African Connectivity No Guarantee of Economic Upliftment

This article explores trends related to connectivity in Africa. For years, the article claims, telecommunications companies have been bemoaning the high cost of "last mile" connectivity and looking for a low-cost solution.

In this context, African information and communication technology (ICT) delegates at a 2003 Acacia Conference in South Africa pointed out that efforts to increase connectivity may in fact exacerbate existing inequalities rather than address them. As this article points out, the potential of ICT to alleviate poverty is hampered by widespread adult illiteracy, lack of affordable solutions, strong monopoly telecos, tight government regulation and slow regulation upheaval, and questionable local relevance of content. In response to the question "Does information and communications technology really have an impact on poverty?" a majority of delegates - most of whom have a vested interest in promoting the use of ICT in Africa - voted no.

While the impact of ICT on poverty alleviation is in doubt, research and investment into uniquely African approaches to the use of ICT to solve social and economic problems continues. The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) announced a three-year grant of CAN$12 million for an initiative called "Connectivity Africa", which is aimed at improving access to ICT in Africa in education, health, and community development. Further, some of the ICT innovations highlighted at the conference included the pioneering use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to improve the speed, accuracy, and security of surveillance health data in Uganda. Also profiled is Wireless Hotspot Roaming (WHR), which offers affordable high-speed wireless Internet access that might reach rural areas not currently served by telecoms. Carel van der Merwe of Wireless G, explains that hotspots throughout the world are increasingly being interconnected at places like shopping malls through fast-growing global alliances and roaming agreements.

Some participants were enthusiastic about the prospect of ICT projects succeeding in Africa. Meddie Mayanja, an ICT communications development specialist with the World Bank Institute, cited instances of improvement from three ICT projects in Uganda. These projects resulted in the creation of a successful e-commerce initiative in a slum area, training in entrepreneurship for jobless youths, and a steep fall in maternal mortality rate: from 500 per 100,000 to 271 per 100,000 between 1996 and 1999.

One commentator quoted in the article strongly recommends the separation of telecom facilities and services.

Click here for the full article on the Center for Digital site.