AN ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF ICTs TO

ACHIEVING THE MDGs

A Background Paper

by
Professor Clement Dzidonu
President, Accra Institute of Technology (AIT)
www.ait.edu.gh

Paper Commissioned by
The Division for Public Administration and Development Management of the
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)

April 2010
1

ACCRONYMS
ADF
AISI
FDI
ICTs
ICT4D
ICT4AD
IT
MDGs
PDAs
R&D
SMEs
TIGA
UNECA

African Development Forum

African Information Society Initiative
Foreign Direct Investment
Information and Communication Technologies
ICT for Development
ICT for Accelerated Development
Information Technology
Millennium Development Goals
Personal Digital Assistants
Research & Development
Small & Medium Enterprises
Technology in Government in Africa
UN Economic Commission of Africa

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 General Introduction
1.1 The Objectives of the Paper
1.2 The Premise and Rational

4
4
4

2.0 On the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and ICTs

5
2.1 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
5
2.2 Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) as Enablers of Development 7
3.0 The ICT for Development (ICT4D) Process in African Countries:
The Nature and Trend
3.1 Introduction
3.2 An Overview of National ICTAD Policy Development Efforts in some
Selected African Countries
3.3 Summary of the ICT4D Process in African Countries

11
11
11
15

4.0. Exploring the Applications of ICTs Address the MDGs in Africa Countries
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Goal 1 - Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
4.3 Goal 2 - Achieve Universal Primary Education
4.4 Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
4.5 Goals 4,5 and 6 The Health Related MDGs
4.6 Goal 7 - Ensure Environmental Sustainability

17
17
17
21
22
24
27

5.0 Examining the Enabling Conditions and Limiting Factors for

Using ICTs to Achieve the MDGs

30

References

37

1.0GeneralIntroduction

1.1 The Objectives of the Paper

Focusing on African countries, the objective of this paper is to carry-out an analysis of the key
challenges and the uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to promote
socio-economic development, and, in particular, the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) with a specific focus on poverty alleviation, health, education,
gender equality, and environmental sustainability.
It is however important to emphasis that the paper is not about evaluating the performance and
the progress made by African countries towards the realization of the set of targets of the MDGs
but rather on examining a possible link between the deployment and exploitation of ICTs within
the economy and society of African countries and the achievement of these development goals
the MDGs.
In an attempt to establish this link, it is also worth pointing out that the paper does not aim to
establish proven empirical links between ICTs and the achievement of the MDGs, but rather to
illustrate the possible impacts that ICTs could make as an enabling tool for socio-economic
development and by so doing directly or indirectly impact on the achievement of the MDGs.
1.2 The Premise and Rational
The basic underlying premise and rationale of the paper is that: although not a panacea for all
development problems, ICTs serving as powerful tools can, when used appropriately as part of
an overall development strategy can play a key role in the development process. In other words,
the basic analysis and conclusions reached in this paper is based on the assumption that, the use
of ICTs to drive the development process can bring about socio-economic development and by
so doing impact on a number of the MDGs if not all the eight goals.

2.0OntheMillenniumDevelopmentGoals(MDGs)andICTs
The United Nations system made up of its member states and the international community
as a whole has for the past two decades focus its efforts on coming out with strategies and
programs aimed at assisting the people of the worlds poorest countries share in the benefits
of globalization and escape the traps of poverty.
The decision at the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000 to adopt eight
specific Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provides an agreed political benchmark for
measuring the progress of global development. The MDGs adopted as part of the Millennium
Declaration, and

signed by 189 countries, including 147 Heads of State

represent an

unprecedented agreement among developed and developing countries, and as well as

international agencies to work towards a world in which sustaining development and
eliminating poverty would have the highest priority [1]
2.1 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
As illustrated in Table 1 below, the MDGs (and their corresponding targets) cover a broad
range of concerns, namely: poverty and hunger; primary education; gender equality; child
mortality; maternal health; HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; environmental
sustainability; and global partnerships.

The MDGs

The Targets
Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion
of people whose income is less than one dollar a day

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion
of people who suffer from hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Target 3: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere,

boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course
of primary schooling

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower

women

Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and

secondary education, preferably by 2005, and to all levels
of education no later than 2015

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

Target 5: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015,

the under-five mortality rate

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Target 5: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015,

the under-five mortality rate
Target 7: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the
spread of HIV/AIDS
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other
diseases

Target 8: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the

incidence of malaria and other major diseases
Target 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable
development into country policies and programmes and
reverse the loss of environmental resources

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Target 10: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people
without sustainable access to safe drinking water
Target 11: By 2020, to have achieved a significant
improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum
Dwellers
Target 12: Develop further an open, rule-based,
predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial
System
Target 13: Address the Special Needs of the Least
Developed Countries
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for
Development

Target 14: Address the Special Needs of landlocked

countries and small island developing States
Target 15: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems
of developing countries through national and international
measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long
term
Target 16: In co-operation with developing countries,
develop and implement strategies for decent and
productive work for youth
Target 17: In co-operation with pharmaceutical
companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in
developing countries
Target 18: In co-operation with the private sector, make
available the benefits of new technologies, especially
information and communications

Table 1: Millennium Development Goals and Targets

According to [2], the establishment of the MDGs, is driven by not only the urgency of the
concerns, but also the realization that the international community have within its reach
the means, the know-how and the tools to make the goals a reality. -- One such set of tools is
information and communication technologies (ICTs) technologies that can transform
economies and improve socio-economic well-being of nations. ICTs it is argued, crosses all
sectors, bringing increased efficiency and new opportunities to areas from small enterprise
development and international trade, to education and healthcare.

2.2 Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) as Enablers of

Development
There is no doubt that the handling of information to support all types of activities in the
economy, workplaces and homes is increasingly becoming a major sector in most countries.
ICTs are dramatically changing our way of life. Information, knowledge and technology are
increasingly becoming the key drivers for socio-economic development world-wide.
A nations capability and ability to accelerate its socio economic development process and
gain competitive advantage depends very much on the extent to which it can develop, use
and sell, ---- information, knowledge and technology in one form of other.

Box 1: On Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) cuts across a variety of technologies
including: computer, microelectronics and related technologies including microchip and
microprocessor-based technologies; multimedia and other information processing technologies
and systems; telecommunications technologies and infrastructure (fixed line, wireless, satellitebased and mobile infrastructure); and communication network technologies and infrastructure
(including local and wide area communications and computer networks for voice, data and video).
Other technologies that forms part of ICTs include: broadcasting networks and technologies
including radio and TV networks; production-based technologies including those used in
computer-integrated manufacturing and production systems and operations, robotics technologies,
biotechnology-related equipments and systems; and the Internet as a globally-based delivery
platform --- incorporating elements of computers, telecommunications, communications
technologies and networks and other multimedia development and delivery technologies to form
an integrated multimedia transmission and communication delivery infrastructure and platform
with a global reach.

