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Burundi

Internet penetration in Burundi remains low, with only about 11.3% of the population having access to the internet as of 2022 according to ITU data. The slow growth in internet usage is attributed to a combination of high costs, limited infrastructure, and the government’s reluctance to liberalise the telecommunications sector.

Internet governance

Internet governance in Burundi is heavily influenced by the country’s political landscape, which is marked by restrictive controls and limited freedoms. The regulatory framework and bodies responsible for overseeing the internet and telecommunications sector face significant challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of comprehensive digital policies.

Regulatory Bodies and Their Functions

  1. Ministry of Communication, Information Technologies and Media: This ministry is the primary governmental body responsible for overseeing the telecommunications sector, including internet governance. It sets policies and regulations for the development and management of telecommunications and information technologies in Burundi.
  2. Burundi Agency for Regulation and Control of Telecommunications (ARCT): ARCT is the key regulatory authority that implements policies and regulations formulated by the ministry. Its responsibilities include licensing service providers, managing the frequency spectrum, and ensuring compliance with national and international standards. However, ARCT operates under significant political pressure, which often influences its regulatory actions and undermines its independence and effectiveness.
  3. National Communication Council (CNC): The CNC oversees media regulation, including online content. It has the authority to monitor and control media activities, ensuring they align with government policies. This body often faces criticism for stifling freedom of expression and imposing stringent controls on media outlets, including those operating online​.
Digital strategies

Burundi’s National Information and Communication Technologies Development Policy (PNDTIC) 2010-2025 is a comprehensive framework aimed at promoting digital transformation and enhancing the country’s ICT capabilities. This policy sets out several strategic objectives to advance digital infrastructure, improve digital literacy, and foster economic growth through technology.

Key Objectives and Initiatives of PNDTIC 2010-2025

  1. Enhancing Digital Infrastructure:
    • The policy aims to expand broadband networks and improve internet connectivity across the country, particularly focusing on rural and underserved areas. This involves the deployment of fiber-optic cables and the establishment of public Wi-Fi zones to ensure wider access to digital service.
  2. Promoting Digital Literacy and Education:
    • PNDTIC emphasizes integrating digital skills training into the education system. Schools are being equipped with computers and internet access to enhance learning outcomes and prepare students for the digital economy. Workshops and training sessions for ICT focal points in public institutions have been organized to build capacity and improve digital literacy among government employees​.
  3. Fostering Digital Governance and E-Government:
    • The policy supports the digitalization of public services to increase efficiency, transparency, and accessibility. This includes the development of e-government platforms to facilitate online service delivery and improve the interaction between the government and citizens.
  4. Economic Intelligence and Data Security:
    • Through partnerships with private sector companies like N-Soft, the policy aims to enhance digital sovereignty and economic intelligence. This involves the use of advanced data processing tools to monitor and regulate economic activities, ensuring data security and supporting informed policy decisions​.
  5. International Collaboration and Support:
    • The policy aligns with international best practices and frameworks, benefiting from collaborations with organizations like the World Bank and OECD. These collaborations help Burundi access funding, technical expertise, and policy guidance to support its digital transformation initiatives.
Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity in Burundi

Cybersecurity in Burundi is an emerging field that is gaining increasing importance as the country continues to integrate digital technologies into its governmental, economic, and social frameworks. The nation’s efforts in cybersecurity are geared towards protecting critical information infrastructure, securing digital services, and ensuring the safety of its citizens online.

1. Infrastructure and Capability Development: Burundi is at a nascent stage in developing its cybersecurity infrastructure. The government is focused on building foundational capabilities, including establishing regulatory frameworks, improving technical infrastructure, and fostering cybersecurity awareness among the population.

2. Legal and Regulatory Framework: The legal framework for cybersecurity in Burundi is evolving. The government has been working on drafting and implementing laws and regulations to address cyber threats and crimes. This includes efforts to align with international standards and best practices, although comprehensive legislation is still under development.

3. Institutional Setup: The country is in the process of setting up dedicated institutions to oversee and manage cybersecurity. ANATIC is responsible for the development and implementation of ICT policies, including those related to cybersecurity. It coordinates efforts across various sectors to enhance digital security.This agency conducts awareness programs, offers technical support, and collaborates with international partners to strengthen Burundi’s cybersecurity capabilities.

4. Public Awareness and Capacity Building: Raising public awareness about cybersecurity risks and best practices is a priority for Burundi. Initiatives aimed at educating citizens, businesses, and government employees about the importance of cybersecurity are underway. Capacity-building programs are also being implemented to train professionals in the field of cybersecurity.

