GENDER, TECHNOLOGY AND THE AFRICAN SOCIO-ECONOMIC

TRANSFORMATION1

Olabisi I. Aina2 and TaiwoAjilore3

ABSTRACT

Africa as a continent today faces daunting challenges of sustainable development and social

transformation. The critical roles of gender equity and technological innovations in the quest

for its transformation are to say the least, pivotal. It has been argued at the level of global

development discourse that gender equality is a core development objective in its own right,

as it enhances productivity, improve development outcomes for the next generation, and

make institutions more representative. Technology on the other hand remains a catalyst for

socio-economic transformation and sustainable development, and a factor which continues to

create a divide between the advanced and the less developed countries of the world. An ever-

widening gap continues to exist between those with skills, competencies, and resources, and

those that do not, within the newly emerging knowledge-based economy driven by new

technologies.

As it were, the pace towards African economic and social transformation will be accelerated

if the forces of gender equality and technical innovations are self-reinforcing in the

developmental process. The development process itself, in all societies define socially

constructed roles to men and women, but too often, gender biases precipitated within the

patriarchal social structures of most African societies engendered gender-based disparities

that hindered women from exerting fully their ascribed roles in the developmental and social

transformation process. These mostly impede their own development, and ultimately take

away from the development and transformation prospects of the larger society.

The role of technology in reinforcing or ameliorating theses biases then comes to focus, and

has been subject of discourse of feminist sociological research, with consensus that suggests

that while the development and permeation of technology in both the industrial and emerging

societies did not give rise to gender bias, it serves as a reinforcement mechanism in

maintaining social relations that are permeated with such biases. Technology in itself is

patriarchal, its evolution and development is intentioned as a catalytic impetus to the

capitalist profit motifs over public interest, and therefore give less attention to a balance of

power between men and women; and to sustainable human development objectives.

These issues become very important for Africa. Following the poor record of its Gender

Development Index, Science and Technology Policy that is not gender equality responsive

would likely fail to achieve sustainable human development for the continent, nor stimulate

growth and development. The paper interrogates a tripartite relationship between gender,

technology and development and raises concern on lack of gender equity in the transformed

technology sector, and argues for gender equity objectives in the technology sector if Sub-

Saharan Africa is to be truly transformed technologically, economically, and socially. The

1 Paper presented at the South African Sociological Association Conference, 2012 (Theme: African Socio-economic Transformation) 2Olabisi I. Aina is a Professor of Sociology/Gender Studies, Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile – Ife, Nigeria. 3TaiwoAjilore is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile – Ife.

paper concludes with some agenda setting that would transform the technology base of the

African States – based on gender equality and sustainable human development objectives

1. Introduction

Gender is defined as a social relation constituted between men and women within a social

context, with their respective roles and social behaviour (and their overall status) being

classified within feminine or masculine categories. Thus, gender is a social construct that

ascribes different qualities and rights to women and men regardless of individual competence

or desires. Further, gender is an asymmetrical relation in which the masculine is more highly

valued and ascribed with more power than the feminine (Stepulevage (2001). Thus, gender is

considered the social-political aspect of biological sexual differences, in which women have a

particular status different from men; and cuts through economic class lines and ethnic

differentiation.

However, a partnership based on equality between women and men is imperative for people-

centered sustainable development. The Beijing Conference in 1995 posits that “Women’s

empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society in

the decision-making process and access to power are fundamental for the achievement of

equality, development and peace”. Gender equality and women empowerment - the Goal 3

of the MDGs - is central to the achievement of the other 7 MDG goals, as it helps accelerate

the achievement of each of these goals. Evidences abound to show that progress in gender

equality in one goal certainly contributes simultaneously towards progress on all other

development goals. Investments in gender equality can improve the lives of both men and

women, with lasting benefits for the next generations.

Technology, in its widest form, can be taken as the recreating and modifying of the

environment in line with human intellectual capacity for humankind’s development and

sustenance. It can be said to be the systematic study and development of techniques for

making and doing things. Technology consists of both the technological artefacts such as

machines and the methods used in creating those artefacts.

