UNICTTF III/2002/15
UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
Regional ICT Developments:
The AISI Perspective
- Other
Assist in identifying a program officer and resources to lead the
program division at the Digital Partners Institute.
THIRD
MEETING OF THE UN- ICT TASK FORCE
30
SEPTEMBER – 1 OCTOBER 2002
Mrs
Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane
Director,
Development Information Services Division
Economic
Commission for Africa
Table of Content
Introduction. 3
I. Progress made in creating enabling environment for ICT activities in Africa. 3
i. Development of national information and communication technologies policies and strategies. 3
ii. Regional information and communication initiatives. 4
iii. Improving digital opportunities for Africa - The African Regional Conference of the WSIS. 6
II. Sectoral Applications Initiatives. 7
i. Education and capacity building. 7
ii. Business and trade. 7
iii. Health care services. 8
iv. Governance. 8
III. Progress and Impact Evaluation. 8
IV. Partnership and consultation mechanisms. 9
i. At regional level9
ii. At international level11
iii. Bilateral and Multilateral Partnership mechanisms. 12
V. The communication programme. 13
VI. Lessons Learned and the Way Forward. 15
i. Increased awareness. 15
ii. Importance of the High level Leadership. 15
iii. The NICI process could be more participatory. 15
iv. Need for learning from experiences of others – best practices. 16
v. Transition from ideas and concepts to concrete action plans: it is time now!16
vi. Need for increased attention to sectoral policies and strategies. 16
vii. Human and institutional capacity must be strengthened. 17
viii. Prioritisation of external assistance. 17
ix. Increasing regional cooperation and integration. 17
x. More adequate and innovative financing mechanisms are needed. 18
Conclusion
The most striking contrasts in the modern world are the vast differences in technological development and human well-being-differences most evident in Africa. Poverty and hunger are widespread. AIDS has cut life expectancy by more than 10 years in some countries. Forests are being depleted at the rate of an acre a second due to unsustainable farming practices. And technological development is woefully deficient. In many cases it is the poor, particularly women and children, who suffer the most. They live in environmentally fragile areas, depend on marginal lands, are exposed to health hazards and natural disaster, have very little coping capacity, and have hardly any assets to fall back upon in times of crisis.
This Report is about how African societies can reverse these alarming trends. Its main message is that harnessing new and emerging technologies is critical for development.[1]
Foreword byK.Y Amoako, ECA Executive Secretary, August 2002
The above observations made on biotechnology also apply to the use of ICT for development in Africa. In fact, they can be considered as some of the reasons that led to the launch of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI): harnessing information and knowledge for Africa’s development[2]. Since its inception, AISI has been the backbone of major ICT development of the continent. Adopted by the Conference of Ministers in 1996[3], the initiative has successfully created a framework within which national stakeholders, as active and central players, set their own course of actions and implement projects based on their priorities and development goals.
With the support of various bilateral and multilateral partners, a number of African countries launched innovative ICT initiatives within the AISI framework. Recently Niger joined other 29 countries[4] to formulate their National Information and Communications Infrastructure (NICI) plan. Other countries like Senegal and Mozambique have started the implementation of the plans and the development of sectoral applications.
ICT programmes in Africa have moved to a dynamic phase. The importance of ICT for development has been widely recognized and policy and decision makers are committed to the establishment of a sustainable information society in their own countries, which is evident in the increasing number of innovative ICT plans and projects.
The role of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is to coordinate the work of AISI in various ways. ECA has been assisting the countries to create an enabling environment for ICT for development through these NICI plans and strategies and participation in regional and global fora to make Africa’s voice better heard.
ECA also is in partnership with national counterparts and donors to implement sectoral applications. The progress is monitored and evaluated through the SCAN-ICT[5] Programme. One of the key aspects of ECA’s assistance towards AISI is the promotion of partnership and cooperation mechanisms at national and regional levels as well as with multilateral and bilateral donors so as to avoid duplications and waste of scarce resources.
However, the challenges Africa is facing are numerous and wide in scope. ECA is ready to deepen and widen its consultation and collaboration with national and international actors to accelerate the development of ICTs in Africa.
This paper focuses on major ICT activities recently implemented in the context of AISI. It also intends to extract and share good practices and lessons learned and to suggest recommendations for future activities. Following the request by the UN ICT Task Force Secretariat, the paper is prepared for presentation at the third meeting of the Task Force.
