A professor whose work in spreading information technology in Africa has been awarded by the Internet Society has hit out at critics who say the continent should focus first on basics like water and sanitation.
Nii Quaynor, professor of computer science at the University of Cape-Coast, Ghana, said affordable computing was "necessary" to Africa's development.
"If the critics did not have any internet, I am sure they would talk differently," he told BBC World Service's Digital Planet programme.
"While we need food and we need water, we also need the tools and instruments that will allow us to create food and water and take control of our development.
"Affordable computing is necessary. What is going to power development in Africa is going to be lower-cost user interfaces."
***
more:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7149788.stm