Giving the Internet an African voice

Expanding African content is as important as widening access

By Lishan Adam*

Although the number of African countries with direct links to the Internet has expanded rapidly in the past few years, connectivity remains beyond the realm of most Africans, many of whom are unable to access even basic communications technology. In response, African governments and international development agencies are emphasizing programmes to broaden access, so that many more users — from businesses to local communities — can harness the information available on the Internet. For example, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Africa Telecom ‘98 Conference, held 4-10 May 1998 in Johannesburg, called for improving cost-effective Internet access through such innovations as multipurpose community centres or kiosks.

Some local observers believe, however, that too much emphasis is being given to developing the technology and channels for dissemination, rather than the actual content. The common response to this concern is usually: "Don't worry about content. Give access to users and the content will follow."

A miniscule contribution

Despite such optimism, experience in Africa shows that access does not guarantee the production and availability of indigenous content. The tremendous potential for sharing knowledge on the Internet — where content is growing by 1.5 mn pages per day — is not being exploited. The information available on the Internet is dominated overwhelmingly by material produced in the US, Europe and Asia, with Africa generating only around 0.4 per cent of global content, according to a July 1998 survey conducted by Network Wizards, a California-based computer firm. And if South Africa is excluded, Africa generates a mere 0.02 per cent of global Internet content.

The picture is slowly but steadily improving, however. Nearly all African countries that are online have some form of locally or internationally hosted Web server, unofficially or officially representing the country with varying degrees of comprehensiveness. And although English-language content initially dominated African Internet content, a recent project of La Francophonie, supported by France and Quebec, has substantially increased the quantity of Web-based information available in French. The project provides Web servers and support to government ministries in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Mauritania and Senegal. The Banque internationale d'information sur les Etats francophones also plans to establish Web servers in Benin, Tunisia, Mauritius and Morocco.

Aside from the growing amount of information supplied by African governments and businesses, an increasing amount of Internet content is also being generated by African universities and their former students now living in Europe and North America. Most African universities now have at least basic e-mail connectivity, while universities in 13 countries have full Internet access. Nearly all African universities have some form of presence on the World Wide Web, hosted locally or elsewhere.

Varied quality, diverse content

Internet content that originates from Africa or relates to the continent varies in quality — ranging from sites such as that maintained by Africa Positive (http://www.africapositive.co.za/), which promotes positive attitudes towards the region, to articles and discussions dominated by personal experiences and perspectives. As Internet content covering a diverse range of topics grows in volume, it is becoming increasingly difficult to categorize by subject area. A large portion of the content can be broadly classified as business information, however.

Many large and small companies in Africa have discovered that the Internet can serve as a global marketing tool. Craftsmen in Uganda, Botswana and Senegal are now making their products available worldwide via electronic commerce, through the UN International Trade Centre's Virtual Handcraft Exhibition Centre.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), another online marketing tool, is being used by large- and small-scale enterprises. According to Dr. Nii Quaynor, Director of National Computing Services (NCS), a leading Ghanaian service provider that runs the local EDI, NCS's experience holds considerable potential in West Africa.

There is no scarcity of news about Africa on the Internet. In addition to updates by mainstream media sources such as Cable News Network and the British Broadcasting Corporation, there is increasingly well-presented news from alternative sources such as InterPress Service and the Pan-African News Agency. In addition, newspapers from 33 countries are now available online, providing direct access to news about a particular country as told by its local media. At the click of a mouse, La Tribune of Algiers, Actualités burkinabè of Ouagadougou, Les Echos of Bamako or the Zimbabwe Independent of Harare can be accessed from anywhere on earth with an Internet connection.

The size of the Web, its rapid growth and constantly changing user needs render many popular Web sites quickly obsolete. Nevertheless, some sites manage to host substantive and regularly updated information on African social and economic development (see table).

More tourism sites

As is the case with all other content relating to Africa, information on travel and tourism is dominated by South Africa. However, an increasing amount of up-to-date travel and tourism information on other African countries is becoming available. For example, in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Tanzania, Uganda, Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Zambia, Kenya, Egypt, The Gambia and Tunisia sites are maintained by government authorities, travel agents and enthusiasts, and various other local sources. One remote eco-tourism resort in South Africa is gaining a global clientele because its Website features multimedia displays of attractions and includes an online reservation system.

