Donor Intervention

This summary is part of a research project carried out between March and October 2006 in support of the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), one of The Communication Initiative (The CI)'s partners.

Authors Christine Hjelt and Jarrod Bailey developed a case study with three main objectives. The first was to assess Leland Initiative (Leland) activities in Uganda and identify impacts of their work. The second was to identify the realisation of the strategic objectives of Leland, and thirdly, to analyse Leland's implementation process. Undertaken in Uganda between the 6th and 18th of October 2002, the task of the authors was to look at the interventions within a development context in Uganda and within the dynamics of a Mission programme that used United States Agency for International Development (USAID) donor funding. ICT specialists from the Carana Corporation have already prepared a report for USAID Uganda to help guide the future direction of their ICT interventions. This case study focuses on the implementation dynamics as much as the specific outcomes.

The Leland Initiative sought to bring the benefits of the global information revolution to the people of Africa through the internet and other infrastructures. This approach was seen as a way for Africa to obtain resources and efficiencies essential for sustainable development. The Leland initiative was managed by the USAID Africa Bureau Office of Sustainable Development who had access to US policy, administration services, educational departments and science and computer contractors.

According to this case study Leland was designed to achieve three main objectives in Uganda:

• Create an enabling policy environment - affordable prices, delivery of internet services, open access to information.
• Create a sustainable supply of internet services - identifying infrastructure and service providers, countrywide access, advocates and support organisations.
• Enhance internet use for sustainable development - sector and international partnerships, increased training and capacity.

The initiative was ready to undertake high risk/high gain activities to promote dynamic results but often had to heed local interests threatened by the new innovations. The initiative worked through Uganda’s Mission, an organisation receiving USAID assistance. As USAID Washington began to incorporate ICT into its international development programmes, the Leland Initiative became the main conduit for Africa Trade, Education and Investment programmes. For example, when the US White House sought to design a strong technology component for the Education for Development and Democracy Initiative (EDDI), the Leland Initiative was asked to lead.

Uganda now has a Communication Act, which provides a strong enabling environment for ICT development. The government also removed import and value added tax (VAT) on computers to make private purchases more affordable.

There were eleven specific Leland interventions in Uganda. Three of the projects supported the Leland Initiative's strategic objective of creating an enabling policy environment, two supported the strategic objective of creating sustainable supply of internet services, and nine supported the enhancement of internet use for sustainable development. In addition, four of the projects provided technical assistance, six contributed to the internet and maintenance training, two targeted policy change, six provided connectivity to the internet, five provided equipment and four provided general educational support to schools in Uganda.

Legislation established the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) to help regulate the growing communications market. After several years of nurturing by Leland contractors, the UCC took the lead in creating the Uganda Internet Exchange Point (UIXP), a national internet backbone. In turn, the UCC encouraged the development of increased technical capacity within the ICT workforce by supporting the Uganda Communications Institute (UCI), which offers hands-on training in nearly all aspects of communications technology. UCC has also adopted a Rural Communications Development Policy to support the development of communications infrastructure in rural Uganda.

Although the programme was greatly advanced by President Clinton’s visit to Uganda, projects tended to have been designed with a strong political dimension, which were not always compatible with the programme being implemented on the ground. For instance, a rural primary school that had become a priority project was wired for internet but had neither electricity nor phone lines. Commitments made during the Presidential visit were outside the Mission’s established areas of influence, but suddenly the Leland Initiative went from being a minor technology player within USAID Uganda to a significant implementer of high profile activities.

Overall, the study works to demonstrate that the Leland Initiative has provided helpful ICT assistance to Uganda including strategic support and implementation of at least eleven projects on the ground.

The process followed by the Leland initiative resulted in the Mission in Uganda feeling no sense of ownership of the projects. Before any new projects are undertaken, there needs to be a rebuilding of confidence and two-way communications between the main partners.

There is a possibility that a focused Leland/Mission partnership could provide further benefits to Uganda. Areas such as an expanded Cisco Academy would address both the Leland objectives to improve the human resources to manage and administer ICTs and help the Mission to meet its commitments to USAID Washington to have more public/private partnerships. If the Leland Initiative and USAID Uganda can find a way to accommodate their separate needs, Uganda can continue to benefit from ICT activities supported by the Leland Initiative and endorsed by USAID Uganda.