huridocs-tech Wiring African Universities Proves a Formidable Challenge

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   The Chronicle of Higher Education

                                       From the issue dated April 2, 1999

Wiring African Universities Proves a Formidable Challenge

   Most institutions have e-mail, but many are unable to
   provide meaningful Internet access By ANDREA USEEM

   Arusha, Tanzania

   While the extent to which universities in Africa use
   information technology varies widely, today nearly every
   institution on the continent, public and private, has
   some access to electronic mail.

   How 2 African Universities Have Moved Ahead in
   Information Technology

   That fact in itself might seem promising, but,
   researchers note, it may be deceptive. At many
   universities, computers with dial-up access to the
   Internet are still found only in the president's office
   or the library or the offices of a handful of academics
   involved in international projects financed by outside
   donor organizations. A survey by the Association of
   African Universities in 1998 found that 52 of the 232
   academic and research institutions responding had full
   Internet connectivity, while the 180 others had access
   that was "inadequate."

   Many African universities are facing severe financial
   crises. In some countries they have been overwhelmed by
   sharp declines in government support and an exponential
   increase in demand for higher education. The dire lack of
   funds and the competition for scarce resources have
   simply made it impossible for many institutions to tap
   into the technological revolution. "My department doesn't
   even have a photocopier," says a professor at the
   University of Nairobi, in Kenya. The limited degree of
   university Internet connectivity mirrors larger trends on
   a continent where most countries lag far behind much of
   the world in exploiting the potential of information
   technology for their people.

   Out of total population of 750 million people, Africa has
   only about one million Internet users -- and 85 to 90 per
   cent of them live in South Africa, according to Mike
   Jensen, an independent consultant based in South Africa
   who specializes in Internet issues in Africa. He
   maintains a site on the World-Wide Web
   (http://www3.sn.apc.org/africa) that is dedicated to the
   subject. Subtracting South Africa from the equation, the
   figures show one Internet user for every 5,000 people in
   Africa, compared with one user per every 38 people
   worldwide, and one per every five people in Western
   countries.

   No wonder the Association of African Universities made
   information technology one of the principal themes of a
   meeting it convened here recently on developing
   strategies for revitalizing higher education in Africa.

   The very building where university presidents, rectors,
   and vice-chancellors gathered to discuss the subject
   reflected the situation: Only a handful of electrical
   outlets were available for those wanting to use portable
   computers, and making international telephone calls after
   6 p.m. was simply not possible.

   But while the current level of Internet connectivity in
   Africa might appear low, it represents a considerable
   increase over just a few years ago. "Things have happened
   very quickly," says Liz Levey, an information-technology
   expert who works on university projects in Africa for the
   Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

   Some universities have raced ahead, becoming technology
   leaders in their own countries. Eduardo Mondlane
   University, in Mozambique, and the University of Zambia
   are often cited as success stories.

   Other institutions are scrambling to catch up. University
   officials, who speak with fiery determination about
   leading their institutions into the information age, are
   hungry for details on the ways in which information
   technology is being used in higher education.

   "What we need are more ideas," says Silas Lwakabamba,
   rector of the 18-month-old Kigali Institute of Science,
   Technology, and Management, in Rwanda. "We have some
   advisers, but they represent commercial companies. They
   are looking after their own profit and do not serve us
   very well."

   The Kigali institute has 80 I.B.M. computers equipped
   with e-mail software and Internet access for use by its
   200 full-time students and 700 evening students -- all of
   them anxious for information-technology training.

   But even for institutions that acknowledge lagging
   behind, change can come quickly. "All you need to begin
   is a computer, a modem, and a phone line," says Narciso
   Matos, secretary-general of the African-university
   association.

   Until now, institutions in western Africa have lagged
   behind their counterparts in eastern and southern Africa,
   largely because of a lack of national infrastructure. At
   Nigeria's 36 public universities, for example, the use of
   information technology has been limited to storing and
   forwarding e-mail messages, and even that has been
   available only since 1997. But things will change by the
   middle of this year, when the country will lease a
   dedicated line that will give its universities 24-hour
   Internet access, according to Munzali Jibril, executive
   secretary of Nigeria's National Universities Commission.

   Beyond the scramble for connectivity, academic leaders
   are asking a much bigger question: What can this
   technology do to help revitalize institutions that are
   struggling just to survive?

   "Most African academics are suffering from isolation,"
   says Adebayo Akinde, a professor of computer science at
   Nigeria's Obafemi Awolowo University. "They have no
   access to good libraries, and limited funds for new
   books. Access to journals is a luxury." The inability of
   academics to keep up in their disciplines, he says, has
   exacerbated Africa's brain drain and contributed to what
   he describes as a sense of "intellectual malaise" that
   afflicts the continent.

   Information technology, many on this continent recognize,
   could provide a way for academics in Africa to overcome
   their isolation. "We in the third world have a greater
   need to be in touch because we have such limited
   resources," says Mr. Jibril. "We may not have money for
   conferences, but now an academic can get information from
   the Internet."

