Mapping ICT Needs in Central Africa: Objectives Attained

Some 3.9 billion people, mostly in emerging countries, are not connected to the internet, and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) reports show that while 84% of households are connected in Europe, only 15.4% are connected in Africa. Thus, nearly a quarter of the world's unconnected population is in Africa, which explains the need for investment in digital infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic, which saw about half of the world's population confined at the time of its epicenter, highlighted Africa's need for digital infrastructure and tools to access distance learning. Through its Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), officially launched in Kampala in 2010, the African Union Commission aims, in the field of ICT, to enable Africa to build an information society and an integrated digital economy in which every government, business, and citizen will have reliable and affordable access to ICT networks. It is within this backdrop that the European Union, through the Support Programme for Regional and National Infrastructure Governance in Central Africa (PAGIRN), is offering support for the governance of regional and national infrastructure, including strengthening ICT forecasting and planning to achieve objectives, including improving the competitiveness of economies in Central Africa and social development by strengthening the administrative and legal conditions for ICT implementation. So, from February 23 to 27, 2026 in Douala, during a regional workshop for the validation of the updated reports on the mapping of ICT needs and the framework documents for ICT infrastructure in ...