19^th International CODATA Conference
Category: Economic Development

African Economies and The Need For Improved Information Communication Technologies.

Dr. Kingsley Oise Momodu (komomodu@yahoo.co.uk)
Chairman, CODATA Nigeria, Department of Restorative Dentistry, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

It is not possible for any modern economy to grow or be sustained, without an inbuilt telecommunications and information technology infrastructure. Technological progress is cumulative and information travels fast these days, which helps companies to produce more, better and cheaper goods. If Africa is to be a more prosperous continent, it must have to provide goods and services that people would want to buy. The wireless revolution and the Internet phenomenon have changed the way people live and transact business and have taken centre stage in world affairs. Africa must be part of this positive change.

The lack of proper infrastructure in African countries retards the rapid transfer of technology from the industrialised world. Many new and advanced technologies operate in a computerised environment. Sadly, computers still remain status symbols rather than productivity enhancing tools in Africa. Computerisation and other technical administrative infrastructural components should be considered as a serious challenge. Given the rapid rate of changes occurring in the electronic industries, this phase of planning should avoid the impulse of planning in obsolescence, so focus must be on obtaining state of the art computer systems to alleviate some of the compatibility and upgradability problems.

A typical African country has a GDP of two billion dollars ($2b) equivalent to that of a medium sized town in a rich country.

Digital wireless and mobile communication can help Africa leapfrog into the global village as a respectable continent. Telecommunications is the infrastructure of the new information society. Africa’s challenge is to rapidly grow her telecommunication and information technology as a means to achieve economic freedom for her people. Without a solid telecommunications and information technology infrastructure the continent will not attract the right level of local and foreign investment needed to build her economies.

The challenge to Africa’s leaders is to come up with efficient information communications technology policies that will rapidly build Africa’s capacity to compete effectively with other economies and to stop explaining and defining Africa’s problems in a racialist context.

Access to information and generation of information along with related applications are the fundamentals for human development and poverty elimination.