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Africa: ICT for Development

Africa: ICT for Development. Rafael Capurro Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart Sommersemester 2006. WSIS. Evaluation of the Implementation of the Geneva Plan of Action and Information Society Indicators

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Africa: ICT for Development

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  1. Africa: ICT for Development Rafael Capurro Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart Sommersemester 2006

  2. WSIS • Evaluation of the Implementation of the Geneva Plan of Action and Information Society Indicators • UNECA (UN Economic Commission for Africa) coordinates the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) (launched in 1996) • Goal: to create a pan-African ICT network giving Africans the means to improve the quality of their lives and fight against poverty. Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  3. UNECA • Trade and Regional Integration (TRID) • Sustainable Development Division (SDD) • Gender and Development: Afrian Center for Gender and Development Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  4. AISI • Focus Areas: • E-Strategies: • NICI (National IC Infrastructure) • Scan-ICT programme • Information & Knowledge: indigenous capacity to aggregate and disseminate information • Partnership & Networking: as opposed to „reinventing the whell“ • Outreach & Communication: involves all societal actors Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  5. AISI • E-strategies: • National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) • Sectoral Information and Communication Infrastructure (SICI): Ethiopia, Gambia • Village Information and Communication Infrastructure (VICI) • Regional Information and Communication Infrastructure (RICI) (Workshops 2004/05 in Nairobi,Tangiers, Dar es Salaam, Kigali) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  6. AISI • Major Focus Areas: • Promoting sectoral applications of ICT for eradicating poverty and improving quality of life • Support the educational process • Delivery of health care • Opportunities for business and trade • Electronic Government • Creating the enabling policy environment Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  7. AISI • Major achievements: • Support provided to 28 African countries to develop their own NICI • Periodic consultations (Global Connectivity for Africa Conference, Addis Ababa 1998, African Development Forum 1999) • Capacity building for decision makers • Evaluation of ICT impact (Scan-ICT Project) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  8. AISI • News (April 2006) • Media Training Workshop at Addis Ababa (March 2006) • E-Payment (South Africa, Tunisia, Egypt) • Forum on ICTs, Trade and Economic Growth in Addis Ababa (March 2006) • Meeting to propose strategy for Ethiopia‘s ehealth programme • Open Source meeting to accelerate MDGs (Millenium Development Gaols) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  9. AISI: PICTA • PICTA: Partners for ICTs in Africa • Formed in 1997 • Forum on ICTs, Trade and Economic Growth, March 2006 (Addis Ababa) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  10. AISI: Scan-ICT • Scan-ICT: Indicators of ICT: The Impact of Information and Communication Technology at the country level • An initiative of ECA, IDRC (Intern. Dev. Research Centre, Canada), European Union, NORAD (Norwegian Agence for Development Co-operation) • Report (Addis Ababa 2003): Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal • Scan-ICT phase II kicks off in Mauritius (January 2006) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  11. ICT Task Force Series 2 • „Information and Communication Technologies for African Development. An Assessment of Progress and Challenges Ahead“ Joseph O. Okpaku, Ed., UN ICT Task Force, New York 2003. Online: http://unicttaskforce.org/perl/documents.pl?id=1151;p=1 Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  12. J.M. Figueres • José María Figueres (Head, UN ICT Task Force): Preface • „Nowhere is this digital divide more pronounced than in countries of the African continent. Africa is the most unconnected, in an increasingly connected world.“ (p. xi) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  13. K.A. Annan • H.E. Kofi A. Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations: Information And Communication Technologies: A Priority For Africa‘s Development. • „Clearly, if we are to succeed, the process must engage all stakeholders: donors, the private sector, civil society organisations, governments, and especially those in the developing world itself.“ (p. xvii) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  14. Okpaku: ICT… • Joseph O. Okpaku, President and CEO, Telecom Africa Corporation: Information And Communication Technologies as Tools for African Self-Development. Towards a Re-Definition of Development. Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  15. Okpaku: ICT… • „The quintessential dream of any group of peoples or nations is the pursuit of self-actualisation in a structure and context in which they are in full command of their destiny and own the means and processes by which they seek to attain that goal.