The ability to create, acquire and adapt new technologies is a critical requirement for

competing successfully in the global marketplace. Various international fora and agreements

on technology access and technological capacity building have recognized the importance of

the need to transfer technology, especially to developing countries. Technology affords

tremendous opportunities in bridging the overall gap that exists between developing and

developed countries.

The term ‘development’ implicitly denotes the notion of the persisting differences in poverty

and prosperity among countries and regions of the world. In this sense an important

dimension of the concept of development refers to economic growth or more precisely

growth of national income per capita. However, it has been argued that development cannot

be confined to this economic sphere alone. Economic development refers to growth

accompanied by qualitative changes in the structure of production and employment, generally

referred to as structural change (Kuznets, 1966). Of particular importance for developing

economies like Africa are increases in the share of the dynamic industrial sector in national

output and employment and a decrease of the share of agriculture. Seers (1979) formulated

three additional requirements for the use of the term development, namely that there should

be a decrease in poverty and malnutrition, that income inequality should decline, and that the

employment situation should improve. Other important dimensions of development includes

the much neglected sector – social development sector, and its so-called ‘social indicators’:

life expectancy, literacy, levels of education, infant mortality, availability of telephones,

hospital beds, licensed doctors, availability of calories, and so forth. Thus in a very broad

sense development encapsulates the cohorts of processes that lead to increased capacity of

people to have control over material assets, intellectual resources and ideology and obtain

physical necessities of life (food, clothing and shelter), equality in employment, participation

in government, political and economic independence, adequate education, gender equality,

sustainable development and peace.

Africa is a continent in pursuit of sustainable development and social transformation, the self-

reinforcing forces of gender equality and technical innovations hold great potentials and have

been proved to be potent factors in the developmental process of the industrialized world.

However, there still exists a wide divide between advanced and less developed nations on the

scale of gender parity and technical competence.

It is a well-documented fact that the African continent has not kept pace with technological

advancement. The Developed World is characterized by increasingly efficient use of

technology. Technology has generally improved life and business in all segments and sectors

of society. Unfortunately, the developing world, and African countries in particular, has not

kept pace with the growth in the developed world. According to the United Nations, Africa's

technological gap could be the source of its increasing economic deterioration because other

developing regions are constantly upgrading their own technological capabilities, especially

in the context of increasingly liberalized and competitive global marketplace

Women account for a sizeable portion of Africa's economies and could contribute

considerably more if there were greater gender equality that better leverage women's talents

to increase productivity and prosperity across African countries. Unfortunately, experiences

in most African societies indicate that gender inequality is pervasive in all sectors of national

development. In Nigeria for instance; 38% of women lack formal education compared to

25% for men. Only 4% of women have higher education compared to 7% for men. About

half of women are unemployed, compared with 24% for men (2009 NDHS). At the advent of

democratic governance in 1999, of the 11, 900 elected only 181 were women- a mere 1.6%.

Maternal Mortality is unacceptably high at 704 per 100, 000 live births.

In Nigeria, rural women represent 76% of the entire population in the rural areas. They

constitute the larger percentage of the poor; they are less educated and majority of them

engage largely in small scale agriculture and petty trading. Women also form the larger part

of the labour and production force, which produce over 70% of the nation’s food supply, but

they have access to less than 15% of the resources available in the agricultural sector (WIN,

2005). Despite Nigerian rural women’s contributions productive work (agricultural and non-

agricultural); processing and distribution of agricultural products amongst others, these

productive roles are largely unacknowledged, unpaid for, and poorly taken into account in

national accounts. Importantly, rural women’s low economic status is now recognized as one

of the most important reasons for chronic poverty in the rural areas, and worst still, these

women have very poor access to technology, in particular the new technologies associated

with ICT development.

The gender divides within the technology gap manifests broadly in the lower numbers of

women access and use of technology relative to men. The World Wide Web provides a good

illustration. Compared to men, the majority of the world’s women do not use the Internet.

