Sub-Saharan Africa

Odedra, Mayuri; Bennett, Mark; Goodman, Seymour E.; Lawrie, M.

doi:10.1145/151220.151222

Cited by 109 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…This shows that investments in telecommunication infrastructures and services still require internal spending to absorb and efficiently use the technology (Murshed, 2002). Odedra, Bennett, Goodman and Lawrie (1993) emphasized that African countries need IT skills for economic growth and better standards of living.…”

Section: General Theory Buildingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Impact of ICT Investments on Human Development

Bankole

Shirazi

Brown

2011

E J Info Sys Dev Countries

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In the last two decades, the worldwide information and communication technology (ICT) market has been growing at a rapid rate. This has led to a global net increase in ICT investments and usage. International organizations, ICT vendors and policy makers have been investigating whether such large investments are worthwhile. The results regarding this issue are inconclusive, for this research area is fraught with complexity, and existing empirical work is limited. This study investigates the impact of ICT investments on human development. Of particular interest are the relationships between different dimensions of ICT investment and the components of human development. ICT investments can be thought of as having four dimensions – hardware, software, internal spending and telecommunication investment, while typical human development indicators are standard of living (GDP per capita), education (literacy and school enrolments) and health (life expectancy). If these variables are not modelled correctly, their effect on each other can be either under‐ or overestimated. In this article, the line of enquiry from a study by Kim et al. (2008) is extended to investigate the relationship between the four aspects of ICT investments and the three key components of human development. The empirical analysis shows that the four dimensions of ICT investment have an impact in various ways on the components of human development, and that these impacts are different, in high income, mid income and low income countries. Based on these findings, this study suggests theoretical propositions to explain the impact of ICT investments on human development.

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Section: General Theory Buildingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Impact of ICT Investments on Human Development

Bankole

Shirazi

Brown

2011

E J Info Sys Dev Countries

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“…In a study of SubSaharan nations, Odedra et al (1993) point out that although Africa has spent considerable sums on acquiring information infrastructure, underutilization is rampant. Factors contributing to underutilization range from inadequate infrastructure support prerequisites such as reliable power supply to woefully low computer literacy and unplanned and misdirected investments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Global Investigation of Granger Causality between Information Infrastructure Investment and Service-Sector Growth

Datta

Mbarika

2006

The Information Society

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Over the past two decades, both developed and developing countries have been investing a significant portion of their resources in the creation of an information infrastructure. However, speculation abounds regarding the efficacy of information infrastructure investments, especially when the opportunity cost for investing in information technology (IT) is measurably high among developing nations. This longitudinal study introduces and explores infrastructure development and service-sector growth as key metrics for IT investment success. It also traces the notional evidence of IT infrastructure development as mediating the causal relationship between information infrastructure investments and service-sector growth. Using data from low-income, middle-income, and highincome countries, the mediating and lagged impact of information infrastructure on service-sector growth reveals that information infrastructure development does play a significant role as a mediator. It points out that information infrastructure investments can be a misleading causal antecedent if countries fail to develop their infrastructure. It also provides evidence of a recursive relationship between infrastructure development and service-sector growth. An exploratory time-series analysis across different country categories suggests that information infrastructures must be properly developed to reconcile the paradox. In addition, exploratory tests reveal a distinct divergence between infrastructure investments and infrastructure development among different country tiers.

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“…As the second largest but least computerized continent with a population of over 500 million, Africa was in the past left out of the "global information society" and has been described as the "lost continent" [7].…”

Section: /23mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, although the embrace of ICT has brought several benefits to the continent so that it plays an important part in its process of development, ICT in Africa still suffers a myriad of problems relating to procedures, purpose and most importantly, policy objectives and direction. Odedra, Lawrie, Bennet and Goodman [7] have identified these to include lack of coordination that has resulted in uneven development of Africa's IT sector; poor infrastructure and inadequate IT literacy that has promoted over-dependence on expatriate personnel for many IT solutions ranging from systems analysis, programming, maintenance, consulting for business and for e-governance to the high cost of IT equipment and lack of high speed internet connectivity in many countries. There are also the challenges of vandalization of the little available equipment.…”

Section: /23mentioning

confidence: 99%

Governing the “Digital Shadows”: Public Policy and Information Communication Technology (ICT) Acquisition and Utilization in Africa

Olugbenga¹

2017

OALib

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This paper examines the challenges of appropriating the benefits of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) revolution by African states, against the backdrop of the realities of globalization and the role that ICT plays in global power relations. Built on the foundations of Jurgen Habermas' public sphere, it weaves a conceptual framework around the ideas of a "cyber-square" and "cyberspace policy" to argue for an African perspective to the adoption, acquisition and utilization of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to meet the specific needs of sub-Saharan African countries. It argues that, in spite of the challenges of ICT development in Africa, it is a lifeline that African states should embrace determinedly through purposeful public policy. It argues this deliberately to underscore the importance of purposeful ICT policy making to meet Africa's needs for social and economic revival and the promotion of the numerous national and continental interests that straddle the broad spectrums of the African political, cultural and economic landscapes. Through the use of secondary data, the author gives evidences for these by drawing examples from African countries. The paper recommends a multi-stakeholder approach to ICT policy development that reigns in not only African governments but also other stakeholders in Africa's ICT revolution. This, it argues, will help Africa evolve acceptable, adaptable and beneficial ICT policies capable of galvanizing and sustaining positive development to move Africa to its next stage of development.

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Sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 109 publications

References 1 publication

Investigating the Impact of ICT Investments on Human Development

Investigating the Impact of ICT Investments on Human Development

A Global Investigation of Granger Causality between Information Infrastructure Investment and Service-Sector Growth

Governing the “Digital Shadows”: Public Policy and Information Communication Technology (ICT) Acquisition and Utilization in Africa

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