I. Progress made in creating enabling environment for ICT activities in Africa
Information and communications technologies can contribute enormously to influence our countries’ economic and social development. Significant progress has been made in advancing ICT as an integral component of national and regional development agenda through national information and communication technology policies and plans and by creating the necessary economic, institutional, social, legal and fiscal environments.
i. Development of national information and communication technologies policies and strategies
Major efforts in the development of national strategies in Africa were undertaken within the framework of AISI. The development of national information and communications infrastructure (NICI) plans; strategies and policies are considered as an important implementing tool of AISI. A large number of the African countries have strived to develop their NICI plans that articulate long-term policy, infrastructure, content and application strategies as an integral part of their overall national development goals.
The NICI development process has its roots in the vision of AISI. NICI provides the framework within which ICTs are mainstreamed into the national planning process in order to facilitate the achievement of national and sectoral development priorities and objectives. It is an on-going process through the planning, implementation and regular evaluation of programmes and projects developed according to the needs and priorities of each country.
Below are examples of recent NICI developments. More detailed information is available at http://www.uneca.org/disd/ict/
Ø Djibouti: started its NICI development process. A consultative workshop was organized in May 2002. Consultation meetings will start in November 2002.
Ø Ethiopia: endorsed its ICT policy document in 2002 and launched an aggressive policy implementation plan. One of the objectives is to offer increasing access to information and communications at district levels.
Ø Ghana: the NICI process was officially re-launched by the Government in August 2002. A NICI Committee was set up and an implementation plan drawn. Consultations with stakeholders have started.
Ø Malawi: an ICT policy development process is underway based on the ICT policy framework document that was submitted to high level government officials in June 2002
Ø Mali: has set up a new NICI Committee in May 2002. Several consultative workshops with stakeholders were organized. A baseline study covering the major cities of Mali has been launched.
Ø Mozambique[6]: following a national ICT policy implementation Symposium in October 2001, Mozambique launched a number of catalytic projects in human capacity development, infrastructure building, applications and content in health and education, e-government, policy and regulatory frameworks, provincial growth, enterprise development with focus on youth, gender and access issues.
Ø Niger: after the officiallaunching of the NICI plan by the Prime Minister in July 2002, a NICI Committee was set up. A baseline study covering all provinces, ministries, government agencies, NGOs and the private sector is underway.
Ø Rwanda: the NICI Plan has been finalized and its implementation launched by the President in February 2002. Ministries have started developing sectoral plans out of the main plan. A funding conference is scheduled to take place early 2003.
Ø Tanzania: through its ICT policy Task Force and a national e-think tank, the government of Tanzania produced an ICT policy document that was presented and debated by key stakeholders in May 2002.
Ø Uganda: has completed its ICT policy formulation in 2002. The development of ICT policy implementation plan in key sectors identified in the policy document is underway.
ii. Regional information and communication initiatives
The role of ICTs for regional integration and cooperation has gained a considerable attention. As a result, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are taking a leading role in regional consultations and studies such as harmonization of policies, regulatory frameworks, infrastructure etc. as in some of the examples below.
Ø ICT for Regional Integration for Economic Community for Central Africa States (CEMAC): A workshop on ICT for regional integration was organized by the Economic Community of Central African States (CEMAC) in September 2002 in Yaounde. The workshop adopted the Yaounde Declaration which recommended key decisions, including harmonization of the ICT sector in the CEMAC countries, sharing of resources and the creation of the Central African countries Association of Regulators (ARAC). The CEMAC Heads of State will adopt the Declaration in December 2002.
Ø Regulatory Harmonization in Economic Community for Western Africa States (ECOWAS): In order to facilitate the harmonization of national sectoral policies, the ECOWAS Council of Ministers established an ECOWAS Consultative Regulatory Committee for Telecommunications to ensure the consistent and coordinated regulation of telecommunications within the Community. A West African Association of Regulators (WATRA) was officially established in June 2002. A study on harmonization of West African telecommunication regulations is underway[7].
Ø Regional ICT development in Southern African Development Community – (SADC): Countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are a step ahead from the other regions. Several studies on ICT have been undertaken and meetings and workshops organized. A Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology and a Declaration on Information and Communications Technology were adopted by SADC. Southern Africa Transport and Communications Commission was created. The SADC Region was also the first one to establish an association of regulators (TRASA)[8].
Ø The UEMOA initatives in ICT area:The UEMOA Council of Ministers adopted in 2001 a recommendation on a programme of action for improving ICT infrastructure and services in UEMOA. This recommendation aims at harmonizing the regulatory frameworks, the creation of a committee of regulators, and a forum of operators and service providers, the promotion of new ICTs, and liberalization of the national telecom markets. The West African Development Bank (BOAD) is expected to undertake a study in developing a fiber optic regional network[9].
