The resident representative of the World Bank in Madagascar, Marie-Chantal Uwanyiligira, who is preparing to leave the island on June 29, has shown her enthusiasm for the development of digital.
“The World Bank believes that Madagascar has a unique opportunity with the digital economy. All the analyzes and all the diagnoses that we have made show that the digital economy is a “right spot” for Madagascar,” Marie-Chantal Uwanyiligira, resident representative of the World Bank in Madagascar, told Alarobia yesterday. “It is also an open opportunity for Madagascar allowing it to lead the continent,” she added. She is very optimistic that Africa is not bypassing the digital revolution. Moreover, the role of digital is central to the Bank’s five-year strategy. She did not fail to congratulate the government for the initiatives and reforms undertaken in the telecoms sector, in particular with reference to the recent decree liberalizing the sector. “Today, we cannot increase access to the Internet if we don’t change the price. This will make the internet accessible to everyone. The economist sees this decision as a growth factor. “If we manage to create an ecosystem, the digital economy can undoubtedly drive Madagascar’s growth,” added Marie-Chantal Uwanyiligira. These reforms also feature in the Bank’s recommendations for the government’s priority actions.
Competitiveness
Marie-Chantal Uwanyiligira raised another advantage of the country. “I don’t know what you give them to eat, she jokes, but you have the capacity of these young people in Madagascar (…) to be able to produce in digital, especially applications”. The internet access rate is 22% in Madagascar, while the average rate in Africa is 33%, a figure she describes as “quite extraordinary”. With the dynamics of competitiveness influencing the price, “there is a good chance that call centers will multiply, that young developers will join the formal sector”, she argued. According to information from the ministry in charge of digital, discussions are underway with the operators, in particular on setting the price. “We were able to align the price per gigabyte with the average price in Africa, which is 1 dollar. With the entry into force of the decree on liberalization, all operators, traditional or new entrants, will be able to deploy fiber optics,” said Andry Rasoanaivo, Secretary General of the Ministry of Digital Development, Digital Transformation, Posts and Telecommunications. . According to him, the factor of the rigidity of the cost lies in the difficulty of pooling the infrastructures of the operators, pooling which is now possible with the new texts.