223 Human Development February 2003 Findings reports on ongoing operational, economic, and sector work carried out by the World Bank and its member governments in the Africa Region. It is published periodically by the Knowledge and Learning Center on behalf of the Region. The views expressed in Findings are those of the author/s and should not be attributed to the World Bank Group. http://www.worldbank.org/afr/findings The African Virtual University and Growth in Africa A knowledge and learning challenge I nformation and Communications a "university without borders" -- Technologies (ICTs) are being uses ICTs to provide Africa direct heralded as potential agents of so- access to global knowledge and cial and economic change. The digi- learning resources. tal age has sought to accelerate the pace of development by reaching The Knowledge Broker some of the rural poor. But is that enough? The three pillars of the ICT The African Virtual University was revolution are connectivity, capac- established in 1997 as a World ity and content. Donors, govern- Bank-supported initiative to tap ments and private telecom opera- global knowledge and learning net- tors have gone a long way to get works to meet Africa's educational many parts of Africa wired and con- needs. Initially, many skeptics nect the continent to the global in- thought the AVU concept was pure formation highway. But does the utopia and would not succeed in knowledge add value to the work the African context. However, a few and lives of ordinary Africans? pioneers came on board and the Africa is a continent with over pilot began in six Anglophone coun- 750 million people, of whom 53 tries - Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, percent are below the age of 20. Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Ghana. Access to education is limited, while Since the ICT infrastructure in Af- the demand is enormous. Less than rica was still in its infancy, satel- 5 percent of students have access lite broadcasting was selected in to tertiary education today, com- place of web casting and Internet- pared to the world average of 16 based technologies. A number of percent. In 1996, the average an- course providers were identified nual cost of training one student from all over the world and courses at the university level in Africa was were broadcast live from the US, equivalent to over 400 percent of Canada and Europe to students in the per capita income, compared to the partner institutions, who could 26 percent in the US. The costs are participate in a live virtual discus- Findings even higher and place a significant sion across Africa and beyond. burden on scarce government re- However, the foundations for sources. This is where ICTs could sustainability had to be rooted in help to expand people's access to Africa. This involved a serious com- knowledge through education. The mitment from the governments and African Virtual University (AVU) -- universities -- they had a great deal to gain from the partnership, but services. The Massachusetts Insti- transmission is recorded and re- had also to make a concrete con- tute of Technology (MIT) joined the played in case students need to go tribution to its success. network of partner institutions in over certain points with the help of The World Bank played a key role 2002. Gradually, the focus has the local facilitator. As a result, over in nurturing the AVU during its in- shifted towards building the capac- 60 percent of students prefer to fancy. The Bank's reputation en- ity of local African institutions to take the courses offline, so that abled the AVU to establish strate- generate their own courses for the they can learn at their own pace. gic partnerships with the private AVU on local issues, such as the This is one of the greatest advan- sector to set up the ICT infrastruc- use of indigenous knowledge in the tages of the AVU. It is planning to ture. The Bank brokered an agree- development process. develop accredited degree, diploma ment with a satellite company, Knowledge has to be and certified programs that will be Intelsat, to provide the required contextualized in order to add value designed, developed and imple- bandwidth support to the AVU for to a different setting. For instance, mented jointly by universities in the free for the first two years. Through a course in advanced economics in north and south. In this way, the the Bank it was also possible to the US may have the same theo- AVU is taking the best knowledge gain the technical and financial retical content as one being taught and learning tools in the world and support of donor countries includ- in South Africa, but the case stud- tailoring them to suit the African ing Canada, Norway, Ireland, Bel- ies used to test the theories may context, while at the same time gium, Sweden, UK, USA, Australia vary. Second, some of the courses empowering African universities to and the European Union. had to be revised to address the eventually take over the programs. The next step was to develop a level of knowledge and understand- The universities proved to be the network of global content provid- ing of students in different parts of backbone of the AVU, as they ers to serve the AVU. Leading uni- Africa. These were benchmarked by housed the centers, hosted the versities in the North, academics the local course facilitators, who classes and financed the operations and professionals with highly spe- ensured that students were able to and maintenance costs of running cialized skills who could under- follow the courses and provided these centers from the income gen- stand Africa's needs and build tai- backstopping support to bridge any erated from the courses. lor-made courses to meet these, gaps in understanding. In 2001, the AVU embarked on a were enlisted to develop the AVU lectures are broadcast on a partnership with the Medical Uni- courses. By 1999, the AVU had live screen into the classrooms, versity of Southern Africa through brokered agreements with 30 repu- where local facilitators walk the a Memorandum of Understanding. table institutions around the world students through the sessions and The University operates a Public to provide knowledge and learning address technical problems. Each Health Program in the Southern African region and the AVU has Findings Findings can be accessed via the World Bank Group's website at http://www.worldbank.org/ Click on Publications, then Periodicals. Or, Findings would also be of interest to: click on Countries and Regions, then Africa Name Institution Letters, comments, and requests for publications not Address available at the World Bank Bookstore should be addressed to: Editor, Findings Operational Quality and Knowledge Services Africa Region, The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Room J-5-055 Washington, D.C. 20433 e-mail: pmohan@worldbank.org agreed to jointly develop courses for training are limited, which partly Today, the AVU network has grown dissemination through the AVU explains the