Ø The ADF III ICT Focus Group on Regional Integration[10]: During the third edition of the African Development Forum (ADF) on Regional Integration, held in March 2002, the ICT Focus Group met to explore the role of ICTs in Regional Integration. A portal on regional integration was also launched during this event[11].
Since its existence, the ADF has registered significant impact and rapidly gained recognition as an effective forum for informed dialogue and consensus building on urgent development issues of relevance to Africa, and for agreeing on implementation priorities and strategies at national, sub-regional and regional levels. ADF 1999[12] focused on ways to accelerate the information revolution in Africa. A considerable amount of technical information was prepared during ADF ’99 and is still being used and referred to by member States and experts doing studies on Africa.
iii. Improving digital opportunities for Africa - The African Regional Conference of the WSIS
A significant event in improving digital opportunities for Africa took place in Bamako in May 2002.The African regional conference, known as Bamako 2002[13], was held in Bamako, Mali, under the auspices of His Excellency Alpha Oumar Konare, President of the Republic of Mali. Bamako 2002 was a Ministerial level meeting, Africa being the first continent to organize a regional conference in line with the framework of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
Bamako 2002 focused on facilitating understanding on what benefits to be drawn from the global information society, what contributions the continent could make towards its goals and what cultural heritages and values it should preserve through this dynamic process. The conference brought together around one thousand participants drawn from government, civil society, the private sector, and development partners. Various bilateral and multilateral partners as well as the private sector and the civil society supported it.
Bamako 2002 provided also an opportunity to revisit and evaluate the implementation of the recommendations of the first African Development Forum (ADF ’99) and Bamako 2000[14]. The conference was a unique opportunity to renew the commitment of member States and bilateral and multilateral development partners of Africa for the attainment of the visions enshrined in the African Information Society Initiative (AISI).
Participants in Bamako 2002 unanimously agreed on a set of principles and recommendations for developing a common African vision for an information society, known as the Bamako Declaration[15]. A Task Force (Bamako 2002 Bureau [16] with ECA serving as a secretariat) has been established to carry out the major recommendations and work with the WSIS secretariat. The Bureau is chaired by Mali with members composed of one country from each sub-region, and representatives of the civil society and the private sector.
The Bamako 2002 Bureau and ECA met several times during the First Preparatory Conference for the WSIS (PrepCom 1)[17], which was held from 1-5 July 2002 in Geneva, Switzerland to explore ways and means to implement the Bamako Declaration and continue the activities it suggested. The Africa Group requested ECA to serve also as the Secretariat for Africa’s participation in the WSIS activities and ensure that Africa will develop a common plan of action.
As per Bamako 2002 request, ECA organized and moderated an electronic discussion on E-Government. Results of these discussions are reported in the following Sectoral Applications Section. Several other activities, including discussion lists, web sites, meetings and workshops are planned to push the WSIS agenda forward.
II. Sectoral Applications Initiatives
As stated earlier, the creation of an enabling policy and regulatory environment is essential to ensure that actions initiated in the ICT infrastructural development and sectoral applications are encouraged. Although ICTs are cross-cutting to many sectors, a few sectoral applications are gaining attention in Africa in recent years based on countries priorities. These include education, health, business and trade and governance.
i. Education and capacity building
The agenda for ICT and education in Africa can be strengthened through E-education initiatives, such as the African Learning Network[18] that supports school networks (e.g. SchoolNet), university networks (e.g. VarsityNet), networks of research institutes (e.g. African Knowledge Network Forum - AKNF[19]) and networks for marginalised people (e.g. Out of School Youth Network - OosyNet).
The launching of SchoolNet Africa[20] and the conference on ICTs and higher education, held at the end of July 2002 in Addis Ababa, are some of the activities that have been undertaken with respect to implementing the African Learning Network. The conference was organized under the aegis of the four Foundations partnership (Ford/Carnegie/Mac Arthur/Rockefeller) in collaboration with ECA.
Furthermore, in an attempt to address the needs of policy makers on the challenges and use of ICTs for Africa’s development, the Information Technology Centre for Africa (ITCA)[21] in cooperation with USAID/Leland developed a training manual and delivered training courses for policymakers. In addition, in cooperation with the World Bank’s InfoDev program and CISCO Systems, ITCA has launched a training course in Internet networking technology in 2001 and 2002 for two groups of African women from 41 African countries.
