National ICT policy challenges for developing countries: a grounded theory informed literature review

Abstract

This paper presents a review of the literature on the challenges of national information and communication technology (ICT) policies in the context of African countries. National ICT policies have been aligned with socio-development agendas of African countries. However, the policies have not delivered the expected outcomes due to many challenges. Studies have been conducted in isolation to highlight the challenges in the policy process. The study used grounded theory informed literature review to holistically analyse the problems in the context of African countries. The results were categorised in the typology of the policy process to understand the challenges from a broad perspective. The problems were categorised into agenda setting, policy formulation, legal frameworks, implementation and evaluation. In addition, there were constraints related to policy monitoring in the policy phases and imbalance of power among the policy stakeholders. The review suggests areas of further research.