The Way Forward to a people-centred African Information Society

ADF’99

The Way Forward

to a people-centred African Information Society

This in-session report is intended to reflect the overall consensus and synergies reached during ADF’99, as well as the major paths forward for action, broad recommendations and concrete agreements made. The complete report, due for publication in December 1999, will feature full reports of sessions, groups and workshops, including their full sets of detailed recommendations.

1. Overall principles

1.1 The 64,000 people challenge

In 2010, the population of Africa will be 1,150 million, almost half more than in 1996 when the African Information Society Initiative was launched. Over the following four decades, it will almost double again, and Africa will still be the second most populous continent in the world.

It is in that world that Africa will be a full player, culturally, economically, politically and ecologically. It is of that world that all our peoples, women, men and children, will be global citizens just as they will be full citizens of their communities, their nations, their regions and our continent.

In the twenty-first century we shall live in predominately information and knowledge-based societies, which will have achieved our goals of social and economic development, including full education, proper food security, decent health, genuine gender equity and respect for cultural pluralism, and will continue to meet them. Africa will have met, for example, the challenges of tripling educational opportunities, for all generations, of ensuring water supply and of quadrupling food supply. It is to attain and sustain these goals that we are committed to building our African Information Society.

1.2 The inclusive information and communication infrastructure

Rapid change is underway in information and communications technologies (ICTs), notably in the convergence of computer information technology and longer established media such as television and radio. Since any sustainable development effort can only succeed if it is rooted in existing knowledge and best practice, the spread of ICTs will inevitably make use of existing media, and in the African context these will in particular focus upon radio.

The speed of development and convergence in ICTs make more imperative the need to unleash the energies of all African people to shape their own world. We have organised our societies and economies in such a way that we are government, the private commercial and financial sector, the academic and research community, and civil society. The latter ranges from traditional and indigenous organs, through established bodies such as voluntary societies and trade unions, to new and emerging forces such as community-based organisations. We must, more than ever, share our commonalities, and pool our specialities.

We are faced with the need for massive investments, not only financial, but also social and cultural. No one sector has a monopoly of capital, be it social, financial, intellectual or political.

Our approaches and our achievements must be inclusive: our point of departure is the fundamental right to communicate, and to participate in society. This requires equity of access to and use of ICTs. At present, some people are more distant, unacceptably so, than others from the opportunities of ICTs, notably many women, many young people, the disabled and many rural and marginal urban communities.

2. The ways forward

The issues around the establishment and management of the African Information Society form a complex, multi-dimensional web. For example, there can be no sustainable infrastructure without adequate education, or reliable energy supply. There can be no adequate education for all, or sufficient re-distribution of limited energy resources, without widespread use of ICTs. There can be no widespread use of ICTs without an enabling environment which empowers the distant to come closer to opportunity, there can be no enabling environment without optimal governance, and this can only be achieved in an information society.

Where are the key points on the circle, to make the circle virtuous? Resources will come primarily from within Africa, and complemented by support and input from outside (whether in terms, for example, of foreign capital, or diaspora-mobilised know-how). But is it not also a question of re-organising resources and priorities? And what synergies await us, for example, in blending the soaring decentralised networks of women-centred savings and credit funds with the investment needs of emerging e-enterprises, in the framework of rejuvenated financial institutions and approaches?

And how do we approach those points : at what level?

2.1 In the global context, the NICI is the key

The fundament of the African Information Society is the development and consolidation of National Information and Communication Infrastructure policies and plans (NICI), which will be a cornerstone of Africa’s response to the challenges of globalisation. It is the national level which provides the platform for making strategic choices as to the most appropriate modalities for decisions on, for example, regulation, infrastructural priorities and service distribution.