As a result of ADF 99 on "The Challenge to Africa of Globalisation and the Information Age" a “Pan African initiative on e-commerce” was commissioned by IDRC and ECA with the objective of developing policy and strategy advice for African Governments. African Trade Ministers met in Libreville, Gabon in November 2000 to discuss issues related to an active and early African participation in e-commerce.
More recently, at sub-regional level workshops in Mauritius (April 2001 for Eastern and Southern Africa) and in Senegal (October 2001 for Central and Western Africa) have been conducted on the use of ICTs to enhance competitiveness of SMEs in Africa.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted the importance of ICTs by proposing that immediate steps should be taken to include ICTs as part of its health-for-all strategy for the 21st century. This area has also been recognized as an outmost priority by ADF’99 and ADF 2000, where a portal on health resources and health statistics in Africa was launched[22]. Pilot telemedicine projects are being implemented in countries such as Mali and Ethiopia. Countries like Tunisia have adopted Telemedicine plans, and more recently Mozambique and Senegal are embarking on developing e-strategy for the health sector.
The utilisation of ICTs for improving government services in Africa is gaining momentum. Recently, ECA launched an electronic dialogue on e-governance[23] that aimed at providing insights into trends in e-governance programmes on the continent. Discussions revealed that this field is at an early stage in most countries, hampered mostly by low levels of e-readiness and limited political will. However, there were some experiences from selected countries that deserved to be better known. It was stressed that e-governance is a continuous learning and interactive process requiring resources and research. The same discussion list will continue to debate on ICTs and civil societies in Africa starting from 1st October 2002.
Outcomes of the e-governance discussion will feed into the forthcoming African Development Forum (ADF IV) scheduled for next year on governance, which will have an ICT Focus Group that will deliberate on ICTs and governance. In addition, the forthcoming Committee on Development Information (CODI III)[24], one of the subsidiary bodies of the ECA, scheduled to take place in May 2003, will also focus on information for governance.
III. Progress and Impact Evaluation
The jury is still out on the impact of ICTs on the development process in Africa, as the advent of the information age is relatively recent for assessing both qualitatively and quantitatively the exact impact on socio-economic transformations. Outside of the telecommunications sector, information is sparse, diffuse and anecdotal in other areas such as sectoral applications, investment flows, donor/funding activity, the ICT industrial or business sector, ICT labour and so on.
Nevertheless, the fact still remains that there is an urgent need for developing indicators that monitor the role of ICTs in each and every sector applicable, but also for developing mechanisms that provide precise assessments. Up to two years ago, the relevance of ICTs to Africa’s development was evaluated on an ad hoc basis. It is only recently, that studies have been commissioned by agencies such as the ITU, UNESCO, World Bank to name a few, on e-readiness and the impact of ICTs and development
In response to this development, an African-specific monitoring and evaluation programme, Scan-ICT, was launched in November 2000. SCAN –ICT is led by IDRC and ECA and supported by the European Commission and the Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD). It aims at developing Africa's capacity to collect, analyze and organize data on the penetration and utilization of ICTs for development. Ghana, Senegal, Morocco, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Mozambiquehave been selected andsponsored to undertake baseline studies by employing indicators reflecting thematic areas, namely, infrastructure, content development, sectoral applications such as education, health, e-commerce.Interim results were presented at Bamako 2002.
IV. Partnership and consultation mechanisms
Africa’s digital agenda is quite huge and challenging as huge and challenging is the continent’s development agenda that ICTs are intended to serve. Therefore building synergies and creating strong alliances to address it more efficiently is crucial. It is in this context that partnership and consultation mechanisms have been put in place. At the regional level, they are expected to ensure that Africa’s digital agenda is locally led and owned. At the global level, they are meant to convey Africa’s views, position and needs and to guarantee efficient collaboration with the international agenda.
The African Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC)[25] to the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) was established by a mandate from the ECA Conference of Ministers resolution 812 (XXXI)[26]. It is a regional advisory committee composed of African experts representing different areas of activities, including the Diaspora. It was formally launched during its first meeting in Addis Ababa in October 1997. Its major functions are:
§ to assess the impact of the implementation of the African Information Society Initiative,
§ to advise the ECA secretariat on the content of its work programme for the implementation of the African Information Society Initiative, and
§ suggest ways and means of resource mobilisation for the implementation of AISI
Since 1997, ATAC has been instrumental in providing inputs on AISI orientations and achievements.
