ICT Sector Performance in Africa: A Review of Seven African Countries

Research ICT Africa network members review the telecommunication sectors of seven African Countries - Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. The country studies in this volume seek to review the performance of the countries telecommunications sector at the national level against their stated policy objectives and strategies. The ultimate aim is to determine which reform strategies are contributing positively to the realisation of development objectives, and which ones appear to be failing.

While there is increasing recognition — in continent-wide initiatives such the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Telecommunication Union (ATU) — of the potential of ICTs to accelerate broad-based growth and sustainable development, the vast majority of African countries lack the financial and human capital, together with the policies and institutions, to harness the potential benefits of the knowledge economy.

Most of the understanding of the information age comes from theory and experiences in the developed world. Africa produces little by way of independent primary research to inform ICT policy formulation and strategy. Unlike other parts of the world committed to participatory policy formulation processes, there are few independent agencies contributing to these processes in the broader public interest on the basis of rigorous applied research. These studies are the first contribution by network members to the realisation of the RIA! vision.

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