Technological Infrastructure and Use of ICT in Education in ... - ADEA

48 Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning
5. Socio-Economic Context
of Sub-Saharan Africa .......................
Having provided a detailed overview of the range of educational technologies
available and how ICTs fit into this range, it is now possible to
begin reviewing the context in which educational technology is used
for educational purposes in Africa. This section aims to provide a brief
overview of the socio-economic context of sub-Saharan Africa. Care will
be taken to highlight the diversity, as well as the similarities, between
countries, since a common problem of continental reviews and projects
is that Africa is treated as a homogeneous continent. This means that
initiatives relevant in one context are often assumed to be relevant in
another. This is not to say that there are no similarities or possibilities
for sharing and learning from other country or regional experiences, but
rather that such learning should always be evaluated in terms of the
specific conditions in each country or region.
5. Socio-Economic Context of Sub-Saharan Africa
5.1......General Socio-Economic Indicators
For ease of reading, ten African countries representing each of the
regions of the continent (Southern, East, West and Central, and North)
have been selected and socio-economic indicators presented. Not only
do these countries represent regional differences, but they also serve to
highlight the wide disparities in socio-economic conditions across the
continent. These countries have also been selected because they were
those for which the widest range of data was consistently available. For
comparison purposes, data are also provided for sub-Saharan Africa,
developing countries and for OECD countries. These statistics highlight
the importance of adapting models of best practice from developed
countries to the specifics of the African context.
According to the 2002 Human Development Report the population of
sub-Saharan Africa was 606 million in 2000, with 45 million people under
the age of 15 years. Table 1 (on page 49) provides general demographic
information for the ten selected countries.
This table reveals diverse socio-economic conditions across these ten
countries. Total population ranges from 113.9 million in Nigeria (the most
highly populated country in Africa) to as low as 0.4 million in Cape Verde.
The population of Africa is still predominantly rural, although in some
countries (such as Morocco) the urban population is over 50%. This,