Local Governance and ICTs in Africa

Case Studies and Guidelines for Implementation and Evaluation

Edited by Timothy Mwololo Waema, Edith Ofwona Adera

With governance high on the agenda in Africa, many governments are using information and communications technologies (ICTs) to introduce innovations in their structure, practices and capacities as well as in the ways they use human capital and deliver services to citizens. But the potential for e-governance in Africa remains largely unexploited. Progress requires infrastructure improvement, the enactment of appropriate laws and policies, and capacity and content development.

This book addresses the lack of evidence on ICTs in local governance in Africa. At its heart lies the conviction that ICT can enable local governments to engage citizens to participate in democratic processes and to engage in public sector management so creating socio-economic developments at local and national levels. It provides an important collection of studies and analyses on the transformative potential of ICT: citizens in Ethiopia use it to pay tax and complete legislative documents; in Mozambique the SchoolNet project has increased the secondary school literacy rate. Other studies in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa and Uganda explore service delivery, financial management, citizen registration, land management, local economic development and political inclusion.

The book provides a synthesis of the findings and a roadmap to assist government decision makers in implementing and evaluating their own e-local governance projects. With information and communications technologies increasingly available in Africa, this timely book speaks to the current issues.
 

Contents

• Foreword
• Executive Summary
• Chapter 1. Introduction: e-Governance in Africa (Edith Ofwona Adera)
• Chapter 2. The Research and Assessment Framework (Timothy Mwololo Waema)
• Chapter 3. Business Process Mapping for e-Local Governance Projects in Egypt (Aly A. Fahmy, Hatem M. Elkadi, and Hisham M. Abdelsalam)
• Chapter 4. The Application of ICTs on Life-Event Services in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Solomon Atnafu, Dessalegn Mequanint, and Yigremew Adal)
• Chapter 5. ICTs and Financial Management in Mavoko and Nyeri Municipal Councils, Kenya (Winnie V. Mitullah and Timothy Mwololo Waema)
• Chapter 6. Revenue Management Systems in Municipal and District Councils, Mauritius (Shalini Ramessur-Seenarain and Hemant Birandranath Chittoo)
• Chapter 7. Implementing a Citizen Registration System in Larache City, Morocco (Driss Kettani and Asmae Elmahdi)
• Chapter 8. Evaluating the Outcomes of e-Government Projects in Mozambique (Gertrudes Adolfo Macueve and José Leopoldo Nhampossa)
• Chapter 9. e-Governance for Social and Local Economic Development: Gauteng Province, South Africa (Luci Abrahams and Lutske Reid)
• Chapter 10. LoGICS: The Local Government Information Communication System of Uganda (Narathius Asingwire, Christopher Muhoozi, and Jennifer Angeyo)
• Chapter 11. ICTs for Political Inclusion and Good Governance in Northern Ghana (John Gasu and Jonnie Akakpo)
• Chapter 12. Conclusions and e-Local Governance Roadmap (Timothy Mwololo Waema)

About the Authors

Timothy Mwololo Waema is an associate professor at the School of Computing and Informatics, University of Nairobi.

Edith Ofwona Adera is a senior program specialist at Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). She has extensive experience managing innovative ICT4D projects that improve governance education, agriculture, and gender equality in Africa.