lower levels of foreign to 34 learning centers in 17 En- network. This will be done in col- investment in Africa compared to glish- and French-speaking coun- laboration with universities in the other regions. Private firms that tries in Africa and has provided US, which will enable the program typically make substantial invest- educational services to 23,000 par- to access a wider audience across ments to send staff overseas for ticipants. It is the biggest ICT ini- Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. training welcomed an opportunity tiative in the continent, with a Similar partnerships have been to develop these skills indigenously. larger share of women participants forged with the United Negro Col- The AVU is attempting to nurture compared to other institutions of lege Fund and the Africa-America a skilled and knowledgeable higher learning offering similar pro- Institute. In this way, the AVU workforce from within Africa that grams. For many in Africa, it has helps development practitioners will, over time, contribute to eco- become a widely accepted way of access global communities and nomic development. It is thus con- learning. share knowledge and experiences tributing to the development of The AVU provided several univer- through virtual learning centers; Africa's human capital. sities in Africa with email and which in turn will hopefully lead to A major shortcoming of the pilot Internet access for the first time. It the emergence of common goals, project was that it was not finan- became the nucleus of an ICT cul- joint ventures and partnerships to cially sustainable. It relied too ture in several African universities. promote sustainable development. heavily on donor funding and pri- It has enabled students to seek vate sector subsidies that could not scholarships and admissions to Challenges last forever. Being primarily an in- overseas universities. It has pro- stitution with a public good mis- vided jobs to students and incomes Technology posed a major challenge sion, it was difficult to wean the for the handicapped via special for the AVU. Most African countries AVU off World Bank support and training courses. People attended have limited ICT-related infrastruc- set it up as a financially indepen- courses in management, which ture and trained personnel. These dent organization. Eventually, it helped them start their own busi- problems are exacerbated by the was decided to relocate the AVU nesses. occurrence of power shortages, headquarters from Washington, DC The AVU has helped reduce the digital illiteracy and poor connec- to Nairobi, Kenya, where it would digital divide in Africa and proven tivity. Few have access to telephone operate as an independent NGO. that modern communications tech- lines and these are not always func- Today, the AVU has begun to raise nology can succeed in Africa. It has tional. Operational costs for tele- funds from the fees charged for raised the profile of the continent phones are high in Africa. Most Af- courses and educational grants positively and helped establish Af- ricans cannot afford to buy a per- provided by local universities and rica as a business address. Today, sonal computer. In some cases, governments. This has enabled a number of Internet and satellite government regulations have not each of the learning centers to be companies are eager to set up busi- always been favorable to ICTs. self-financing. Staff are paid from nesses in Africa. Regions such as The local partner universities in locally-generated revenues. The the Middle East and Central Asia Africa served as a solid platform to AVU pays only for the content de- have also begun to think along the address some of these challenges. velopment, the costs of which will lines of the AVU. AVU training The local staff involved in the also be transferred to the centers courses are helping shape project established strategic part- over time. The fees are structured tomorrow's business managers, nerships with private companies in a way that is affordable to most women entrepreneurs, scientists and the government to purchase Africans, by charging rates below and other professionals who will stand-by generators, licenses from the private sector. This has enabled make effective use of the knowledge the Tele-com authorities, comput- a wider group of Africans to access economy, to stimulate growth and ers and other necessary equipment. ICTs for development. development in Africa. Government regulations have be- The private sector has also ben- gun to slowly liberalize the ICT sec- Impact efited from the growth of the AVU. tor. As a result, a number of new Previously, companies had to send Internet service providers have Over the years, the courses ex- their management teams to Europe started businesses in Africa. panded to cover a wide range of and America to receive training in One of the key factors underly- topics to address the needs of pro- business management and other ing the high levels of poverty across fessionals in Africa from language skills. Today, firms can send their the continent is the lack of a skilled courses and web designing, to new staff to the local AVU center to work force. Technical expertise and training women entrepreneurs. receive the same courses online. This has considerably reduced the · A great deal depends on the costs of training new staff. As a re- project manager and his or her cre- sult, the private sector has become ativity and entrepreneurial skills. a major client and source of rev- People who see an opportunity and This article was written by enue for the AVU. seize it are the ones to go farthest. Siddhartha Prakash, based on an In Kenya and Ghana, for example, interview with Professor Peter Lessons learned the AVU coordinators managed to Materu, Interim Executive Director, anchor the center in the universi- AVU. For further information email: · Institutions such as the World ties with great success. They de- Sprakash@worldbank.org. Bank can play a critical role in veloped a dynamic marketing cam- brokering partnerships between the paign to attract clients from the pri- AVU, private companies and knowl- vate sector. In Kenya, the center edge providers. Another key factor has expanded from 50 computer behind the success of the AVU was workstations to 200. the firm commitment of the part- · Do not wait for all the answers ner institutions in Africa, such as before starting. Think big, start the universities. They supported small and scale up. Work with lo- the learning centers, endured the cal institutions who will manage initial growing pains and provided the initiative, and take the back high-quality services. The pro- seat as a facilitator. Broker local/ grams were run with a high degree global partnerships to solve infra- of professionalism. One of Kenya's structure problems. Create a strong universities for example devoted management team with excellent three amphitheatres to the learn- facilitators who can provide every- ing process. day technical guidance to clients.