By Policy programme MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay,
Published onPage last updated on
In the article “Firms Race to Update E. Africa Telecom”, published in the New York Times’ June 3 edition, APC researcher Abiodun Jagun is quoted for her stakeholder analysis of the EASSy submarine cable. The article is about the undersea fiber-optic cables meant to connect Eastern Africa. Jagun’s analysis was originally published in the APC Africa Policy Monitor in February 2007.
An excerpt of the article follows:
The oldest, the four-year-old Eastern Africa Submarine Cable Systems, or EASSy, was conceived by a group of East African businessmen in November 2002.
The cable can ‘‘contribute to the expanding intra-Africa trade by providing better communication in the region,’‘ Abiodun Jagun, a researcher in information communication technologies at the University of Manchester, said in a February paper.
Competition among companies rolling out the new cables could drive prices down even further and deliver results faster.
>>>Read the full article here (also published in Yahoo! News).
The paper that is quoted here is the stakeholder analysis of EASSy. It provides a graphical illustration of the hierarchy of power and interest among the different stakeholder groups engaged in the EASSy process. The paper highlights how different stakeholder groups are able – through forming coalitions – to influence the proposed ownership structure of the fibre-optic cable. The paper provides a graphical illustration of the current impasse within the EASSy project, which has been described as a disconnect between the commercial and political ends of the cable. The analysis of this impasse shows two competing groups; one the NEPAD Protocol coalition, and the other the Submarine Fibre Consortium. The analysis identifies that the powerful position initially held by the consortium has been diluted, and that the impasse has created high levels of uncertainty about the viability of the EASSy project.
>>Read it here.