The Partnership for Information and Communications Technologies in Africa (PICTA)[27] is an informal group of donors and executing agencies committed to improving information exchange and collaboration around ICT activities in Africa[28]. It was formed by representatives of 17 UN and other development agencies involved in information and communication technology (ICT) development in Africa, who attended the donor and executing agency meeting on IT for development in Africa, held from 16 to 18 April 1997, in Rabat, Morocco. They agreed PICTA to bea forum for donor/executing agencies collaboration within the framework of “Africa’s Information Society Initiative” (AISI), and to set up common information resources on the Internet for ICT related development activities in Africa.
The major current joint programmes of PICTA members include the SCAN-ICT project, development and implementation of national ICT strategies (NICIs), the publication of a quarterly bulletin entitled "iConnect Africa" and a monthly "PICTA Bulletin". Furthermore, PICTA members jointly organise a number of conferences and meetings related to the promotion of ICTs for African development.
The African Stakeholders Network of the UN ICT – Task Force[29]was set up at the end of a two-day meeting in Addis Ababa (21 - 22 January 2002) organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) with support from the UN ICT Task Force secretariat. The consultative meeting brought together over 60 representatives from governments, development agencies, donors, private sector, civil society and non-governmental organizations.
From Africa’s point of view it is mainly intended to link existing African activities and initiatives with the newly established UN ICT Task Force. The main mandate of the ASN is to:
· Develop a network relevant to Africa’s needs and in line with the mandate of the Task Force and its Working Groups.
· Share information on major African activities and initiatives through mailing lists, web sites, country profiles.
· Sensitise and mobilize major actors to ensure African ownership and support from partners.
· Share information, and encourage membership when relevant and organize special events.
· Assist in linking the network with African and international initiatives.
· Attract funds and investments in the ICT sector in Africa.
The New Partnership for Africa’s Development.[30] ICTs were one of the major components of the Compact for African Recovery, which was developed upon the request of the African Ministers of Finance and presented to them during ECA conference of ministers, which was held in Algiers in May 2001. The Compact codified a growing consensus within Africa of what had to be done to accelerate the continent’s development, including in the area of ICTs.
As the development of the Compact has been carried out at the same time as the Millennium Partnership for African Recovery Programme (MAP) and the OMEGA Plan, ECA was requested by the initiators of MAP and OMEGA to contribute substantively in the development of a unified document which became the New African Initiative, then the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). In this context, ECA prepared several sectoral contributions, including ICTs, for MAP, OMEGA, the New African Initiative and NEPAD based on the African Information Society Initiative framework. AISI is now considered as the starting point for the framework for regional dimension of the ICT component of the infrastructure part of NEPAD[31].
The Global Knowledge Partnership[32] (GKP) is a "network of networks" with a diverse membership base comprising public, private and not-for profit organizations from both developed and developing countries. The Partnership was born as a result of the preparatory process of the 1997 Global Knowledge Conference in Canada, hosted by the World Bank and the Government of Canada. At present there are 45 members. For 2001-2003, the chair for the committee is the Government of Switzerland, represented by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the secretariat is hosted by the Government of Malaysia, represented by the National Information Technology Council (NITC).
The GKP aims to promote broad access to – and effective use of – knowledge and information as tools of equitable sustainable development. GKP members also share information, experiences and resources to realize the potential of information and communication technologies to improve lives, reduce poverty and empower people.
In April 2002, the GKP Annual Meeting held an African Day at the United Nations Conference Center in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Members of the network and other invited experts discussed issues related to the major ICT for development initiatives in Africa, the GKP Strategy 2005, global and regional networks as well as partnership mechanisms in Africa. African Day recommendations were presented in Bamako 2002.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a technical coordination body for the Internet, which is specifically coordinating Internet domain names, IP address numbers, Protocol parameter and port numbers. In addition, ICANN coordinates the stable operation of the Internet's root server system. Africa’s participation in the ICANN activities are still limited despite efforts of international partners to support participation of Africans in the various ICANN meetings, including the Accra meeting. In this regard, Ghana was selected to host the first ICANN stakeholders meeting for the year 2002, from10 to14 March. At this occasion, a number of parallel ICANN constituency events as well as the General Assembly and the ICANN Board Meeting took place.
