Africa develops best practice portal

By Damaria Senne for Microsoft
Johannesburg, 30 Apr 2008

The government of Burkina Faso has developed a portal serving as a reservoir of African ICT Best Practices.

Launched at the ICT Best Practices Forum, held in Ouagadougou last week, the portal provides a single point of reference for African governments embarking on large-scale development projects, says Microsoft, which is a partner in the initiative.

"The aim is to give African governments and NGOs a single point of reference where they can go to see if the challenge that they're facing has already been solved by another organisation, and customise and apply these methods to their problems," the company says.

Public sector agencies across Africa can submit best practices proposals for proven, successful projects that fit into any of the categories listed in the projects section of the portal.

Submitted proposals are then assessed and evaluated by a technical committee responsible for checking the reliability and validity of the submitted information.

Microsoft chairman for Africa Cheick Modibo Diarra says there are no boundaries to the best practices that can be included in this database. Subjects could range from agriculture, land affairs, civil services and even minerals and energy, he says.

He adds that there is also no one-size-fits-all solution for the unique challenges the continent faces.

However, the portal provides a basis to build on and will help African governments save time and money while also speeding up overall service delivery, he says.

Facing challenges

In his commentary about ICT best practice in Africa, Balancing Act CEO Russell Southwood says an understanding of the drivers for the implementation of ICT initiatives in Africa will help improve their chances of success.

"Countries may be poor, but hard choices need to be made if the gap between intention and action is to be closed."

He highlights the challenges faced by Burkina Faso, which include a low PC penetration rate and a literacy rate of 30%.

The government is rolling out a $100 million nationwide fibre network that is to reach every administrative centre, he says. It also supports grassroots ICT training initiatives and the annual Internet week, he says.

In 2007, the government facilitated the training of 6 000 individuals, including civil servants, teachers, students and the general public, he adds. This year, the organisers hope to train over 7 000 in 34 towns across the country, he notes.

The best practice portal falls within a memorandum of understanding Microsoft signed with the government of Burkina Faso in September 2007.