Governing the “Digital Shadows”: Public Policy and Information Communication Technology (ICT) Acquisition and Utilization in Africa

Abstract

This paper examines the challenges of appropriating the benefits of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) revolution by African states, against the backdrop of the realities of globalization and the role that ICT plays in global power relations. Built on the foundations of Jurgen Habermas’ public sphere, it weaves a conceptual framework around the ideas of a “cyber-square” and “cyberspace policy” to argue for an African perspective to the adoption, acquisition and utilization of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to meet the specific needs of sub-Saharan African countries. It argues that, in spite of the challenges of ICT development in Africa, it is a lifeline that African states should embrace determinedly through purposeful public policy. It argues this deliberately to underscore the importance of purposeful ICT policy making to meet Africa’s needs for social and economic revival and the promotion of the numerous national and continental interests that straddle the broad spectrums of the African political, cultural and economic landscapes. Through the use of secondary data, the author gives evidences for these by drawing examples from African countries. The paper recommends a multi-stakeholder approach to ICT policy development that reigns in not only African governments but also other stakeholders in Africa’s ICT revolution. This, it argues, will help Africa evolve acceptable, adaptable and beneficial ICT policies capable of galvanizing and sustaining positive development to move Africa to its next stage of development.