Counting the high cost of Malawi’s Internet on higher education

Her mobile phone is on the open pages of her notebook. Susan Mhango is  a cheerful and shy girl probably in her late teens, she is intently studying her heart out in a shade from the warm sun at one of the outer study spaces inside the Malawi National Library Headquarters at City Centre in Lilongwe.

She tells me that she is pursuing a course in Shipping and Logistics at Lilongwe Technical College which is situated on the other end of town but comes to the library at City Centre for her study time.  She adds that her  mobile phone is  her study companion.

“ I use the Internet on my phone to check for meanings of big words when I am studying. I normally buy bundles for 5MB which costs K49 [ 10cents]  because the Internet is expensive. When the bundle finishes, I buy another one.

“Yesterday I bought a bundle for 750 Kwacha [ $1.5] and it is still there.”

On my way out of the library, I meet Sharon Somba. Sharon is brimming with energy and enthusiasm as she leaves the Development Resource section of the National Library to take a breather outside. I intercept her with my greeting and straight questions on using Internet use in  her education.

“I  use  the Internet for my school.  I use about 500 Kwacha [$1] a day to browse. I buy data bundles on both TNM and Airtel  but it is so expensive for me since I am not working,” says Sharon who also tells me that the course that she is studying is Procurement and  Supply Chain Management.

From my own experience, I know that the data bundles that cost  less than 500 Kwacha  normally finish in  about two hours if the user is opening multiple pages but can last longer  with fewer downloads. At the prevailing Dollar rate 500 Kwacha is about a Dollar. A Dollar for Internet a day may sound like nothing to many but not here in Malawi. A Dollar means  much to this nation but Education means much more. Higher education is seen as highway out of poverty and mobile Internet is paramount.

 Mobile Internet remains critically important for Malawi’s education sector as very few universities have networked campuses that offer free connectivity to their academic communities. Far from this, there is yet to be a dedicated backbone for education and the last mile connection from the telecommunications companies remains too expensive for most Universities to provide free Internet access for  their students.

When the Regulatory Authority MACRA recently disclosed that Malawi had some of the highest Internet charges in the region due to the duopoly that Airtel and TNM enjoy, Malawians were eagerly anticipating that the two providers would  be pressed to reduce prices. However, prices remain high and the new tax on Internet  has further caused a spike in Internet prices.

Internet has unfortunately become a commodity to be enjoyed by  the wealthy as it is too costly for the average Malawian to have a relevant  session online. But perhaps the cost is being paid mostly by girls like Susan who are bent on attaining higher education and simply cannot do without the Internet.  Indeed only research would tell us, with some precision, the impact of these Internet prices on Malawi’s education sector.

Still, MACRA is optimistic that increasing competition among the Mobile Phone companies will bring down Internet costs. The Regulatory Authority recently announced that Malawians would soon enjoy  tremendous price reductions in mobile Internet services  as well as phone and SMS  with the bringing in of new mobile phone company Lacell  Private Limited of Singapore.  And just last month MACRA further  announced an eminent  price reduction in Internet of 300 percent with the coming in of a new Internet provider Ciba net as Balancing Act Africa reports.

Some of the other promising initiatives for providing affordable Internet include the EU funded AfricaConnect Project which provides affordable dedicated broadband high speed Connectivity to the education and research community channeled through a countries National Research and Education Network (NRENS) and respective universities and research institutions. The World Bank funded Regional Communications Infrastructure Program  which aims at providing rural areas with Internet access through telecasters is another promising initiative which is already on the ground establishing and managing rural telecentres across Malawi. The RCIP Program is now set to scale Connectivity to 100 public institutions including universities.

The Connectivity challenge for Malawi's higher education community could be over as early as next year as hinted by Malawi’s Minister of Education in Malawi, Dr Emmanuel Fabiano at a recent research and education networking event. According to Dr Fabiano, the  Malawi Government’s plans  to provide two dedicated backbone networks for education as well as for the entire civil service.

Another low cost solution that has just proven itself is the use of Television White Spaces  or  extra signals that would have been used for TV frequency  for Internet signals which has been piloted by MACRA. Through the pilot phase of the Project MACRA provides low cost Internet to Education institutions in Southern Malawi Districts of Mulanje and Zomba.

Whichever path Malawi takes, a national solution is needed and urgently too in order to bridge the gap  and level the field of higher education for girls like Suzen. For now, this digital era dictates  that the promise of improved higher education in Malawi continues to hinge largely on widening the gateway to the information society through provision of affordable mobile Internet. 

