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. ALSO SEE: How Connected Is Africa? 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) http://chronicle.com Section: International Page: A51