AI strategies and policies

The artificial intelligence (AI) landscape in Burundi is in its early stages, characterized by growing interest and incremental developments across various sectors. The country is beginning to explore AI’s potential to drive economic growth, improve public services, and address social challenges.

  • Researchers in Burundi are embracing AI to tackle challenges in agriculture. A project aimed to develop an AI-based banana disease and pest detection system using deep learning to support farmers.
  • EON Reality is expanding its rollout in Burundi, targeting a national rollout with 10,000 tailored AI-driven learning courses and launching a Spatial AI Center and EON AI Autonomous Agents.
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General profile

Official name: Republic of Burundi

Source: Wikipedia

National internet domain: BI

Source: Wikipedia

Area: 27,834 km2

Source: Wikipedia

Capital: Gitega

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 12.89 million

Source: Wikipedia

Population growth: 2.7

Annual population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
Source: World Bank Open Data

Life expectancy at birth: 61.66

Total years (2020year) Source: databank.worldbank.org

Rule of law estimate: -1.29

Rule of Law captures perceptions of the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, and in particular the quality of contract enforcement, property rights, the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5 (Estimate 2021)
Source: databank.worldbank.org

Regulatory quality estimate: -1.02

Regulatory Quality captures perceptions of the ability of the government to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5 (Estimate 2021)
Source: databank.worldbank.org

Political stability: -1.36

Political Stability and Absence of Violence / Terrorism: measures perceptions of the likelihood that the government will be destabilized or overthrown by unconstitutional or violent means, including politically-motivated violence and terrorism. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5 (Estimate 2021)
Source: databank.worldbank.org

Economic info

Currency: Burundian franc

Source: Wikipedia

Unemployment: 1.0

Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) Source: databank.worldbank.org

GDP (current US$): 2,3.3 billion

Source: databank.worldbank.org

GDP growth (annual %): 1.8

Source: databank.worldbank.org

GDP per capita (current US$): 259

Source: databank.worldbank.org

Inflation, consumer prices (annual %): 18.8

Source: databank.worldbank.org

GNI (current US$): 3.1 billion

The Gross National Income, GNI, formerly referred to as gross national product (GNP), measures the total domestic and foreign value added claimed by residents, at a given period in time, usually a year, expressed in current US dollars using the World Bank Atlas method. GNI comprises GDP plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from non-resident sources. Source: databank.worldbank.org

Ease of doing business score: 46.77

The ease of doing business score benchmarked economies concerning their proximity to the best performance in each area measured by Doing Business for the year 2019. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from0 = lowest performance to 100 = best performance Source: databank.worldbank.org
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Digital profile

Internet and social media penetration:

Individuals using the internet: 11.3 (2022)

Individuals using the internet, total (%) Source: www.itu.int

Social media statistics: 940.4 thousand

Estimate for 2024
Source: datareportal.com

Male internet users: 3.9 (2017)

Male internet users as a % of total male population
Source: www.itu.int

Facebook users: 940.4 thousand

Estimate for 2024
Source: datareportal.com

Female internet users: 1.5 (2017)

Female Internet users as a % of total female population
Source: www.itu.int

Instagram users: 103.2 thousand

Estimate for 2024
Source: datareportal.com

Households with internet access at home: 18.3 (2021)

Households with internet access at home (%) Source: www.itu.int

Linkedin users: 85.0 thousand

Estimate for 2024
Source: datareportal.com

Fixed broadband subscriptions: 0.03 (2022)

Total fixed broadband subscriptions (per 100 people) refers to fixed subscriptions to high-speed access to the public internet (a TCP/IP connection), at downstream speeds equal to, or greater than, 256 kbit/s.
Source: www.itu.int

Twitter users: 43.6 thousand

Estimate for 2024
Source: datareportal.com

Mobile infrastructure and access:

Mobile ownership: 33.18

Mobile phone ownership as a % of total population (Estimate for 2022)
Source: https://www.mobileconnectivityindex.com/

Mobile Infrastructure: 32.67

Mobile Infrastructure index: High-performance mobile internet coverage availability. It includes parameters such as network coverage, performance, quality of supporting infrastructure and amount of spectrum assigned to mobile network operators (Estimate for 2022)
Source: https://www.mobileconnectivityindex.com/

Male mobile ownership: 25.3 (2017)

Male mobile phone ownership as a % of total male population
Source: www.itu.int

Mobile Affordability: 11.19

Mobile Affordability index : The availability of mobile services and devices at price points that reflect the level of income across a national population. It includes parameters such as mobile tariffs, headset prices, taxation and inequality (Estimate for 2022)
Source: https://www.mobileconnectivityindex.com/

Female mobile ownership: 70.8 (2019)

Female mobile phone ownership as a % of total female population
Source: www.itu.int