From non-techie to ICT4D enthusiast

Pic:Me in a pink blouse on the far left. I attended the Mhealth Conference as
part of my ICT4D Course learning. Also pictured is Malawi's mhealth team
listening to a presentation on UAV's for health by BD Tech's Adam Curry

I first heard of the term ICT4D in May 2014 during the TERENA Networking Conference that I was privileged to attend in Dublin, Ireland. One of the participants there  mentioned that he was studying ICT4D and it seemed like total Greek to me.  I was a not a technical person. At that time, ICT related issues were very new to me as I had just started working as Communications Officer for UbuntuNet Alliance, a regional people organization involved in managing and using high speed data networks.

 It was this desire to learn all that I could learn  about my job and about ICT and Internet issues that lead me to apply for the Course Innovation and ICT4D in the Global South offered  by ONG 2.O.  So, when I was offered the scholarship in February 2015, naturally, I was thrilled. Despite the fact that I had no idea what the course would entail, I knew that this was the Course that would make me to better understand ICTs and to be innovative and stellar  in my job as Communications Officer for the Alliance.

Like any worthwhile venture, challenges tend to present themselves. My biggest challenge was a caution by colleagues that the slow and unreliable Internet in Malawi would probably not  be able to support five months of training via webinars! My dream of becoming ICT4D savvy was about to end as mere cloud in the Malawian sky. I decided to die trying and pursue the ICT4D Course anyway. And like most girls from Southern Africa my biggest challenge turned out to be really a battle of courage and confidence, a battle in the mind.

 Five months later, precisely today, June 28, I have received my certificate from our ICT4D Course Coordinator Serena Carta. I am overwhelmed with gratitude and I hope it would not be cliché to say “Thank you ONG 2.0.  Thank you for taking me Patricia Mtungila from a state of not knowing the meaning of ICT4D, or never having being part of a webinar to a present state of being able to practically assess and establish the innovation needs of my organization and to be present a clear road map to efficiency. I really do wonder if there is another course out there that could do this!

 I am by no means fully knowledgeable on all that there is to know about emerging and present Appropriate  Technology  but I have a sustainable understanding of what it is that development organizations should avoid in implementing projects to promote agriculture, health, democracy and even learning. ICT4D is a relatively new field of study and presents a very dynamic landscape. Yet, through the theoretical modules, I have acquired the gut or indeed skill to  design monitor and evaluate development projects that can use different technology from the radio, basic phones and smart phones, to the internet and web-based platforms such as COMCARE to the technology that is still treading along ethical lines like the drones or unmanned vehicles.

Through practical sessions  with tech leaders from Africa like Nambuwani Wasike   and the world  and facilitators  like Gianluca Iazzolino, Giacomo Rambaldi,  Paola Fava  and Maurizio Bricolla and many others who have implemented very successful and practical ICT4D projects, I have gained practical skills in designing ICT4D projects. To being a part of a global community of rich pool of participants from Malawi to Rwanda, Italy, Iran, Australia and the rest of the globe. It has been inspiring to see Projects by these innovations that are revolutionizing the public  health sector in my country, from a deathtrap to a  sphere of hope and a leader in ehealth and mhealth  innovation in the region.

 I know, now, that ICT4D have real life impact. To learn texts messages enabled by the application TextiT are  helping save expectant mothers by reminding them of antenatal visits  is inspiring. I am inspired by these new technologies that are saving the lives of women and babies in my nation because  I personally can count the number of women that I knew who died in childbirth or due to  preventable maternal related issues.

Now, from studying this course, I can categorically state that ICTs are channel for attaining development.  Practical would be for development organisations not to shun these new technology but to consider them as potential accelerators for their efforts.  Innovatively leveraging on these technologies is the principle.  For the “tech-thirsty” orgnaisations that are salivating to be the first to apply the newest and fastest  tech in the game, remember that  “ICTs are not an end in themselves,” as others have already said.

So be it a Project using drones or the feature phones that I am faced with managing, I am passionate and confident to  know that I can manage it for the greater good thanks to this online Course in Innovation and ICT4D in the Global South. It has been a win-all  situation for me and there is no looking back. I would recommend that more people from the developing world  should  attain this Course  in the soonest.  I, on the other hand,  am not waiting for the future to share my newly found cause, my journey to illuminating my nation, Malawi and the Africa region to the world of innovation and ICT4D has already started.   Journey with me!

