National knowledge systems and the status of information access policies in Africa

Abstract

Knowledge is increasingly perceived as the principal driver of economic growth and development in both developed and developing countries. “Africa’s most urgent need is knowledge for production and development,” was the central theme of the conclusions reached by a group of economists and development experts, after deliberating on strategies for Africa’s development at the dawn of the millennium (ECA, 2000). Consistent with the consensus on knowledge, the United Nations and other major international development agencies have initiated efforts to develop indicative frameworks for national knowledge strategies to inform country-level knowledge policy formulation and implementation. (World Bank, 1999; ECA, 2001; UNDESA, 2003). The main objective of this report is to contribute to the deepening and extension of these efforts.