Some strategic activities will be implemented at sub-regional or regional level, or indeed at local level. It is often at the supra-national level that activities should best be implemented, such as several countries sharing access to global gateways. Similarly, regional mechanisms for the exchange, even concertation, of experiences and programmes can provide the most appropriate channel for Africa to play an active part in global fora. But, to be clear, without well-equipped and properly functioning NICIs at the national level, which can also benefit from mutual contacts, there can be no African Information Society. The development of NICIs is an ongoing process by which stakeholder consensus on progress towards the African Information Society can be sustained.

Among the specific measures that would enhance the establishment of NICIs would be a regional mechanism for sharing information at regional and national level on capacity building in NICI development. This could make use of IDRC’s SCAN-ICT initiative.

2.2 Actions to be developed

The various sectors participating in the ADF have taken full advantage of the opportunities provided for the elaboration of further action plans within and between sectors, at various levels. These reflect the depth and sincerity of the commitment of the players at ADF, and they are listed in some detail in the following section.

In addition, there are three key foci on which cooperative programmes and partnerships could unlock great strategic progress, namely in the areas of regulation, financing, education.

2.3 Common approaches and tools

In each area of work, let us be explicit, there must be activities which enable capacity building and skill development among all the stakeholders and the various institutions. There must be systems to monitor, review and, if necessary correct, the extent to which certain commonly agreed goals are actually met within an activity : these must include the integration of women on the basis of full equity, and thus, where necessary, the adaptation of certain activities and practices to allow for this. There is here an on-going, essential role for the research community, who should also be actively engaged in developing and outrolling viable indicators for measuring needs, performance and impact of each activity. Similarly, the skills and knowledge of the diaspora, and civil society bodies, including community-based organisations, in particular in outreach and needs response, must be mobilised.

2.4 Policy and Regulation:

Policies and regulations should create an environment which is conducive to innovation, competition and both inward and local investment. It is important to ensure that such investment meets national developmental needs at all levels and of all sectors. There is a need for strengthening and consolidating regulatory bodies which are inclusive in nature. They must be autonomous of government and operators, and actively involve all stakeholders including consumer and user communities, and balance their diverse interests. Such bodies operate at the national level and will always have national specificities. Cooperation at sub-regional and regional level is an essential part of the policy and regulatory framework.

The recent and present experiences in some sub-regions, such as southern Africa, could provide useful models for replication or emulation. Additionally, the recent emergence of continent-wide bodies for concertation between media regulatory bodies could provide a useful point of reference for any initiatives in the ICT area.

Programmes in this area could provide the platform for ensuring that Africa takes a pro-active stance in advancing its interests in fora such as the WTO, ITU, ICANN and AFRINIC.

2.5 Finance:

The process of investment in leading edge uses and access to ICTs will only be unleashed if new models of finance and financial instruments, such as risk analysis, can be further developed. This is in particular essential in enabling adequate investment in such areas as E-SMEs (such e-commerce in services, TeleCentres and CyberCafé SMEs set up by young entrepreneurs) so that a) financiers can be assured about perceived risks and b) the SMEs remain viable and increasingly accessible to ‘the e-distant’.

This process can be advanced by the establishment of task forces and pilot projects to work on new financial models, and to examine investment models for such emerging initiatives as in education and telecommunications.

Furthermore, global private sector investment in research and development should be mobilised in cooperation with local companies, and local research institutions.

2.6 Education

The need for more widespread education and life-long learning is paramount in development strategies, and ICTs have a key role to play in the delivery of services to the education sector, as well as in direct education such as in distance learning. This includes the applications considered by, for example, SchoolNet and similar initiatives, telecentres, and women’s and youth groups. In particular, emphasis must be given to the special circumstances, needs and demands of specific groups hitherto often excluded from educational opportunities from such as young women.

An African level task force on Distance Education will make significant contributions to this.

3. Session recommendations

The following recommendations are among the principal recommendations made during the Forum’s various sessions, in line with the structure of the programme.

3.1 The Information Economy

Recognise the importance of analysing policies and approaches with regard to globalization and the information economy

To join the information economy, Africa must :

combine the economies of scale with competition;
improve the local skills to cope with the brain drain problem;
encourage sub-regional cooperation with centres of excellence;
establish stable framework for investment; and
communicate input to the globalization process through international channels.

