From Africa Recovery, Vol.13#4 (December 1999), page 27 (part of special feature on information technology)

Change attitudes, adopt the right strategies, apply will power and the continent will move forward, says Venancio Massingue of Mozambique

Software by Africans for Africa

By Assumpta Acam-Oturu*

Besides people who know how to manage and use information and communication technologies (ICTs), Africa needs people schooled in the technical aspects, says Mr. Venancio Massingue. He is Vice Rector of Mozambique's Eduardo Mondlane University and a leading member of the Africa Information Technology Education Trust, a body established by African IT Exhibitions & Conference (AITEC).

Africa's youth are a particular focus of the Trust, which was set up at the August 1999 African Computing and Telecommunications conference in Cambridge, England. Its projects will give young people academic qualifications and also empower them to create their own jobs based on ICTs. Students who can handle computer networking will be "very important" in spreading the Internet throughout Africa and this means projects that "also get the youth in rural areas involved in ICTs."

Faced with widespread illiteracy and numerous languages in Africa, the Trust envisages two important components in the educational process. "One is to know about the technology itself; the other is to put our own culture inside this technology." Africans must soon be able to put their languages "into those computer systems; otherwise, we'll get English and French, Chinese and Japanese," Mr. Massingue adds.

Within a regulatory environment that encourages network expansion, African countries should focus on wireless-based technology that makes it much easier to reach remote areas. He notes the potential of solar power, adding that radio-based systems that are relatively cheap to run are already transmitting information and making a big impact on communities.

Become 'results oriented'

At the same time, Mr. Massingue challenges fellow Africans to become more "results-oriented instead of making fine speeches. "We have to improve the culture by changing the attitude." When he told people in 1989 that he wanted to establish the Internet in Mozambique, they said it was impossible. By 1992, "people were already receiving e-mails in Mozambique. In 1994, we already had full Internet service." Instead of three months for letters to reach or arrive from Europe and the US, "we could send a letter and get a reply in 15 minutes! This changed people's thinking completely."

He has been encouraging Africans to collaborate in developing appropriate software, but there has been more talk than action. "While you are still thinking about developing software for accounting, a couple of packages come from abroad, and people tell you you're wasting time. If there is no strategy, then yes, you are wasting time."

Mr. Massingue is convinced that African countries can become competitive in software development "because it is all about ideas. We won't invent another transistor, but with the minimal hardware required, we can do a lot."

Computer hardware is still prohibitively expensive but the AITEC Trust is raising funds so that African students can start developing software. "We have people writing small programmes" but not yet the kind of software that will have an impact on the market. India invested a lot in the software side; now it is getting a lot of contracts to develop software. We'll have to be creative and create our own software that will be useful to other people."

However, nothing will move "if we don't challenge ourselves, if we don't have ambition." African countries can bring down computer hardware costs by developing an information technology industry in Africa, he adds, urging them to make investments that "enable us to get access to the technology." Africa has been exporting good soccer players who did not have proper balls when they were young. "They made substitute balls and developed skills. Young people need to get to the same level in terms of information technology. They have to get things they can play with and begin to build interest."

This means properly conceived training programmes and collaborative action at national and regional level. He recalls complaints in 1995 about telephone calls from Maputo to Kampala that went through Portugal to Britain and then to Uganda. "What prevents us from laying fibre optic cable? One country can pay for one segment, another country for the next. Why is it impossible to have a high-speed link between two neighbouring countries? Why do you have to go through Europe just because we have been doing this for 20 or 30 years? We need will power and a strategy to make things change."

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