Part of what drew me to Liberia was my interest in understanding best practices in international aid.   It's no secret that aid is often inefficient at best and ultimately counterproductive at worst.  Unlike others, I do not believe that this unfortunate fact is a justification to throw the baby out with the bath water.  I believe that there is a role for assistance, and if my path takes me in that direction, I want to know how to do it well.  I knew some of the mistakes that these organizations make are not obvious, and I wanted to be sure that I'd have the view from the other side to guide my career in development.

The project I've been focusing around philanthropic support for leapfrogging Internet technology has provided a fascinating window into these dynamics.  Step one for me was to find out what everyone else was doing in this arena. What did I find?  UNDP is funding standalone Internet infrastructure (VSATs) for all country offices of a single ministry.  The University of Indiana is looking into building a fiber-based Local Area Network for the University of Liberia. The government owned operator wants to build a fiber ring in Monrovia.  UNDP set up its own connection to Cote d'Ivoire's undersea cable connection.  USAID is investigating a project for backbone and last mile infrastructure - and to their great credit is working closely with the government across the sector and pushing for coordination.  Multiple other entities have applied for permission to build landing stations.   The potential for inefficiency, not just on the part of the aid community, is glaring.

These discussions quickly led me to the conclusion that what's needed first and foremost is an industrial policy to coordinate all of this activity.  What concerns me about many of these efforts is that many relate to shared infrastructure, natural monopolies, and I saw an opportunity to guide these investments in a way so as to be ideal for the sector.  I believe the Government of Liberia has an exciting opportunity to shape the creation of Liberia's Internet infrastructure in a way that is not just efficient but also best for competition and ultimately Liberian's development.  The time is now.  Three submarine cables are coming along the coast of West Africa that can be connected to, myriad entities are looking to make investments, donors are looking for opportunities, it’s on philanthropist’s radar.  All of these pieces moving forward without government coordination risks investment inefficiencies and reactive regulation.  

It wasn't the sexy answer, but I feel strongly that it's the right one: to hold on infrastructure support until the government answers these complex questions.  I've instead pushed to redirected philanthropic interest in technology towards mobile applications for public service delivery and building the capacity within Liberia to build, support, and maintain the technology.  Ultimately I firmly believe that solutions should come from within, and I’d like to see our foundations partners focus on building the capacity to do so.

I presented these recommendations to the ICT Focus Group, a team composed of representatives from ministers responsible for telecommunications and ICT policy in Liberia, the regulators, and the national operator.  They were well received, but what was most telling was the reaction to my sentiments about the infrastructure component.  The frustration with donors was significant, and though they were preaching to the choir, they wanted to make one message clear and they wanted it relayed: make sure than donors understand that when they set up small piecemeal projects it's not efficient and often isn't sustainable.  (I recognize there's a much longer discussion to be had here about donor objectives, etc. and I have a feeling this is particularly pertinent to infrastructure).

On my end, I was happy to get the policy need on the table and hear support for it among these key constituents.  It's unfortunately not my mandate to help answer those questions, but I'm going to keep banging on the table about the opportunity and need for it.  I worry that if the government doesn’t prioritize and address these issues, and the investments will be made sub-optimally.  I worry I’m being idealistic that it would or could do so.

Which brings me to my next question.  What is the best way for the aid community to react if the first-best solution, plugging into a coordinated approach led by the government isn't realistic?  What's the second-best approach?