8 - NEPAD and the Digital Divide: The Case of Botswana and the Silent Marginalised Minorities
Corresponding Author(s) : Sethunya Tshepho Mphinyane
Africa Development,
Vol. 30 No. 1-2 (2005): Africa Development
Abstract
This paper addresses the question of whether the New Partnership for Africa deve lopment (NEPAD) through its e-Africa Commission and its Science and Techno logy agenda for ICT provides for new possibilities for Africa's marginalised indi genous minorities to engage meaningfully with development processes. It questions whether NEPAD recognises the power of ICT beyond providing access to informa tion, particularly its potential as a resource for the oppressed to wage their battles for self-determination, and willing to go beyond questions of access, and address the politics of power and the Internet and other ICT. Is there likelihood in Africa, for ICTs to become new sites of resistance and oppression? The paper suggests that there is already evidence that for marginalised ethnic minorities such as the Basarwa, the San peoples of Botswana, this new forum and the Internet in particular will be yet another tool to mute their voices.
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)BibTeX
- Brown, M. M., 2000, 'The Internet and development', CHO/CES Magazine:
- Special Issue on Information and Communications Technologies, June, http:/
- /www.undp.org/dpa/choices/2000/june/june.htm
- Chetty, M., 2003, 'Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) for Africa's Development',
- Paper written for Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) for the NEPAD Ministerial
- Conferen e on Science and Technology for Development, http://www.nepadst.org/publications/docs/
- doc08_112003e.pdf, November 2003.
- Cisler, S., 1997, 'The Internet and Indigenous Groups' presented at conference on Community Space
- and Cyberspace-What's the Connection? A Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing
- Symposium, University of Washington HUB, USA, http://www.cpsr.org/publications/publicationsgnh.
- html, March 1-2.
- e-Africa Commission Official Website, 2002, NEPAD Task Team Responsible for developing policies and
- strategies and projects at the continental level as well as managing the structured development of
- the ICI sector in the context ofNEPAD, http://www.eafricacommission.org/about-eafrica.htm.
- Grieco, M. and Holmes, L., 1999, 'Electronic governance and commercial development in Africa: The
- grass roots perspective', Paper presented at the Institute for African development, Comell
- University, http://www.geocities. com/margaret_grieco/working/ iad.html.
- Mogae, F., 2004 in 'Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), part of the UN Office for the
- Coordination ofHumanitarian Affairs (OCHA)', http:/
- /www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40200&SelectRegion=Southern_Afiica Mphinyane, S., 2001, 'The
- "dirty" social scientist: Whose advocate, the devil's
- :>r the people's?', in Alan Barnard and Justin Kenrick, eds., Africa's Indigenous
- Peoples: 'Firstpeoples'or 'MarginalisedMinorities'?, Edinburgh: University
- of Edinburgh Press.
- '-IEPAD Document, 2001, The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Abuja, Nigeria.
- '-IEPAD Draft Executive Summary Short Term Plan, May 2002.
- '-lyamnjoh, F., 2004, 'Reconciling "the Rhetoric of Rights" with Competing Notions of Personhood
- andAgency in Botswana' in Nyamnjoh, F. and Englund, H., eds., Rights and the politics of
- recognition in Africa, Londo11: Zed Books. ynor, N.N., 2003, 'Africa's digital rights' e-Africa
- Programme Commissioner,
- Internet and Software Development, http://www.eafricacommission.org/ presentations/eafrica.pdf
- R.andriamaro, Z., 2002, 'The NEPAD, gender and the poverty trap: the NEPAD and the challenges of
- financing for development in Africa from a gender perspective', A paper presented at the Conference
- on Africa and the DevelopmentChallenges of the New Millennium, ,Accra, Ghana, 23-26April. augestad,
- S., 2001, The lnconvenient lndigenous: Remote Area Development in Botswana, Donor Assistance, and
- the First People of the Kalahari, Uppsala:
- Nordic Africa Institute.
- urvival International Official Website, a worldwide organization supporting tribal peoples,
- http://www.survival-intemational.org/about.html.
- lJNDP Information Technologies (IT) for Development Programme Info21 on line magazine, Official
- website, the http://www.undp.org/info2l/brochure.html, August, 2000.
References
Brown, M. M., 2000, 'The Internet and development', CHO/CES Magazine:
Special Issue on Information and Communications Technologies, June, http:/
/www.undp.org/dpa/choices/2000/june/june.htm
Chetty, M., 2003, 'Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) for Africa's Development',
Paper written for Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) for the NEPAD Ministerial
Conferen e on Science and Technology for Development, http://www.nepadst.org/publications/docs/
doc08_112003e.pdf, November 2003.
Cisler, S., 1997, 'The Internet and Indigenous Groups' presented at conference on Community Space
and Cyberspace-What's the Connection? A Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing
Symposium, University of Washington HUB, USA, http://www.cpsr.org/publications/publicationsgnh.
html, March 1-2.
e-Africa Commission Official Website, 2002, NEPAD Task Team Responsible for developing policies and
strategies and projects at the continental level as well as managing the structured development of
the ICI sector in the context ofNEPAD, http://www.eafricacommission.org/about-eafrica.htm.
Grieco, M. and Holmes, L., 1999, 'Electronic governance and commercial development in Africa: The
grass roots perspective', Paper presented at the Institute for African development, Comell
University, http://www.geocities. com/margaret_grieco/working/ iad.html.
Mogae, F., 2004 in 'Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), part of the UN Office for the
Coordination ofHumanitarian Affairs (OCHA)', http:/
/www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40200&SelectRegion=Southern_Afiica Mphinyane, S., 2001, 'The
"dirty" social scientist: Whose advocate, the devil's
:>r the people's?', in Alan Barnard and Justin Kenrick, eds., Africa's Indigenous
Peoples: 'Firstpeoples'or 'MarginalisedMinorities'?, Edinburgh: University
of Edinburgh Press.
'-IEPAD Document, 2001, The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Abuja, Nigeria.
'-IEPAD Draft Executive Summary Short Term Plan, May 2002.
'-lyamnjoh, F., 2004, 'Reconciling "the Rhetoric of Rights" with Competing Notions of Personhood
andAgency in Botswana' in Nyamnjoh, F. and Englund, H., eds., Rights and the politics of
recognition in Africa, Londo11: Zed Books. ynor, N.N., 2003, 'Africa's digital rights' e-Africa
Programme Commissioner,
Internet and Software Development, http://www.eafricacommission.org/ presentations/eafrica.pdf
R.andriamaro, Z., 2002, 'The NEPAD, gender and the poverty trap: the NEPAD and the challenges of
financing for development in Africa from a gender perspective', A paper presented at the Conference
on Africa and the DevelopmentChallenges of the New Millennium, ,Accra, Ghana, 23-26April. augestad,
S., 2001, The lnconvenient lndigenous: Remote Area Development in Botswana, Donor Assistance, and
the First People of the Kalahari, Uppsala:
Nordic Africa Institute.
urvival International Official Website, a worldwide organization supporting tribal peoples,
http://www.survival-intemational.org/about.html.
lJNDP Information Technologies (IT) for Development Programme Info21 on line magazine, Official
website, the http://www.undp.org/info2l/brochure.html, August, 2000.