Cluster III. Good governance: where the strategy aims at developing structures and systems of democratic governance that are participatory, representative, accountable and inclusive and
3.6 African initiative in the ICT for development discourse
To sum up the discussion of global initiatives in ICTs for socio-economic development Kenny (2002) pointed out that ICTs have a role to play in broad-based, cross-sectoral poverty- reduction strategies and universal access policies are being promoted to improve access to ICTs, especially in rural areas of developing countries. UNDP (1999) further asserted that ICTs have the potential to improve the welfare of the poor in a number of ways. These include:
● Opportunities to increase social capital;
● Improved availability of market information;
● Creation of new economic opportunities;
● Improved economic efficiency and competitiveness;
● Better access to health and education facilities;
● More efficient and effective governance. These were also pointed out by Grace et al. (2001) and ILO (2001).
significant economic and cultural activity. The knowledge economy is the economic counterpart of the information society, whereby wealth is created through the economic exploitation of knowledge. It refers to an economy where knowledge is acquired, created, disseminated, and used effectively to enhance economic development (Derek, Chen and Dahlman 2005). Dordick and Wang (1993) explained the information society as the society in which the production, distribution and consumption of knowledge and information are the driving force for change.
One area of priority in the AISI was the improvement of access to ICTs in rural areas, for which telecentres was a recent strategy (AISI 2003). Since then, the telecentre concept has continued to receive attention and support from the international development community.
Among the developing agencies which are active in improving access to ICTs in rural areas include IDRC, UNDP, ITU and the World Bank. These, in return, have resulted in many pilot telecentre projects. As the initial stages of the implementation of the AISI in Africa, over 20 projects were implemented in Ghana, Mozambique, Uganda, Benin, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania (Etta and Parvyn-Wamahiu 2003: 4; Fuchs 1997).
3.6.2 New Partnership for Africa's Development
The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is anchored in the determination of Africans to extricate themselves and the continent from the malaise of underdevelopment and exclusion in a globalising world. NEPAD is premised on African states making commitments to good governance, democracy and human rights, while endeavouring to prevent and resolve situations of conflict and instability on the continent (NEPAD 2005).
NEPAD recognises the pivotal role of ICT in accelerating economic growth and development, particularly in the context of achieving a common market and continental integration. ICTs have the potential to foster intra-regional trade and enhance Africa‟s global competitiveness.
NEPAD is committed to initiatives to raise the necessary resources to address development issues in critical sectors such as infrastructure, education, health, agriculture and ICTs through its NEPAD e-commission (NEPAD 2005).
The e-Africa Commission was established in 2001, with a mandate to manage the structured development of the ICT sector on the African continent, in the context of NEPAD. In terms of ICT development, NEPAD has an e-Africa Commission, which is a NEPAD task team responsible for driving the NEPAD ICT programme. The responsibility of the e-Africa Commission is to accelerate the development of ICT infrastructure and its usage for ICT applications and services. Currently, e-Africa focuses on the following:
e-Policies and strategies;
ICT infrastructure;
Human development (e-school, e-health, e-skills);
Business development and entrepreneurship;
Special programme (women and youth);
Local content;
e-Applications, e-government, e-commerce;
Internet and software development;
Institutional development, capacity building;
Public e-awareness (e-Africa commission 2006).
The Commission is also required to develop broad strategies and a comprehensive action plan for ICT infrastructure and its use for ICT applications and services (e-Africa Commission 2006). NEPAD/Africa e-Commission has a number of projects which are currently operational. Prominent among these is the East Africa Submarine System (EASSy) cable.
3.6.3 The East Africa Submarine System cable
This is one of the most fundamental initiatives of the NEPAD e-Commission in which Tanzania is taking part. The 9,900km EASSy cable will run from Port Sudan in the north to Durban and will complete the fibre loop surrounding Africa. It promises to lower connectivity rates. EASSy will connect over twenty coastal and land-locked countries in east and southern Africa via a high bandwidth, undersea fibre optic cable system and terrestrial backhaul links to the rest of the world.
The aim of the EASSy project is to increase accessibility to information and communication technologies by significantly reducing the current prohibitive cost of telephony and internet connectivity. Consequently, this will boost regional competitiveness and enable Africa to participate more actively in the global economy.
The EASSY cable will be owned and operated by telecommunications operators, while governments and the NEPAD e-Africa Commission will assume a leadership role in pursuing an enabling policy and regulatory framework. The EASSy project is said to have the potential to dramatically improve the communication landscape of Africa and to serve as a catalyst for further private sector development, economic growth and, ultimately, opportunities for the poor. A similar cable, known as SAFE/SAT-3, was constructed to link west and southern African countries to the rest of the world, through Portugal (NEPAD 2006a; NEPAD 2006b).
The major aim of all these international and regional initiatives is to bring ICTs to developing countries, to help these countries bridge the digital divide and hence to participate in the information society. In order to help developing countries to bridge the digital divide these initiatives may play a role as an instrument or as an arena (Archer 1992: 135). In other words:
These initiatives may play a role an as instrument used by its members to achieve certain goals. Member states may use these initiatives as a convenient tool to achieve foreign policy objectives.
The international and regional initiatives may act as an arena or as a meeting place, where members convene to discuss issues and, if possible, come to agreement over such issues. The WSIS conferences, where all the countries of the world were represented to discuss various issues related to ICTs, are a case in point.