Review of challenges in national ICT policy process for African countries

National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policies are vital in supporting socioeconomic development agendas. However, the formulation and implementation of national ICT policies is often beset with myriad of challenges which lender the policies ineffective in most developing countries. While there is substantial body of knowledge on the challenges for national ICT policies, no study has not yet dealt with the challenges holistically. This paper reports on the results of review of literature on the challenges for national ICT policy process in African countries using Grounded Theory method. The review categorised the challenges related to agenda setting, policy formulation, legal frameworks, implementation and evaluation. To mitigate some of the challenges, it is suggested that stakeholders' participation should be encouraged; monitoring and evaluation with mechanisms for learning should be integrated in all the phases of the policy process.