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The Information Society, Poverty and Development: An African Perspective

Our age of Information Society (IS), and represented in the Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs), offers immense opportunity for sustainable economic development and the reduction of poverty. It does so by increasing access to market information and reducing transaction cost to poor farmers and traders; by increasing efficiency, competitiveness and market access of developing country firms; and by enhancing the ability of developing countries to participate in the global economy, thereby exploiting the comparative advantage in factor costs, in particular skilled labour. Yet, these goals are unattainable in the present state of digital divide, since access to ICTs is determined not only by infrastructure but also by people's ability to afford and use them. Furthermore, the digital divide perpetuates underdevelopment, which is Africa's current condition. Bridging the gap requires creating a knowledge society and forging new partnerships for development among members of the international community.