Téléphone mobile, Internet et développement : l’Afrique dans la société de l’information ?

Abstract

Over the last few years, the use of mobile phones, computers and the Internet, has experienced unprecedented development in Africa. The rapid adoption of these technologies by Africans and their proliferation on the continent have sparked a vast literature and ideas that take for granted the entry of Africa into the “global village” and the use of ICTs as a means for the continent to escape marginalization and poverty. The proponents of this point of view almost always point to a number of “social and economic transformations” which, according to them, are the result of the use of ICTs. Based on a literature review, statistics, and conversations, this article scrutinizes the so-called “transformational” character of ICTs in Africa. It underscores the limits of the changes observed, and concludes that Africans remain essentially receivers and passive consumers of technological productions and innovations made elsewhere.