DAP wins rural telecom project in the Republic of the Niger

decision analysis partners (DAP) is pleased to announce that it has been selected by the republic of the Niger’s Digital Economy National Agency for the Smart Villages Inverted Auction definition project.  The project is funded by the World Bank and includes the development of a strategy and operations manual to setup competitive tenders for rural telecommunications services throughout Niger.  DAP’s francophone team includes consultants from the Niger, the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Europe.

The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector of Niger is highly underdeveloped – the country was ranked last on the 2017 ITU ICT Development Index (IDI).  Around a fifth of the villages in Niger, or around 2 million inhabitants have no voice cellular coverage (2G). The Internet sector is still in its infancy.  The government of Niger seeks to implement a “Smart Villages” program, part of the 2017-2021 “Niger 2.0” strategy.  The project includes four major components:

1. Enabling environment – Create an appropriate legal and regulatory environment to promote the development of digital infrastructure and digital financial services;
2. Rural connectivity – Increase the number of villages with access to digital connectivity (telephony, Internet, mobile payments, etc.);
3. Digital financial inclusion – Promote digital financial inclusion in smart villages and other rural areas; and
4. Project management and capacity building of stakeholders.

The project intends to stimulate private investments through the use of public funds within the framework of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). These PPPs will include subsidies by “reverse auctions”, a procedure of call for tenders where the bidder requesting the lowest grant while meeting technical and service requirements will be selected.