CTA moves in to promote agribusiness for tourism in the Pacific

Food is big business. When harnessed, the potential of the food and AgroProduce industry  to transform developing nations in Africa and the Pacific community is unimaginable! Producing high quality produce and using local ingredients in recipes can add the much needed value to make food a tourist attraction!

If current  positive tourism trends continue, the  Islands in the Pacific  region are expected to net   nearly US$4 billion (€3.58 billion) of revenue from tourism by 2019.

In order to explore  these opportunities for increasing rural revenus and improving local health by promoting agribusiness linked to the tourism sector, a three-day event being staged in Fiji by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), the Pacific Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). The Agribusiness Forum themed Linking the agrifood sector to the tourism-related markets, will run from July 1 to 3 as part of the Pacific Community Agritourism Week, being held in Nadi from June 29 June to July 3 this is according to a press release issued by CTA dated June 30th 2015.

According to the statement, this is the first such event to be held in the Pacific, the Forum is part of a CTA strategy to encourage agribusiness for island communities in ACP regions as a source of sustainable development. Many of these face similar challenges, including declining revenues from agriculture, small-scale economies, remote locations that are vulnerable to climate change and a strong reliance on imported food, with negative repercussions on local health and revenues.

“The Agribusiness Forum, which is being jointly organised by CTA, PIPSO and SPC, will investigate the scope for sharing knowledge and experiences between small island states in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean and the Pacific regions, as part of the Intra ACP Agricultural Policy Programme, of which CTA is a key partner,” says CTA in the release.

It adds that a major focus of the Forum will involve finding ways to boost agribusiness by linking local production to the rapidly developing growing tourism industry. The meeting will address how to fill knowledge and data gaps in the agribusiness sector and will identify the support needed to strengthen links between the various actors in the value chain – small-scale farmers, processors, finance institutions and tourism and hospitality sector officials.

Products with strong potential for driving growth in the agribusiness sector of the Pacific region include food sourced from local crops, livestock and fisheries, as well as beverages, crafts, cosmetics, flowers, ornamentals and essential oils. Other income generating opportunities include agritourism accommodation, farm and vineyard tours, visits to agricultural processing and plantation activities and agriculture fairs and festivals.

 “CTA is delighted to host this Forum with SPC and PIPSO. The Forum will highlight successes in strengthening links between the agriculture and tourism industries in the Pacific region, especially with the aim of promoting local sourcing and decreasing the huge import bill of most countries in the region,” says CTA Director Michael Hailu in the release.

 “The meeting will analyse and discuss successful business models in linking agriculture and fisheries to the tourism industry for improved market access, local income generation and regional trade.”

Adding fresh spice to the event  are celebrity chefs Shalesh Naidu, Colin Chung and Robert Oliver who will be interacting with farmers and  other chefs at the event which is also featuring private sector representatives, policy-makers, researchers and international development practitioners attending the Agribusiness Forum includes sessions on opportunities for the Pacific agrifood sector in tourist markets, linking fisheries to tourist markets, strengthening agribusiness information and collaboration with development and financial partners.

CTA has promised that success stories and lessons learned will feature strongly at the Forum, which will also present an agrifood trade display, a buyer-seller exchange and cooking demonstrations by top chefs using local products.

A significant group of Malawians including myself have been selected to be part of a team of young social reporters supported by CTA and SPC will be producing daily blogs on the Fiji event.

With the global nature of life today, Malawi has a lot to benefit from insights into Agritourism from the event. Such information is expected to position the nation’s food and hospitality industry to be able compete favourably with other players in Agritourism across the world.

 For more on AgriTourism see and remember to follow the news and discourse on the Pacific AgriTourism Week on Twitter #PacAgriTo

• http://brusselsbriefings.net/past-briefings/building-resilience-of-sids-through-trade-agribusiness/linking-agriculture-to-tourism-markets-in-pacific
• http://blogs.cta.int
• www.cta.int

 

Bringing the radiologist to the fingertips for Malawi’s population

Pic:Courtesy of innovationsformnch.org

Malawi has a doctor patient ratio of one doctor for every 33 000 people and 34 nurses only for serving every 100, 000 people, according to Malawian Radiologist Dr Sam Kampondeni.

The situation seems to be a more impossible medical predicament for those with serious illnesses requiring specialist radiology services and there are many such complex illnesses as the country has a huge disease burden.