There is now a consensus that in what is increasingly becoming a highly competitive

information-driven world economy, development without ICTs is not possible. These
technologies are serving as key enabler of development of key sectors of the economy. As
illustrated Figure 1, the deployment and exploitation of ICTs can impact on the development
of sectors like: the public sector, agricultural sector, services and industrial sectors and as
well as other social sectors like: education and health.
Fig.1 The Role of ICTs in the Development of Sectors of the Economy

HRD

service
sector

public
sector

agric
sector

private
sector

ICTs

social
sector

industrial
sector

R&D

Box 2: ICTs as an Enabler of Developmental Goals

There is now a mounting evidence that: ICTs can be used to facilitate various aspects of the
socio-economic development process in both developing and developed countries. For example,
research work based on a number of case studies, reported in [3] suggests that ICTs can serve as a
key resource essential for achieving broad-based development goals. The principal lesson being
that although use of the technology is not a goal in itself, it can be used as an enabler of
developmental goals -- and that for ICTs to have impact on development its introduction should
be fully integrated into the process of organizational and societal change and driven by real needs
for economic, social and institutional development.
Some of the areas where the deployment and utilization of ICTs can have a significant impact on
the developmental process of nations include:
Administration and Service Delivery within the Public Sector --- The deployment and
exploitation of ICTs to facilitate government administration and service delivery has the potential
for: improving administrative efficiency and service delivery; enhancing and improving
government responsiveness to citizens; reducing administrative, operational and transaction costs
of governments administrative activities, service delivery functions and operations through the
reduction of operating inefficiencies, redundant spending and unnecessary excessive paperwork;

assisting in the transformation of government into a citizen-centered government and improving

productivity within the government machinery and institutions. The cumulative impact of all these
on the overall developmental process of a given nation can be significant.
Production Activities and Operations --- There is no industrial process which cannot be
programmed using computers. ICTs can be used to support the: scheduling of various production
processes; design of products, simulating products under various conditions; actual production
process using computer-aided and programmable machines & robot systems; the warehousing,
distribution and delivery of the products etc. ICTs have been successfully deployed and exploited
to improve productivity in all types of industrial and production set-ups and has contributed
immensely to enabling a number of industrial countries to gain competitive advantage in ranges
of product areas on the global market.
Agriculture Operations to Improve Productivity Various types of agricultural activities and
operations including the production, processing, packaging and marketing of agriculture products
as well as agriculture-research and extension activities of all kinds can be supported by the
deployment and exploitation of ICTs. These technologies are being deployed to modernize
agricultural operations, systems and processes and as well improve agriculture productivity and
yield in a number of countries
Development of the Private Sector Especially the Service Sector The private sector, -- the
engine of growth in most countries, can be facilitated by the deployment and exploitation of ICTs
in a number of areas. The services sector especially, the banking and financial services subsectors are to a large extent ICT-driven in most developed and developing countries. Also the
rapid growth in the ICT sector and industry in a number of countries is having a major impact on
the development of the private sector in these countries.
Other areas where the deployment and exploitation of ICTs have been making substantial
developmental impact include areas like:
Rural Development --- ICTs can play a major role in the extension of services to the rural
populations. Services like health, education, social services and various types of government
services can be made available to rural peoples through the deployment and exploitation of various
types of ICTs. According to [3], ICTs are being used in India to enhance rural development
programs and improve the delivery of public services through computerization schemes --suggesting that the potential impact of ICTs on development can be enormous, particularly in
terms of improved health, hygiene, nutrition and education
Support Trade and Commerce --- ICTs have been used to achieve global competitiveness in the
area of trade in a number of countries. E-commerce a major growth area forecast to be a multibillion dollar industry is an ICT-driven industry.
Information and communication technologies have also made major developmental impact in area
like:
Education and Training --- ICTs are making it possible to improve access to limited educational
resources to a larger population. It is now possible through the use of ICTs to provide high quality
education at an affordable cost to a wider population.
Good Governance --- The use of ICTs to facilitate electronic government and governance has
been contributing to the process of good governance and the strengthening of democratic

institutions thus facilitating universal participation in the democratic and governance process.
Governments world-wide have recognized the key role that ICTs can play in facilitating
development and bringing government closer to the people. A number of countries in both the
developed and developing world have been putting in place and implementing e-government and
governance strategies and programmes targeted at exploiting the potentials of ICTs to facilitate
government administration and service delivery as well as the governing process through good
governance.
Poverty Alleviation and Wealth Creation: There is increasing evidence that access to ICTs can
have a direct impact on raising living standards and improving the quality of life of the poor. The
indirect impact on poverty alleviation, through growth and productivity, has long been recognized.
ICTs as agents of Wealth Creation and Rapid Economic Growth: There is no doubt that:
countries that are making major progress in the area of wealth creation are those in the fore-front
of developing, deploying and exploiting ICTs within their economy and society. Research in the
USA has concluded that the production and use of ICTs have contributed half or more of the
acceleration in U.S. productivity growth in the second half of the 1990s.
The successful experience of East Asian countries has lent support to an ICT-led development
thesis --- implying that poor countries can adopt leapfrogging strategies. According to [4], ICTs
present a window of opportunity for developing countries to progress from a situation of zero
or limited technology to widespread adoption of sophisticated technologies, without going
through the stages of technological adaptation and learning experienced in developed countries. In
Costa Rica, according to [5], ICTs accounts for 38 percent of exports and contributed to a major
increase in gross national income and in India, software exports have been increasing by over
50 percent per annum since the early 1990s and it has been estimated that by 2010, there will be
2.2 million additional jobs created, and FDI will rise to US$5 billion and that software will
account for 7.5 percent of India's gross domestic product.

The development and exploitation of ICTs in key sectors of the economy of African countries
can in general support and drive the socio-economic development of these countries and in
particular assist them towards the realization of the various MDG targets in the areas of:
employment generation and poverty eradication; promotion of education at various levels of the
educational system; and the provision of health services among others. We examined in the
sections below, a possible link between ICTs and the achievement of these goals and the other
MDGs.

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3.0 The ICT for Development (ICT4D) Process in African Countries:

The Nature and Trend

3.1 Introduction

A number of African countries as part of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) [5] of
the UN Economic Commission of Africa (UNECA), have over the past decade embarked on the
development and the implementation of their ICT for Development (ICT4D) policies and plans.
According to [6] the majority of African countries unlike countries in other regions of the world,
were late-comers to the ICT-for-development scene.
Although a number of these countries have in the 1980s put in place programmes and initiatives
targeted at information technology (IT) deployment within their respective civil and public
services, it was not until after the launch of the AISI initiative in 1996 and in particular after the
African Development Forum (ADF) meeting in 1999 organized by UNECA that most of the
African countries began looking at the broader issue of facilitating their socio-economic
development process through the deployment and exploitation of ICTs.
For most of the African countries, their ICT4D policies and implementation plans were targeted
at a number of focus areas or pillars; the key ones are: human resource development; e-education
(ICTs-in-education), e-health, e-agriculture, e-government, e-commerce, private sector
development, legal and regulatory framework development; ICT infrastructure development,
deployment of ICTs in the communities, facilitating poverty reduction; and as well as on the
development of the ICT sector.

3.2 An Overview of National ICTAD Policy Development Efforts in some Selected African
Countries

The Case of Mauritius

The Government of Mauritius has been active in the promotion of ICTs in every socio-economic
sphere and steering the country towards the information age. In fact, Mauritius in the late 1990s
was one of the first African countries to develop its National Information Technology Strategy
Plan (NITSP) [7] to serve as a comprehensive, dynamic and integrated strategic plan for the
realization of her IT vision. This vision forms an integral part of the overall national vision of
social and economic development for Mauritius. The NITSP was developed as part of the
Government's strategic objectives to accelerate Mauritius transformation into a nation where
ICT will be fully exploited to improve business competitiveness, civil service efficiency and
effectiveness as well as to encourage its diffusion at national level so as to help achieve an
information-based economy.
11

The shared vision of the NITSP is to develop Mauritius into a modern nation, to enhance its
competitiveness in the global market place and to improve the quality of life of the people of
Mauritius. The four key strategies identified to realize the vision were:

To move Mauritius towards an information-based economy

To improve Civil Service efficiency and effectiveness
To improve the education system so as to develop more skilled and trained manpower
To grow the services sector and develop the Freeport

To realize the NITSP vision, the following six objectives were targeted for implementation:

Enable the services sector to grow and develop into a business hub;
Improve effectiveness and efficiency of public services;
Bring the Government closer to the people;
Create a fully IT literate nation;
Use IT to enhance the education system and services; and
Enhance competitiveness of businesses in the global market.

