Abstract

This thesis focuses on information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development, and the market-based approach that is being taken in the design and implementation of ICT initiatives in the Sub-Saharan African region. From a political economy standpoint, I provide a critical analysis of ICTs for development in the Sub-Saharan African region. In particular, I argue that current attempts by international business entities and international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to wire the continent are based on the dominant paradigm, which views ICTs as the index of modernization, and the only means for Africa to 'leapfrog' to the industrial stage. As a result, if care is not taken, these initiatives might create new forms of economic dependency for the region, similar to development initiatives in the 1960s and 1970s which relied on the modernization paradigm of Lerner and Schramm. To avoid creating a new form of techno-dependency in the Sub-Saharan African region, this thesis concludes with suggestions for effective use of ICTs in development.