Q&A with Lanre Kolade
Chief Executive Officer, CSquared
Q: As one who has been engaged in and across Sub-Saharan Africa’s connectivity space for over 20 years, from the early days of heavy reliance on satellite links to today’s more fiberized markets, what are your observations on the current state of affairs?
A: Many people don’t remember what it was like before fiber came. There is definitely an increased broadband penetration due to the shift from satellite to fiber. As a result, there’s been a significant drop in latency and improved efficiency. If African countries continue to encourage fiber rollouts and make concrete steps to develop local content, we will be progressing in the right direction.
A number of countries that are connected to submarine fiber cables now rely more on fiber over satellite due to the key advantages - mainly much higher bandwidths, lower cost, reduced latency.
Also, for countries where internet access has seen an increase there has been a change in certain policies and regulations. Especially those where there was a monopoly for the deployment and ownership of fiber infrastructure. This change has sped up the expansion of internet / fiber deployment as well as reduced the costs associated with broadband accessibility. Hence, the internet has been made more accessible to a wider range of audiences.
Q: What is CSquared’s particular role within SSA’s ICT ecosystem, and how has this evolved since the company first launched in Uganda?
A: CSquared has played and continues to play an instrumental role as we now know that for a country to develop, ICT infrastructure is key, and the foundation of reliable communications is high speed connectivity, which is made possible by fiber. Countries are now moving towards e-governance, e-health, e-education and those pillars cannot be achieved without adequate broadband capacity. CSquared wants to ensure that all countries in Africa have sufficient fiber infrastructure to meet these goals. Everyone will benefit from the fiber that is rolled out by CSquared as we don't just work with the private sector, but with governments as well.
In May 2017, Google, Convergence Partners, International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (“Mitsui”) signed an agreement to invest in CSquared, with a focus on building wholesale metro fibre optic networks and enabling broadband access in Africa.
In addition to its initial markets of Uganda and Ghana, CSquared collaborated with the Government of Liberia and USAID to bring best-in-class, reliable, affordable broadband infrastructure to Liberia’s capital city of Monrovia. CSquared currently owns and operates 2200+ km of metropolitan fiber in Kampala and Entebbe in Uganda; 4 cities in Ghana: Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi; and in Monrovia, Liberia.
And while we’re pleased with the progress made in these three markets, we’re well aware that much work remains to be done to improve access and quality to broadband services in other parts of the continent. With this view in mind, CSquared continues to aggressively explore opportunities for expansion in other countries, and will be making announcements in due course.
Q: For some, fiber networking is but one part of a vast telecom infrastructure puzzle. But for you, it represents much more than that. Please explain.
A: For me personally, I see this as a unique opportunity to broaden digital literacy on the African continent. Laying substantial fiber is a needed foundation for broadband proliferation. Access to the largest library in the world will allow us to unleash the imaginative spirit and the latent energy of the African youth. We will be putting in place the required infrastructure that will release our youths from the constraints that our current educational system and mindsets have put us into.
"Digital colonization" is a constant fear that is not spoken much about, but our ability to get a footprint and find our rightful place in the Fourth Industrial Revolution will help Africa overcome this challenge. Access to affordable broadband that will be made possible by fiber will allow us to contribute positively to the body of knowledge, and not just be consumers of content.
By providing a platform to enable key players - ISPs and MNOs - to better serve their customers and drastically reduce data costs, and delivering open access networks, CSquared is helping to drive the fiber revolution across Africa, starting with several of its most prominent urban centers and branching out, thus FibeRising Africa, as we call it.