The Case of Rwanda

The Rwandan ICT-led socio-economic development policy and plan development process which
was supported by UNECA within the framework of the AISI began in 1998. The process yielded
four main outputs: namely: the Framework, Policy, Plan and Structures [8]
The policy targeted among other areas: the creation of an enabling environment for the
development of the national information society and economy; implementation of special
policy instruments, and incentive programmes to promote the development of the information
economy; the development of the necessary human resource to support the development of the
countrys information society and economy; the deployment and exploitation of ICTs in the
educational system; and the deployment of ICTs to support the operations of the civil and public
services among others.
The policy and the corresponding plans also addressed issues relating to: facilitating an
investment climate for the mobilization of the necessary financial and technological resources to
support the deployment and exploitation of ICTs within the economy and society; the
development of the nations ICT infrastructure, and its physical infrastructure; facilitating the
role of the private sector in the development and participation in the information economy; the
development of a local ICT industry, the enactment of the necessary cyber laws and legislative
provisions; promotion and supporting of R&D initiatives directed at the development and the
exploitation of the opportunities of the information society and economy and on promoting
universal access to information and communication technologies and systems.
12

The Case of Nigeria

Nigeria in 2000 developed its national information technology (IT) policy, with the vision to
make Nigeria an IT capable country in Africa and a key player in using IT as the engine for
sustainable development and global competitiveness. The Government in its policy document
recognizes IT as a strategic imperative for national development and has resolved to provide
considerable national resources, both financial and otherwise for the realization of the National
IT Vision statement.
The Nigerian IT Policy Framework [9] targeted a number of strategic areas for implementation,
the key ones are: Human Resource Development; Infrastructure Development; Governance;
Research and Development (R&D); Health; Agriculture; Urban and Rural Development; Trade
and Commerce; Fiscal Measures; Government and Private Sector Partnerships; Arts, Culture &
Tourism; National Security and Law Enforcement; Legislation; IT Popularization and
Awareness.
Some of the specific strategies targeted for implementation include:

Establishing a coordinated program for the development of a National, State and Local
information infrastructure backbone
Increasing the telephone line penetration rate by expanding the existing Telecom network
and providing new networks by employing modern technologies in order to minimize the
cost of expansion
Encouraging further deregulating of the Telecom industry with a view to providing
affordable, competitively priced Internet connectivity for a larger community of users
Restructuring the educational system at all levels with a view to developing relevant IT
curricula for the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in order to respond
effectively to the challenges and imagined impact of the information age and in particular
the allocation of IT development fund to education.
Developing government/private sector R&D partnerships through equitable facilities
sharing and by the establishment of pilot schemes in software and hardware development
within/outside designated IT Parks.
Bringing Government to the doorsteps of the people by creating virtual forums and
facilities to strengthen accessibility to government information and facilitating interaction
between the governed and Government leading to transparency, accountability and
strengthening of democracy.

13

The Case of Uganda

Uganda under the auspices of the AISI initiative of UNECA and with support from the UNDP,
initiated its ICT-for-development process in 2000, which led to the development of its ICT
policy document in 2002 [10]. The government as part of this policy, recognises the important
role that ICTs can play in national development and is committed to the championing the
development and the use of ICTs in Uganda
The policy goal is to promote the development and effective utilization of ICTs such that
quantifiable impact is achieved throughout the county. The key objectives of the ICT policy
include to:

Sensitize and create awareness among the general public and all stakeholders about the
role of ICTs in Ugandas development;
Increase the level of ICT functional literacy in all sectors and build human resource
capacity;
Promote and enable the building and establishment of an appropriate infrastructure that
supports ICT development and at the same time meets universal ICT access goals;
Promote fair competition and private investment in the ICT sector with particular
emphasis on development and encouragement of local participation including specific
incentives for investing in ICTs;
Identify and establish innovative financing mechanism that address specific needs of ICT
development; and
Promote the use of ICTs in the stimulation of production, storage, and dissemination of
in-country information and knowledge in both the public and private sector.

The Case of Tanzania

Tanzania has put in place its national ICT policy framework with the vision to transform the
country into information rich, knowledge based society and economy [11]. The mission
identified for the realization of the vision is to: speedily achieve social economic development
of Tanzania through modernizing key sectors of the economy using ICTs and investment in the
ICT sector. The priority areas identified for implementation within the policy framework are:

Education
Human Resource Development
Government
Health
Infrastructure Development
Higher Education and Research
14

Universal Access
ICT leadership

The specific objectives of the Tanzanian ICT Policy framework are to:

Raise the national level of knowledge as to the role and potential of ICTs in the
sustainable development of Tanzania;
Contribute to the eradication of absolute poverty and improve the conditions of life for
Tanzanians;
Provide universal access to information to all citizens in order to improve their level and
performance in education, science and technology, health, culture, entertainment and in
their activities in general;
Contribute to the increase in efficiency and efficacy of the public and private sectors;
Contribute to the effort to make the country a producer and not only a consumer of ICTs;
Create a favorable climate for industry, business and investment in the areas of ICTs;
Ensure that plans and development projects in all sectors have an ICT component;
Contribute to the reduction and gradual elimination of regional imbalances, the
differences between city and countryside, and between the various segments of society in
respect of access to opportunities for development;
Create a favorable environment for cooperation and partnership in ICTs between the
public and private sectors and between all stakeholders at national, regional and
international level; and to
Empower and facilitate the integration of the country in the world economy and in the
Global Information Society.

3.3 Summary of the ICT4D Process in African Countries

A number of the African countries adopted a dual strategic focus in the development of their
respective ICT4D policies. This dual approach is based on the argument that for most underdeveloped African countries, there is the need to use ICTs as a broad-base enabler of their
socio-economic development process as well as putting in place policies and programmes to
develop their ICT sector and industry
For example, a number of them, including Ghana, Rwanda, Nigeria, Malawi, Gambia, Ethiopia,
Zambia among many others directed their respective ICT4D policies at both the development of
their ICT sector (including the ICT industry and services sub-sector) and as well as focusing on
using ICTs as an enabler of broad-base development focusing on other sectors of the economy.
As illustrated in Figure 2, the use of ICTs to facilitate the development of the key sectors of the
economy other than the ICT sector constitutes the main effort of most African countries directed
at using ICTs to among other things address a number of developmental goals like the MDGs.
15

Fig. 2: The Dual Strategy Focus of ICT4D in African Countries

ICT Sector
Development

ICT Industry

ICT Service
sector

ICT infrastructure

strategic
focus

infrastructure
development

R&D

ICT as Enabler of
Broad-base
Development

agric
sector

service
sector

industrial
sector

social
sector

E-Agriculture

public
sector

E-Education

E-Commerce

E-Health

private
sector

E-Security

E-Government

The rationale behind adopting the dual approach is that: it is acknowledged that, the spill-over or
catalytic effect of developing only the ICT sector of the economy will not be enough to
accelerate the socio-economic development of these countries. It is envisaged that the
simultaneous focus of developing the ICT sector and industry while at the same time using ICTs
to drive other sectors of the economy can accelerate the development of these countries faster
and spread the social impact much faster than a single focus on the development of the ICT
sector. In other words the argument being put forward is that: the chances of making progress
towards the achievement of the MGDs though the use of ICTs is much greater with the dual
focus approach than will be case with the single focus approach.
On the whole, although the majority of the African countries did not directly address within their
ICT4D policies the question of the use of ICTs to achieve the MDGs, a number of them
identified within their policy document focus areas or pillars that have relevance to the
achievement of the MDGs. For example, a number of the ICT4D policies reviewed above listed
some of the developmental goals being targeted through the use of ICTs as: poverty reduction
and eradication, provision of health services including primary health care; promotion of
education including primary education, economic development, universal access to technological
resources and services; promotion of gender equality; environmental protection among others.
The assumption is that efforts being made by African countries within their respective ICT4D
processes to facilitate their socio-economic development through ICTs could impact on the
achievement of a number of the MDGs.
16