Women are in the minority of users in almost all developed and developing countries.

UNDP(1999) highlights that the trend for differentiation in use of technology starts early, as

seen in the United States where boys are five times more likely than girls to use home

computers and parents spend twice as much on ICT products for their sons as they do for

their daughters.

African women continue to be excluded from access to digital technology. Typical gender-

based constraints might include average lower disposable incomes and high levels of poverty,

placing access to most ICTs out of reach; limited time for technology use with having to

combine earning a living with looking after a family; average lower literacy levels, which

exacerbates the non-African languages that dominate the Internet making it challenging for

the majority of African women, in particular, speakers of indigenous languages. Traditional

notions about technology being more suited for men, lack of training and skills, and irregular

or non-existent power supplies (energy sources) act as significant barriers to access and use

of ITs, particularly in rural areas where majority of poor African women reside..

2. Theoretical frameworks/discourse on Gender and Technology

Theoretical conjectures about gender and technology have been shaped by two questions: the

relation between gender and technology (Kelan, 2007); as well as what factors underlie the

underrepresentation of women in the technology profession.

Two ways in which gender affects technology have been distinguished (Faulkner 2001). The

first one is ‘gender in technology’ while the second is “gender of technology”. Technical

development can take different roads, but which roads are taken depends on social

interactions. An example of social interaction is how designers configure the user, and

thereby decide between different design options (Woolgar 1991). Gendered assumptions are

vital in this process, and shape the design of technology (Webster 1996; 1997; Hofmann

1999). Technologies contain gender scripts (Rommes et al. 1999), which prescribe by whom

– and how – certain technologies ought to be used, and these salient gender assumptions are

referred to as gender in technology.

These gender scripts are often influenced and reinvigorated by the gender of technology. This

refers to the symbolic association between gender and technology. It has been argued that the

computer is perceived as something masculine and thereby more appropriate for boys and

men (Wajcman 1991; Kirkup 1992; Aune 1996; Haddon 1999). This means that many

women shy away from computing technology, which is called ‘computer reticence, wanting

to stay away because the computer becomes a personal and cultural symbol of what a woman

is not’ (Turkle 1988). Engaging with technologies is therefore influenced by the gender

scripts and associations surrounding these technologies and can be interpreted as the way in

which gender is done (Gill &Grint, 1995).

Also two dominant theoretical viewpoints are reflected in the majority of literature to explain

the underrepresentation of women in the technology profession; these are: essentialism and

social construction (Trauth, 2002). Essentialism or biological determinism is the belief that

there is some essential biological difference in brain structures, learning styles, and interests,

between males and females that boys are possessed of particular masculine character traits

such as aggressiveness and competitiveness, and are naturally more active and demanding.

The existence of biological difference between the sexes has led to a tendency to assume that

other observed differences between men and women are due to biological determinants as

well (Marini, 1990). When applied to the topic of gender and technology, the essentialist

theory presumes the existence of relevant inherent differences between women and men with

respect to information technology. It uses the observed differences in the participation of

women and men in the IT field as evidence of this view. Thus, the causes of gender

underrepresentation in IT are attributed to biology. It turns to observed differences in men’s

and women’s behavior for explanations of what are believed to be inherent, fixed, group-

level differences that are based upon bio-psychological characteristics. Recommendations for

addressing this situation include the development of strategies to help women fit into this

male domain (e.g., Nielsen, von Hellens, Greenhill, & Pringle, 1998; vonHellens, von

Hellens, Nielsen, &Trauth, 2001; Pringle, Nielsen, & Greenhill, 2000).

Another school of thought focuses on the need to reconstruct the world of computing to

become more of a “female domain”. Based on analysis of women as a social group in

cyberspace, Spender (1995), predicted that an influx of “female values” into the virtual

world would accompany increased female presence.

