3.1 NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA


In Africa (except for South Africa), the delay in the realisation of the structures required to guarantee the availability of information technologies is made worse by the absolute shortage of skills in the use of these technologies. Manuel Castells highlights that “In the present state of things, Africa is excluded from the IT revolution, except for a few financial and international business nodes that are in any case directly linked to global networks and completely bypass African economies and societies” (Castells, 1998). In this part of the world, there is no basic infrastructure to enable the use of IT equipment and provide access to digital information. With regards to the question of infrastructure, Castells states that before moving to electronic networks, Africa must be provided with a reliable electric supply.

Figure: Nighttime Lights of the World

 
Source: This image was created in 2003 by the Defense Meteorological SatelliteProgram (DMSP), Operational Linescan System (OLS). http://sabr.ngdc.noaa.gov/ntl/?2003&global
The image above, which was realised from a composition of pictures taken by different satellites, shows the lights of the world at night time. Some densely illuminated areas – like the East Coast of North America and Western Europe - immediately catch the viewer’s eye, in sharp contrast with some totally dark areas, some of which stretch over whole continents. Africa seems to disappear from this map and its coasts are hard to spot. Dark areas, which spread over the densely-populated African continent, are a sign that an entire “universe” of individuals, families, communities, and even whole countries - disconnected because they are not part of the economic grid - are excluded from the access to new technologies.
Looking at the “Nighttime Lights of the World” map in more detail, which indicates the presence and use of electric power in the form of sources of light, it appears that within the geographic borders of the African continent, there is an inhomogeneous concentration of glowing points. Thus, rather than Africa, it would be more appropriate to refer to “different Africas”, which are characterised by different geographical situations, but also by different cultural, political, economic and social contexts. Developing countries, as well as the African continent as a whole, are fragmented; they are characterised by different paces of development and by great internal conflict, which cannot be understood and labelled by means of commonplace definitions.
With regards to ICT’s, this states of affairs begs the question as to whether the Internet and new technologies are a chance for development or whether, on the contrary, they further contribute to the exclusion of Africa from this process?
The Internet has brought about an intensification of social relations at a global scale: it has connected distant places and it has opened up the possibility for individuals to benefit from cultural and educational experiences that are separated from their spatial and temporal dimension. This aspect, which is a typical feature of modern society and which sociologist Antony Giddens defines as desembedding , can be easily observed when considering computer-mediated communication (CMC), which sets social relations in a context other than the local one. Internet brings about a new virtual spatial dimension, which ironically reproduces some spaces of exclusion connected to an “old”, physical notion of territoriality which can be found, for example, in countries in the South of the world. Here again, the context factor is of paramount importance: it gives strength to “models of planning and development of new technologies embedded in those countries where these technologies will be actually used” as well as to policies aimed at encouraging “technological production and innovation in the countries concerned, which cannot be reached without a stronger investment in training” (Comunello, 2005, p. 98).
This said, for an isolated and backward continent like Africa, Internet and new technologies carry an enormous potential for connection, interaction, training, and development.

3.2 THE SPREADING OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS IN AFRICA

The work carried out so far to identify significant data on new technologies in Africa and useful indicators to measure the digital divide in this continent has emphasised three basic considerations: 1) the figures shown concerning the African continent are aimed at providing some indications on the main developments and problems of this phenomenon; 2) the numerous statistics produces by some recognised international bodies or by no-profit organisations change from one year to the other, thus showing the rapid evolution in the use of new technologies in Africa; 3) specific figures produced in single local contexts are often incomplete and not very reliable.
What data could be used then? The most widely recognised, the most recent or the most comparable data? We shall use the data that allow us to clearly identify some trends found by different subjects, starting from different observation points.
Nowadays, the mobile telephone is the communication technology providing the highest potential for development for third countries. The spreading of mobile telephony keeps experiencing an exponential growth. In 2000, there were 740 million subscriptions; only 5 years later, at the end of 2005, the number of subscribers reached 2.15 billion, over one third of whom came from developing countries (ITU, 2006, p. 44).
In Africa, in 2004, 12 inhabitants out of 100 owned a telephone connection: 9 of them had a subscription to a mobile line and 3 of them to a landline. In Sub-Saharan Africa, figures concerning landlines dropped to 1.6 connections every 100 inhabitants. In Africa, mobile telephone subscriptions were overcame landline subscriptions in 2001 and in the following years the growth was exponential. The percentage of mobile subscriptions rose from double the number of landlines in 2003 to three times that figure only one year later, in 2004.

Figure: mobile and landline subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

 
Source: ITU, The un-wired continent: Africa’s mobile success story
On the basis of the data illustrated above, one can safely say that the history of telephone communication in Africa has been strongly characterised by the advent of the mobile telephone. The reason for this success also depends on the ability of mobile telephone operators to cover the territory with the mobile signal rapidly. Some African governments, including South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda, required mobile telephone operators to guarantee their population a certain extent of signal coverage as part of their licensing terms and conditions and/or to install community telephone services.

