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Information and communications technologies (ICTs) for Africa's development
2006
Matthew Chetty
ICT and human development - the indisputable link
Earlier this year, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published the Human Development Report 2003 which provides an indication of progress towards meeting the internationally agreed upon Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The report revealed that, at current rates, Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to meet most MDGs sometime between 2100 and 2200 as opposed to the targeted 2015. With regard to the goals relating to poverty and sanitation, there has actually been a reversal indicating that the situation is in fact worsening.
As this bleak picture unfolds, a greater emphasis is being placed on harnessing ICTs to leapfrog traditional stages of development and uplift Africa onto the global economic scene. Indeed, mounting empirical evidence does lend support to the argument that ICTs are a powerful tool in the quest for Africa's development. The strong correlation between ICT access and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita (as illustrated in Figure I) is undeniable even for African countries.
There is still insufficient evidence to define the nature of the causal relationship, and it is indeed true that ICT can be a cause, a consequence and a manifestation of economic growth. It is therefore important to be wary of the temptation to romanticise ICT as a panacea for the developing world's problems. It is much more prudent to realise that ICTs are merely tools; and no single technology tool in isolation can solve the problem of poverty which has multiple causes and is complex and multidimensional.
Keywords: ICT, Africa
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