The other dominant theoretical perspective focuses on the social construction of IT as a male

domain. According to this view, the social shaping of information technology as “men’s

work” places IT careers outside the domain of women. According to this theory, there is a

fundamental incompatibility between the social construction of female identity and the social

construction of information technology and IT work as a male domain. This explanation for

women’s relationship to information technology looks to societal rather than biological

forces. Thus, the causes of gender underrepresentation can be found in both the IT sector and

in the wider society.

3.0 Gender-Technology Framework and Africa Development Challenges

3.1 Technology and Africa Development Challenges

The World Development Report (1999) underscores the role of technological development as

follows:

“Forty years ago, Ghana and the Republic of Korea had virtually the same

income per capita. By the early 1990s Korea’s income per capita was six

times higher than Ghana’s. Some reckon that half of the difference is due to

Korea’s greater success in acquiring and using knowledge”

Technology plays a fundamental role in wealth creation, improvement of the quality of life,

real economic growth, and transformation in any society. History of today’s industrial

superpowers indicated that their successes were based on carefully designed plans and

strategies of investing quite heavily in technical manpower and factories. United Kingdom

and France benefited tremendously from the industrial revolution in the19th century, while

the United States emerged from an agrarian economy into an industrial superpower in the

20th century. Taiwan and Korea became industrialized countries by exploiting advances

insilicon microelectronics from the early 1960s. Most recently, China and India have

emerged as industrial leaders in manufacturing and information technology respectively.

Africa, today, grapples with the challenge of accelerating economic growth that is sustainable

and reducing widespread poverty. To effectively reduce poverty, the pattern of economic

growth would need to be broad-based so as to bring about social development and

improvements in the welfare of African peoples, especially with respect to access to

education, health and nutrition. It is also important to promote private-sector led growth and

international trade. Furthermore, efforts would be needed to attend to cross-cutting issues

such as environmental management (Oshikoyaand and Hussain, 2001). In a nutshell, Africa's

quest for sustainable development should be based on the pursuit of the intertwined goals of

accelerating the pace of economic growth, while also spreading the benefits widely among

the population so as to make significant strides in poverty reduction.

To achieve the foregoing, Africa faces a vast and multifaceted development challenge, all of

which technology, especially information technology have proved to be effective, going by

the experience of successful industrialisers.

Trade at the international and regional levels is central to the process of economic growth and

poverty reduction in most primary commodity producing countries in Africa. Trade

performance sets the limit to which investments and growth can be expanded without

encountering balance of payments and debt repayment problems. African countries, which

are striving for sustainable economic growth and improved living standards, cannot afford to

disregard the significant deterioration in its international market share. Africa's traditional

exports have been increasingly displaced by new and relatively efficient producers from other

regions.

In addition to holding great potential for enhancing the productivity and supply of exports,

the application of information technology to the demand side can help African countries

improve their trade performance and recoup the losses in their international market share.

This is particularly true because the poor export performance of African countries is largely

attributed to non-price factors on the demand side (Hussain 1995). Information technology

offers effective methods to perform trade promotion functions and address Africa's lack of

international competitiveness. For instance, using the Internet, it is possible to access on-line

information on markets, market regulations, prices, potential buyers and many import-export

data. The use of computer technology for data processing would speed up delivery time by

improving the internal and external networks, export-servicing facilities, customs operations,

and reduce transaction costs. The application of information technology will also make it

possible for export producers to 'dis-intermediate' middlemen and conduct their transactions

directly with exporters or export markets, increasing thereby, their profitability and incentives

to produce.

Efficiencies in resource mobilization and in the use of available resources, stabilization of the

macroeconomic environment, strengthening the efficiency, accountability, and transparency

of government are vital macroeconomic and public sector management objectives in Africa.

Information technology systems can help governments design, implement, and assess policy

reforms. Such information systems could increase the speed, volume, quality, transparency,

and accountability of government transactions, yielding large productivity increases in

government services.