There is a need for significant negotiating capacity in the global fora.

Governments should recognize the need for reliable statistical indicators to facilitate the process of planning the information economy and monitoring impact and performance.
Local content development and material in different languages
Governments should develop clear and integrated strategy and partner with private sector to promote local access
- Global multinational private sector should create partnerships with African SMEs
- There is a need to address lack of awareness and psychological barriers to using e-commerce in Africa, especially SME Sensitization to Diaspora opportunities and for Diaspora awareness raising.

3.2 Governance in Africa

ICTS for improved governance can support four areas : reducing poverty; meeting basic human needs; improving public administration; and enhancing democratisation.

Key challenges to applying ICTs for an improved governance in Africa are: the pervasive illiteracy, the needs for use of appropriate technologies such as radio in rural areas that count for 70% of the African population, the fast moving technology and the inability for institutions to catch up, and the creation and exploitation of local contents.

Establish good communication channels between decision makers and professionals ;

Develop applications that fit priority areas for development : decision support systems, debt management, job creation, agricultural information and knowledge systems, human resource development, health

Design systems for capturing the indigenous knowledge

Promote information and resources sharing among African countries through joint pilot projects, replications of best practices, and the establishment of regional and sub regional ad hoc frameworks;

Develop South-South as well as international partnerships adapted to local context and empower national and local expertise

3.3 Infrastructure

Specific commitment to and initiatives for:

Mobilising local investment for ICTs and networks, from corporations to communities

Capacity building for inclusive and effective policy formulation and regulation

Capacity building and cooperation in African representation in regional and international arenas

Sub regional and regional harmonisation and cooperation, building on good examples

Expansion of existing and new African investment funds for rural and sub-regional development

Sub-regional cooperation on equipment selection, procurement, deployment and related areas.

Greatly enhance Africa’s effective participation and impact in internet governance, at regional and international levels.

3.4 Democratising Access

ICT support for primary and secondary education: school networking and distance learning tools

Find ways to insure that by implementing Internet and ICT projects in schools in urban areas, we shall not be drawing resources from schools in poor urban and rural areas to create a new source of inequality among our people
Maintain a balance between in-service and pre-service teacher training in the use of ICT for the teaching of traditional subjects, rather than focus on teaching ICT for its own sake.
Promotion and protection of indigenous knowledge through ICTs. This would generate content and protect IPR (Intellectual Property Rights).
Building different capacities such as information brokers, women’s groups, the disabled, youth and others to broaden access
Integrate old and new technologies, facilitate expression of our identities.
Regarding community-centred applications, measures should be taken at the level of bodies which facilitate the cooperative model
Given the importance of telecentres within strategies for ICT distribution, methodologies must be developed for selecting location of telecentres
The development of Web page creation and design schools, providing basis for services exported to developed countries.

3.5 Youth

On-line youth forum collaboration

Development of African Youth Action Plan through National Youth Forums

South-South collaboration

African content development

3.6 Gender

ICTs are implemented in a context of gender inequality. For ICTs to be an empowering tool for development, it is essential that :

women participate effectively in ICT decision-making processes, including NICIs;

ICTs applications, products and services are designed to meet the specific needs of African women;

ICTs are used to strengthen women’s entrepreneurship

women entrepreneurs actively engage the information economy;

young women are educated and trained in the fields of sciences and technology;

ICTs are used in enhancing African women’s impressive, existing, capacity to speak out and support one another; mechanisms are established to guarantee gender equity in ICT planning, projects and programmes;

appropriate research on the impact of ICTs on women, and their struggle for equality, take place.

