The Experience with Community Telecentres: Volume 2: Information and Communication Technologies for Development in Africa (Information and Communication ... for Development in Africa, Volume 2)

220 Pages·2004·3.09 MB·English

by  Florence Etta

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHONOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT
IN AFRICA
Volume 2
The experience
with community telecentres
Edited by
Florence Ebam Etta and Sheila Parvyn-Wamahiu
International Development Research Centre
Ottawa • Dakar • Cairo • Montevideo • Nairobi • New Delhi • Singapore
Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa
© International Development Research Centre 2003
Jointly published by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
PO Box 8500, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1G 3H9
http://www.idrc.ca
and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa
(CODESRIA)
PO Box 3304, Dakar, Senegal
http://www.codesria.org
ISBN 2-86978-115-6
National Library of Canada cataloguing in publication data
Main entry under title:
Information and communication technologies for development in Africa.
Volume 2: The experience with community telecentres
Co-published by CODESRIA.
ISBN 1-55250-006-3
1. Information technology-Africa.
2. Communication in community development -Africa.
3. Community development-Africa.
I. Etta, Florence Ebam.
II. Parvyn-Wamahiu, Sheila.
III. International Development Research Centre (Canada)
IV. Codesria.
HC805.I55I53 2003 338.9'26'096 C2003-980280-9
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the
International Development Research Centre. Mention of a proprietary name
does not constitute endorsement of the product and is given only for
information.
Contents
List of figures vi
List of tables vii
List of acronyms and abbreviations ix
Foreword xii
Preface xiv
Acknowledgements xvi
Executive summary xvii
Chapter 1
Introduction: Joining the information society
Purpose 5
Background 7
Research issues 10
Methodology 11
Key concepts 12
Structure 14
Chapter 2
ICTs in Africa: The landscape for growing telecentres
Introduction 17
ICTs in Africa: Context and background 20
ICT equipment and other contextual factors 27
Toward universal service: Telecentres and public access 29
Definition and development of telecentres 30
Glimpses from the literature 32
Conclusion 34
Information and Communication Techonologies for Development in Africa
Chapter 3
Timbuktu telecentre, Mali
Telecommunications context 37
Timbuktu 38
Findings 40
Sustainability 52
Summary and conclusion 58
Chapter 4
Telecentres in Mozambique
Telecommunications context 59
Telecentre context 60
Telecentre locations 61
Profile of users 61
Equipment and services offered 63
Management, ownership, and sustainability 69
Conclusion and recommendations 69
Chapter 5
Telecentres in Uganda
Telecommunications context 72
Telecentre context 75
Findings 78
Access 82
Service delivery 88
Impediments to use 91
Relevance 94
Ownership, management, and sustainability 103
Conclusion 113
iv
Volume 2: The Experience with Community Telecentres
Chapter 6
Telecentres in South Africa
Telecommunication context 115
Study sites 114
Findings 119
Relevance 123
Ownership, management, and sustainability 123
Conclusion 126
Chapter 7
Telecentres in Senegal
Telecommunications context 127
Context of telecentres 130
Findings 131
Relevance 139
Management, ownership, and sustainability 140
Summary and conclusion 148
Chapter 8
Conclusion
The political, socio-economic, and technological contexts 151
Access: Emerging pictures 154
Impediments to use 158
Relevance of telecentres 161
Ownership, management, and sustainability 162
Conclusion: Whither community telecentres? 166
Appendices 171
Bibliography 181
v
Figures
Figure 1. Timbuktu telecentre users for selected months 43
Figure 2. Service used by sex in Manhica and Namaacha 64
Figure 3. Location of community telecentres, Uganda 77
Figure 4. Percentage use of the services offered at the three
telecentres 84
Figure 5. Men and women registered users of community telecentres.. 87
Figure 6. Observed usage of telecentres 88
Figure 7. Telecentre income in FCFA 147
Figure 8. Telecentre expenditure in FCFA 147
VI
Tables
Table 1. Acacia-supported telecentres in sub-Saharan Africa 5
Table 2. Internet users as percentage of total population 24
Table 3. Inventory of telecentre equipment 41
Table 4. Inventory of software 42
Table 5. Number of users in Timbuktu telecentre 44
Table 6. Distance travelled, method of transport, and time taken
to reach various sources of information in Timbuktu 46
Table 7. Types of information, service used, and cost of using
Telecentre 48
Table 8. Common technical problems encountered at the telecentre... 49
Table 9. Community involvement in telecentre management 54
Table 10. Telecentre revenue (1999 to 2001) 56
Table 11. Sex of telecentre users in Manhica and Namaacha 62
Table 12. Age of telecentre users in Manhica and Namaacha 63
Table 13. Frequency of use of telecentre services by men and women...65
Table 14. Service used by sex in Manhica and Namaacha 67
Table 15. Telecommunications indicators 74
Table 16. Facilities at community telecentres and private cybercafes .... 78
Table 17. Equipment available and in actual use in the telecentres and
cybercafes 79
Table 18. Services offered at each of the telecentres and cybercafes ... 81
Table 19. Percentage of services used 85
Table 20. Frequency of technical problems and how they were
handed 89
Table 21. Purpose of last visit 95
Table 22. Where there is no telecentre 98
Table 23. Staffing patterns at telecentres and cybercafes 105
VII
Information and Communication Techonologies for Development in Africa
Table 24. Nature of community involvement in management of community
telecentres 107
Table 25. Staff responsibility for expenditures 110
Table 26. Estimated monthly income and expenditures (in UGS) by
service type 112
Table 27. Length of telecentre use 133
Table 28. Sex of users 135
Table 29. Age of users 135
Table 30. Contacts maintained through the telecentres with others in
Dakar, Senegal, Africa, the rest of the world 137
Table 31. Monthly incomes and expenditures at three types
of telecentres in Senegal 144
viii
Acronyms and abbreviations
AISI African Information Society Initiative
ANC African National Congress
ART Agence de Regulation des Telecommunications
ASC Associations Sportives et Culturelles
BRACO IDRC Regional Office for West Africa
C-Band Broadcast Spectrum
CAL Local Advisory Committees (Mozambique Telecentres)
CBO Community Based Organization
CCTAS Community Centre for Health-Related Technology
CDG Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft
CD-ROM Compact Disk Read Only Memory
CIUEM Eduardo Mondlane University Informatics Centre
CODEL Local Development Committee (Senegal)
CODESRIA Council for the Development of Social Science Research
in Africa
CRC Community Resource Centre
CTA European Commission for Technical Cooperation in Agri-
culture for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries
DSTV Digital Satellite Television
ECOPOP Economie populaire urbaine (Program of ENDA)
EDM Mozambique Electricity Company
EIG Economic Interest Group
ELSA Evaluation and Learning System for Acacia
ENDA Environmental Development Action in the Third World (NGO)
FAO UN Food and Agriculture Organization
FGD Focus Group Discussion
FCFA Franc, currency issued by Central Bank of West African
States
GDP Gross Domestic Product
IX