THE ICT LANDSCAPE IN KENYA

My name is Elizabeth (Beth) Murugi Nderitu. I am a first year MBA student at American University , Washington , DC. I have written this report as a requirement for the completion of the course ITEC 654; Nations, Policy and Information Technology.

I chose to report on Kenya primarily because that's where I was born and brought up. At such I have ‘experienced' the use of ICT on both sides of the digital divide. Having grown up in rural Kenya , I first saw a computer at Jogoo Commercial College in Nakuru , Kenya . At the time I was twenty years old. I had finished my high school education and was waiting to join Egerton University for my Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Education and Extension. Then I dropped out and did not use a computer until almost one year later. That's when I met Joan Hay and her husband, Brian Cooper. Joan and Brian had come to Kenya about six months earlier as Peace Corps Volunteers. Joan worked in my neighborhood as a small business advisor, as well as a teacher at a nearby school that catered for street children. Brian worked at Pride Africa, an organization that funds small businesses in Africa . He also taught at the Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology. I taught them kiSwahili, Kenya 's national language. They taught me how to be more proficient at using a computer.

In May of 2001, Joan invited me to attend the Peace Corps E-commerce Awareness Conference at the Agricultural Finance Corporation Resort at Langata, Nairobi . There, I learned about the internet, and all the opportunities that it could possibly open up for me, especially in term of e-business and e-commerce. I got my email address on the second day of the conference.

Later that year, the Survivor Africa show was shot in Samburu/Maralal, Kenya . Joan thought it was a good idea to sell one of the things they spotted on the show, and we decided on the Maasai immunity necklace. I couldn't register with eBay in time to sell it, so we sold it through a friend of another Peace Corps Volunteer. The opening price was listed at $25 but we sold the necklace for more than three times that amount! We ended up doing a Dutch auction (sold multiple necklaces) due to the high demand. Since then I have sold more items on eBay in the U.S. , Canada , Germany and Australia . Through email I was also able to sell a Swahili bed and other craft items in wholesale while I was still in Kenya.Would you like to view my eBay page?

When I came to study for my graduate degree in the U.S. in August of 2005, the most surprising thing was the amount of automation that I encountered in my every day life, from using the washing machine and dish washer (I thought the dishwasher was a drying rack that fit nicely into the counter space before Brian told me it was actually an automated washer) at home, to actually registering for all my classes, paying my fees, and buying my books online. Previously, I had only sold craft items online.

From my point of view, the efficiency with which American institutions and organizations run stems from there investments in Information and Communication Technology.

To contrast this, I want to give you an example of a process that used minimal information systems in Kenya . As an undergraduate at Egerton, we had about one computer per a hundred students (there is more than one computer per student at American University . It shouldn't surprise anyone, then, that many, if not most, University graduates in Kenya are computer illiterate). At the beginning of every semester, we spent an average of two days for registration only. For the most part, we would just be lining up to have our fees manually written down on paper. Originally, the lost time was catered for by opening school on Friday or Saturday. Later, the University introduced courses for primary school teachers that took up the weekend prior to the normal school term. As a result the first two days were spent on registering, and before everyone settled down, one school week was gone. It was one exhausting week for all, especially the finance and residential hall officers. I think we would saved a lot of time and energy by computerizing all these systems and many others in all sectors of our institution.

As I write this, I am aware of the fact that automation does result in the loss of jobs as humans are replaced by machines. However, I strongly feel that our country could reap immense benefits by investing in information technology in order to be competitive in a more and more information-based global economy. We would even create many more jobs if we would be so tech-savvy as to attract technology outsourcing jobs as has happened in India . Tthe information age is here and it seems, to stay. As one African proverb puts it, “when the beat of the drum changes, so must the step”.

I will keep updating this site as I get more information. I welcome questions, observations and comments. You may reach me at:

elizabeth_nderitu@yahoo.com , en6343a@american.edu

THE ICT LANDSCAPE IN KENYA

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