Potential for privatizing telecommunications systems in Africa : the cases of Cameroon, Cote D"Ivoire, Kenya and Senegal

The premise of this report is that these problems could be remedied by privatizing the telecommunications sector. To aid in developing a strategy for privatizing African telecommunications, the paper analyzes the current systems of four countries - Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Senegal. For each nation, the survey team considered the legal and regulatory environment surrounding telecommunications, the distribution and composition of current systems, and institutional and/or legal impediments to privatization. To illustrate the wide variety of privatization forms, patterns of telecommunications" ownership and operation in countries around the world are described. Also considered are U.S. interests in and capabilities of providing, maintaining, and investing in African telecommunications. From this survey, a telecommunications privatization checklist was developed to aid in preliminary assessments of privatization prospects. A recurring problem in the cases considered was the lack of comprehensive national telecommunications planning, resulting in overregulation, legal impediments, and resistance from management and labor in responding to market needs.