Cybersecurity Index: 1.73

Cybersecurity Index (Estimate for 2021): ITU cybersecurity value
Source: www.itu.int

Network performance: 29.02

Network performance index: Quality of mobile services measured by download speed, upload speed and latencies (Estimate for 2022)
Source: https://www.mobileconnectivityindex.com/

Mobile download speeds: 3.90

Mobile download speeds: Average download speed for mobile users (originally in Mbit/s) (Estimate for 2022)
Source: Ookla's Speedtest Intelligence

Mobile uploads speeds: 6.24

Mobile uploads speeds: average uploads speed for mobile users (originally in Mbit/s) (Estimate for 2022)
Source: Ookla's Speedtest Intelligence

Mobile Latencies: 76.92

Mobile Latencies: Average latency for mobile users (originally in milliseconds) (Estimate for 2022)
Source: Ookla's Speedtest Intelligence

Speedtest-Broadband: 5.68

Speedtest-Broadband: The value is expressed in Mbps (Estimate for 2021)
Source: https://www.speedtest.net/global-index

Network coverage: 42.79

Network coverage (% of total population) (Estimate for 2022)
Source: https://www.mobileconnectivityindex.com/

2G Coverage: 96.8

Coverage % of population
Source: www.itu.int

3G Coverage: 50.6

Coverage % of population
Source: https://www.mobileconnectivityindex.com/

4G Coverage: 32.18

Coverage % of population
Source: https://www.mobileconnectivityindex.com/

5G Coverage: 0.0

Coverage % of population
Source: https://www.mobileconnectivityindex.com/

Operating system and browser market share estimate:

Operating system market share (%):

Desktop, Tablet & Console Operating System Market Share: Estimate for 2024
Source: https://gs.statcounter.com/

Browser market share (%):

Browser Market Share Worldwide: Estimate for 2024
Source: https://gs.statcounter.com/

Android: 71.25

Chrome: 81.38

Windows: 14.77

Safari: 3.37

iOS: 3.45

Edge: 2.6

OS X: 0.79

Firefox: 1.65

Linux: 0.44

Samsung Internet: 0.93


The UN E-Government Survey 2022:

The UN E-Government Survey is the assessment of the digital government landscape across all UN member states. The E-Government Survey is informed by over two decades of longitudinal research, with a ranking of countries based on the UN E-Government Development Index (EGDI), a combination of primary data (collected and owned by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs) and secondary data from other UN agencies.
Source:https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/Reports/UN-E-Government-Survey-2022

E-Government Rank: 171

Nations E-Government Development Index (EGDI), a combination of primary data (collected and owned by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs) and secondary data from other UN agencies. Estimate gives the country's rank.
Source: https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/data-center

E-Government Index: 0.32

The EGDI is a composite measure of three important dimensions of e-government, namely: provision of online services, telecommunication connectivity and human capacity. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately 0 to 1.
Source: https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/data-center

E-Participation Index: 0.34

The E-Participation Index (EPI) is derived as a supplementary index to the United Nations E-Government Survey. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately 0 to 1.
Source: https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/data-center

Online Service Index: 0.34

The online services index was developed by the UN to evaluate the scope and quality of government online services. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately 0 to 1.
Source: https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/data-cente

Human Capital Index: 0.48

The Human Capital Index (HCI) quantiï¬_x0081_es the contribution of health and education to the productivity of the next generation of workers. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately 0 to 1.
Source: https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/data-center

Telecommunication Infrastructure Index: 0.14

Telecommunication Infrastructure Index- Telecommunication Infrastructure Index (TII) Composite Indicator that measures the countries' Telecommunication infrastructure readiness to adopt the opportunities offered by Information and Communication Technology as to enhance their competitiveness. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately 0 to 1.
Source: https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/data-center

ICT information:

ICT skills

Information economy indicators

Individuals with basic ICT skills (%): 1.9 (2017)

Source: www.itu.int

Share of ICT goods, % of total exports (value) 0.03 (2020)

Source: https://unctadstat.unctad.org/

Individuals with standard ICT skills (%): No data

Source: www.itu.int

Share of ICT goods, % of total import (value): 3.01 (2020)

Source: https://unctadstat.unctad.org/

Individuals with advanced ICT skills (%): No data

Source: www.itu.int

Most visited website: amazon.com

The survey conducted in 2022 excluded global dominant sites (e.g., YouTube, Facebook, and Google) and search engines (e.g., Yahoo, Baidu, DuckDuckGo, Naver, and Yandex) to level the playing field and discount middle-man visits. Likewise, it did not include adult, betting, illegal streaming/downloading services, and malicious websites.
Source: https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/the-most-visited-website-in-every-country

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