The paradox is  that there are less than a handful of radiologists like Dr Kampondeni to combat the situation.

Save for mobile health initiatives such as Moyo Wanga, it would most certainly be a death sentence  for the many with complex illnesses in Malawi.

Dr Sam Kampondeni of Moyo Wanga Private Clinic and one of Malawi’s two  radiologists  currently practicing in the country, started the Mobile Health Initiative to bridge this oceanic gap in the delivery of  health care services but also in creating awareness through health education.

With any basic or feature mobile phone connected to any one of Malawi’s major mobile phone companies, TNM or Airtel a patient or client can simply send an SMS  and consult Dr Kampondeni via the mobile phone in either Chichewa or English at a very minimal cost.  The  Initiative looks promising judging by a  surging mobile phone penetration where over 34 % of the 15.9 million people in Malawi use cell phones.

The partnership between the mobile phone companies and Moyo Wanga Private Clinic is helping to save thousands of lives through easy access to  otherwise hard-to-access medical expertise. At the same it is cutting costs of travel as well as physical consultation.

During the wake of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa  in 2014, Moyo Wanga conducted a nationwide Ebola health education campaign that became viral. People rapidly spread the Ebola awareness messages by forwarding the SMSs  to friends, family and neighbours at a fraction of  the time and money what it would have cost government or indeed development partners to reach the most of Malawi.

I met Dr Kampondeni during IST-Africa 2015 where he explained more on this wonder Mhealth Innitiative.

The radiologist thoroughly explained that the initiatives works by enabling clients to follow easy steps on their mobile phone to send their inquiry which he responds by providing his expert opinion based on what the patient explains and guiding the patient on future action  through a text message.
“ The mobile SMS is permanent and can be read many times and  can be forwarded with no internet at all. More people are helped just reading the SMSs and do not even come to physically consult,” said Dr Kampondeni.

The Moyo Wanga mobile initiative is breaking through Malawi’s deadly culture of silence, shame and fear of discrimination that has killed many Malawians who have opted not to seek help or indeed withhold some useful information to the doctors at the hospitals.

Apart from patients, doctors and clinicians too are able to send their SMS’s and consult Dr Kampondeni as they deliver medical care. Moyo Wanga is a major boost at the point of caring for patients, again reducing the time and money that it would take for the highly demanded for Dr to travel to all the different referral hospitals that require his medical expertise.
“ With Moyo Wanga people are more open as it is semi-anonymous. Even the people I go to church with can freely consult me via SMS,” says Dr Kampondeni.

Dr Kampondeni is quick to call for partnerships to scale out this wonder initiative and to leverage on Malawi’s bursting mobile phone penetration to solve the health country’s health challenges. He admits that  he cannot serve the millions of Malawians alone even with the Mhealth Initiative.

According to Dr Kampondeni, there is need for technical as well as financial support to bring on  a few more medical professionals who can collaboratively assist in responding to patient queries.

In the wake of the recently  introduced 10% tax on mobile SMS and Internet in Malawi, it seems that this and other promising Mhealth initiative in the country have another uphill battle to overcome before the country start to leverage on  emerging ICT4D.

Strong NRENS will grow Africa’s Information Society

The Information society in Europe, Asia  and South America and other world regions  is advancing by the day. Whereby the creation, distribution use and application  of information is a central aspect of daily life be in political. economical and cultural; all these are already leveraging on Information Technologies.

Africa is lagging behind mainly due to lack of affordable and reliable connectivity which is now a fundamental human right. CEO of UbuntuNet Alliance , Dr Pascal Hoba says this can be remedied if African governments begin  to offer greater support to the growth  of National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), which are the people networks of researchers and others in the education sector as well as the high speed physical, fiber networks that support their use, sharing and manipulation of big data sets.

Dr Hoba said, in a high level panel at IST-Africa that developing Africa’s knowledge society hugely lies with nurturing well established and functioning NRENS.

And representing the African Union Adil Suleiman indicated that one way in which the African Union is working to support improving connectivity is by encouraging nations to set up Internet Exchange points. On the policy landscape, Ms  Suleiman indicated that the AU is already creating a supportive policy environment by developing  the Regional Connectivity Policy.

On his part Anthony Muyepa, Director General  for the National Commission for Science and Technology  said Malawi as a country was ready to work implementing the information society  by  rejuvenating  the Malawi National Research and Education Network but that the Commission lacks adequate  financial support to carry out its activities.

