Summary

This article, the second chapter in a book entitled Gender and the Information Revolution in Africa, examines the state of the telecommunications sector in Africa from a perspective that is inclusive of social and gender issues. The author argues that ICTs have the potential to improve the lives of women, but that this requires their active participation in the emerging sector. Men's and women's aptitudes and preferences towards technology are different, and this must be recognized during the development ICT tools, policy, and education programmes. This may require the reconceptualization and reorganization of existing knowledge concerning ICT usage.

Key Points

Africa has become increasingly marginalized since the new information economy emerged and globalization spread throughout the world. This is, in large part, because Africa has a poor infrastructure and a shortage of skilled labour. The growth of ICTs and accompanying processes of global economic organization have significantly reduced the continents comparative advantage resulting from low labour costs. There are three reasons behind this shifting advantage. The first is that ICT utilization requires skilled labour. Second, a good percentage of labour-intensive work has been eliminated by ICTs. Third, is that ICTs have made it possible for various work processes to be spread out over the globe, causing job fragmentation. While Asia was quick to realize these trends and avail themselves of international investors, Africa has lagged behind. Nevertheless, ICTs offer many economic and social opportunities and Africa must orientate herself to benefit from these opportunities.

Recent African responses in the telecommunications field have been promising. Long neglected by national governments, a recent wave of telecommunications privatization in various countries throughout Africa has contributed to a boom in infrastructure growth and service availability – primarily in the cellular field. While Africa wide teledensity remains far below 1 line per 100 people, and email usage at less than 1% of the population, the influx of private capital and enterprise has contributed positively and ICT usage is on the rise. Though some progress has been made, little in the way of well-structured national telecommunications policy has been developed, with the uncoordinated efforts of donor agencies leading the way. Policy development and research is especially weak in areas involving women's interactions with ICTs and the majority of work continues on the assumption of gender-neutrality. Yet in reality, men are more likely to have the income necessary to access ICTs and more likely to have higher educations that would predispose them towards such usage. It is thus necessary for women to understand their own information needs and to have opportunities to contribute to the creation of more appropriate policy.

The traditional view of technology as gender neutral has attributed the lower levels of ICT utilization amongst women as a “female problem” rather than as a product of inappropriate design. Nor has there been little consideration given to the pragmatic requirements of a woman's life that necessitates her fulfilling multiple roles. Yet, ICTs do have the potential to empower women and open up a wider choice of opportunities for economic and social advancement. Widespread telephone services, for example, can be powerful tools and can contribute to tangible development outcomes such as reduced migration to cities, improved disaster management, the extension of health services, improved access to market information, and educational enhancements. Key to all of these areas is the provision of gender-sensitive information that serves the differing needs of both men and women.

In support of the important role that ICT investment will play in advancing Africa, the author defends ICT spending by arguing that human development is not linear and that there are opportunities for differing paths and “leap-frogging” to different stages. Once the infrastructure is in place, the continent can begin ton accrue the benefits gained from improvements in efficiency and production. These opportunities will however require the full participation of women and this will necessitate greater efforts to encourage women to work with ICTs and go into the innovative sectors of science and technology. African education systems will have to undergo changes throughout all levels, to ensure that the needed skills base for engagement in the information economy is present. The acquisition of these skills involves the reconceptualization of ICT knowledge and the fixed ascendancy of technological interfaces like programming languages. The formalized, hierarchical organization of technological information is often seen as the source of women's discontent and low utilization. Some successful projects in this area have involved the “humanization” of scientific information by women's groups so as to make it more broadly accessible to developing country audiences. The author feels that African universities have a particularly important role to play in this endeavour and she suggests that a restructuring of the way that such institutions handle knowledge is in order.

To be helpful the information that ICTs convey must satisfy several important criteria. It must be relevant to the needs of users, it must be comprehensible, and it must be easily available. In Africa and throughout many parts of the developing world, these necessities are not always understood as key to effective utilization. African universities, which have the combination of highly skilled personnel with the appropriate contextual background have been slow to take up the challenge of transforming information into knowledge that is useful on a daily basis.

While there has been a flurry of efforts aimed at building connectivity and encouraging ICT use in Africa, the evidence shows that women continue to lag behind in their takeup of the technologies that offer them the greatest potential returns. A restructuring of policy generating models and methods is necessary to counter this imbalance, and to encourage women to grasp onto the myriad of possibilities offered to them by the emerging information revolution.

Source: Eva M. Rathgeber, “Women, Men and ICTs in Africa: Why Gender Is an Issue”, Chapter 2 in Gender and the Information Revolution in Africa (IDRC)

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