ICT AND EMPLOYMENT SETTING THE STAGE

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ICT AND EMPLOYMENT SETTING THE STAGE

• MOSES UBARU

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ICT AND EMPLOYMENT SETTING THE STAGE

• The use of ICTs are associated with new patterns
  of job creation and job loss.
• There are indications to suggest that jobs could
  be lost through three main channels
• - obsolescence,
• - automation, and
• - "disintermediation".

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ICT AND EMPLOYMENT SETTING THE PACE

• ICT replaces old tasks and occupations through
  automation, such as the telephone switchboard
  operator.
• But the technologies also create new tasks and
  occupations, such as Webpage designers or
  call-centre workers or a variety of new
  intermediaries

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ICT AND EMPLOYMENT SETTING THE STAGE

• Demand for ICT products and services are
  beginning to generate new jobs in Africa
• The creation of entirely new industries such as
  the software, computer, micro-electronic, the GSM
  industries etc has brought about new employment
  opportunities, which employ a substantial number
  of people.

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Liberalization of the ICT sector the importance
of infrastructure

• The study shows that access to reliable, and
  affordable telecommunications and electrical
  power infrastructure is an important precondition
  for the use of ICT to generate employment
  opportunities.
• The study reveals that the African countries
  where the ICT sector have been liberalized tend
  to have higher telecommunications penetration as
  reflected in the increased growth in teledensity,
  more vibrant economy with more jobs being created
  directly and indirectly and more positive impact
  on poverty alleviation than countries that are
  not liberalized.

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Overview of ICT status in selected African
countries
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Networked Readiness Index 2006 - 2007
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ECONOMIC REFORMS

• Nearly all the African countries examined are
  undergoing one form of economic reform or the
  other.
• ICT barely mentioned in the Poverty Reduction or
  Poverty Eradication documents of the various
  countries
• The documents did not articulate how ICT could be
  used to drive the development of the various
  sectors of the economy.
• This explains why most of these African countries
  have only been paying lip service to the question
  of ICT for dev. (ICT4D).

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UNIVERSAL ACCESS PROVISION

• Universal Access Provision is key to making ICT
  services available in the rural and underserved
  areas and commercially unviable areas of the
  countries.

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HUMAN CAPACITY DEV.

• There is great need for deliberate policies to
  promote the development of the required critical
  mass of skilled ICT manpower in the various
  countries to drive the ICT industry.
• Apart from countries like Egypt and Nigeria most
  African countries suffer from shortage of skilled
  ICT personnel

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DIRECT AND INDIRECT EMPLOYMENTS

• The study shows that ICT is creating jobs in the
  countries studied through direct employment in
  the ICT industries and indirectly through ICT
  enabled and ancillary enterprises.

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DIRECT AND INDIRECT EMPLOYMENTS contd.

• In Egypt,
• the number of established ICT companies is put at
  1,695 as at 2005.
• The ICT industry provides over 5,000 direct jobs
  and 15,000 indirect jobs.
• Over 113,732 graduates of the special IT training
  programmes of MCIT have all been employed in the
  ICT industry.
• The 10,000 seat Call centre at the smart village
  carries the potential to put 30,000 young
  Egyptian graduates on a steady pay roll.

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ICT AND EMPLOYMENT SETTING THE PACE

• An on going study shows that most African
  countries have made modest progress in the
  deployment of ICTs

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ICT AND EMPLOYMENT SETTING THE STAGE
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Overview of ICT status in selected African
countries
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ICT AND EMPLOYMENT SETTING THE STAGE

• But beyond the infrastructure countries must put
  strategies in place to ensure use of ICT for job
  creation and Poverty alleviation
• Possible areas that African countries can focus
  on for Job creation and Poverty Alleviation are
  given in the following slides

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• Following are very important areas where the
  African countries could focus efforts with a view
  to create decent jobs, reduce unemployment and
  alleviate poverty
• Outsourcing
• Community Multipurpose Telecentre (CMCs), using
  post offices as outlets, and combining several
  technologies- radio, GSM, Internet , TV, and
  multi-media
• Market driven e-Agriculture.
• Promoting ICT based SMEs through franchising
• Software development (Local content dev)

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ICT BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING

• Even though the global outsourcing market is very
  huge, most of the countries studied are yet tap
  fully into it.
• The study also shows that African countries have
  the potential to participate actively in
  outsourcing and a lot of jobs could be created as
  a result.

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EFFORTS OF THE DIASPORAS

• Just like the Indian example, our finding shows
  that Africans in diaspora could play very great
  roles in ensuring that the respective countries
  take advantage of the emerging BPO and hence
  contribute in no small way to the development and
  growth of the ICT industries in both Egypt and
  Nigeria.

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e-AGRICULTURE

• The study shows that the value chain created
  through the introduction of appropriate
  e-agriculture programmes holds very huge
  potentials for generating large volume of decent
  jobs.
• For instance the Egyptian pilot e-Agriculture
  programme, the Virtual Extension Research
  Communication Network (VERCON), provides the
  platform for information sharing between
  agricultural researchers and extension workers
  and
• currently there were already 57 nodes in the
  network (5 in central and 52 in 6 governorates),
  and it had already created jobs for over 1000
  workers including 92 extension workers, 12
  researchers, and other workers involved in
  content development.
• It has also contributed tremendously to
  empowering farmers with relevant information to
  boost their productivity and profitability.

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e-COMMERCE

• The lack of a functioning e-payment systems and
  e-signature acts in the countries visited are
  hindering the growth of e-commerce in these
  countries
• However, m-commerce picking up fast in African
  countries eg Flash me cash in Nigeria
• There is need therefore, in collaboration with
  relevant stakeholders, to create the necessary
  enabling environment for the establishment of
  e-payment systems.

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COST OF BANDWIDTH FOR INTERNET ACCESS

• Interviews carried out in the examined African
  countries indicate that the minimum Bandwidth
  required for meaningful internet access is 256
  Kbps.
• However, the high cost of bandwidth in most of
  the countries studied has been a major deterrent
  to ICT penetration and hence a major hindrance to
  creation of jobs through ICT.
• The free internet strategy adopted by Egypt is
  worth replicating in other African countries as a
  way of enhancing ICT diffusion.

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ENTERPRENEURSHIP

• In most African countries the education system
  does not emphasize entrepreneurship with the
  result that graduates are always looking up to
  the government to provide jobs.
• It is therefore very expedient that the
  education systems be reviewed to encourage
  entrepreneurship which would encourage young
  graduates to be innovative, creative and job
  creators rather than job seekers.

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ICT AND EMPLOYMENT SETTING THE PACE

• THANK YOU