by Amon Karagara

Created on: January 23, 2009

In an era where the world is getting more globalized, technology advancement has taken center stage in every country's development effort. Even African countries are striving to catch up with the rest of the world, except, the rate is so slow. You still observe rudimentary ways in almost every sector, for instance, in agriculture, education, security and defense, health care, elections, pay rolls, at home, etc. The list is endless here. The fact is, there are so many areas in which Africa is lacking in terms of technology.

HERE IS WHY AFRICA IS STILL BEHIND ON ITS TECHNOLOGY.

Poverty is largely to blame. People cannot afford some of the basic technology products. When people are struggling to survive, you don't expect them to pay for the products and services, such as internet usage, home security systems, or even stoves to cook their food on. Almost over half of the people do not even have electricity service in their homes. So, even if technology was introduced, it would not readily pick up with limited affordability.

Poor education and limited skills. In a continent where some people are unable to read or write, modern gadgets are useless. There are some who would afford the services, but because they are illiterate, they won't be able to use for instance a computer or a smart phone. This is common amongst businessmen, whose progress was merely through trade. They could pay for the modern technology but then they are unable to operate them. They therefore don't even think about them in the first place.

Imbalances in regional development. Most African countries have concentrated their development in urban areas. This has completely left out the people in the rural areas who are the majority. So even those who would be able to match with the technology progress are not able to access the services. An area with poor roads, or no electricity, for instance, cannot attract the application of modern technology products. A small percentage of the population is thus able to use the services, yet it is not enough to provide a substantial market for the products. The end result is, some companies don't even think about introducing such services to such countries where they don't expect to earn enough from their services.

Corruption and poor administration. Some of the money that is usually set aside for technology grown usually ends up in the hands of corrupt leaders, who either procure less or poor quality services and products. So the government sectors also end up with limited technology in the health sector, election process, defense and security, the legal process, tax services, etc. This creates a loss to the government and thus less revenue which would otherwise be used to pay for advances in technology.

Dependency on expatriates. Some countries believe that foreign manpower is better than the local manpower. So they depend on the so-called expatriates, and thus have no incentive to train the local people to apply some skills to modern technology. This leaves the locals with no innovative skills, which they would also be able to pass on to more people all over the continent or in their respective countries.

Africa has all the resources, but they still hire people to come and exploit them. They cannot mine their own minerals, for instance, and even when they use the foreigners, they are exported in raw form, which usually fetches less money. It is a shame sometimes.

African leaders can do a lot to improve their technological development, as long as they are willing to do so.

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