Africa: From Obstacles to Opportunities The relationship between Information and Communication

strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa is commonly associated with the goal of reducing the Global Digital Divide (GDD). Even though this is a noble goal, its implementation under what is defined as the Bridge Logic creates an unsustainable environment in which ICT is understood as an end rather than as a means to tackle the real obstacles of the region. This paper proposes a new logic based on selected best practices extracted from the field: performing specific ICT actions in key sectors such as government, local business and education allows nations to achieve a higher socio-economic level while reducing the GDD as a by-product of the whole process. In the first section, the concept of the Bridge Logic is introduced and its weakness is explained. In the second section, some best practices in the region are reviewed to show that a new logic is possible. In the third section, this new logic is formalized. The fourth section concludes the argument. 1 Why the Bridge Logic does not work? In the developed world, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are ubiquitous in a wide range of sectors such as business, government, healthcare and education. Often, ICTs are one of the major vehicles for the delivery of services and the sharing of information. ICTs have also proven to be an extremely effective tool for capacity building and, thus, are a key component in entrepreneurial activities. In the developing world, the myriad obstacles that have retarded economic growth and human development have made the implementation of ICTs throughout the various sectors rather challenging as many of the preconditions for the effective and sustainable distribution of new technologies are missing or substandard. The discrepancy between developed and developing countries and also within developing countries in the accessibility and quality of ICTs forms the basis of the Global Digital Divide (GDD), a concept that is debated far and wide. Much of the debate surrounding this topic is in referenc