Following the Accra meeting, discussions are underway between ECA and ICANN to put in place an African outreach programme, which would be part of the ASN. An ICANN Officer is scheduled to visit ECA in the first half of November 2002 in order to follow up on these issues.
iii. Bilateral and Multilateral Partnership mechanisms
A wide range of bilateral and multilateral partners is supporting the implementation of the African Information Society Initiative. Discussions are being held with other partners, including GTZ and SDC. Selected projects and partners are described below.
| Country |
Organization |
Area of support |
|
Canada |
Government of Canada IDRC |
· Development of a centre for connectivity in Africa, and e-policy resource centre · Scan-ICT baseline Studies in Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Uganda |
|
European Union |
European Commission |
· Scan-ICT baseline studies in Ethiopia and Mozambique · Regional study on the state of telecommunication regulatory policies · Development of NICI policies, plans and strategies in Central Africa Republic, Djibouti, Ghana, Mali, Niger |
|
Finland |
Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
· Strengthening ECA’s capacity for co-ordinating and monitoring national ICT policies and strategies |
|
France |
Ministry of Development and Co-operation
|
· Support the strengthening of ECA’s web presence. |
|
Netherlands |
IICD |
· Production and dissemination of iConnect Africa, a quarterly web paper and email service · Contribution to the AISI Media Award Programme |
|
Japan |
Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
· Equipment for standing and mobile exhibition of ITCA · Participation of women from Anglophone countries in the CISCO Internet and Networking course |
|
Korea
|
Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
· Establishment and strengthening of the Information Technology Centre for Africa |
|
Norway |
NORAD |
· Scan-ICT baseline studies in Ethiopia and Mozambique |
|
United States of America |
USAID |
· Development of manual for training of policy makers on the challenges and use of ICTs for Africa’s development · Capacity building programmes |
|
World Bank |
Africa Bureau InfoDev |
· Production of AISI Radio Series · Training of African women on Internet and Networking |
|
|
CISCO |
· Supporting Information Technology Centre for Africa (ITCA) ‘s training programmes |
|
|
La Francophonie |
· Training on ICT and Regional Integration
|
|
|
Open Society Initiative |
· Support to AISI outreach programme |
V. The communication programme
The issue of ICTs for Development being relatively new in Africa, it requires outreach and dissemination of information and to publicise achievements, best practices and experiences in order to satisfy the increasing demand in this area. In this context, various efforts are underway to promote ICTs for development in Africa. Some of these activities include:
PICTA Bulletin[33] is a monthly publication that provides information on activities of members in the Partnership for ICTs in Africa (PICTA), as well as news on ICT-related activities in Africa.
iConnect Africa[34] is a quarterly web, paper and email service that aims to raise awareness in the wider African development community regarding the possibilities offered by ICTs in development. iConnect is produced by the ECA and the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD). It reports on activities forming part of the AISI and Building Digital Opportunities programme "BDO". iConnect is funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department for International Development Cooperation (DGIS) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
AISI Radio Seriesare based on the Harnessing ICTs for Development programme of the Economic Commission for Africa. The Radio Series is aimed at creating greater awareness on the information society, serving as a tool for media practitioners, especially radio broadcasters to engage various groups in debating the role of ICTs in the development process. The programme was made possible with funding from the Africa Region of the World Bank. “ICTs in Mali”, one of the four programmes in the AISI Radio Series, was broadcast by the English Language Service of Radio Netherlands, and was a special edition in their weekly development programme, A Good Life.
The programme will also be made available through Radio Nederlands’ affiliate stations such as World Radio Network (WRN) broadcast worldwide with specific feeds to National Public Radio (NPR) in North America, SAfm, South Africa, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and the Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
The ICT Media Award Programmewas launched recently by the ECA. It aims at encouraging reporting by African journalists on ICT for development issues within the context of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI). The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), the International Development Research Center (IDRC), and the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) have made contributions to the award, which has assisted in kick-starting the process.
Out of Africais an interesting map commissioned by IDRC to measure the digital divide in Africa. It defines a Bits per Capita indicator to evaluate the communication capacity and readiness of African countries. It argues that International Internet bandwidth provides a better measure of Internet activity. URL: http://www.idrc.ca/acacia/divide/
NICI maps and Graphs are based on data collected from different sources. Currently maps on the status of the NICI strategies, Africa’s Internet situation and tele-density, the number of ISPs (and ownership), mobile density, and broadcasting (regulation, radio, TV) can be found at: http://www.uneca.org/disd/ict/ A NICI graph has also been prepared and is available from the same site.
AISI Briefing papersare being produced on various issues related to promoting ICTs for development. The briefing papers aim at sensitising better African policy makers about the issues that need to be addressed for achieving Africa’s digital inclusion. Currently, briefing papers on the National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) plans, ICTs and governance, and civil society participation in ICT programmes are being produced.