One notable gap is African scientific and technological information. The little that exists in this category is mainly devoted to information technology. Finding such content involves tremendous effort. Attempts to build consolidated directories, virtual libraries and gateways on Africa-related science and technology information have not yet borne fruit.

Expanding access

Content development is a two-way process. While enriching the Web with Africa-related information is crucial to the promotion of indigenous content, access to global resources for those residing in Africa is equally important.

Yet the cost of Internet access is beyond the reach of most institutions and individuals. Monthly subscriptions to Internet services range from $10 to $250. Direct leased connections can cost as much as $15,000 a month.

The high cost is exacerbated by the lack of a policy environment that fosters competition, foreign direct investment and private sector participation. Fortunately, a number of institutions such as ITU, the World Bank, the Economic Commission for Africa, and the UN Development Programme are working together to improve the policy environment in Africa. Inadequate cooperation among local actors is another constraint. Although most countries have at least one Internet node with full external connectivity, intra-regional connectivity is not available, with the exception of Southern Africa, Egypt and Tunisia.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle is technical: the limited service bandwidth, which affects the ease and speed of access. Generally bandwidth is more scarce in Africa than in any other part of the world. It is not uncommon to get lines disconnected intermittently and wait long hours before getting connections. It can take half an hour to draw a Web page on a screen.

The private sector, eager to seize opportunities offered by electronic commerce, will increase its presence on the Web in the coming years. But the participation of public institutions and communities will remain marginal unless national, regional and international efforts are expanded. Such efforts should aim to democratize access, improve the infrastructure and create conditions for communities to participate in the development of Internet content. There already are pilot projects in many African countries to develop "telecentres," which seek to provide communication, education and healthcare information, generate income and facilitate the exchange of government documents.

There also should be greater national efforts to train users in Web site development, provide support for the creation and recognition of sites useful for development, promote local content-building service centres, find ways to address the multiplicity of languages used in Africa, and support and train "information brokers," such as librarians.

For the private sector to expand global linkages and accessibility — and thereby contribute to increases in African content — governments must create regulatory, legal and policy frameworks to protect security, privacy and copyright ownership, as well as to encourage competition at affordable prices. Meanwhile, in the public sector, a substantial effort is needed to improve content creation or "publishing." While a wealth of information exists, it is largely inaccessible, disparate, and often unpublished. African content will not grow substantially without building the necessary human capacity, and must begin by taking into account the real needs of local users.

Some popular Web sites on social and economic development in Africa

Nature of site
Web address
Description
Directorywww.woyaa.com/index.html
www.africaonline.com
www.mbendi.co.za 		Comprehensive directories of links to arts, news, business contacts, commercial information and information on education, travel, tourism and more. Best places to start searches on Africa.
Directory www.africances.frA site dedicated to French-speaking Africa.
Newswww.africanews.org/pana/news
www.rapide-pana.com/index.htm		Sites for the Pan-African News Agency in English and French.
Newswww.esperanto.se/kiosk/engindex.htmlLink to online newspapers in Africa. A good site for reading local newspapers.
Electronic journalswww.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/indiv/area/Africa
www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/AS		Columbia University and University of Pennsylvania African studies sites for news and electronic journals.
Connectivity informationwww3.wn.apc.org/africaA good site on African connectivity and links relevant to policy, implementation, projects, views and international organizations and initiatives, such as the African Information Society Initiative.
Environment and development informationwww.ids.ac.uk/eldis/eldis.html Hosted by the Institute for Development Studies at Sussex University, a good site for environment and development issues.
Online discussion on social and economic developmentwww.globalknowledge.org Continuing discussion on issues of harnessing information technology for development; provides many links to interested organizations and individuals.
Field reports and bookswww.idrc.ca
www.idrc.ca/acacia		A good site consisting of documentation on rich field experiences of the International Development Research Centre, including its new "acacia" site on communities and information society in Africa.
NGOs www.wn.apc.org
www.oneworld.org 		Sites that provide numerous links to non-governmental organizations in Africa and the world over.

* Lishan Adam is regional advisor for information and connectivity in the Development Information Services Division of the UN Economic Commission for Africa.

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