The Acacia Prospectus (2006-2011) represents the third generation of Acacia programming, which began in 1996. Much has changed with respect to ICTs and African development in that time. While Africa still has the lowest teledensity of any region on earth, it is now the fastest growing mobile telephony market in the world. Parts of Africa now have access to the world’s fastest fibre optic telecommunications infrastructure yet the majority of Africa still have yet to gain regular access to a phone. Even those with access often pay hundreds of times more for it than in developed countries. For a small percentage of Africans the Internet has become powerful tool for development but it remains outside the reach of most Africans. Meanwhile, the developed world has raced ahead to embrace new ICTs and ICT infrastructure, driving down costs and integrating ICTs as a basic infrastructure of modern economies. The failure of African countries to keep pace with this change has far-ranging implications and it is the mission of the Acacia
PI to better understand these implications and to facilitate positive change through evidence-based policy reform.
Document(s) 6 of 6
