“Information technology has created paths of development that are not affected by distance or geography. Africa stands up and shows the world that you are worth it. Speak out AFRICA, silence is treason.”

In any situation, the most informed individuals remain the most dominant and powerful over their counterparts. Being more informed gives them the mandate to impose conditions on the less informed, to the point of undermining their capacities in all aspects of life. That is where Africa is linked today, we have been called by third world, underdeveloped countries and we appreciate that name. Would there be nothing superior coming from Africa and telling the world that we are the same?

Because we’re less informed and don’t even give a damn about that condition, I’m afraid we could stay that way forever. We have been so brainwashed by the more informed that we come to an unguided understanding that prosperity depends on where you are, as well as who you are and what you can do in whatever environment you are in.

We Africans have come to believe that our countries are arid lands infested with poverty, HIV / AIDS, unemployment, and all the inhumane ways we can imagine. Imagine an African leaving his country for the Western world assuming he is looking for greener pastures. Having acquired a decent education in Africa with government loans and grants, the African child still feels that the government investment was made for the Western world.

The key question here is: there is a gap that must be closed in Africa. The opening is so great that many forces are needed to conquer it. Since dynamite comes in small packages, I still believe that a few inspired hands will make a difference. I hope and believe that since Diaspora Africans have access to information, they will also play a critical role in closing the information gap. The plot here is not to be fussy about ICT, computers and everything that follows. ICT initiatives have just arrived at the right time as saviors for Africa.

Throughout the NGO network in the Western world there is talk of the creation of ICT initiatives in Africa. African governments are also talking about the same phenomena, electronic commerce, electronic government, legislation, etc. While I salute those who are striving to establish telecentres, internet cafes, business centers, Internet connections and other support services, I have a strong feeling that this will not be the one-size-fits-all solution to Africa’s problems.

The important thing here, to which we are turning a blind eye, is the I in ICT and IT. The name of this technology has been dialed over and over again, but the only word that remains is INFORMATION.

Now, what is information and why should it matter right now, why all this fuss about ICT projects? Over the past few years, I have seen more ICT-centric business propositions than any other business enterprise. Along the way I have also written my ICT business proposal which has worked well. All the internet cafes I have worked for were new centers and more and more are opening.

In my previous introduction, you can see how information is a very important part of our livelihood. The reason Africans are leaving their roots in droves is that they have HEARD (they are well informed, of course) of greener pastures. That same voice that carried the message of greener pastures should also have preached to Africans that these pastures are in our heads, not anywhere else outside of that.

As Africans, we seem to lack inspiration in what we do. That is why when a family member becomes rich, we try to link his fortune to some long-deceased grandfather who was an owner of some kind.

Take a look at how the information inspires people, the oral tradition told throughout the Shona people about the predictions of a spirit medium inspired Zimbabweans to go to war against the Rhodesian regime.

Now that in the western world there is a lot of information about inventors, innovators and explorers, people have a lot of information to inspire them. Obviously, you would venture into something because you have seen or heard it from elsewhere. So today our Africa needs to be inspired and motivated, the only way is to feed them the right information.

For inspiration we also have our brothers and sisters who have come here and some abroad, and that information should reach the mind of the African child now. If you want to see how information is a key factor, look at how many countries survive without ministries of information. Information is power and should be respected as such. A well-informed generation is the generation needed to lead Africa into this emerging knowledge economy.

I believe that with internet access spanning all the plains of sub-Saharan Africa and the entire continent, this is the right time for African intellectuals to start building online content / information banks for Africa. The challenge is both for the Africans in the diaspora (who by now know that we cannot live without information) and for the geniuses around us to be aggressive pioneers in the dissemination of information via the Internet.

The more informed people are, the more confident they will be in what they are doing. Being well informed builds trust and therefore knowledge, and obviously knowledge is power, as we all know (the informed few know). Those who have knowledge have power and that number is really very small.

Africans allow us to cultivate, believe in ourselves, and dominate the knowledge-driven economy. Our natural resources have not yet been depleted by multimedia and we have to show it to the world. We need to show the world that we can improve the world in addition to dying trying to impress someone. It is time for Africa, we realize that we can no longer feed off the ground, but we take our position at the table.

How are we going to control our destiny at world conferences when all we can do is beg for debt reduction and even ask for more help? Why can’t we take advantage of these ICT initiatives to develop our own products and stop fattening western pockets? One writer concluded that there were more Mercedes-Benz cars in Africa than in Germany itself. Imagine that all the ministers of an African government are supposed to have the latest Mercedes-Benz model.

It seems that Africa is the market for the Western world when, in effect, the same donor money that we use for their products is the same that they give us for initiatives driven by poverty and HIV / AIDS. By the way, have you ever tried to check which cars our NGO brothers drive? They simply return donor money to Western powers.

In other words, the most lucrative business to own and run in Africa today is an NGO. We have the scapegoat that we can use to extract money from Western supporters. Tell them about our politics, HIV / AIDS, poverty, and obviously you will divert a lot of money and resources from that side.

Africa how long are we going to survive on other people’s pockets? How long are we going to be used western clothing dumps, used car dumps? Information technology creates a way for us to develop and license our intellectual rights and Africa this is your chance.

Look what all the educated nations are doing. Perhaps Africa is because we have allowed ourselves to be a religious dump? Malaysians believe in themselves and are so devoted to their religions and that has led them to build a large economic base based on knowledge. The same also applies to India and other Asian states that are doing it.

Be informed Africa, be informed sons and daughters of Africa. Get up and make Africa shine because your light has come, get up with one voice and tell the world that now is your turn. Imagine how the western world is proud to discover Victoria Falls when, in essence, there were already people in Africa knowing about them all the time.

It is good that we realize that we need information. So the ball is in our court, whether it’s to remain servants or to create consumable information centers online for our fellow Africans. I advise you that when you find time to chat in a Western chat room, why can’t you make that time conducive to indexing information about Africa from the Internet?

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who matter don’t care and those who care don’t matter.”