3.3 THE USE OF THE INTERNET IN AFRICA

The use of the Internet is still very limited compared to worldwide figures, although there is potential for a strong development. The use of the Internet grows more rapidly here than in any other region of the world. Although the percentage of the African population using the Internet has been calculated to be of around 3.6%, as opposed to 16.7% in the world and 69.1% in north America, the growth in the use of the Internet between 2000 and 2006 has been calculated to be of 625.8%, which is over three times the world average (200.9%) and almost six times the north American figure (112.0%).  Now that an Internet connection no longer needs landline infrastructure, small numbers of regular Internet users can also be found in smaller towns and rural areas; this said, “the Internet is above all an asset belonging to the central parts of bigger cities and to urbanised elites. The typical African Internet user is young, affluent, and well-educated” (Cerabino, 2005, p. 139) . In Africa, the Internet is mostly a work tool as well as an information tool used by international organisations; the number of teachers and students who manage to access it is still scarce.

Source: BDT and ITU, 2003
Although Africa is the continent with the lowest DOI (table 2), various African countries are gradually reducing their divide. This trend is mainly produced by the contribution of indices measuring and calculating mobile telephony when calculating the DOI. Especially in countries where the DOI is lower than 0.2, the weight of mobile telephony is considerable: in extreme case like the ones of countries like Congo and Uganda, it goes as high as 99%. Conversely, in African countries where the DOI is higher than 0.2, the contribution given by fixed telephony is higher than the one concerning mobile telephony.

Source: WISIS, Word Information Society Report 2006
Let us take the African continent as our observation point and compare it with world indices. If the opportunity of access to technologies in Africa is relatively low compared to world figures (0.52 as opposed to 0.77), infrastructure and the use of ICT’s remain the critical factors in the creation of digital opportunities in Africa. Let us observe how the amount of infrastructure in Africa has been calculated as being four times lower than the world figure, whereas the use of new technologies is one fifth of the world average and one eleventh of the European average.
In order for the Internet and new technologies to be real tools to reduce poverty and promote social development, Africa should definitely implement policies investing in the field of infrastructure. On the other hand though, it should put the provision of support and incentives for the use of the Net and new technologies at the top of its political agenda.
How can this be done? The use of the Internet and technologies strongly depends on the existence of a certain level of cultural capital, that is widespread computer literacy, competences and technological socialisation.
The several initiatives in support of Africa over the last few years have produced a new political and cultural dynamism in the continent around issues of access to information as an indispensable tool to produce economic development. Among the various signs of the growing importance attributed to educational and cultural policies for the reduction of the digital divide, it is worth mentioning the organisation of the international conference on ICT’s for development, education, and training “e-learning Africa”, which, after its first edition in 2006, shall be held every year. 

3.4 EDUCATION IN AFRICA: CONSTRAINTS AND PERSPECTIVES

In addition to the challenges that Africa has always had to face – low schooling and literacy levels, the low quality of the educational system, poverty, the rapid growth of the population –other serious problems have arisen more or less recently, such as HIV/AIDS and political conflict. Globalisation then brought about a rapid development of technology.
When looking at education, it appears that, apart from the progress made during the 1980’s, the key indicators have remained weak and insufficient. Let us analyse them in more detail.
Data on enrolments in primary school are still low, both in absolute and in relative terms compared to other developing countries. In 1997, the enrolment rate at primary school in Africa had dropped to 76.8%, as opposed to 80% in 1980. In the same year, enrolments in secondary schools were little over 26%, about half of other developing countries. Finally, enrolment rates concerning university education were of 3.9%.
The situation is even worse when considering African women, whose access to primary and secondary education and to university education is as low as 80% and 55% of the male figure respectively.
Another critical aspect of Africa is the low quality found at various levels of its educational system: it goes from the low competences of teachers, to the lack of didactic materials and school facilities and equipment. This state of affairs, in its turn, reflects negatively on students, who leave school without adequate training or repeat the same school year several times, with additional costs for an already hard-pressed school system. UNESCO figures show that the Sub-Saharan region has 39% of children out of school in the world, 52% of whom are girls.

Figure: “Children out of school” Sub-Saharan region (2001)

Source: UNESCO, Institute for Statistic, 2004
Ironically, Africa, which, as illustrated above, experiences a situation of backwardness with regards to social and educational development as well as to the penetration of new technologies within its social context, it has gone through some media-based distance learning experiences. There are various educational projects carried out by means of the radio, concerning adult as well as primary and secondary education. The radio is a communication means with a strong penetration in the African continent: over 60% of the population receives radio broadcasts, since no great infrastructure and investment are required of broadcasters and users alike. Moreover, the liberalisation of this sector has led to the growth of this medium and, in some contexts, it has produced the spreading of community radios, which, unfettered by business interests, are an opportunity for a free and participative spreading of information, knowledge, and education. Although the radio does not have a significant visual element for literacy and education, this technology has been very successful in education programmes because it is a means of entertainment with an easy and inexpensive access. Moreover, local radio stations have established quite easily a strong link with the local community: this has made it possible to gain a deep insight into the local population’s information and educational needs, wants and expectations.  With reference to the spreading of this medium and on the basis of the contributions of the scholarly debate around this issue, we can draw some guidelines for interventions in this field.
In an economic, political, ad social context such as the African one, where mass media are often controlled by political and economic elites, it is not only important, but mandatory to:
1) invest on and propose new technologies with low installation, running and development costs, which can be done by choosing “open” software and contents;
2) provide free access to technological equipment;
3) enhance local knowledge and competences in order to create an internal engine for development, which should be as independent as possible from the influence of external actors while, at the same time, maintaining a strong relationship, collaboration and dialogue with international agencies;
4) promote the use of new technologies by developing participation and interpersonal interaction, thus leading to the creation of shared practices at a local level.

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