What has created the digital divide?
Many factors have contributed. The major factors include: The long time taken to appreciate, and indeed continuing real lack of appreciation by many of our leadership about the benefits of ICTs in all aspects of national transactions and processes, as well as its overall impact on national development; The historical income disparity due to trade imbalances that compounded the slow uptake of ICTs; The attempt by many of our countries to retrace the development paths of the older economies: the agrarian revolution, the industrial revolution, production of iron and steel, etc, have been seen by many of our leaders as essential steps in development; The absorption of resources by internal conflict, in effect causing movement of limited resources to the countries that produce arms (normally the technologically advanced countries); The very low human development index, which means people are reduced to basic survival rather than creative thinking; Decades of poor governance, where leaders h