4.0 . Exploring the Applications of ICTs Address the MDGs in Africa Countries
4.1 Introduction
We examine below in broad terms the possible impact of the use of ICTs on progress
towards the achievement of the MDGs in a selected number of African countries. For our
purpose we shall concentrate of the following group of MDGs:
Broad MDG Area
Poverty Eradication
Education
Gender
Health
Environment

MDGs

Goal 1:
Goal 2:
Goal 3:
Goal 4:
Goal 5:
Goal 6:
Goal 7:

Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Achieve universal primary education
Promote gender equality and empower women
Reduce child mortality
Improve maternal health
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Ensure environmental sustainability

4.2 Goal 1 - Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

Promotion of Economic Growth: The deployment of ICTs to support the development of
various sectors of the economy is having impact on economic growth directly through the growth
of the ICT sector and indirectly through its enabling impact on other sectors of the economy.
Such an ICT-induced growth can positively impact on poverty reduction efforts in both poor
rural and urban communities. For example, the growth of the mobile communications sector in a
number of African countries in recent years has created avenues for poverty reduction through
the creation of jobs for the youth in both the urban and rural areas.
Employment and Job Creation: The use of ICTs within the economy of African countries is
contributing to employment generation in a number of sectors of the economy. This in in-turn is
having impact on poverty alleviation efforts directed at poor rural and urban areas. Growth in
the ICT sector for example is generating employment in that sector, e.g. growth in the mobile
communications sector has generated job opportunities at national and community levels - ICTenabled growth in other sectors like agriculture and other industrial sectors are also contributing
to employment generation which are benefiting among others those from poor households.
The poverty eradication aspects resulting indirectly from the creation of job and employment
opportunities arising from the deployment of ICTs in the economy are worth noting. Households
benefiting from the employment opportunities created by ICTs are able to make choices that
could alleviate their poverty condition. The contribution of ICTs to economic growth in rural
17

areas indirectly creating jobs in traditional sectors, such as farming and fishing can also be cited
as a possible link between the use of ICTs to achieve the MDG like: eradicate extreme poverty
and hunger.
Box 3: The Creation Jobs through of ICT-Enabled Growth
The explosion of the mobile industry in African countries have contributed to the creation of jobs
as per the numerous mobile service booths and communications dotted on pavements and every
street corner in most cities, towns and in fact in villages. Also the expansion of the
telecommunications sector, the explosion of Internet related services in the last couple of years,
did make some contribution to employment and job creation especially in the service sector.
Given that in most African countries, every small neighborhood of about 20 households have
on average 3 to 5 communication centers each employing about 2 people, it is reasonable to
conclude that these centers alone have contributed in no small way to employment and job
creation in the economy in the last couple of years since they started operations. There are
other related ICT based small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) business entities like
Web publishing set-ups, computer service providers, one-man street pavement mobile phone
service providers, Internet caf service providers, FM and community radio stations, mobile
phone services providers and so on who have equally contributed to job creation in the
community all over the country in the last couple of years.

Timely and Improved Access to Information Communication and Knowledge Products and
Resources: The use of ICTs can facilitate access to timely information to trigger rapid responses
by relevant government agencies and other bodies to combat hunger. In a way, access to timely
information by Government agencies can impact on poverty eradication and on combating
hunger. Furthermore ICTs have been used during humanitarian emergencies in African countries
as a critical tool for monitoring and managing the procurement, storage and distribution of
essential food to combat hunger and malnutrition during these emergencies. For example,
emergency teams during the Darfur crisis in the Sudan; the emergencies created by the war in
Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the flood that recently hit a number
of countries in the West African region all made use of ICT resources and tools to assist them in
their work and by so doing improve the effective management of the crisis at hand.
ICTs are also being used in a number of African countries to support and facilitate poverty
monitoring, mapping and assessments through the use of geographic information systems (GISs)
to facilitate timely and informed decision making to either prevent or minimize the impact of
poverty or hunger among vulnerable groups or communities poor.

Prevention of Food Insecurity: A number of African countries are using ICTs to support
their food security efforts through its deployment to support the development and the
18

modernization of the agriculture sector to facilitate: the empowerment of rural farmers;

rationalization of supply chains; improvement in agriculture productivity; facilitating research
and development in the agriculture; promotion of information sharing on agricultural farm
extension technologies, market prices, weather information, etc. These efforts can invariably
impact on poverty alleviation and combating hunger a key MDG.
Also a number of African countries through the support of the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations have for some years been deploying ICT-enabled
food security and early warning systems. These systems have been used by these countries to
provide accurate and timely information regarding areas of food surplus and shortages to
facilitate informed food security decision making process that can lead to averting the incidence
of hunger a phenomenon of food insecurity.

Promotion of Governance: The use of ICTs can promote and facilitate community-based
decision making (governance) by either reducing or eliminating social, economic and
geographical barriers to effective community-based interaction communication and access to
information. For example, the use of ICTs to facilitate access to information is enabling the
poor to actively participate extensively in decision making processes that could impact on their
lives including those that may improve their economic status and by so doing elevate them from
poverty and hunger.
Box 4: The Nakaseke Multipurpose Community Telecentre Project, Uganda
This multi-purpose community ICT center project is designed to provide rural communities
access to ICT resources, such as print, video, CD-ROM, telephone, fax, e-mail and the
internet/web as way of impacting on their socio-economic development outcomes and to improve
the quality of their lives. The project is an example of how communities can be empowered
through ICTs in a way that positively impact on their social and economic lives.
The communities served by the project include a number of primary and secondary schools, a
university and Teachers Training College, hospitals, NGOs, the local administrative council, small
businesses, farmers, womens groups, youth, and the general members of the public. [Source:
The bridges.org IICD Case Study Series on ICT-Enabled Development, www. bridges.org]

Also ICTs are being used in some African countries as part of their ICT4D process to support
and facilitate the deployment of e-government systems that could improve government service
delivery and information provision activities targeted at poverty alleviation. Furthermore ICTs
are being be used by some African governments to strengthen their internal information flows,
accountability and transparency, and procurement of goods and services that could positively
contribute to poverty alleviation.
19

Promoting and Facilitating ICT-driven Private Sector Development: The deployment and
exploitation of ICTs can facilitate the development of both the ICT private sector and other subsectors of the private sector (including, agriculture, health, education, industry and commerce
etc). An ICT-enabled private sector can contribute to addressing the problem of poverty and
hunger in a number or areas including:
Generating jobs and employment given the right environment that will facilitate its development
The bulk of job creation in a number of African countries is taking place in the private sector in
general and in particular in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sub-sector of the economy
Provision of education and training services --- In most African countries, the private sector has
for years been active in pre-university level education and of recent been involved in tertiary
level education
Provision of health services The health delivery sector in a number of African countries has
for years have private sector involvement. Private clinics, pharmacies and other health centers
can been found in most neighborhoods and localities in most African countries. Mission
hospitals are also a common feature of the health delivery sector in most developing countries
Investment in and provide social services --- The private sector in a number of African countries
do provide social services and benefits to their own workers as well as to the public in the form
of donations to schools, hospitals, orphanages etc
Contribution to income distribution and redistribution --- The private sector companies and
organizations do contribute to income distribution and redistribution through the salaries and
bonuses they pay to their low-income workers and as well as through the educational,
scholarship schemes, health insurance schemes that some of them extend to their workers
families and dependants.
Contribution to poverty alleviation. - The bulk of rural employment is agricultural-based;
agriculture is mainly a private sector activity in most African countries. The vast majority of
micro and small enterprises are in the private sector and these provide employment to the
majority of the working population. Income from these avenues goes to pay for school fees,
hospital expenditure, living expenses, food and others all contributing to poverty alleviation.

