ICT and Knowledge

Question 1

Lessons from Mpesa

Answer 1

1. African economies need to be given the space to experiment
2. While ICT can certainly be used for development purposes, and bring people into the foreground, all ICT projects aren’t social enterprises. Don’t necessarily reach BoP
3. ICTs need to encourage spillover effects, throughout sectors. Knowledge is useful if understood as a public good, non-rival and non-excludable. Make software in Africa next time
4. a. Collaboration between Public Government Central Bank, Private, Vodafone Safari Com, and international, DFID
5. Manufacturing Doesn’t mean choosing between agriculture and tech

Question 2

MPesa Facts

Answer 2

a. The money that has flowed with M-Pesa electronically is now equivalent to more than 20% of Kenya’s GDP on an annualized basis

Question 3

Human capital theory

Answer 3

○ Higher levels of investment in education translate directly into increased economic growth and productivity

Question 4

Rates of return econometrics

Answer 4

○ If human capital theory provided the economic and moral basis for investing in people, then economic rates of return was the analytic tool for determining and comparing the economic profitability of investments in education
○ The idea of rates of return and cost-benefit approaches in the economic analysis of educational investments had become widespread as early as during the 70s

Question 5

Peripheralization and devaluation of higher education in Africa

Answer 5

○ The Bank had firmly maintained that university education was not an immediate development priority for developing countries
- Instead, mass primary education, low-cost vocational training, and other forms of informal education were strongly emphasized as critical for development

Question 6

Effects of WB approach

Answer 6

○ The bank utilized a selective set of analysis and interpretations of human capital theory and rate of return approaches and created asymmetric education policy landscape
○ Promotion of primary education persisting until the late 90s
- Since 2000, the Bank abandoned these discourse and has emphasized knowledge based development paradigm, where the creation, adaptation, and use of knowledge is the driver of sustained economic growth and poverty reduction for all societies worldwide