 Such high level dialogue is expected to translate to a favourable environment for growing Africa’s Information  Society by prompting African nations to remove prevailing challenges.

The plenary was moderated by Paul Cunningham and other panelists included Mrs Lonely Magreta, Permanent Secretary for Education Science and Technology in Malawi, Andrew Kumbatira who is Director General at Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority,  (MACRA), Victor Malewa the Deputy Director of the Malawi e-Government, Dr Harry Gombachika CEO of  Malawi Telecommunications Limited, Kasirim Nwuke, Innovation and Technology, UNECA, Dr Paulos Nyrend CEO  of Malawi’s SDNP , and Concultant Bessie Nyrenda from the Malawi Institute of Management.

IST –AFRICA 2015 is the tenth  in the series of IST-Africa Conferences which are aimed at bringing together  senior representatives  from leading government, industry and research institutions around the world in order to  share knowledge and experience related to Information society, ICT, Innovation, Adoption, Policy and Research. The 2015 Conference was organizes by a an international team comprising various partners  including the European Commission, African Union, UbuntuNet Alliance and local organizers NCST as well as local partner organizations such as  MACRA, MTL, Skyband, the Ministry of Education and  various others.

Malawi, the innovation hub in-the-making

Looking at the recent high level ICT events that Malawi has attracted in the month of May, it is clear that Malawi is more than just a participant in Africa's ICT revolution.  From IST-Africa to the Africa Regional Meeting on Digital health, Malawi is  fast becoming a hub for innovation.

But as  ICT4D stakeholders themselves put it, more support for research, more  innovation hubs and partnerships are needed to foster scaling of innovative ideas  from Malawi as well as  to ensure standards and interoperability among ICT4D initiatives in the country. 

Malawi's mhealth champions were keen to learn from  BD Technologies' Adam Curry on the potential of using unmanned vehicles to  promote maternal and child health at the recent Africa Regional Meeting on Digital Health held in Lilongwe. 

Collaboration and further investment into research are key to building Africa's information society said experts at  a high level panel at IST-Africa 2015 in Lilongwe, Malawi. At the far right is Dr Pascal Hoba the UbuntuNet Alliance CEO

Showcasing Africa, the digital health hub

Eric Gaju presents major health initiatives in Rwanda

Africa can be dubbed the world’s new mobile for development M4D hub if the digital initiatives and experiences being shared at the four-day Africa Digital Health Meeting,  supported by USAID, currently underway in Lilongwe Malawi  are anything to go by.

With a rich showcase of around 120 mhealth interventions at the Meeting and participation from every corner of Africa including; Malawi, Niger, Senegal, Nigeria, Madagascar, Kenya,  and others including USAID officials, African government representative,  leading private sector firms and innovators from around the world the conference is booming with innovation and insights into the future.

To learn that one of the reasons why Rwanda has achieved MDGs 4 and MD5 is  is partly due to the country's early adoption and efficient use of digital technology in its national  health  initiatives, makes ICT4D all the more worth it for promoters, practitioners, innovators and students of ICT4D.

This was highlighted in one of the mind-stirring discussions themed Digital Health Tools  for Frontline Health Workers which included  panelist; Marco Horta of Dimagi,  Eric Gaju of the Ministry of Health in Rwanda and Maeghan Orton of MedicMobile.

Panelist Eric Gaju explained that one of the digital health initiative Rapid SMS in Rwanda which was among two other  ehealth  programmes. Rapid SMS is mainly targeted at reducing maternal and neonatal mortality rates through health sensitization and tracking of expectant mothers and their cases greatly helped Rwanda to reach the MDG targets years before the 2015 expiry of the Development Goals..

Gaju said political advocacy through a Rwanda technical working group greatly helped to gain political will and support for the digital health initiatives.

Asked on the costs incurred in implementing the initiative, Gaju  said “ we are now in favour of open source software  because ofcourse the licensed software were expensive.”

On his part Marco Horta from the developer’s view said that open source platforms such as Comcare are greatly assisting to ensure quality in healthcare systems due to their inclusive usability from data collection stages of mhealth projects to point-of care and medical supplies monitoring and other logistical support. Marco ofcourse called for the need for interoperability of mhealth tools.

The Meeting ends Friday May 15, 2015 with an awards ceremony of the best paper. Follow insights from  the Digital Health Meeting by using #DHAfrica on Twitter.