News & Views
SA leading Africa in eReadiness
 It
is currently both the best time and the most challenging time
for Africa. So says Dr. Adesina Iluyemi of the NEPAD council in
presenting the big picture of Africa’s eReadiness.
Iluyemi outlined the purpose of NEPAD and its activities, and
clarified how the digital divide has affected the African
continent.
“The digital divide is the lack of access to internet, hardware,
software, networks, ICT skills, basic education and
opportunities,” he said. “eReadiness is the measure of a
country’s ability to leverage digital channels and some
countries in Africa are better placed to do so.”
Iluyemi listed the ‘five Ps’ of eReadiness opportunities for
socio-economic development. It is about people, poverty,
product, process and policy. He also explained that for each
opportunity there was also a challenge.
“Poverty for example, offers the opportunity for economic
empowerment and growth, but at the same time it presents a
challenge in terms of large rural populations and low income per
capita.”
Iluyemi said that Mauritius and South Africa have the highest
levels of e-readiness in Africa in terms of mobile and broadband
infrastructure, and that government leadership, visions and
policies are major drivers. Progress is also being made in the
area of affordable devices and networks, and 20 ICT projects
totaling USD $50 billion are under way.
Professor Tim Waema from the University of Nairobi confirmed
Iluyemi’s presentation. with an overview of countries and their
rank in terms of e-readiness. Once again, South Africa is ahead
of the rest of Africa, although still lagging behind the
developed world.
“In all cases, the success of the ICT projects can be determined
by the richness of the context,” said Waema. He listed a number
of ‘enabling’ contexts that included the existence of a
governance policy framework and recognition that ICT is a
strategic resource. However, Waema said one of the main
challenges was inadequate resource allocation, followed by the
unaffordability of ICT.
“We are still very dependent on external consultants and
contractors,” he said, “and technical quality is not yet
satisfactory.” He said that this had mixed results on the
effects of ICT on good governance.
Waema recommended roadmap for e-readiness in Africa. The
presentation highlighted the development of an e-governance
strategic direction which was aligned to the wider governance
programme, good outcome indicators for projects, and ensuring
the participation of policy makers and citizens in all matters.
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