3.7 Diaspora

African governments to send a strong message welcoming the participation and support of the diaspora in meeting strategic goals by creating an enabling environment and incentives for investment and trade

Create a virtual forum mediated by ICTs of African experts in the diaspora to advice African decision makers

African governments to communicate policy interests to supporters and friends mobilising support in such places as the United States

Explore the modalities of using diaspora expertise to support Africa’s interests in global fora such as ITU, WTO and ICANN

3.8 Think Tanks

Develop institutional capacity for training policymakers, analysts and researchers on the role and use of ICTs in development, and deliver this training nationally and regionally.

Develop, at the regional level, methodologies for impact assessment of national policies relating to ICTs, and other policy issues, with a view to promoting transparency and accountability in governance and regional cooperation.

3.9 Private Sector

Maintain a Website, knowledge management portal, multiple archived mailing lists, Web-based collaborative tools to promote African private sector collaboration

Promote on-going dialogue and debate within the African private sector and the global private sector in order to enhance Africa’s effectiveness in global fora

The ADF should commit to set targets for creating employment in the information economy, focusing on intangible goods and services

Establish new instruments to support the capital needs of the African private sector, including new venture capital funds and the restructuring of available financing from the regional and international financial institutions

Develop mechanisms that enable private sector contribution to the NICI planning process including a focus on the legal and regulatory framework required for the information economy

Redefine the knowledge, education and training required for the information economy

4. Initiatives emerging from the ADF process

Schoolnet Africa

A working group has been established to move forward the implementation of Schoolnet Africa, a continent wide initiative aimed at an African generation of critical thinkers who will play a major role in the global information society. The working group agreed to meet within 6 months to review a concrete programme of action.

Biz2BizNet

A group of 15 representatives of companies, business associations, and chambers of commerce have agreed to launch a Biz2Biz network initiative which commits itself to advancing the interests of Micro and Small Enterprises in Africa.

Beijing+5 Women’s Networking Activities

An electronic discussion forum has been formed to focus on the impact of ICTs on women in Africa (to be launched at the 6^th African Regional Conference on Women in Addis in November.)

Civil Society ICT Network Initiative

Over 40 non-governmental and community based organisations made a firm commitment to set up a civil society network in ICT. This network will be dedicated to exchanging information, building capacity for policy understanding and enhancing the effective use of ICTs for development and empowerment.

Telecentre Network

People from 6 African countries agreed to build a network of telecentre operators and supporters to develop a manual, computer recycling strategies, identifying ecommerce opportunities at community level, improving services for disabled people and sharing evaluation methodologies and outcomes.

Diaspora

Diaspora Database

The diaspora group will create a database of diaspora groups already active and working for Africa’s development as a means to linking needs to sources of support.

Diaspora, ICTs & Development in Africa

The diaspora group will oversee: the production of a special journal edition devoted to the various ways that the diaspora can harness ICTs to promote Africa’s development; an edited book on the same theme; and an online journal.

Mobilising Intellectual Capital

The group will also develop a distance learning system that intellectualises indigenous knowledge and get it to people in rural parts of Africa.

Linking Diaspora with Africa via Telecentres

The diaspora group will initiate a project to link diaspora groups with their communities in Africa using multipurpose telecentres.

Malawi ADF National Plan of Action

The Vice President of Malawi, RT. Honorable Justin Malewezi, has decided to form a Committee, from among the delegates of his country, to integrate the fundamental issues raised at this conference into a national plan of action. This Committee includes government, the private sector and think tanks.

African Distance Learning Programme

A task force for the African Distance Learning Programme (ADLP) has been convened. Provisionally the task force will include participation by Egypt, South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia and other interested countries. The programme aims at using ICTs for the provision of distance learning in Africa. The group recommends the drafting of a conceptual framework for the ADLP for completion by mid December 1999. This will include digital systems design, content design, communication and networking and local training an support facilities.

Gaia: Global Access Information Agency

This project defined at ADF will reduce the price of information age services for end users in Africa. It is based on: recycling computers from developed countries; the development and use of ‘copy left’/free software; and the training and the connection of end users. The initiative will be promoted by a coalition of ADF participants from several countries who are coming together to implement the initiative.

Addis Ababa, 28 October 1999