In fiscal monitoring, governments can use information systems to design and follow-up the

process of tax collection and validate its revenue collections against its expenditure. In

budgetary planning, information technology provides simulation techniques to

simultaneously maximize revenue and minimize the tax burden on selected income groups

and economic actors. In public procurement, the adoption of information technology can help

simplify purchasing procedures through electronic advertising, qualification, tendering,

selection and payment. For debt management, information systems can be used to co-ordinate

the processes of borrowing and debt repayment transactions with the various bilateral and

multilateral creditors in order to improve the efficiency and transparency in the use of foreign

capital and avoid the problems of corruption and excessive debt burdens. If successful, these

would have attendant implication for reducing poverty burden, and thereby improve the lives

of poor women and children in rural communities.

African economies continue to be heavily dependent on agricultural production and the

export of natural resources. The widespread adoption of information technology holds

considerable promise for African countries in their quest to improve their agricultural

production and marketing practices. It provides opportunities for the development of

information systems to monitor water and land resources, food transportation and storage and

crop-diseases control. Video and radio-conferences between buyers and sellers, growers and

extension officers, can also play important roles in stimulating internal and external trade and

improving agricultural practices and productivity. Investing information technology opens up

avenues to access and disseminate such information more quickly and extensively. It could

also facilitate the use of more efficient distribution systems to reduce food storage costs. With

information technology, access to world-wide knowledge about new techniques for

improving agricultural production would be considerably enhanced. Such knowledge

includes advances in genetic engineering which offer great opportunities for African

countries to use seeds and plants that are adaptable to water availability and soil conditions.

Human capital development is seen both as an essential means for sustained economic

growth and poverty reduction and as an important end in itself. Human capital matters

because the poor's most significant asset is their labour, and the most effective way to

improve their welfare is to increase their employment opportunities and the productivity of

their labor through investment in education, and health.

Information technology can help control and sometimes eradicate some of the health

problems plaguing the continent. It could facilitate the establishment of a decentralized

decision support system and provide information on health profiles. It could also enhance

health administration and management through the provision of medical information systems,

and could link health centres, delivery systems and medical transport to patients (ECA 1995).

Other applications of information technology include statistical analysis of health and family

planning indicators, epidemiology, demographics, medical research, health manpower

planning and management and training (Hanna, 1991).Information technology can help

reduce errors in medications, improvements in diagnosis and treatments with technology help

the quality and availability of care.

Most of the educational problems in Africa are related to inadequate funding and inefficient

use of available resources. Information technology offers a wide range of low-cost solutions.

One of the most important applications of information technology in this area is distance

education in Africa which could be extensively used to pursue entirely conventional

educational ends. The main advantages of distance education are economy, flexibility, and

suitability for widely scattered student bodies (Talero and Gaudette, 1996). In addition,

information technology has the potential to connect African educational institutions

continent-wide, and link them with international universities, hence, facilitating research and

the exchange of ideas.

3.2 Gender gaps in Technology for African Development

A series of factors constrain women’s access to information and allied technologies relative

to men. Several authors have identified the following major barriers to women access to

technology in Africa.

Socio-cultural factors that range from ideas about the nature and role of technology and

machines, to perceptions about the accessibility of the technology, to insecurities based on

social markers of identity like gender, race, age, and so forth are important barriers to women

access to technology. Generally, women have less access than men to Information and related

technology facilities where they exist. Women often have complex relationships with

technology and machines as a result of being socialized over time to believe that machines

and technology is a man’s domain and not for women and girls, thus generating a gender bias

in attitudes towards studying or using information technology. At school girls are

discouraged from studying science and technology, either consciously or unconsciously, by

parents’ and teachers’ biases, leading to steady attrition of girls and women throughout the

formal science and technology system, from primaryeducation to decision-making level.

Women’s ability to make use of the technology as well as the information and knowledge it

provides, as well as the ability to decide how ICTs are used and who can have access to them

is not equal to that of men. There is a huge gap between women’s and men’s access to

telecommunications infrastructure. Infrastructure is largely concentrated in the urban areas in

most African societies, while the majority of women in these countries are located in remote

and rural areas. The predominance of women in rural areas in African countries means that

they are also less likely than men to access computers, which are concentrated in urban

settings.