20

4.3 Goal 2 - Achieve Universal Primary Education

The use of ICTs to facilitate educational delivery at all level of the educational system has been
one of the popular applications of ICTs in a number of countries including those of Africa.
Achieving universal primary education has for some years been a priority educational policy area
and goal in a number of these African countries - and some of them have explore ways that ICTs
can be use to enable them make progress towards this goal. We examine below two broad areas
of initiatives which a number of the African countries are engage in as a way of facilitating
among other things the achievement of this MDG.
Access to Education and Training Resources: A number of African countries including Rwanda,
Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria, Tunisia and many others are implementing
various forms of e-education programs and initiatives using ICTs to improve and widen access to
educational resources in a number of ways including: improved access to learning materials and
resources, widening of access to education through e-learning etc. A number of these initiatives
are contributing to promoting universal primary education in a number of these countries.
Also a number of these countries are deploying ICTs to improve the effectiveness and efficiency
of delivery of education at all level of the educational system especially at primary and
secondary education level.
Taking the case of Rwanda as an illustration of the rapid rate at each African countries are
adopting ICTs to facilitate educational delivery in their schools, it is reported in [12] that in 2000
just one school in the country had a computer. Six years later over half of primary and secondary
schools have been equipped with hardware, over 2,000 teachers have received ICT training, and
all public schools are expected to be connected. The figure for 2005 shows that out of the 400
secondary schools that have been fully equipped, 39 of them have wireless Internet access.
These efforts being taken by Rwanda as is the case in a number of African countries may in the
long-run improve and widen access to primary and secondary education which could translate
into enabling these countries making progress towards achieving the targets set for the MDG 2
Achieve Universal Primary Education.

Widening Access to Education and Reducing Physical and Social Barriers to Education:
Some African countries are using ICTs to create new avenues of access to schooling for the
underserved communities and vulnerable groups. A number of these countries, including: Egypt,
South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Ghana are also deploying ICTs to provide
innovative educational delivery mechanisms and systems to support the provision of education,
especially distance education and non-formal education.
For example, Ethiopia through its SchoolNet project has equipped over 200 of its schools with
computers and set up computer laboratories with connection to the Internet in a number of them
21

to facilitate access to educational resources and learning materials. The deployment and the use
of ICT-based educational delivery and support technologies and resources to complement the
traditional mode of education as step towards reducing physical, geographical and social barriers
to education can also be identified as one area in which these countries are using these
technologies to support education delivery at various level of the educational system.
On the whole, these efforts directed at the use of ICTs to promote and support education in
African countries have the potential to have a positive impact on the achievement MDG goal of
universal primary education in these countries.
Some of the broader issues relating to the extent to which African countries are making progress
towards the achievement of the MDGs in the area of education through the application of ICTs
are examined in detail in an accompanying paper: The Role of ICTs to Achieving the MDGs in
Education: An Analysis of the Case of African Countries.
4.4 Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
In most African communities women usually enjoy fewer rights and resources. These
inequalities it may be argued do limit womens abilities, opportunities, and achievements. The
use of ICTs to facilitate the development process can through appropriate engendering policies
aid in addressing various types and levels of gender inequalities within the society and economy.
Although the deployment and the exploitation of ICTs within the economy and society do offer
enormous potentials for promoting sustainable gender-equitable development, its use without
addressing gender mainstreaming issues can also widen the gender inequality gap between men
and women and as well as boys and girls. Engendering ICT involves identifying and eliminating
gender disparities regarding access to and use of such technology.
Given that ICTs can facilitate the development process of African countries, the lack of access to
the opportunities offered by these technologies by women can further marginalize them from the
mainstream of the nations development process in the emerging information and technological
age. It is therefore imperative that women and the girl child do have access to equal access to
these technologies and their resources within all sectors of the economy, including, education,
health, industrial and the service sectors of the economy.
A number of African countries have put in place ICTs-and-Gender policies aimed at
eliminating gender disparity from all aspects of the nations ICT4D process. For example, Ghana
as part of its ICT for accelerated development (ICT4AD) process has developed a
comprehensive ICT and Gender Implementation Strategy aimed at mainstreaming gender
issues into all the 14 focus areas or pillars of the national ICT4AD Policy. These include areas

22

like: agriculture, education, health, private sector development, human research development,
research and development, decision-making, security and law and order among others.
Box 5: Promoting ICT and Gender Initiatives in Rwanda
Rwandas ICT4D plans incorporate a number of programmes and initiatives aimed at addressing
gender inequalities using ICTs. For example, the Rwanda Ministry of Gender and Women in
Development has been involved in setting up multimedia communication centers in a number of
Women Centers throughout the country to improve access to ICTs for women.
Other initiatives implemented by the Government include an initiative targeted at increasing the
enrolment of women in ICT-related educational and training programme in the Universities and
Colleges; a programme to facilitate the active involvement of women in the ICT service sector
and industry; a public awareness campaign by the Ministry of Gender and Women in
Development aimed at encouraging women to actively get involved in the ICT industry; a
micro-finance and loan scheme to assist women organization and individual women to embark
on ICT service sector/industry related business ventures; an initiative to increase the number of
women in management positions in the ICT Service sector and industry; and a Presidential
Award initiative aimed at organizations or companies that best promote the career advancement
of women in ICTs.

A number of African countries are implementing specific projects and initiatives targeted at the
use of ICTs to empower women in a number of respects. Reported in [13] are a number of case
studies that demonstrate the deployment and the use of ICTs to address gender inequality issues
in a number of African countries.
Examples include: the use of the Internet among women entrepreneurs in the textile sector in
Douala, Cameroun; the use of ICTs as agents of change - the case of grassroots women
entrepreneurs in Uganda; the engagement of rural Ugandan women in mobile pay business - as a
means of economic empowerment; the use of ICTs to fight against gender violence in Morocco;
the use of cell phones by rural northern Nigerian women to meet their communication needs; the
case of empowering women through the use of mobile phones among women fishmongers and
fish processors in Dakar, Senegal; and the use of ICTs (including radio, cell phones, computers
and the Internet) as a tool for empowerment of rural women in Mozambique.
It could be argued that the use of ICTs to address gender inequalities within the ICT4D process
in a number of African countries, could in some way contribute to a number of these countries
making some progress towards the achievement of the MDG Promoting Gender Equality and
the Empowerment of Women.

23

4.5 Goals 4,5 and 6 The Health Related MDGs

Access to Primary Health Care: The use of ICTs to promote and facilitate the delivery of
health services has been recognized by a number of African countries. A number of these
countries have put in place as part of their ICT4D process, ICTs-in-Health (or e-health)
policies and strategies to drive their efforts in this area. Some of these countries include:
Ghana, South Africa, Gambia, Nigeria , Egypt, Tunisia, Rwanda among others.
Box 6: The Objectives of the Ghana e-Health Policy
To improve the health status of the population while focusing efforts on reducing inequalities in
Health
To promote the implementation of telemedicine applications within the health delivery system
To integrate and deploy ICTs in health program delivery with targets for health education,
training and preventive detection
To support the dissemination of preventive information for the general public, and in particular
for HIV/AIDS
To utilize ICTs as a tool for collecting community information; linking health care professionals
and enhancing health administration, remote diagnostics, and distribution of medical supplies
To improve quality of health delivery, improving health-worker-performance and responsiveness
to client needs
To improve the efficiency of health service delivery, improving cost effectiveness and planning,
management and administration.

A number of the e-health efforts in these African countries are targeted at facilitating
improved access to health care facilities and services to poor rural and remote communities
and as well as to those living in poor urban communities. Some of these countries have
implemented a number of pilot and demonstrative e-health and telemedicine systems aimed
at improving and widening access to health services and facilities for their citizens. A
number of these initiatives have demonstrated the use of ICTs to extend to reach of the
limited health services to underserved communities in rural and urban areas in these
countries.

