Africa’s quest for economic and social development should encompass bridging the ‘’digital divide’’

Development in whatever respect one may think of it is inextricably link to technology. The technological revolution that is sweeping through the entire world is notoriously set on dictating the pace of development in every sphere of the human endeavour. Bill Clinton was right when he announced during a launch of an internet initiative in 1996 that even his cat has its own page, yes! Even animals have their own page. Yet the digital divide between the West and Africa is as huge as the natural resources disparity between Africa and the West. In Africa, internet penetration is still limited; in fact, statistics reveal that internet penetration in Africa was 10.9% in 2010 with only 4% of Africans having access to the internet, and for every 1000 people in Africa only 3 have access to computers. Our continent- Africa is facing tremendous challenges in terms of benefiting from the technological revolution which other countries and continents are pursuing for economic and social development.

Africa's population was estimated to be over one billion in 2010, out of which more than one hundred and ten million were internet users; the lowest compared to the rest of the world. This revelation is a confirmation of the technological and digital gap that exists among a cross section of Africans and the rest of the world. It is therefore not surprising that my village and many other villages in Africa do not have phone lines. Based on statistical estimations, only 14 million Africans have phone lines, a figure lower than the number of people with phone lines in Manhattan, the United States. And even though there are conflicting statistics about internet, broadband, and digital media in Africa; one thing that is explicit is the fact that most African countries still lack the know-how and technological expertise to bridge the digital divide. This notwithstanding, most developed markets in the field of digital and technology development in parts of Africa are witnessing massive infrastructural development and accelerated growth in the areas of broadband and wireless access technologies.

It is undeniable that there have been a surge in demand for broadband and other internet capabilities in Africa over the last decade as a result of market liberalisation; this has enabled Africa to be one of the fastest growing markets for mobile telephony and some of the fasting growing fixed line markets in the world. Furthermore, the emergence of international fibre optic submarine cables and terrestrial fibre backbone infrastructure are creating a rather positive perspective for Africa's technological and digital prospects. But in realistic terms, even the so called developed markets cannot be boost of exclusive patronage of these services, especially when most people in rural Africa are still in the dark about computers and their significance.

For instance, it is important to understand some perspectives about internet usage in some African countries to appreciate the enormity and degree of the gap that exist among people and countries in Africa. Ghana, seen as a role model in Sub Saharan African had one million internet users as at June 2010 out of a population of over 23 million. Having said this, Nigeria which is the largest populated country in the continent with a population of over 150 million has 44 million internet users. Whiles South Africa which has a population of almost 50 million has slightly more than 5 million internet users. It is unequivocally apparent that internet usage in Africa is not commensurate with the level of broadband and internet connectivity available and in many cases, less than halve of the population have no access to any form of digital and technological possibilities. This is indicative of the fact that African governments have to ensure that all and sundry is taken on board the boat of technological and digital literacy and usage.

It is worth noting that information and communication technology holds the key to Africa's economic and social development, but this cannot be entirely possible with the level of computer literacy and the limitation of knowledge about ICT. Europe and other parts of the world for many years have being in the fore front of investing heavily on research and development mostly in technology and innovation. However, in Africa, governments are still confronted with providing the basic needs of their people: water, electricity, health, education and infrastructure. This demand makes it more difficult for governments to invest in technologies that will bridge the digital divide. But either these digital divide stems from deliberate policy negligence or lack of due diligence on the part of African leaders, One thing Africa must realise is that the ''worlds body of education ''is in the internet and this is not going to be over anytime soon therefore, it is imperative for Africa to chant a new path, a path that will include technological education and training. It is a matter of identifying priorities, whatever priority that is set should not be about giving every child a computer or installing computers and internet services in universities and secondary schools, the priority should be first of all training the trainers and aggressively pursuing computer literacy programmes.

Many have wondered why these farce about digital media and information technology? Well, there are immense benefits that Africa can derive from a robust digital and information technology. Some the few that comes to mind include, e-governance, e-education, e-economy, e-commerce and e-health. These are just but a few of the areas where Africa stands to benefit. E-health if properly harnessed can 'provide the catalyst for the standardisation and integration of the various widely dispersed computerised system' and ' streamline the secure delivery of healthcare information'. More so, e-health can also prevent or even strip 'away repetitious and inefficient process in health delivery system.

Still with e-health, professionals are guaranteed access to health information anywhere anytime; it ensures best practises and the transfer of knowledge from one country to the other. As one of the most important facets of the internet, e-commerce involves carrying out business over the internet with the assistance of computers ,one important benefit associated with e-commerce is the freedom to transact business without the barriers of distance and time whiles also offering tangible benefits. Trend in online media is also pushing governments to roll out e-governance initiatives. With e-governance, information delivery becomes more effective and efficient whiles at the same time it minimises bureaucracy and corruption among government official. E-governance also affords governments the impetus to increase the empowerment of its citizens through access to information, improved productivity and the strengthening of legal systems and law enforcement.

A choice ought to be made by African leaders, and very brave decisions have to be made about the direction of Africa in terms of digital and technological development in the next fifty years. It is both they act now and take advantage of the emergence of Africa in the international market or make the next generation pay for the ineptitude and lack of vision on their parts. They have the chance now to ''facilitate or hold back on moving in the same direction with the rest of the world. As it is always said, posterity will judge them for the decision they make today, I just hope that they realise the magnitude and enormity of these challenges and rise up to the technological standards of the worlds. As the chairman of Intel said during his tour in Africa, it is not just the choice between clean drinking water and broadband, Africa can do more than one at a time.