Information technology and the dialectics of poverty in Africa

Developments in computer and telecommunications technology have pushed information into the forefront of business. Information is now considered the most important factor of production in a world economy that is gradually becoming globalised. These developments are also the principal pillars upon which the change from an industrial age to an information society hinges. This paper spells out the role of information in the new “information society” and how it affects the fortunes of a nation. A historical approach to underdevelopment and poverty is undertaken and applied, by analogy, to the call for African countries to use electronic formats to solve the continent’s myriad problems. A gradual approach to implementing IT is suggested.