Two-thirds of the world’s 870 million illiterate people are women, and the world’s lowest

literacy rates among women are found in African countries. Women face challenges in

pursuing education at all ages due to lack oftime to attend classes, family and domestic

responsibilities, and socio-cultural practices that rate girls’ education as less important than

boys. Literacy, language, computer skills and information literacy are critical skills for

drawing some benefit from ICTs for development initiatives. Women and girls are less likely

to have these requisite skills and therefore more likely to be excluded from local initiatives.

Associated to the foregoing is the overwhelming dominance of English and, to a lesser extent,

of other majorinternational languages on the Internet, excludes access to the majority of the

world's population, including African countries, who speak other languages. This factor

significantly impactswomen and other marginalized groups without access to the formal

schooling thatwould allow them to learn international languages, but it also cuts across

linesin regions where English is not the major regional language, such as Francophone

Africa.

Computer technologies and Internet are currently available only to elites in developing

countries. Equipment and connection costs are generallyexcessive for many countries in

Africa.Practically all communications facilities cost money. Due to a range of intersecting

factors, women are less likely to have money to buy televisions, radios, or to access them

when they wish, particularly when the household technology is controlled by typically a

husband or father.Women are also less likely to have the disposable income needed to pay for

information services, especially when other needs like food, education, etc. have higher

priority.

4.0 Integrating Gender Perspective in Science and Technology Policies and

Programs in Africa

The potential of technology to advance development and contribute to people’s well-being

have been well-recognized. Science and technology are vital for achieving global

development goals by facilitating efforts to eradicate poverty, achieve food security, fight

diseases, improve education, and respond to the challenges of sustainable human livelihoods.

However, the contribution of science and technology to development goals can be accelerated

by taking gender equity issues previously highlighted into account. Mainstreaming a gender

perspective in Science and Technology will both enhance social equity and bring significant

benefits across the economic structure and social fabric, and contribute to the achievement of

the Millennium Development Goals and the attainment of sustainable development.

Advocacy for gender equity in Science and Technology policies in Africa found relevance

from diverse viewpoints of social, economic and political considerations. From the

perspective of human rights and social justice, all individuals should have equality of

opportunity to a science education and to a scientific career, and for women and men to

benefit equally from advances in science and technology. Economic reasoning suggests that

if women are not given equal opportunity to become scientists and engineers then a country

denies itself its full complement of scientifically creative minds. This can be a serious

handicap both to the development of science and to the generation of wealth in an

increasingly competitive world.From Social considerations, women frequently perform

different roles and tasks both within and outside the home to those performed by men. It is

important that both men and women are able to bring a scientific and technical education to

bear on the performance of these roles and tasks. The inclusion of more women in science

will enrich the total pool of talents, insights and motivations, and increase the probability that

science will serve the needs of all humanity.

To achieve the overall goal of integration of gender considerations in all aspects of science

and technology policy in Africa, the paper proposes actions in the following directions:

African states should embark on pragmatic plan of action to build and strengthen

institutional frameworks to promote gender equity in science and technology policy

making.

At the level of policy formulation, adequate capacity should be available to ensure

that the gender perspective is integrated in the science and technology policies and

programs, backed by political will and supported by appropriate budget allocation.

Training and sensitization of those charged with the formulation of science and

technology policies and programs to integrate a gender perspective will be important

in this context.

The need to ensure synergy of inputs from all relevant stakeholders in equitable

gender science and technology policy making is important.

Unimpeded channels for systematic dialogue among science and technology

researchers, specialists in gender studies, policy-and decision-makers, and pertinent

social organizations, in order to plan actions, evaluate their execution, and promote

the participation of representative civil society institutions related to science,

technology, engineering and innovation in policy discussion should be established and

nurtured.

