. Instead of plowing through traffic to physically deliver letters, it’s easier to perform this task through the e-government system. It reduces the paperwork—all the photocopying and carrying bundles of papers. E-government helps us be paperless and reduce the cost associated with using paper.

In terms of the education system, we are connected with our Ministry of Education, and there are already programs in place. I’m the former deputy minister of education. I understand what happens in education, and I know how incorporating technology into education will help us improve teacher training, reach into the classroom, and reach into rural areas. Technology will help us implement very clear programs. For example, we have a special program where we provide small grants for girls so that they don’t drop out of school. By incorporating technology into this program, the girls will get their grants quicker and more efficiently.

We also want to incorporate technology into our customs system. Technology improves efficiency a lot in customs. Instead of using paper to record how much has been paid, how much has gone out, and how much is going into the national coffer, we will do all this digitally. Technology will make things a lot easier and more efficient, not only in terms of processing but also accountability. Everything will be on the screen, and the data will be printed. This will help us move forward. 

In our hospitals, we have mini-telemedicine, but we need to improve our broadband so that everyone can access it. Even in the rural areas, we would like to have community centers. A center is a hub equipped with computers and a network. It is also a place for young people to learn. It helps promote our cultures and health services. There are pregnant women in all the villages, but they may be far from a center. You can have a midwife who is connected to the center via telephone. If a woman wants to deliver a baby or she has complications, the midwife can visit her, prepared with information provided by the center. This center is connected to a wider network that includes a doctor sitting in the next center. When you have this health infrastructure, you can communicate very quickly and save lives. Our mortality rate is very high and can be reduced. In our 2030 plan, we want technology to penetrate schools, hospitals, banking, and monetary systems. We want to provide life-enhancing services to the people and pull everything and everyone together towards the future.

 

Q: How are your projects progressing? What are the main challenges you have faced and how have you dealt with them?

 

A: When you are a new country, if you start running around aimlessly without direction, you can fall down and hit your head. As much as we want to move faster, we also want to be very careful. We started with policies and strategic plans. If we don’t work very strategically, we will stumble and hit our head. We have projects, such as the e-government project, that ZTE is involved in, and we have moved with very good steps. Such projects are vetted by a government body that looks to see what steps have been taken. Implementation and sustainability are very important. The vetting body is currently looking at the strategic timing of that project to determine whether the project is suitable to the government. We don’t want to rush into implementation and wake up one morning saying, “Oops, we’re not connected.” What comes first? Is it the fiber? Is it the electricity? Is it what? It’s a holistic issue. When it’s holistic, you have to have all the ingredients in one place. It’s like putting the cooking pot on the fire, but you don’t have any oil or onions. What are you going to fry then? Where are the vegetables? We are moving strategically with regards to the e-government project.    

We already have the ICT institute; we have people, staff from the ministry, currently in the classroom being trained. We are conferencing with universities in India, which are training our staff.

We are cooperating with all of our partners, including telecom operators, ISPs, data content teams, and vendors. We are working towards good partnerships, and we are also working very hard to ensure we create a good environment for them to work in. We value our partners because they bring services. They get their money, but they are also very keen to ensure that the services are good for the Republic of South Sudan. It’s our responsibility as a government to create a good environment so that our partners can work hard and provide good services for our people and companies. However, it’s important that every project is sustainable and addresses a particular need. 

 

Q: How do you expect ZTE to contribute to ICT development in South Sudan?

 

A: ZTE is already there. They have been moving forward on the e-government proposal, which is currently in the hands of the vetting body. If the proposal is approved, it will be implemented; if there are any issues, the body will discuss them with ZTE. Some projects are already moving forward, and some are still in the pipeline, but the most important thing is communication, connection, discussion, and revision. This ensures that projects change lives.     

 

Q: What are your thoughts on companies like ZTE contributing to social welfare?

 

A: This issue is very important. It’s what we call social obligation. I appreciate ZTE for the project they planned before I came. They gave school bags to children, and are connected with a number of schools. I was happy that ZTE involved us in sending a message to the children on the school bags. However, I told ZTE not only to mention the government but to include the ZTE name because people must appreciate ZTE for what they are doing. The children must know who ZTE is. I think that is a very good deed on the part of ZTE. Zain also has a school bag project.

My style is to sit together with companies and plan projects that are not necessarily a heavy burden on the companies. However, each project must positively affect the lives of the people. For instance, a company may feel it’s cheaper to give old laptops, but look at the situation of South Sudan. If you give laptops, we appreciate it, and we give them to the center, to the people in the city or town. But we also have to consider the people outside the town. There are things that are much more valuable than a computer, which may be very novel, but if there is no power and network, what can be done with it? It will be a white elephant. In some schools, pencils are much more valuable. To me, working together on projects is very important. If you’re giving me 10 laptops, how do these address the needs of the children in Western Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, and the Upper Nile (states outside the town)? Do these children need pencils? School bags? Laptops? If you want to give something in Ghazal, I prefer we agree on something that is usable and will help them a lot.

My approach is to plan together with companies, look at what’s possible within their means, and agree to move forward. This is an approach we are discussing with ZTE, Zain, and others. We also communicate with the states and tell them, “What things do you want us to do?” We then discuss these needs with the companies. Even if what they give us is small, it is valued by the people because it changes their lives. This is my approach and terms of working with companies. I really do appreciate and thank them for the concern they have for our people. There is a lot we can do together and it will be visible. I want the people in rural areas and villages to say, “Yes, we know ZTE and we appreciate them bringing us school bags, pencils, computers, and even building call centers.” Those call centers will change a lot of lives. These are the projects we want to see implemented. ZTE is already doing it and I appreciate that.     

 

Q: What are your goals for 2014?

 

A: We are happy that our president is already oriented towards technology. He recently participated in the Transform Africa Summit in Rwanda as the head of state, and we were impressed by his presentation. He is also rallying us towards technology in South Sudan. We have shared a lot with him. I have just come from Kuwait, where he was leading our high-level delegation. Our first meeting was with Zain company. As an indication of the importance of this meeting to the president, it was the first meeting even before he met any other colleagues. Our head of state really values technology and its transformative potential. He has made a lot of statements about how South Sudan will be connected. That is a political way, a shining light that we are following.

The parliament is also supporting us. We have an MP in the delegation here in Bangkok, and the parliament understands how expensive infrastructure is and what funding is needed. That gives the ministry a boost; we have the parliament behind us, and the parliament knows the meaning of technology. I’m sure that they will see it, if we manage to implement our e-government project. The parliament will also be transformed.  

We are working on advocating and sensitizing our youth, men and women to technology and providing them with training and mentoring.

With all these positives, we also have to deal with cyber crime and exposure of children to these programs. One of my very important rules is not to move from the top down. The government is working on the program, but we have to bring people up from the ground. Our approach is demand-driven. Once people understand that they are important, they will be the ones coming and saying “ZTE, please give us computers through the ministry to our center.” We would like the demand to come from the people at the grassroots level. This for me is top on the agenda.

Our programs include establishing a regulatory body, fiber connections, and a national telecom operator.

In terms of investment, we are open for whoever is interested in coming to us and working together so that we have the infrastructure, and people sensitized and ready to move on it. With all the technologies brought together, our people will be on the way up like in any other country in the world. Tomorrow we don’t want to say we are newborn. Yes, we were born in 2011, but see the pavilion we have here at ITU Telecom 2013. You go out and ask any country that within two years of its independence whether they had a pavilion like what South Sudan has today in Bangkok. For us this is the pride of Africa, and this is an indicator that we are not going to sleep, we are not going to wait, and we are not going to complain. We are going to learn from the experiences of others and move forward.