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Venue: Kwa Maritane

Success in ICTs for development depends on a commitment by Africa’s leaders

By Clive Emdon

Acacia Conference Media Team

Africa needs the political will of its leaders to make ICTs work. In addition huge emphasis needs to be placed on the management of projects.

These are key findings in the Acacia evaluation studies launched from 2000 in Mozambique, Senegal, Uganda and South Africa. The findings have provided an important source of primary data on ICT projects in Africa.

The investigation focused on: School networking in Africa; telecentres; and ICTs in community development. More detailed findings, will be made known at the Acacia conference in April titled ‘Networking Africa’s Future’.

By launching National Acacia Advisory Committees (NAACs), Acacia achieved high-level visibility within national ICT discourses that would have been impossible through conventional research methods. The NAACs were used as national champions, individually and collectively, and succeeded in placing ICT issues on the agenda in strategy countries.

The main ELSA findings were:

· Policy is the key to success. ICT policy development requires positive support at the highest level of political leadership, and the creation of policy frameworks - especially as regards infrastructure and rural connectivity.

· Management of community ICT projects is poor. Administrative, technical and managerial expertise is hard to find and sought after in rural settings despite community commitment being high. Because development projects operating with a business mandate are new, political, government and community leaders in their localities need to act as their champions.

· Partnerships are important but elusive. Private-public partnerships are a necessary condition for the continued existence of rural ICT projects, but such partnerships are elusive and often involve protracted negotiations.

· Infrastructure and technologies exist for difficult environments. Despite the heavy costs, rural connectivity is feasible with the range of new technical and technological options that are now available. ICT can be successfully introduced in poor environments and rural areas, even with the paucity of expertise and low incomes.

· Success depends on participatory approaches. The introduction of ICTs is an ongoing process, and participation is critical. Community members need to be involved in the research, packaging and delivery of information.

· ICTS are transformational. Though computers are not new to Africa, their use provides resources for development and change as never before.

· ICTS are multi-faceted. They are now being used for a variety of purposes, such as education, business, crafts and agriculture as well as for personal ends.

· Multiple-use facilities are needed. Infrastructure is absent in rural areas, and low incomes limit personal ownership of computers. New sustainability models need to be developed.

· Traditional disparities are growing. Though more people are using ICTs, many are still excluded due to gender, age, illiteracy, poverty and location. Programming for gender equity, for example, is particularly difficult with technological projects, which have a long history of gender bias.

Acacia plans for a concerted dissemination of its research findings over six years is focused on its “Networking Africa’s future Conference to be held on April 13 - 16 in 2003 at Kwa Maritane, Bakubang, South Africa.