Structural adjustment programs (SAPs) of the World Bank and the IMF have significantly aggravated Africa’s debt crisis. They have contributed in perpetuating the primacy of old educational programs, some of which date back to the colonial period. Unemployment is prevalent, especially among out-of-school young people aged 15 to 24. Africa is the only region in the world that has been reducing its per capita expenditure on education: $26 in 1985 and $28 in 1990 and 1992 as opposed to $27 in 1985, $39 in 1990, and $49 in 1992 in developing countries as a block. Meanwhile, illiteracy rates for women are higher than 60 percent in many countries, which has adversely affected the ability of women to empower themselves as meaningful change agents and decision makers. The gross tertiary enrollment ratios for African countries are also abysmal.
Most African countries are also still lagging behind in terms of the penetration of ICTs in their societies. PANAFTEL, RASCOM, AFROSAT and several other telecommunications ventures have proved to be ill-conceived, and in any case irrelevant, to national and international demands for higher levels of performance and excellence in the educational sector. In terms of internet users, very few African countries have managed to increase the number of internet users in the last few years. It is estimated that only 6 million in Africa have access to the Internet, despite significant improvement in access to the Internet in recent years. Electronic mailing (e-mail) has been described as an embryonic sector. Most existing networks are directly controlled and generated by external forces or international cooperation. It has been suggested that 90 percent of telephone traffic and 88 percent of telex traffic between African countries is routed via non-African countries. Also, 67.6 percent of this traffic is handled via the former colonial powers as a result of poor or inadequate communications links between neighboring countries.
These failures prompted Africa’s institutions of higher learning to redefine their mission in several conferences, including a seminar on the Development of Higher Education in Africa, held in Accra in November 1991. The meetings urged a move from the traditional educational system to a system that integrates and develops new information technologies as a pathway for quality education. There have been dozens of meetings, seminars, workshops, teleconferences and the like organized by bilateral, multilateral and private organizations to open Africa to the global telecommunications market. The setting up of institutions like the African Virtual University is one such attempt to harness the potential of modern ICTs.
