The Acacia Initiative: Connecting African Communities

A major problem in Africa today is the lack of access to information technology — including basic telephone service. Although most countries have established Internet access, it is generally restricted to the capital cities, said South African communications consultant Michael Jensen, during a workshop at the recent Global Knowledge '97 conference, sponsored by the World Bank and the Canadian Government. In other words, the 70% of the continent's population who live in rural areas remain electronically isolated.

Even where access is possible, it is often extremely expensive. Local telephone calls cost up to CA$6 an hour and an Internet account costs CA$65 per month, on average. In contrast, Internet accounts in North American can cost as little as CA$10 per month. Because of the limited connections between African countries, even messages between neighbouring nations generally must travel to the United States or to Europe before they reach their destination, Jensen said.

Although Africa is poorly served both by telephone systems and the Internet, there is more to using information technology than just providing links to the Internet, stressed Robert Valantin, director of the Acacia Initiative, a new program of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Encouraging local content

"Connectivity is all very fine," Valantin told the workshop participants. "But you have to have something to travel down the pipes." The Acacia Initiative, which aims to support the use of information and communication technologies for community development in sub-Saharan Africa, will encourage the development of local content and South-South information exchanges, he said.

Another key issue is sustainability. "There is no use putting in a satellite link if you have to pull the plug when the donor leaves," Valantin stressed. "So, we have been investing in low-cost solutions where the users pay in some form or another for the service from the very beginning."

The total cost of this program is an estimated $100 million over the first five years. "We see this as a tremendous opportunity to help Africa harness information technology for its social and economic development," IDRC President Maureen O'Neil said during a press conference at Global Knowledge '97.

Three main goals

The Acacia Initiative is named after the Acacia tree, which is widespread throughout Africa. The Initiative has three main goals: to demonstrate that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can aid in community development; to build local knowledge and experience with ICTs; and to foster international interest and involvement in using ICTs for community development.

Kate Wild, senior advisor for information and communications at IDRC, said that in the Acacia Initiative, "communities" include not just geographical entities, but also communities of interest, such as farmers. "The Acacia Initiative aims to help these communities influence planning and decision-making in a much more powerful way than they have in the past," by supporting democratization and decentralization.

The Project will focus on four areas, she added: (i) policies that encourage ICT access in rural and small-town areas; (ii) human and innovative technological infrastructure for those areas; (iii) tools and technologies that facilitate ICT use by marginalized groups,, such as touch-screens and multilingual interfaces; and (iv) applications and services that meet community needs.

Technological impetus

Some of the technological impetus for this project will come from the Information Technology Association of Canada, which represents more than 1,200 computing and telecommunications firms. ITAC will encourage the Canadian high technology companies to get involved in the "wiring" of Africa. Similarly, the governments of South Africa and Mozambique will encourage the participation of their private sectors.

Michael Smith is a freelance science writer based in Toronto.

Robert Valantin, Chief Scientist, Information and Director, Acacia Initiative, International Development Research Centre, PO Box 8500, Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 3H9, Canada; Tel: (613) 236-6163, ext. 2604; Fax: (613) 567-7749; E-mail: rvalantin@idrc.ca

Eva Rathgeber, Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, IDRC, PO Box 62084, Nairobi, Kenya; Tel: (254-2) 713160/1, 713273/4, 713355/6, 713578/9; Fax: (254-2) 711063; E-mail: erathgebe@idrc.ca

Kate Wild, Senior Advisor, Information, Regional Office for South Africa, IDRC, PO Box 477, WITS 2050, South Africa; Tel: (27-11) 403-3952, ext. 224; Fax: (27-11)403-1417; E-mail: kwild@idrc.ca

Alioune B. Camara, Program Officer, Regional Office for West and Central Africa, IDRC, BP 11007, CD Annexe, Dakar, Senegal; Tel: (221) 244231, 240920, 243931, 248720, 242334; Fax: (221) 253255; E-mail: acamara@idrc.ca

---

Links to explore ...

Related IDRC articles and publications:

Connecting the North: Telecommunications links for Canadian aboriginal communities, by Keane Shore

Moving Asia from Grassroots to Cyberspace, by Catherine Wheeler

The PAN Mongolia Experience, by Geoff Long

Development and the Information Age: Four global scenarios for the future of information and communication technology

Making a difference: Measuring the impact of information on development

Additional resources:

The Acacia Initiative: Communities and the Information Society in Africa

African Information Society Initiative (AISI)

African Networking Initiative (ANI)

PAN Asia Networking

IDRC Reports is published weekly on-line by the International Development Research Centre.
Its aim is to keep an international readership informed about the work IDRC supports in developing countries as well as other development issues of interest.

Back to IDRC Homepage

Back to IDRC Reports Page

Updated September 19, 1997. Please send your comments to editor of Reports.