If Africa is to make a quantum leap in progress and prosperity, it must have e-leaders and e-citizens who are willing and passionate about transforming the continent.
This is according to CEO of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah.
He says African leaders have to take social media, such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, more seriously or potentially lose power.
Spio-Garbrah also notes that the leaders should look at how social media networks have played a role in North Africa and the Middle East in helping to overthrow governments and regimes.
In a media statement, he says one of the major factors accounting for Africa's relatively lower levels of economic progress is its relatively weak uptake of e-transformation, e-development, e-society, e-progress and e-prosperity.
“If Africa is to make a quantum leap in the levels of its e-adoption and e-readiness, then there must be a new African e-leader capable of transformative change in his or her country, taking the fullest advantage of all the e-infrastructure and e-tools available today,” he adds.
Uneducated leaders
Spio-Garbrah is of the view that many African countries are still bogged down by leaders who do not even know how to send an SMS, or send e-mails.
“Most of these leaders have never heard of Netlog, MySpace or Second Life and, until some African leaders were overthrown by popular uprisings in North Africa, many had not taken seriously the power of such social media networks as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.
“Now that social media, essentially e-media, has shown its power and capacity to overthrow governments, let's hope African leaders are listening and will now take prompter action in their own interest to harness these ICT services for development,” Spio-Garbrah points out.
He explains that although when discussions of e-leadership take place in such forums, most people's minds immediately turn to political leaders. “E-leadership, at its heart, is not about political leaders or public services.
“It is about empowering ordinary people to become e-citizens. E-leaders are those who empower entire communities, major companies, villages, micro-enterprises, traditional rulers, or civil society to become e-enabled and e-empowered, so that they can maximise their God-given potentials in life, while reducing their daily transaction costs,” he says.
Looking ahead
Spio-Garbrah also points out that some of the elements of what enables ordinary people to also become e-leaders are such simple policies and practices as telecommuting - working electronically from home.
He argues that if African countries could become earlier adopters of relevant technology, it could be possible for African countries to “pole-vault” rather than merely “leap-frog” the digital divide.
Spio-Garbrah says over the last few years, the CTO has organised annual conferences in Asia and Africa on connecting rural communities, as well as forums e-governance.
“Furthermore, recognising the converging technology platforms that make e-leadership possible, the CTO has, for the past five years, organised conferences on digital broadcasting in Johannesburg each year.”
He adds that to ensure investments in ICT and in capacity-building for quick e-enablement are secure and resilient, the CTO also organises a conference on cyber security each year in London.
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