Web and e-discussionshave been developed to disseminate information, best practices, ICT stories from and within Africa and to exchange ideas on the development of the sector. The websites are being used to document status of e-readiness and national e-strategies at the country level. Some of the major websites include: AISI (http://www.uneca.org/aisi), NICI (http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici), PICTA (http://www.uneca.org/aisi/picta), ASN (http://www.unicttaskforce.org/regional/africa/main.asp).
Electronic discussion fora on various topics related to promoting ICTs for development have been set-up. The main one is the AISI list (aisi-l@lyris.bellanet.org) where various topics related to ICTs in Africa were discussed. Very recently a lively discussion on e-governance/ government in Africa was held. Its main outcome can be found at:
http://www.bellanet.org/lyris/helper/index.cfm?fuseaction=Visit&listname=aisi-l
VI. Lessons Learned and the Way Forward
Recent dramatic growth of the Internet and the mobile sector, proliferation of Internet and computer services business including availability of cyber cafés in African capitals shows that there is potential for ICTs as a key development sector for Africa. Increasing use of ICT in other areas of economic development also indicates that with concerted efforts ICTs have the potential to meet development challenges.
A number of lessons have also been learnt from the work of ECA in implementing the African Information Society over the last six years. Activities and initiatives have been mushrooming in the continent in the ICT for development areas targeting all member States but sometimes limited to a few countries. The different social and economic status of African countries led to different approaches to information society development and diverse projects in these countries. Such diversity itself is a lesson. Major lessons that can be extracted from these projects, programmes and initiatives are listed below.
Almost all African governments are now ready to consider the development of ICT policies and programmes of action that assist them better to address socio-economic development challenges. The resistance to embrace ICT has changed tremendously. The governments are willing to invest in information and communication technology programmes that a) meet their development plans and goals b) are part of their efforts to alleviate poverty c) increase the social appropriation of ICTs by the civil society and the communities. Government seems to play a key role in driving the ICT agenda in most countries..
ii. Importance of the High level Leadership
Progressive ICT policies and strategies at national levels demonstrate that political will and leadership are fundamental for translation of the policies to actions. President Chissano and Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi are at the forefront of ICT policy in Mozambique. President Kagame is part and parcel of the process that aims to move Rwanda from agricultural-led to knowledge society. These and a number of other examples show that the ICT policy process could succeed only through strong political leadership as well as institutional support.
iii. The NICI process could be more participatory
Some countries set up broad national consultations for their NICI process. However, there is room for improvement. Indeed, compared to its significance in the development of the information society, the role of the private sector has been too limited so far and should be considerably improved. From the other side, the involvement of the civil society in ICT for development has been uneven. Not all the countries pay significant attention to the civil society participation in the process. A new partnership model that builds on the strengths of government, the private sector and civil society is needed.
iv. Need for learning from experiences of others – best practices
It is important to learn from other’s experience. There is an increasing demand for more documentation and efficient information sharing mechanisms. Indeed, there is a serious lack of documentation on the great deal of activities and successful achievements. It has been unanimously recommended to address this issue as rapidly as possible in order to illustrate the growth of the ICT sector and in particular to know “who is doing what” in ICT in Africa. Bellanet International developed the AI-AIMS database about the activities of the PICTA members (later this data base was merged with the GK-AIMS). However, there is still a need for concerted efforts for information gathering and sharing.
Recently, the Global Knowledge Partnership and the Swiss Cooperation for International Development and the ECA decided to create a knowledge base that addresses this issue[35]. Communication materials such as PICTA Bulletin and iConnect Africa Bulletin are also contributing greatly to better dissemination of information on projects realisation.
Actually all this knowledge material is intended to serve many purposes – to understand what is happening on the ground, share experiences among major actors and learn from the experiences of others both in Africa and other parts of the world. The latter can also be achieved through active participation in digital divide networks such as the Open Knowledge Network, Global Development Gateway and the Digital Divide Network.
v. Transition from ideas and concepts to concrete action plans: it is time now!