24

Box 7 : The Rwanda TRACnet Project An ICT-in-Health Application

This initiative a finalist of the 2009 TIGA Awards instituted by the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa (UNECA), is a project of the Ministry of Health of Rwanda
(http://www.tracrwanda.org.rw). TRACnet is an ICT-based Health Information System solution
designed to collect, store, retrieve, display, and disseminate critical programme information, drug
distribution, and patient information related to the care and treatment of HIV and AIDS.
The TRACnet system is fully operational and is used by all the 134 health facilities currently
offering Anti-Retroviral Therapy to People living with HIV and AIDS in Rwanda.
[Source: UNECA, 2009 TIGA Awards, www.uneca.org]

Another area of applications of ICTs within the health sector in a number of African
countries relates to the use of these technologies to widen access to health education and
awareness targeting the poor and the economically vulnerable groups within the society.
These efforts can impact on health education and awareness creation efforts targeted at
combating for example HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and as well as on improving
maternal health and reducing child mortality rate in these countries.
Box 8: The Botswana Talk Back TV on HIV/AIDS
One of the innovative applications of ICTs to support health education and awareness is the
Botswana Talk Back TV on HIV/AIDS initiative. This project which was a finalist in the Stockholm
Challenge Award in 2002 is a live interactive television programme that forms part of the Teacher
Capacity Building for HIV/AIDS Prevention in Botswana. According to [14] the aim of the project
is to contribute to breaking down the silence associated with HIV/AIDS in classroom settings,
creating opportunity for relevant behavioural change.
The initiative further aims to improve teachers knowledge and skills on interactive methods and
HIV/AIDS through the use of distance education and ICT. As noted in [14], the TV programme is a
60-minute interactive live broadcast that is repeated twice a week on Botswana Television. Talk
Back allows interactivity between viewers and panelists. This has been greatly enhanced through
SMS call-ins during the live broadcast. -- The use as Skype a free Internet-based telephone system
and MSN Messenger are reported to be used to improve discussion and participation. The project
involved the installation of television sets, VCRs, decoders, and satellite dishes in schools to allow
teachers to participate.

For example, South Africa which is one of the leading countries in Africa deploying e-health
solutions to support health care service delivery to the public at large has implemented a number
of e-health initiatives including: an Electronic Health Records system; e-Health Smart Card
25

system; Cellphone for HIV", involving the use of cell phones for mass messaging on issues
relating to HIV; Electronic TB Register; a pilot Telemedicine project among others.
Box 9: The SatelLife PDA Project, Kenya and Uganda
This e-health project is designed to demonstrate the viability of handheld computers -- Personal
Digital Assistants (PDAs) -- for addressing the digital divide among health professionals working
in Africa. The project aimed at improving health in the world's poorest nations through the
innovative use of ICTs. The focus is on promoting the use ICTs to link health professionals in
developing countries to each other and to reliable sources of information, including by using
geostationary satellites, modem-to-modem telephone links, and the Internet. Some of the African
countries involved in this project include, Uganda, and Kenya [Source: The bridges.org IICD
Case Study Series on ICT-Enabled Development, www. bridges.org]

Box 10: The SMS Technology for TB Treatment Project, South Africa
This is a South African e-health initiative designed for use by TB patients to alert them to take
their medication through the use of SMS, therefore increasing recovery rates of patients and
lessening the financial and physical burden on the public healthcare system. The system uses lowcost and robust technology, such as an open source software operating system, web server, mail
transport agent, applications, and a database to send personalized messages every half an hour to
TB patients, to remind them to take their medication. [Source: The bridges.org IICD Case Study
Series on ICT-Enabled Development, www. bridges.org]

Box 11: Women Healthcare Mobile Unit Project, Egypt

This initiative is one of the finalists of the 2009 TIGA Awards instituted by the United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The project being implemented by
the Egyptian Government (www.mcit.gov.eg) offers a set of telemedicine functionalities
in various regions of Egypt through mobile units connected through satellites to central
health units. The mobile unit brought an added value in the campaign for early detection
of breast cancer.
This initiative is a good example of how ICTs can be used to bridge health service
delivery gaps between urban and rural populations. It delivers a service in cost-effective
manner and has real practical impact to the lives of the people. The project made it
possible to somehow bridge the gap between the big cities and the smaller ones (or rural
areas) since patients from the smaller cities can get quality healthcare without leaving
their cities. [Source: UNECA, 2009 TIGA Awards, www.uneca.org]

26


Box 12; On-Line Information Services Portal for Health Professionals, Mali
This initiative a health information portal is one of the finalists of the 2009 TIGA Awards
instituted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), The initiative being
implemented by the Ministry of Health of Mali (http://www.sante.gov.ml) represents a commendable
effort in bridging the health information gap between the administration, health practitioners and
other stakeholders.
Mali is a huge country with very few specialists in certain domains of medicine and with a very
weak dissemination of information. As a result, projects of this nature have a great impact on using
ICTs for health care services. Based on an Open Source platform, the project did not only make it
possible for health professionals to benefit from real-time information, but also enable them have
access to a collaborative digital work space. [Source: UNECA, 2009 TIGA Awards,

www.uneca.org]

4.6 Goal 7 - Ensure Environmental Sustainability

The close link between environmental sustainability and socio-economic development has made
it necessary for a number of African countries to consider and explore the use of ICTs to address
the environmental sustainability issues within the context of their respective ICT4D process and
policy.
Environmental sustainability relates to a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs
while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also
for future generations. The Brundtland Commission [15] which coined term put it simply as a
development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
Sustainable socio-economic growth
relates to finding the right balance,
ensuring we can continue to improve
the quality of life of all citizens without
harming our environment.
Some see the issue of the use of ICTs
to address environmental protection
and sustainability problem within the
context of what is being described as eenvironment: According to [16], eenvironment is (a) the use and
promotion of ICTs as an instrument for
environmental protection and the
27

sustainable use of natural resources; b) the initiation of actions and implementation of projects
and programmes for sustainable production and consumption and the environmentally safe
disposal and recycling of discarded hardware and components used in ICTs, and; c) the
establishment of monitoring systems, using ICTs, to forecast and monitor the impact of natural
and man-made disasters, particularly in developing countries, LDCs and small economies.
The report identified a number of ways that ICTs can be used to address the management of the
environment and these include the use of ICTs to:
help observe, describe, record and understand the environment (for environmental research
for comparative analysis), including tools to manipulate and visualize environmental
information;
share information and data as well as processing power: data warehouses, clearing houses
and data/information servers; environmental networks and grids, etc.;
facilitate and help coordinate environmental decision-making and management, including
environmental early warning, risk assessment, mitigation and management, etc.;
help reduce and/or mitigate the environmental impact of human activity; and
facilitate learning about the environment.
The illustration above, reproduced from [16] identifies six ICT application categories and the
related to the related management practices as tools for dealing with environmental issues,
particularly from a developing country perspective.
The impacts of ICTs on the environment according to [17] can be direct (i.e. the impacts of ICTs
themselves, such as energy consumption and e-waste), indirect (i.e. the impacts of ICT
applications, such as intelligent transport systems, buildings and smart grids) or third-order and
rebound (i.e. the impacts enabled by the direct or indirect use of ICTs, such as greater use of
more energy efficient transport.
The environment is a large complex system [2]

its management and protection can

contribute to improving human health conditions, sustaining agricultural and other primary
production, and reducing risks of disastrous floods as well as wildfires, mudslides and other
natural disasters. It is argued that the effects of ICTs on sustaining the environment are
multidimensional the key areas were identified as: the use of ICTs as a tool for raising
awareness and for knowledge sharing: the deployment of ICTs for supporting environmental
monitory and associated resource management and risk mitigation; the use of ICT products
and services as a way of promoting and encouraging environmental sustainability activities
(e.g. promoting reduction in resource use and energy saving activities), within other sectors
28

