SUNS #4293 Friday 2 October 1998

Lusaka, Oct 1 (PANOS/Aida Opoku-Mensah) - What's new about knowledge? After all, it has always been central to the development of all societies, including Africa's.

What is new is the fact that information today can be moved around very quickly. And this has presented all societies with challenges and opportunities.

People's access to information and the level an quality of infrastructure available to them will define - to an extent - how well societies use and adapt the increased knowledge and information.

The success of Southern African countries in strengthening their national information infrastructures will be critical in determining how well people exploit knowledge.

New communications technologies hold the promise of helping to increase agricultural production, deliver better health and education services, and provide more effective and participatory
governance.

That's all well and good. But just how is Africa going to get there?

Money is scarce for economies crippled by external debt. There is the need to spend on health and education. Infrastructure equipment is scarce and, when available, expensive. Sometimes it is plain
inappropriate.

Many countries are also hampered by the lack of transparency and accountability in their modernisation drive.

On top of all this is the lackadaisical attitude of the region's political actors, most of whom do not yet have in place any of the policies or strategies needed to tackle the communication problems.

With the exception of South Africa, countries have neither invested very much in their information infrastructures, nor created an environment for the private sector to flourish in.

Instead, it has been typically left to international organisations and local NGOs to initiate early efforts. These efforts include connecting Africa to the Internet with financial assistance from
external donors.

And some of these NGO efforts are being under-cut, by subsidised, under-priced commercial internet providers and networks.

As it is, possessing the weakest information infrastructure in the world, African telecommunication is not a lucrative option for many outside investors.

Their ranks include the World Bank. It has brought out a report on Knowledge and Development this month and has been involved in the sector for many years. Yet, loans made to the telecommunications sector amount to only 2-4 percent of all Bank lending in Africa.

All this is not to say nothing noteworthy has happened. The process of modernising basic telecommunications systems has begun and there remains plenty of room for adapting innovative technologies to suit the region's needs. Rural 'telecentres' - kiosks that offer everything from computers to telephones and email services - in South Africa and Uganda are examples of such innovation.

At the same time, the sobering fact remains that Southern Africa - in common with other developing regions - needs to integrate very quickly with the newly-liberalised and rapidly-modernising
international telecommunications environment.

South African minister for posts and telecommunications Jay Naidoo recently remarked that, "African leadership must confront a major indictment against us. Two years from the next millennium there are 700 million people on the continent and only 12 million have access
to a telephone, five million in South Africa alone.

"A key policy requirement is the achievement of a national communications infrastructure, essential for social and economic activity. This is important in a wold where reliable and speedy communication is vital to the success of rapidly globalising trade, industry and services," Naidoo added.

This challenge needs to be met: Southern Africa may soon find yet another external conditionality piled on top of the many already imposed on their fragile economies.

Countries seeking international loans in the future will not only need to demonstrate their record of good governance, economic liberalisation, privatisation and human rights but also be able to
show a pretty good information infrastructure.