Africa: E-Governance - Experts Brainstorm On Africa's Obstacles

Information and Communication technology, ICT, experts from Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries have been told that high levels of illiteracy, multiple local languages, infrastructure bottlenecks, irregular power supply, high cost of connectivity, lack of willingness and inadequate funds are some of the impediments to the march towards effective electronic governance and use of information and communication technologies in African countries. The disclosure was made by Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, CTO, at the opening ceremony of the 5th annual E-GOVAFRICA Forum that started yesterday, April 26 at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel on the theme, "Governance, service delivery and democracy through the use of Information and Communication Technologies."

Although the Internet adoption rate, experts say, has witnessed a 135 per cent annual growth since its introduction in Africa in the early nineties, governments in Africa have made slow progress in providing online services to their citizens. There still remains a perceptible telephony and Internet access divide between urban and rural people, men and women and the young and old. For e-governance to be enhanced, Dr. Ekwow recognised the need for focusing on empowering people and investing in infrastructure. "Citizens expect a lot from government. ICTs can cost a lot but promise a lot," he said, adding that donors were more than ever interested in supporting ICT access and content development in underserved countries.

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