An African Pioneer Comes of Age: Evolution of Information and Communication Technologies in Uganda

Abstract

The Internet story in Uganda dates back to April 1993 with associations to a Fidonet node at Makerere University, the largest institution of higher education in the country. E-mail services in private companies became accessible in August 1994, making Uganda one of the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to gain full Internet connection. This paper presents an overview of developments in the Internet sector since then. The Global diffusion of the Internet (GDI) framework is used to assess the country's Internet diffusion. The framework provides an overview of the state of the Internet while identifying specific ways in which the Internet has been used in the war-torn northern region of Uganda. A case study of the efforts of two nongovernmental organizations to provide Internet connectivity in Internally Displaced Persons camps demonstrates the point that the Internet can serve as a useful tool for giving a "voice" to people in war zones in a process that can potentially reduce internal conflicts.

ICT Integration in Nigeria

“…From available literature some of the socio-cultural factors that contribute to this fact include, illiteracy, corruption, lack of basic infrastructures like electricity, gender discrimination, and poverty. (Raitt, 2005;Akpan-Obong, 2009;Idowu, Ogunbodede, & Idowu, 2003).…”