   Dusty shelves of journals -- their subscriptions having
   expired 10 or 15 years ago -- are a common sight in
   university libraries across Africa. But electronic
   versions on CD-ROM are making many journals affordable
   again. In an effort to help such libraries, Cornell
   University has transferred four years' worth of issues of
   130 journals, on topics that include soil science and
   nutrition, to a set of CD-ROMs called the "Essential
   Electronic Agricultural Library." The set, which covers
   1993 to 1996, with updates to follow, is offered only to
   institutions in developing countries -- and at a price
   far below the combined cost of paper subscriptions. Jan
   Olsen, a senior research associate at Cornell, who helped
   to develop the project, says access to the journals will
   contribute directly to the quality of research in Africa.

   What makes the "library in a box" so promising, says Ms.
   Levey, the foundation consultant, is that almost every
   African university now has the capacity to use the disks.
   She worked with the Association of African Universities
   on a study to determine the feasibility of developing a
   bibliographic data base, on CD-ROM, of African theses and
   dissertations. The association is going forward with that
   project. Looking beyond the basic benefits of information
   and communications technology, some African university
   leaders are talking about using it to radically redesign
   the process, structure, and delivery of higher education
   in Africa.

   One such project is the African Virtual University, based
   at Kenyatta University, in Kenya, and financed, at least
   for now, by the World Bank. Participating universities
   across the continent, numbering more than 20 and growing,
   offer live and videotaped courses via satellite. During
   the live broadcasts, students can communicate with
   instructors via e-mail and fax, and sometimes by
   telephone.

   The courses are mainly in mathematics, science, and
   information technology, says William Saint, a senior
   education specialist at the World Bank. "The idea is to
   cover subject areas where there are shortages," he says.
   "In extreme cases, some universities that have lost key
   staff cannot offer courses required for a degree. The
   African Virtual University can fill in those gaps."

   Educators in Africa speak in ambitious terms about using
   distance-education technology to solve one of their most
   pressing problems: the overwhelming increase in demand
   for higher education.

   The idea of high-school graduates from rural Tanzania or
   Togo pursuing postsecondary education through a village
   "Internet cafe" may seem far-fetched. But why not? asks
   Paul West, director of the Center for Lifelong Learning,
   at Technikon S.A., a South African distance-learning
   university. "With satellites instead of telephone lines,
   and solar-power generators instead of electricity, it's
   possible," he says.


   Other experts, however, keep their enthusiasm in check.
   They point to the high costs not only of buying the right
   technology, but also of maintaining it with trained
   personnel. "Distance education is not going to solve all
   the problems" of African higher education, says Ms.
   Levey.

   Confronted by an often bewildering and intoxicating range
   of options, Africa's university leaders say they must
   pick and choose with a clear sense of vision. Planning is
   key, they agree. "If each of us does not have strong
   policies on technology, we will just go in circles," says
   Sharon Siverts, vice-chancellor of the University of
   Botswana. She and other campus officials have called on
   the Association of African Universities to draft
   guidelines that institutions can use in developing
   strategic information-technology plans.

   In addition to increasing their technological capacity,
   African academics are being urged to develop more local
   content for the Internet. According to Mr. Jensen, the
   South African researcher, only 0.022 per cent of all
   sites on the World-Wide Web last year were based in
   Africa.

   "Information technology links us to resources that are,
   for the most part, not developed by Africans," says
   Matthew Luhanga, vice-chancellor of the University of Dar
   es Salaam, in Tanzania. "If we are talking about making
   higher education relevant to our own context, we need to
   develop independent African content." After years of
   deteriorating conditions at universities across the
   continent, educators say, information technology is,
   above all, providing a new sense of hope, putting
   revitalization within the reach of their institutions.

   "Africa is impatient -- we are tired of the status quo,"
   says Pius Ng'wandu, Minister of Science, Technology, and
   Higher Education in Tanzania. "We need enlightened
   leadership for an African renaissance, and universities
   must provide this leadership."


How Connected Is Africa?

     * 49 of the 54 countries and territories in Africa now
     have Internet access in their capital cities. * Four
     countries without such access now have plans for it:
     Cape Verde, Republic of the Congo, Libya, and Somalia.
     * One country remains without plans for full Internet
     service: Eritrea. * Seven countries have only one full,
     public-access Internet service provider: Algeria,
     Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Ethiopia,
     Mauritius, Niger, and Seychelles. * 12 countries have
     either local Internet-service providers or other access
     to the network in some secondary towns: Angola, Benin,
     Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia,
     Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Tunisia. * 11
     countries have local, dial-up Internet access
     nationwide: Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Gabon,
     Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, and
     Zimbabwe.

    SOURCE: AFRICAN INTERNET CONNECTIVITY
    (http://www3.sn.apc.org/africa)



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