“ (p. 1) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  16. Okpaku: ICT… • „The context of that dream, the compelling condition which the people seek to alter, the pursuit of the promise of new and beter, more rewarding or simply more exciting conditions, is what constitutes society‘s challenge.“ (p. 2) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  17. Okpaku: ICT… • „The response to that challenge, the mobilisation of resources and the galvanisation of a collective genius in an effort to propel society over the hill of challenge to the valley or plain fields of resolution beyond, to new vistas and new conditions, is what I would call „development“. (p. 2) • „By this definition, development is a process, the very process of problem solving.“ (p. 2) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  18. Okpaku: ICT… • „To a large extent, wealth has a vertical structure in African society, with most families consisting of the entire range, from the well-off to the most needy. The structure of family obligations in traditional Africa makes the pursuit of the collective advancement of the entire community a norm. The disruption of this model, through „modernisation“, has been a threat to reaping the benefits of this tradition for contemporary African development.“ (p. 11) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  19. Okpaku: ICT… • „Ironically, constructing such a new model Africa should not proe extraordinarily difficult, because it is little more than a return to the original structure of African society based on the pre-eminence of the extended family and ist mutuality of care, concern and support.“ (p. 13) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  20. Okpaku: ICT… • „All we need to do, primarily, is to assign our scholars and intellectuals (both academic and non-academic) to revisit our centuries-old culture and tradition and strip away the crusted layers created by years of disuse and the cultural and social hemorrhage of the colonial experience and ist not-too-noble afternath. We can then modernise that old legacy to take advantage of new ideas and means, such as the facilitation of information and communication technologies, as tools for their definition and diffusion.“ (p. 13) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  21. Okpaku: Background… • Joseph O. Okpaku: „Background on Information and Communications Technologies for Development in Africa“ Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  22. Okpaku: Background… • Initiatives: • NEPAD (The New Partnership for Africa‘s Development): adopted by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 2001 and later on by the African Union (AU) in 2002. It was endorsed by the G8 industrial countries in 2002 (Kananaskis Meeting, Canada) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  23. Okpaku: Background… • The NEPAD strategic framework document arises from a mandate given to the five initiating Heads of State (Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa) by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to develop an integrated socio-economic development framework for Africa. The 37th Summit of the OAU in July 2001 formally adopted the strategic framework document. Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  24. Okpaku: Background… • G8 DOT Force process: • Global Digital Opportunity Initiative • Partnership for Global Policy Participation • UN ICT Task Force convened on July 12, 2002 the Digital Bridge to Africa Workshop: • The Digital Diaspora Network-Africa (DDN-A) • AFRISHARE • The Social Venture Fund for Africa • World Bank: Gateway Project Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  25. Okpaku: Background… • Other Initiatives: • Informal Sector and Civil Society Initiatives: • SMEs: telecentres, online marketing of farm products… • Industry-Based Initiatives • The SatCom Project (telecommunication industry) • The Digital Factory (software development) • Indigenous African Initiatives Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  26. Okpaku: Background… • Infrastructure: • The Sat-3/WASC/SAFE Undersea Optical Fibre Cable Network (28,000 km cable, $650 millio USD, launched in Dakar on May 27, 2002) • The RASCOM Satellite Project (Regional African Satellite Comm.Org.): in collab. With Alcatel • The Comtel Projekt: member states of COMESA Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  27. Okpaku: Bakground… • Policy and Strategy • The African Connection and the Ministerial Oversight Committee (1998) • The African Telecommunications Union (ATU) • The African Advisory Group on ICT (AAG-ICT): 12 eminent African ICT experts, created by the Minister of Communications of South Africa (Dr. Ivy Matsepe Casaburri) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  28. Okpaku: Background… • The e-Africa Commission: • serves as the ICT task force of NEPAD. • Chaired by HE President Alfa Oumar Konaré, former Head of State of the Republic of Mali Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  29. Okpaku: Background… • NEPAD‘s ICT Projects: • ICT/1: Infrastructure Projekt (32 optical fibre inter-state links in West Africa) • ICT/2: Telecommunication Law and Regulation Harmonisation • ICT/3: IT/Telecomm. Device Manufacturing Plant • ICT/4: Support of ICT-related Facilities • ICT/5: PAG-NET, PanAfrican Governmental Network. • ICT/6: DATAFRICA (statistics) • ICT/7: E-Justice Africa (criminal justice data) • ICT/8: E-Customer Africa • ICT/9: ACT-NET (fight terrorism) • ICT/10: Telemedicine • ICT/11: E-History Africa • ICT/12: Africashop • ICT/13: Africa Cybermarket Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  30. A.O. Konaré: Restoring Africa‘s… • H.E. Alpha Oumar Konaré: „Restoring Africa‘s National Space“ • „We are aware of the interest that 400 million African consumers represent for multinational companies, and reforms advocating privatisation have been initiated everywhere in this important field.