Progress in ICT development in the region shows that countries want to move from policy development, ideas and concepts to concrete actions: most of them are ready now. Experiences indicate the need for two types of actions:
· broader and long term actions in a few key areas that bring substantial changes to the society
· small, effective, sustainable programmes that bring catalytic impact on communities and that can also be used for demonstration purposes.
vi. Need for increased attention to sectoral policies and strategies
Social and economic development challenges and resource limitations have increased the need for prioritisation for ICT intervention in key sectors in Africa. The prominent areas in Africa include:
- improving governance and public sector effectiveness through concerted use of ICTs by government and meeting public sector reforms
- meeting the challenges of health systems management, healthy life, HIV/AIDS, health knowledge through increased use of ICTs
- increasing the capacities of small and medium enterprises to benefit from growing electronic business
- improving ICT use in all aspects of education, learning and research with focus on youth, lifelong and distance learning
- harnessing ICTs for improving the situation of agriculture, food security and environment in Africa
vii. Human and institutional capacity must be strengthened
The human and institutional capacity development remains one of the chronic problems in the region. The challenges include:
- the creation of expertise in policy analysis (defining and implementing national policies, participating in global decision making, etc.)
- the creation of expertise in information management, policy and regulatory framework development and enforcement of regulation by institutions
- a better coordination of ICT related programmes at national level in order to avoid the fragmentation that is due to competition among agencies and institutions
- the development of national negotiation skills particularly at the international level
- the establishment of reliable and sustainable institutional capacities resilient to the changes of government and global needs
- the involvement of the African Diaspora
viii. Prioritisation of external assistance
The experience so far also shows that technical and financial assistance is needed at different levels. These include:
- provision of knowledge as to what steps to take in developing inclusive national and sectoral policies
- providing guidance and resources to overall ICT policy formulation and e-strategy development process particularly in translation of policies to actions
- financing the implementation of large and small catalytic programmes and projects
- supporting countries in mobilization of internal and external resources
- maintaining partnerships for sustainable ICT development
- monitoring and evaluation of progress
ix. Increasing regional cooperation and integration
The regional dimension has become significant particularly in the development of infrastructure, harmonization of regulations and mobilisation of resources. The factors that spurred regional cooperation in ICTs include:
- increasing need for economy of scale (one country cannot do it alone)
- need to leverage regional cooperation and integration by harmonizing policies, tariffs and resource plans
- opportunities provided by dynamism in regional economic grouping and policy organs and frameworks such as AU, NEPAD, AISI
- need for common and strong African voice at global decision making to influence global rule of the game on behalf of the communities on the ground
x. More adequate and innovative financing mechanisms are needed
To date there is limited financing mechanism for the huge task of harnessing ICT for development in Africa. Ad hoc projects and programmes were largely unsustainable. Therefore there is a need for better financing mechanisms that take the need of different actors into account. The problem has been addressed several times and now we need to move forward more efficiently. The Government of Senegal (responsible for the infrastructure part of NEPAD) with the support of ECA, organized in Dakar (15-17 April 2002) the NEPAD financing conference. The conference came out with interesting recommendations in the area of ICTs. Bamako 2002 studied the proposal and agreed that some of the major immediate actions that were needed were:
o to increase the public - private partnership
o to streamline ICTs in the national development budget
o to leverage on public resources including radio frequency spectrum
o to enforce a global bit tax for ICTs
o to divert a percentage of military spending to the development of ICT and knowledge
o to swap debt for education, information, communication and knowledge
o to create a universal fund for ICT in Africa through initiatives such as the United Nations ICT Task Force and the follow up on the G8 Dot Force.
The lessons above and on ground-level work by the ECA in the region indicate that governments, partners, the private sector and civil society organizations should focus on selected areas in order to maximize the impact ICT for social transformation. The key steps to ensure that digital opportunities are created to serve better Africa’s people and generate wealth and welfare in the Continent, include:
- developing ICT strategies that are in line with the UN Millennium Development of the countries
- supporting the dynamic transition from strategies to actual implementation of programmes for sustainable development
- increasing the relevance of institutions, policies and regulatory frameworks
- building network of actors, policy makers and those implementing ICT project and programmes at community, national, regional and global levels
- promoting sustainable financing mechanisms for long and short term programmes and projects using innovative strategies.
Finally, there is need for ongoing efficient and light consultation frameworks that bring all African ICT experts, partners and stakeholders together. A reenergized partnership and information sharing platforms - such as that of PICTA, the African Stakeholders Network of the UN ICT TF, GKP, etc. - is vital for building knowledge society strategies that enable Africa to harness ICT for social and economic development, to promote sub-regional and regional integration and increase its participation in global ICT decision making processes. In this context, the UN ICT Task Force and its regional networks could provide an efficient platform for an improved dialogue, both within the regions and among them, at the global level, a better articulation of the challenges of ICT for development and an effective implementation of sustainable programmes.