Why would Africa not be eligible to 3G?
Thanks for your analysis regarding the African Market. You are absolotely right when you say that 5G and 4G are not the right technologies for Africa right now, first because 5G does not really exist as a standard and second because the coverage radius provided by a 4G BTS is limited.
However, I do not agree with your point about 3G not being a technology of choice for Africa because the cost of energy to power 3G BTS would be too high. You are right if you consider legacy BTS such as Huawei. In order to power such a BTS and the required A/C unit with solar energy you would need to fill up a football field with solar cells and then you would need a gymnasium full of batteries to store the energy!
However, there are new BTS on the market which provide 2G and 3G running on the same unit and powered by a single solar cell. (for example www.rangenetworks.com)
Why spending money to provide 2G only and increasing the digital divide in Africa? Using such 2G/3G technology would allow Africa to bridge more easily the digital divide by providing 3G along with 2G to the most remote areas of the World.