“ (p. 52) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  31. Konaré: Restoring Africa‘s… • „Everybody knows here that Africa does not need to beg on the world scene. It is one of the continents with the greatest natural resources in the world. And as for human resources, more than the fifty percent of the population of Africa is under 25 years old. The burden that Africa drags upon its feet and that prevents it from taking off is debt, always debt.“ (p. 54) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  32. M. Jensen: The Current Status • Mike Jensen: „The Current Status of ICT in Africa“ • Of approx. 816 million people in 2001: • 1 in 4 have a radio (205 m) • 1 in 13 have a TV (62m) • 1 in 35 have a mobile phon (24m) • 1 in 40 have a fixed line (20m) • 1 in 130 have a PC (5,9m) • 1 in 160 use the Internet (5m) • 1 in 400 have pay-TV (2m) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  33. M. Jensen: The Current Status… • Divide between urban and rural areas • Road, rail, and air transport neworks are limited • Brain drain • Business climate: small markets divided by arbitrary borders, non-transparent and time-consuming procedures… Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  34. M. Jensen: The Current Status… • ICT landscape has changed dramatically: • Use of e-mail • ICT for governance/administration, education, health • ICT for farmer ind fishing organizations • Joint Ventures: ISP in Morocco digitises France National Library paper archives, … • Radio is the most dominant mass medium • 50% of telecomm. Lines are in the capital cities • PCs: some 7.5 milllion for 2001 (1 per 100 people) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  35. M. Jensen: The Current Status… • „As of mid-2002, the number of dialup Internet subscribers was close to 1.7 million, 20 percent up from 2001, mainly bolstered by growth in a few countries such as Nigeria. Of these subscribers, North Africa and South Africa are responsible for about 1.2 million, leaving 500,000 for the remaining 49 sub-Saharan African countries.“ (p. 67) • Approx. Numer of African Internet users: 5 to 8 million (1.5 to 2.5 million outside North and SA or: 1 user for every 250 to 400 people; Europe and USA: 1 user for every 2 persons). Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  36. OleKambainei/Sintim-Misa: Info-communication • Emmanuel OleKambainei, Mavis Ampah Sintim-Misa: „Info-communication for Develoment in Africa. The Africa Connection Initiative“ • In 1998 the African Ministers responsible for communication develooped the initiative „The African Connection“ in order to promote ICT Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  37. OleKambainei/Sintim-Misa: Info-communication… • Activities of the African Connection: • Policy and Regulation: First phase of the Regulatory Study • ICT Policy Strategy Papers • Universal and Rural Access (Schoolnet Africa, Worldlink) • Human Resource and Capacity-building • Consensus-building and Regional Cooperation • Strategic Studies • E-Africa Commission (NEPAD) • Regional and International Deliberations • Funding and Partnerships for ICT Development • ICT Applications and Content Development • Direct Country Assistance Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  38. OleKambainei/Sintim-Misa: Info-communication… • „But before content development can be made viable, Africa must take a serious approach to developing business models for transforming content to viable e-business.“ (S. 165) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  39. OleKambainei/Sintim-Misa: Info-communication… • „Finally, there is a need to promote general ICT diffusion and raise awareness andappreciation as well as e-literacy among our populations, especially children and youth. This should be coupled with efforts to demystify and de-demonise ICT for people to accept it as an everyday tool and not an end in itself. ICTs (inclusively, not only computing), Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  40. OleKambainei/Sintim-Misa: Info-communication… • I believe, can be used to improve the level of basic education and literacy of African children and youth. This can be done by targeting and ensuring that basic education and literacy change from the traditional „3Rs“ (reading, writing and arithmetic) to a higher standard that can be reverred to as „LNCI“ or Literacy – reading and writing, Numeracy – working with numbers, Communicacy – communicating effectively, Innovativeness/Initiative.“ (S. 168) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

  41. OleKambainei/Sintim-Misa: Info-communication… • „I will give Africa‘s education, human resource development, as well as research an development the ability to „cheetah-pole-vault“so as to catch-up with the rest of the global community.“ (S. 168) Rafael Capurro: Africa - ICT for Development (2006)

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