Session 140: "Future of Public Libraries in Africa"

Libraries in Response

Session 140: "Future of Public Libraries in Africa"

Strategies for the least connected.

Speakers:

Nkem E. Osuigwe, PhD FNLA CLN
Human Capacity Development & Training Director,
African Library and Information Associations & Institutions(AfLIA)

Hayford Siaw
Fmr. Chief Executive, Ghana Library Authority
Senior PartnerSenior Partner, Hayford Siaw Consulting

"Across the continent of Africa, libraries are shifting from quiet repositories into lively engines of opportunity. In Ghana, the library is emerging as a true civic launchpad—where literacy meets technology, where young people tap into remote learning opportunities, and where communities find a safe haven for intellectual growth.

The next chapter of Africa’s development will not be written only in parliaments and boardrooms, but in libraries bold enough to reinvent what learning can be." -- Hayford Siaw

"Africa combines major challenges for equitable connectivity: enormous land area, low income populations and unstable governance.

Sub-Saharan Africa hosts over 18 million refugees, which is approximately more than 26% of the global total. The continent has a growing (the world's largest) number of Internally Displaced Persons, outnumbering refugees 5 to 1. We also have the global highest number of out-of-school children. Do these people have access to the internet?

I see how they use the internet to learn numbers and the alphabet. Their early literacy development process is enriched because they can access age-appropriate resources online. Who can say such about children in Africa's rural areas, refugee, and IDP camps? When the weak and vulnerable in society are not benefiting from such a basic resource, where is the progress?

South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, and Algeria may be making 'progress' in internet connectivity. How about the LLDCs (Land-Locked Developing Countries) such as Niger, Chad, etc where access to the internet is more expensive, slower, and less reliable? Africa has more LLDCs than any other continent!" -- Nkem Osuigwe


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