Content for Africa by Africans

About 3 months ago I attended the ICTExpo organized by ICTVillage, the event was quite interesting with a wide range of presentations including one from Google. It was during that event that the permanent secretary in the ministry of information and communication, Dr.Bitange Ndemo made a very important point concerning content, he said “the biggest challenge we have right now is the issue of locally produced content..we need content providers..”, once he finished a lady from South Africa informed him that they had a large amount of content from the space observatory which they were willing to offer for free, her offer was eagerly accepted. I left the event racking my brain over the need for quality local content and how I could play a major part of that process.

The need for locally produced quality content is one that all African countries face, the colonial legacy that most African countries have inherited has resulted in a large amount of Western/European content forming the bulk of what we expose ourselves to. The vast amount of traditional and cultural information that was passed from generation to generation has been largely ignored by local content providers and instead our bookshelves and magazine racks are filled with the latest copy of Harry Potter among other publications.

The question I ask myself is “when will someone decide that it’s time to put up our historical content?” if we are expecting the next multinational to set money aside in order to achieve this then we are mistaken, why should an American care about the naming practices of the Luhya in Kenya? Africa and Africans must step up to the plate and recognize the treasure that is our rich culture and then go the step forward to put that content online for an internet savvy generation.

Two months ago I was introduced to a very interesting man, Mr.Viterlis Sitati, and believe you me once I give you his story you’ll see why I say his interesting. Mr.Sitati who has had and continues to have a long and remarkable career in government service has spent countless hours researching names within the African context and their meanings and variations in other languages, so far he has compiled well over 5000 names and is in the process of adding even the historical context of the particular name. Can you imagine if this content was put online so that Africans locally and in the Diaspora were able to access it? The possibilities are endless, and this is a clear example of the passion for local content that we need.

The infrastructure to manage, store and disseminate the content to the masses is available, all we need now is the content providers who have a passion for Africa to step up and focus on producing the content. The opportunities for provision of content are enormous and range from academic applications, business and cultural applications.

To learn more about this author, visit John Wesonga's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

E-Mail | Print | More

Related Articles
Content for Africa by Africans
	About 3 months ago I attended the ICTExpo organized by ICTVillage, the event was quite interesting with a wide range of presentations including one from Google. It was during that event that the permanent secretary...
Cheetah Index to Premiere Soon!
	As part of our mission to fill the void left by conventional media in covering African issues, African Path will take an active role in supporting and empowering the continent’s young and progressive decision makers...
Why should Venture Capitalists invest in SME's in Africa?
	Africa is at the dawn of a new renaissance, if you want a high return on your capital, you should include Africa in your portfolio. I'm not only going to invest in Africa because I'm African, but because this is the...
“For god’s sake, please stop the aid” …..to Africa?
	I was moved by an old article by Ethan Zuckerman on aid to Africa that he capture during the TED conference in Tanzania Last year in which he captured views of a Kenyan economist on Aid and opportunity to Africa. Be...
The $20 Billion African Remittance Market
	Remittances (money sent back home from Africans living abroad) back to Africa constitute some big numbers for Africa. About $10 billion gets sent to sub-Saharan Africa. That’s the official number of course, a World ...

---

Related Forum Posts
	Kiva
	Re: Meta Tags
	Re: Best looking social networking site?
	Re: New top Banner - my feedback
	SEO forum category?
	rentacoder.com
	Giving back
	Re: In-House or Outsource?