of the economy like agriculture, commercial and the industrial sectors; promoting and
facilitating effective communication between stakeholders (governments, local and
international NGOs, international agencies and people) engaged in environmental protection
and sustainability issues, advocacy.
Box 13: Some ICT-and-Environment Case Studies in African Countries
The following case studies documented in (2) demonstrates the use of ICTs to address
various aspects of the environmental sustainability question in some African countries:
Environmental Information Network (EIN) Project of Ghana: This project launched in
1999 uses ICTs to link the databases of two national environmental agencies the
Environmental Protection Agency and the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana. The
network facilitates access to databases for local and international researchers, government
agencies and other environmental groups. The resources of the EIN make it possible for
users to access information to support among other things: decision-making, intervention
strategies, and awareness campaigns about environmental protection. (Source:
www.bridges.org/iicd_casestudies/ein/index.html)
Global Forest Watch (GFW) Project. This project provides an international data and
mapping network system that facilitates the combining of on-the-ground knowledge with
digital technology to provide accurate information about the world's forests. The system has
a forestry resource monitoring component. African countries involve in the project include:
Cameroon, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Source:
www.globalforestwatch.org)
The Weather/Pest Information Network. This system is used to provide weather data to
forecast pest problems to support the reduction in pesticide use and its subsequent impact
on environmental quality and farming sustainability. The system has a pest management
component. The project involve developing countries like Zimbabwe. (Source:
www.ppathw3.cals.cornell.edu/iipmweb/veg_fruit_IPM.htm)

29

5.0 Examining the Enabling Conditions and Limiting Factors for Using
ICTs to Achieve the MDGs

We examine below some of the factors that could limit the extent to which the deployment and
exploitations of ICTs can contribute to achieving the MDGs in African countries. For each of the
cases considered, we touched on specific lessons learnt as a way of suggesting and making
specific recommendations in respect to exploring the way forward in the area of the use of ICTs
to impact on the achievements of the MDGs.

A number of the ICT Pilot Initiatives in African Countries are not Primarily Directed
at Impacting on the Overall Socio-Economic Development Process and hence will have
limited impact on the achievement of the MDGs

The majority of the ICT projects and initiatives in most Africa countries are typically of smallscale pilot nature and not directly targeted at achieving overall developmental policy goals and
priorities of these countries and for that matter not specifically directed towards the achievement
of the MDGs.
In fact, a number of these projects are often not primarily aimed at impacting on the overall
socio-economic development process of the country but rather on demonstrating the potential of
ICTs to facilitate the delivery of community-based services in area like: health (telemedicine,
health information systems projects); education (schoolNets, computers in school projects):
public information provision and the provision of communication services (communication
centers, multi-purpose community-based tele-centers etc). A number of these projects in most
African countries are donor-driven or funded and in some cases not sustainable beyond the pilot
phase. A number of them are often not scalable and hence their overall impacts on the socioeconomic development process and for that matter on the achievement of the MDGs in these
countries are minimal.
Lessons Learnt and the Way Forward: A key lesson is that: initiatives aimed at the
development, deployment and exploitation of ICTs should as far as possible be regarded as a
means to achieving the much wider developmental goals of the country. In other words, the
development, deployment and exploitation ICTs in the society and economy should not be a goal
in itself, but as a means towards achieving clearly define socio-economic development goals -the achievement of the MDGs could be one such goal.
The argument being put forward is that: for the deployment and exploitation of ICTs to make an
appreciable desirable impact on the socio-economic development process and hence on the
achievement of the MDGs, they will need to be integrated into the overall developmental
programmes of the country. Another key lesson learnt is that: although the implementation of
small scale sectorial and community-based ICT projects and initiatives will be essential to speed
up the process of the deployment and exploitation of ICTs in the society and economy, there is a
30

need for African countries to as far as possible integrate their implementation into the overall
socio-economic development strategies and goals of the country.

The Time-Lag for ICT Initiatives to Impact on Socio-Economic Development Can be

Long

Research evidence suggest that: a significant time lag is necessary for the ICT development,
deployment and exploitation within the society and economy to have a significant impact on the
developmental process. In other words the time-lag for ICT4D efforts to have an appreciable
impact on the socio-economic development of a given country is much longer than have been
originally envisaged. This time lag could span a number of years and may take two or more
decades.
According to [18] a significant time-lag is necessary for the benefits of ICT initiatives and
programmes to accrue possibly spanning many years or decades. The diffusion of ICTs it was
pointed out: must achieve a critical mass in terms of coverage, organizational adaptation and
learning by doing before widespread productivity gains become observable. For example,
according to [19] although India invested heavily in its ICT sector --- achieving an average
growth rate in ICT-related investment of 22% per annum between 1984 and 1990, it took over a
decade for it to begin to see the benefits of such high levels of technological investment in terms
of increasing productivity and the creation of new information-based industries and services.
Taking the case of Ireland, which in the 1ate 1970s began its drive to develop a globally
competitive ICT sector targeting the export market by attracting major international computer
companies to set-up their European headquarters and production base in Ireland, the country only
began to see the results of these efforts from the mid 1990s onwards. In other words, it took
Ireland (a reasonably developed country in the 1970s) close to two decades to become an ICT
for development success story registering high economic growth rate across all key sectors of
the economy including above the ICT sector.
Lessons Learnt and the Way Forward: A key lesson is that: irrespective of the strategic focus of
a given nations ICT4D policies and programmes, it will take much longer than often
anticipated for these policies and programmes to begin to have a significant impact on the socioeconomic development process of the country and for that matter on the achievement of the
MDGs. The majority of the African countries are at the early stages of the deployment of ICTs to
facilitate their development process and as such the level of the diffusion of ICTs within their
economies and societies are yet to reach the critical mass level required for experiencing
socio-economic gains.
The anticipation is that: it could take close to two decades or more before the relevant ICT4D
policies and plans being implemented by these African countries will begin to make any
appreciable impact on the socio-economic development landscape of African countries and as
31

such on the achievement of the MDGs. In other words, major and significant improvements in
the economy of African countries (comparable to what countries like Ireland, India, Singapore
and others are currently achieving) is not likely within 10 to 15 years.
For example, the development of the local ICT industry and a value-added services sector as part
of the process of transforming the economy into a predominately information and knowledgebased economy will take some time and their eventual appreciable impact on economic growth,
employment generation and poverty eradication and on key indicators like the gross national
income per capita will take a much longer time.
The prediction is that: even with the right ICT4D policies and plans and taking the necessary
steps to address the key critical success factors and conditions required for their successful
implementation, it will take most African countries close to 20 years or more for these efforts to
register significant results in socio-economic development terms. In other words although some
African countries have made some process towards the achievement of some of the MDGs
through the implementation of ICTs, significant impact on the MDGs that can be attributed to
ICTs will take some time to register even with the right ICT4D policies and plans.

ICTs can Facilitate Rural Development But Successes of Pilot Initiatives are not
Easily Scaleable

Projects involving the deployment and exploitation of ICTs to support rural development are
being implemented in a number of African countries. Evidence from India suggests that the
potential impact of ICTs on rural development can be enormous, particularly in terms of
improvement in health services, hygiene, nutrition and education. However, according to [19],
the scaling-up of the impact of some of the pilot initiatives often proves elusive for a number of
reasons. For example, some of these pilot initiatives were discovered to have been successful
in large part because of the enthusiasm and or the championship role played by the project
initiators, factors which are sometimes absent when the project moves beyond the pilot stage.
Other factors, which were found to contribute to limiting the scalability of some of these rural
ICT initiatives include limited funding for post pilot stage implementation of the projects and
bureaucratic bottlenecks and inefficiency.
Lessons Learnt and the Way Forward: The lessons that could be drawn from these findings is
that: although rural ICT deployment and exploitation initiatives can be successful and can have
an impact of the social (health, education) and economic outcomes of rural people in African
countries hence on a number of the MDGs, most of these initiatives cannot have an appreciable
impact on accelerating the socio-economic development process of rural communities and
beyond if their success are not replicable and/or scalable.
The scalability of these rural pilot initiatives cannot therefore be taken for granted; in other
words for these initiatives to make appreciable impact on the achievement of the MDGs, specific
32

attentions will need to be given to addressing issue relating to: (i) local and community-level
involvement and ownership of these initiatives for them to survive after the project initiators or
backers have left the scene; (ii) the mobilization of the necessary financial and other resources
required to implement the projects beyond the pilot stage and (iii) addressing administrative and
other bottlenecks that could pose a problem for the implementation of these projects.

