Several countries in Africa have formulated national ICT policies (Adam & Gillwald, 2007; Etta & Elder, 2005; Metfula, 2013). The idea to develop public ICT policies originated in 1993 when the first National Information Infrastructure (NII) was created in the United States of America (USA) (Miller, 2002; Adam & Gillwald, 2007). The NII initiative saw the birth of national and regional information society initiatives globally by the mid-1990s. In Africa, the AISI was set up in 1996 with the support of UNECA together with international organisations such as UNESCO, IDRC, the ITU and the World Bank (Olatokun, 2008; Yusuf, 2005).
2.6.1 ICT policies in Africa
Following the establishment of the NII in the United States (US), a number of national and regional information society initiatives were launched across the globe. Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC) was subsequently created and charged with the role of overseeing the setting up of all regional initiatives including the AISI (Adam & Gillwald, 2007). Bilateral and multilateral donors played a role in advising countries to formulate national ICT policies specifically those from the developing world as a way of joining the information society (Chiumbu, 2008). Thus a number of countries in Africa started formulating national ICT policies (Adam & Gillwald, 2007; Chiumbu, 2008).
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The AISI was created with assistance from UNECA (Adam & Gillwald, 2007; Chiumbu, 2008; Dzidonu, 2002; Metfula, 2013). The AISI played a role in the development of NICI plans and ICT policies in Africa (Olatokun, 2008). Consequently, the NICI developed a policy framework and implementation plan, which was later adopted as a blueprint by 56% (27 of the 48 countries) of countries on the continent in developing national ICT policies (Adam & Gillwald, 2007). Nearly 27% (13 of the 48 countries) of the countries followed an incremental approach to policy formulation while an estimated 17% (8 of the 48 countries) had not yet formulated ICT policies by 2006 (Adam & Gillwald, 2007). The incremental approach entailed formulating ICT policy focusing on vertical dimensions of societal functions such as education, health and agriculture (Adam, 2008).
Table 2.10: Distribution of access (ITU, 2016)
It is shown that the provision of universal and affordable access to ICTs is a policy issue (Adam, 2008). However, despite most countries in Africa formulating national ICT policies, ITU data (see Table 2.10), for instance, show that about 75% of the population in Africa still did not have access to the internet in 2016 (ITU, ITU, 2016). This appears to suggest that the policies are not achieving their intended outcomes.
Some countries in Africa face challenges in the realisation of policy objectives. For example, implementation of the national ICT policy objectives in Kenya was beset by challenges such as (Odongo, 2012):
i. no comprehensive policy and regulatory framework; ii. poor infrastructure;
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Similarly, Ghana experienced a number of challenges with its first version of the national ICT policy, which are that the country has (Odongo, 2012):
i. a relatively high population growth;
ii. about 60% young people and 5% over 65 years of age; iii. illiteracy levels close to 40%;
iv. nearly 40% of population below poverty line.
2.6.2 African Information Society Initiative
In May 1995, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Conferences of Ministers’ meeting comprising 53 African Ministers for Social and Economic Development and Planning (SEDP) appointed a High Level Working Group (HLWG) on ICTs to fast track socioeconomic development of Africa and its people (Ajayi, 2002; Chiumbu, 2008; Olatokun, 2008). The HLWG, which came up with an action framework that later came to be known as the AISI, was made up of African Technical experts that were charged with the role of drafting the action framework to utilise ICTs in African countries (Ajayi, 2002). The AISI was subsequently approved by all the Africa’s Planning Ministers at their subsequent meeting in May 1996 (Chiumbu, 2008). Thus, the AISI action framework was about (Ajayi, 2002):
i. Formulation the NICI plan was based on individual country development priorities; ii. Sharing of resources among African countries;
iii. Coordinal relationships between Africa and international agencies including the private sector.
Furthermore, the AISI was created to “enable African leaders, decision makers and planners to position Africa in the world’s rapidly expanding global economic system and accelerate the pursuit of Africa’s development goals, which include” (Ajayi, 2002, p.5):
i. “Improvement of the quality of life for every African”; ii. “Economic integration in the region”;
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2.6.3 National Information and Communication Infrastructure
With time, the AISI in turn created a framework for the development of national ICT plans in African countries through the establishment of the NICI (Adam & Gillwald, 2007; Miller, 2002 Njihia & Merali, 201). The NICI became a framework for developing national ICT policies in African countries and it is described as a plan that was created “to facilitate the digital inclusion of Africa and integration of the continent into the globalisation process and an exercise aiming at developing national ICT policies, strategies and plans which serve as roadmap for the countries’ participation in the knowledge economy” (Chiumbu, 2008, p.10). This means that from the onset, the NICI plans “have addressed the governance realm—a sort of social contract concerned with the shared expectations of government and communities” (Lance & Bassolé, 2006). One of the objectives or themes within the NICI plan is e-government, which is the basis for the policies that most African countries adopted.
The process of developing the NICI policies and plans was sponsored by a number of external actors such as UNECA, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the IDRC of Canada (Ajayi, 2002; Chiumbu, 2008). Other scholars show that external actors such as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), UNESCO and the World Bank supplemented UNECA’s efforts in developing NICI activities in African countries (Adam & Gillwald, 2007; Ajayi, 2002; Chiumbu, 2008).
The NICI is a framework of processes, involving (Ajayi, 2002, p.6): i. “Needs assessment”;
ii. “High level policy sensitisation workshops”; iii. “Development of NICI plans”;
iv. “Identification and selection of programmes, projects and initiatives”; v. “Preparation of policy”.
The NICI approach is described as consisting of four key outputs, which are: framework, policy, plan and structures (Lance & Bassolé, 2006). A scholar describes the framework as a platform for setting the agenda that guides the development of the policy, plan and structures and the policy as a document that aims at providing details of the key commitments of government (Dzidonu, 2002; Lance & Bassolé, 2006). The plan is an outline of the details of the programmes and initiatives for implementing the policy commitments while the structures
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deal with institutional arrangements for the development and implementation of the public ICT policies and plans (Dzidonu, 2002).
The African countries that followed this framework were expected to set up national teams that would be charged with development of NICI policies, plans and strategies including other arrangements for policy implementation (Ajayi, 2002; Lance & Bassolé, 2006).
Although most African countries have formulated national ICT policies, there is evidence that the failure rate of ICT projects such as e-government and health IS is high (Dodson, Sterling, & Bennett, 2012; Heeks, 2006). Similarly, the digital divide ratings between Africa and the rest of the world including other developing countries and sub-continents remain wide (Adam & Gillwald, 2007; Avgerou, 200; Gillwald, 2010; ITU, 2016; Mansell, 2008; Njihia & Merali, 2013; Odongo, 2012). Other studies show that African countries have not been very effective in the attainment of ICT policy outcomes (Adam & Gillwald, 2007; Metfula, 2013).