Global agenda and ICT4D in Africa: Constraints of localizing ‘universal norm’

Ojo, Tokunbo

doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2016.05.002

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Ghana, like many developing countries, has made several attempts to incorporate ICTs into its development agenda. In 1996, during the lead-up to WSIS, the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) was launched by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) as a strategic action plan for ICT development in Africa (Ojo, 2016). However, it was not until 2003, as a result of AISI and WSIS discussions, that Ghana's government made progress in developing a policy document to guide the implementation and use of ICTs.…”

Section: Ict4d and Gender In Ghanamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While strides have been made in some areas, many of the policy aspirations of Ghana and most African countries are far from being realized. Ojo (2016) details the many socio-political and institutional reasons why AISI's goal of digitally connecting all African villages by 2010 was not successful. Alhassan (2004) notes that 'the faith in digital solutions in countries such as Ghana is fundamentally flawed...' (p. 100), as countries often fail to address other pre-existing 'divides' and exclusions, including by gender, that ICTs alone cannot erase (Kwami, 2010).…”

Section: Ict4d and Gender In Ghanamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Social Context in Development Communication: Reflecting on Gender and Information and Communication Technologies for Development in Ghana

Steeves¹,

Kwami

2019

Asia Pacific Media Educator

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This essay, an example of work that builds on Dr. Ascroft’s lessons, reports collaborative research on information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) in Ghana. We highlight two parallel dialogues—on ICT and on gender—that have been advanced globally. New ICTs are prone to the same biases as the older ICTs. Further, the dialogue on ICTs may use the rhetoric of inclusivity; but in practice, women and girls remain at the margins of decision-making and implementation. This research addresses the promise of new ICTs and the need to account for gender roles. We summarize the major events that helped spark global and regional attention to ICT4D, as well as Ghana’s initiatives in relation to these events. We include critiques and initiatives resistant to facets of ICT4D, emphasizing gender critiques.

show abstract

Section: Ict4d and Gender In Ghanamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ict4d and Gender In Ghanamentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Context in Development Communication: Reflecting on Gender and Information and Communication Technologies for Development in Ghana

Steeves¹,

Kwami

2019

Asia Pacific Media Educator

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Liberalisation and competition have transformed the mobile telecommunications industry across Africa. Encouraged by global trends that saw governments reduce their involvement in the economy and open markets to foreign investment and competition (see, for example, Muriu, 2002;Hudson, 2006;Musila & Sigue, 2006;Jobodwana, 2009;Sutherland, 2014;Wanjiku, 2014;Ojo, 2016), governments across Africa have liberalised their telecommunication markets as they sought to address the lack of infrastructure and economic development that was evident across the continent (Jobodwana, 2009;Ojo, 2016;Sutherland, 2014). The shift from an industry characterised by natural monopolies to one that is liberalised and competitive has arguably been a great successthere are now more than 500 million mobile subscribers across Africa (GSMA, 2016).…”

Section: Liberalisation and Competitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impediments to the implementation of universal service funds in Africa – A cross-country comparative analysis

Arakpogun

Wanjiru

Whalley

2017

Telecommunications Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The liberalisation of the telecommunications sector has undoubtedly contributed to the spread and adoption of mobile telephony across Africa but evidence also points to the fact that coverage gaps persist in some locations-mainly rural and remote areas-which are either unserved or underserved. In order to address this problem, governments across Africa have established universal service funds (USF) as their universal service strategy. Nonetheless, various studies have suggested that the problem of limited coverage remains unaddressed due, in part, to the poor implementation of USF. This raises the question as to why USF have failed to address the limited coverage of telecommunication services in Africa? We seek to answer this question by investigating the interplay between market liberalisation and universal service using a multiple case study approach with examples drawn from across the continent. We find that poor policy formulation limits the implementation of an effective USF model in Africa. In addition, inadequate stakeholder engagement, lack of accountability, inaccurate data, undue political influence and the narrow scope of universal service all impinge on the ability of USF to achieve their objectives. We, therefore, propose the need for future research to address these challenges and develop our framework to unravel some of the intractable areas of universal service such as determining what services should fall within the scope of universal service and how to prevent policy redundancy in a fast moving industry such as mobile telecommunications.

show abstract

“…The policy has been running for nearly two decades now. A lot of development has taken place, with some studies also done during the implementation years to influence its implementation (Steeves and Kwami, 2019; Ojo, 2016). Most of these studies were situational and painted the picture of the then-current stage of the policy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The paper measures the gap between what was intended and what has been realised and, based on that, estimates the likely outcome of the entire policy or project. Several ICT4D policies on the continent have hardly achieved their intended purposes (Steeves and Kwami, 2019; Ojo, 2016). This notion is an underlying consideration as we assess Ghana’s policy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ghana’s ICT4AD policy: between policy and reality

Kubuga

Ayoung²,

Bekoe

2021

DPRG

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Nearly at the end of its lifespan, the Ghana ICT4AD policy is in a position for a holistic view, especially through the eyes of the intended beneficiaries. This paper aims to fill that gap. The paper measures the gap between what was intended and what has been realised and, based on that, makes recommendations for stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach The research used the design reality gap analysis approach to numerically examine the deviation or otherwise of the ideals of the Ghana ICT4AD policy from or to the reality on the ground. It required the breaking down of the problem into dimensions and subdimensions and involved interviewing office holders, academics, practitioners and students over a three-year period. The recommendations include a review of the policy before it expires and an explicit designation of an agency responsible for coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the various stages of the policy. Findings The chief finding is that Ghana’s ICT4AD policy might miss the targets totally, or might well be a partial failure unless action is taken to close the design–reality gaps identified by the research. As the policy is almost at the end of its lifespan, recommendations are even more useful when the recommended revision takes place. Research limitations/implications The major limitation of the is that it looks only at the implementation success or failure without a probe into the causal factors and/or the impact on society. Practical implications The policy runs full term at end 2022, with large gaps between the plans of the framers and the reality on the ground. An immediate revision of the policy is most recommended. Originality/value Besides this study, the authors have not come across any such comprehensive study of the Ghana ICT4AD policy, especially with the amount of data now available after two decades. There is a similarity with a Pakistani study, which has been acknowledged in this study, but the two works differ greatly in methodology, context and style.

show abstract

Global agenda and ICT4D in Africa: Constraints of localizing ‘universal norm’

Cited by 12 publications

References 20 publications

Social Context in Development Communication: Reflecting on Gender and Information and Communication Technologies for Development in Ghana

Social Context in Development Communication: Reflecting on Gender and Information and Communication Technologies for Development in Ghana

Impediments to the implementation of universal service funds in Africa – A cross-country comparative analysis

Ghana’s ICT4AD policy: between policy and reality

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About