Generation, gathering and dissemination of knowledge to support effective evidence

based policy and decision-making to support gendered science and technology policy

making cannot be overemphasized. This process must have the full participation of

women and men. Respective ministries of education/Science and Technology should

organize existing knowledge to generate a data base which includes research projects,

researchers, centers, and other information of interest that can serve as reference and

orientation for further research in Science and Technology. Also important in this

direction are programmes and initiatives to develop gender indicators and gender

disaggregated statistics to guide evidence based policy and decision making.

Gender imbalance in technological education and training account significantly for

the gender gaps in technology access and use in Africa. Highest priority must be

given to improving the quality of science and technology education at all levels, with

particular attention to eliminating the effects of gender bias and promoting creativity

and a critical point of view at all levels, especially at the earliest stages. Ministries of

education, research and educational institutions must develop initiatives to ensure

equal opportunity for men and women to access scientific education at all levels, and

in particular, to increase the participation of girls and women in scientific activities

from early childhood.

Women are underrepresented in high-skilled Science and Technology occupations.

Employment in this sector affords women opportunities to earn greater incomesand

enjoy higher trajectory careers,contributingtotheirfamiliesandcommunities.

Suggestions to redress the imbalance and ensure a gender-equitable science and

technology work-force will require knowledge of sex-disaggregated data on women’s

participation in the science and technology workforce, employment and performance

assessment policies which address women’s life responsibilities, and career

development, policy to support women’s increased representation in research teams

and in governing bodies of science and technology, amongst others.

Science and technology serve to harness human capacity for economic and social

development. Not to miss this link in African countries, policies at national and

regional levels must recognize the relation of gender to social development and

science and technology must be developed and implemented in conjunction with the

ministries of social development, labor, and other pertinent ministries, and national

gender institutions. Policies and programs to support the advancement of women in

micro, small and medium enterprises and facilitate their access to scientific

knowledge, technology, credit and other resources must be instituted and

implemented.

Policy making to build the new knowledge society should emphasize gender equity

and equality and should not reproduce old inequalities. Women and men should be

equal partners in the design and production of the knowledge society and should have

equal access to its use and benefits.

Gender barriers to Information Technology education and training should be

addressed.Intervention programs in science and technology should pay particular

attention to young girls with the aim of increasing the number of women in technical

and allied careers.

There is now considerable knowledge and understanding about the critical importance

of including the gender dimension in all considerations of how science and

technology contribute to sustainable development. This includes issues of education

and training, employment opportunities, career development, and the impact of

technological change on the lives of both women and men.However this knowledge is

not widely known among policy-makers, the scientific community, development

authorities or the general public in most countries of Africa. Consequently, there is a

need for a campaign to promote much greater awareness of the gender dimension in

all aspects of science, technology and development.

5.0 Conclusions

Notably, empowering women with requisite technological capabilities would represent a

prudent investment in the African future development. Steps at alleviating hunger and

poverty in Africa requires a fairer system of distribution of power and material resources

across socio-economic classes and gender groups. Education and skills acquisition are

empowerment tools for poverty alleviation, gender responsive development, and overall

sustainable development in Africa. If properly acquired, technological innovations, in

particular, ICT technologies are veritable access to economic growth and development, where

both men and women contribute equitably to the African growth process, and a guarantee for

improved income, sustainable livelihood, and improved quality of life for all and sundry.

The ‘gender’ question is today taking a centre page in world development, and in particular,

in the African continent, because of a number of reasons widely identified in the literature –

Women are the majority of the population in rural areas of most developing countries,

with a significance for the African Region;

Women play important role in food production, and rural agriculture which is the

mainstay of most African economies;

Without women, the entire region will go hungry;

Considering the role of women in productive and reproductive roles make a ‘business

sense’ and of quantitative imperative.

Addressing gender issues in development, including technological development, is a

precondition to elimination of poverty in the continent.

ICT technologies address concomitants of poverty, including

o Lack of access to education and other social services;

o Lack of productive opportunities

o Lack of information and isolation

More importantly, gender equality is integral to a human-rights based approach to

development; and a prerequisite to achieving the Millennium Development Goals

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