For ICTs to have a Significant Impact on the Overall Developmental Process, its
Diffusion within the Economy and Society must Reach a Critical Mass Level

According to research findings documented in [20]: the diffusion of ICTs within the society and
economy must achieve a critical mass level in terms of coverage, institutional adaptation and
learning by doing before widespread developmental gains become achievable and observable
within the society and economy at large. In poor countries, studies have highlighted the extent to
which an enabling environment for successful ICT diffusion is presently lacking. Areas of
deficiency include local IT supply industries, domestic demand/user involvement, and technical
and managerial capabilities.
According to [20], achieving this required critical mass will take much longer in countries that
are at their early stages of technological development and deployment process --- where their
business and public institutions, systems and technology practitioners and decision makers are at
an early stage of learning by doing. In effect the developmental impact of ICT deployment and
diffusion are likely to take much longer in these countries.
The argument being put forward is that: there is a threshold (characterized by a critical mass of
ICT diffusion) beyond which the deployment and exploitation of ICTs could speed up or aid the
socio-economic development process of a given country. In other words, in the absence of this
minimal level of ICT development and diffusion within the economy and society; ICT4D
initiatives will not make any significant appreciable impact on the nations socio-economic
development process. A country will need to achieve a critical mass of ICT diffusion within the
economy and society to be ICT4AD-ready and anything short of achieving this threshold will
make it difficult for the country to register any appreciable improvements in its socio-economic
development process and as such in the achievement of some of the MDGs.
Lessons Learnt and the Way Forward: The enabling environment for successful ICT
diffusion is presently lacking in most African countries. In effect the level of diffusion of ICTs
in these countries, is far less than the critical mass threshold that is required before appreciable
developmental gains are achievable from the deployment and exploitation of these technologies.
In most African countries, areas of deficiency include the less-than-mature nature of local ICT
industry partly due to under-investment in the industry; the mis-match between domestic
demand and supply; lack of critical mass of technical and managerial capabilities to develop,
33

manage and support the implementation and exploitation of these technologies, and the limited
spread of the deployment and exploitation of ICTs within the economy and society to generate
enough critical mass of economic activities that could impact on the overall developmental
process and on the achievement of the MDGs.

On the Distribution of Benefits of the Developmental Impacts of ICTs

While there is a consensus that the effective and efficient use of ICTs can stimulate economic
growth and development, some questions still remain as to the spread of the socio-economic
impact on various sections of the society especially the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. In
other words, the socio-economic development gains resulting from the implementation of
ICT4D policies and plans may not necessary translate into improving the social and economic
outcomes of all sections of the society.
For example, the job creation opportunities arising from transforming the economy through the
deployment and exploitation of ICTs may not be of direct benefit to some sections of the society
without the requisite qualifications for some of these jobs. Also, there is the possibility that the
gains derived from the general improvements in the economy may not automatically flow to
some communities unless steps are taken to specifically address their needs. In other words,
although ICTs could result in wealth creation and to some extent contribute to poverty reduction;
the income redistributive effects of its developmental impacts is not automatic
Lessons Learnt and the Way Forward: The key lesson is that: even though ICTs could advance
the socio-economic development process of African countries, the benefits of that development
may not necessarily spread to all sections of the society. In other words, although it could be
established that ICTs can impact on the development of these countries, efforts will still need to
be made in terms of policies and special initiatives aimed at ensuring and enhancing the possible
distributive effects of the developmental impacts of these technologies. This could be addressed
in two ways: first, special ICT initiatives can be put in place to directly address poverty reduction
within targeted communities and sections within the society and secondly, by taking corrective
measures to mitigate and address specific income distributive issues arising from the
developmental impacts of the deployment and exploitation of ICTs within the economy and
society.
Development, deployment and exploitation of ICTs within the economy and society cannot
contribute to and accelerate the socio-economic development process of African countries
unless some critical success factors and conditions are addresses
According [21], ICTs cannot be a panacea for all socio-economic development problems of a
given nation. --- Social and economic development is dependent on many factors, which should
be addressed through an overall development strategy. Factors such as political stability,
macroeconomic governance, transparency and accountability of national and local
34

administrations, the rule of law, physical infrastructure and basic literacy should also be
addressed in an explicit manner -- and ICT should not be seen as a substitute.
The argument being put forward is that although it has been established that with the right
ICT4D policies African countries can facilitate their development process, and hence make
progress towards the achievement of the MDGs, this could only be achieved provided some
critical success factors and conditions are addressed.

IC T

IC T

D e v e lo p m e n t
D e p lo y m e n t +
E x p lo ita tio n

D e v e lo p m e n t
D e p lo y m e n t +
E x p lo ita tio n

I C T s a lo n e
C annot
D e liv e r

+
C ritic a l S u c c e ss
F a c to r s &
C o n d itio n s (C S F C )

IC T 4 A D

The basic premise is that: the development, deployment and exploitation of ICTs within the
economy and society can contribute to and accelerate the socio-economic development process
of African countries provided some critical success factors and conditions are addressed. In
other words, ICTs per se cannot have an appreciable impact on the developmental process and
hence on the achievement of the MDGs unless their deployment and exploitation within the
society and economy are backed by addressing a number of critical success factors and
conditions. These critical success factors can be classified under the following broad headings:
Enabling Environmental Critical Success Factors

Good Governance and Rule of Law

Functioning Democracy and Democratic Institutions
Prevailing peace, national unity and national security
Sustainable un-interrupted Political Stability
Sub-regional Stability and Peace
Stable Economic Policy Environment
Sound Socio-Economic Development Policy and Priorities Setting Framework
Stable Economic Investment Climate

Leadership and Championship Critical Success Factors

Top-level political leadership commitment and championship for the ICT4D policy and
plan implementation process
35

A core group of dedicated senior level decision makers and professional within the public
and private sector committed to providing leadership and championship to facilitate and
support the ICT4D policy and plan implementation process within their respective
organizations, institutions and business establishments and entities

Organizational and Institutional Level Critical Success Factors

Required and necessary changes in relevant organizational and institutional

structures, processes, and procedures conducive for the effective implementation of
the ICT4D initiatives
Changes in unproductive attitudes to work, duty and service that could hinder the
effective deployment and exploitation of ICTs to improve organizational efficiency,
productivity, activities, operations and service delivery
Motivated, discipline and adequately remunerated work force committed to work and
bringing about the necessary organizational changes conducive for the effective
deployment and exploitation of ICTs within their organizations and institutions.

Facilitating Environment Critical Success Factors

Well-educated and informed society

Modernized and efficient civil and public service
Financial and technological resource availability
Human resource availability in key skill areas
Disciplined, motivated and patriotic citizens led by inspired, dedicated committed and
uncorrupt political, economic and social leadership

The Lessons and the Way Forward: It is clear that deployment and the exploitation of ICTs
within the economy cannot on its own facilitate the development process in African countries
and for that matter its use within the economy and society cannot by itself enable African
countries make substantial progress towards the achievements of the MDGs if some specific
critical success factors like those describe above are not addressed. A key lesson is that African
countries should as part of their efforts to achieve the MDGs through the use of ICTs must take
steps to identify and address those critical success factors that will ensure progress towards
achieving these developmental goals.

36

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