Local Governance and ICTs in Africa

With governance high on the agenda in Africa, many governments are using information and communications technologies (ICTs) to introduce innovations in their structure, practices and capacities as well as in the ways they use human capital and deliver services to citizens. But the potential for e-governance in Africa remains largely unexploited. Progress requires infrastructure improvement, the enactment of appropriate laws and policies, and capacity and content development.

This book addresses the lack of evidence on ICTs in local governance in Africa. At its heart lies the conviction that ICT can enable local governments to engage citizens to participate in democratic processes and to engage in public sector management so creating socio-economic developments at local and national levels. It provides an important collection of studies and analyses on the transformative potential of ICT: citizens in Ethiopia use it to pay tax and complete legislative documents; in Mozambique the SchoolNet project has increased the secondary school literacy rate. Other studies in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa and Uganda explore service delivery, financial management, citizen registration, land management, local economic development and political inclusion.

The book provides a synthesis of the findings and a roadmap to assist government decision makers in implementing and evaluating their own e-local governance projects. With information and communications technologies increasingly available in Africa, this timely book speaks to the current issues.