(Contribution from Djilali Benamrane, economist in Niamey, Niger – August 1999)

1. Nowadays, The New Technologies of Information and Communication (NTICs), probably constitute one of the most dynamic instruments for economic growth and social progress. Only a few sectors are not affected by these modern and powerful development tools. However, while in developed countries the NTICs are present and active in all levels of activity sectors, both public and private, and in all fields of planning, organization and management, they face many difficulties to be owned, mastered and generalized in underdeveloped countries. There is a real risk that these technologies in spite of being a chance for world scale human progress, may becoming a factor responsible for the growing separation between developed and underdeveloped worlds. The extraordinary improvement given by numeric audio and multimedia radio broadcasting is a good example to demonstrate the large potentialities offered to the poor cut off populations, more or less illiterate, and which could be efficiently linked to the modern world, thanks to these technologies.

 

1… The NTICs improvement in the field of numeric audio and multimedia radios

2. Since October 1998, thanks to the satellite "AFRISTAR", launched by WoldSpace Corporation (http://www.worlspace.com/), the African Continent is already completely covered with the capacities to access numeric broadcasting programmes. In addition to audio facilities, it will soon be possible through the numeric radios to receive other multimedia facilities, texts at the beginning and images later. These numeric radios are produced by four Japanese companies which dispose of a three year monopoly for the production and the commercialization of such numeric radios. During the monopoly time, the cost of numeric radios is quite high, about 200 – 250 US $ each. In the future these prices will progressively decrease. After the three years monopoly, other companies will be able to produce such numeric radios with lower prices. WordSpace provides States and public and private information and communication institutions with up-link stations, allowing those clients to transmit numeric programmes through the satellite Afristar with numeric audio standard immediately, other multimedia standards later.
3. It is a fact that practical and convenient radio broadcastings, functioning with solar energy can be bought, which is allowed to broadcast in FM within a circle of 50 Km. Their prices are around 6.000 $.US, including solar equipment (for more information, see the Web site : http://www.wantokent.com). As they could be transported in suite cases, by any car, these solar broadcasting radios which weigh less than 10 kg could easily be used as an efficient communicative instrument in projects which need an equipment mobility. When it is not sufficiently sunny, a dynamo with manual energy should be used, if necessary to end a current programme.
4. Moreover, for individual, family or communal comfortable hearing, manual and solar energy radios could be obtained everywhere, produced by South African Company and Foundation Baygen (see http://www.freeplay.org.uk). The price of such manual and solar radios is around 40 or 50 US.$.
5. Apparently, the three elements described above are a simple marketing exercise which will benefit three private operators who produce and sell electronic equipment. However, a rational combination should constitute an efficient solution to dramatic difficulties faced by poor and cut-off populations. Thanks to the proposed solution, these populations should meet adapted ways for a hopeful access to the modern world with interactive potentialities.

2... The Nigerien on-going experiment

6. Bankilare is a small administrative village of about two thousand inhabitants, depending on the District of Yatakala which has some sixty thousand inhabitants. The village is situated at the borders of Niger with Burkina Faso and Mali. In Bankilare there is no modern asphalt roads, electricity, telephone or water supply. The population income is among the lowest in Niger which is one of the poorest countries in the world. Very few families own simple radios. Those who own radios do not have batteries to make them function regularly. Even a privileged few who own sophisticated radios, listening to the national radio broadcasting from Niamey is a difficult exercise, useless because of the scarcity of programmes in accessible local languages - Tamachek, Songhaï or Foulani (Peulh) -.
7. In Bankilare, an on-going development project supporting local communities is functioning. This project has been designed in the framework of the Poverty Alleviation National Programme (PANP). Nothing innovative in the Support Project Document (SPD) which precise the activities funded by UNDP and implemented by SNV : some water supply activities, little cereal banks, micro credit to the benefit of women and other traditional help to local associative economic and social initiatives.
8. During a women population animation exercise, consisting of sensitization to the potentiality offered by using the NTICs as powerful support instruments for sustainable development, women participants showed their interest for Free play radios functioning without electricity or batteries, but using manual and solar energy. But, they immediately identified the inefficiency of Free play radios which cannot give easy access to the National radio, and even if it could be possible, very few programmes in Tamachek or Songhaïa and quasi no information concerning the locality or the region. There was no answer to their daily preoccupations.
9. For many months, the Bankilare populations pursued the debate studying the support of the national and local authorities and support of partners like UNDP/SNV project, IRD ex ORSTOM Institution and ACMAD. The contention was how to provide equipment, training and real local capacity to get and self manage a rural radio, broadcasting from Bankilare in Tamachek and Songhaï languages. The expected programmes should concern Bankilare locality and populations. In itself, the exercise is not a new one and there are many rural and local radios functioning in Niger and in countries of the Sub Region. Nevertheless, in this particular case, the appropriate use of NTICs allowed innovative and adapted solutions to the difficult situation in this specific village. The approach is based on the following criteria :

• Responding to feasibility preoccupations : The local radio project is designed in a hostile, natural and human environment, unfavorable to its implementation. It has been decided to choose equipment, as cheap as possible in direct and indirect investment, robust to support difficult sandy and windy natural conditions, easy to be managed, maintained and monitored by the local populations, without any national or international technical assistance. Option for solar local broadcasting radio and Free play radios should respond to these preoccupations. In addition to local produced programmes with contents related to the village and region life, the solar local radio is equipped with one numeric radio. This additional equipment will allow managers to register in useful languages and good conditions national, sub region and international programmes to be stocked in programme banks before rebroadcasting repeatedly from the local solar station. Later, programmes produced with required quality by Bankilare solar radio station could be selected by programme banks developed by partners like UNESCO or AIF ex ACCT and broadcast via the satellite Afristar. It is not impossible that Niger, alone or in association with other countries of the sub region, should find for their public and private operators possibilities to dispose through an Up-link Station with access for broadcasting all around the world numeric programmes. Finally, there are other complementary or alternative technical solutions which merit to be mentioned consisting of exchange radio programmes via INTERNET.
• Taking into account of sustainability preoccupations : The local populations in Bankilare who expressed the need to dispose of a broadcasting station have to prove their capacity to assume a total ownership on the management of the solar radio station. This imperative constitutes an essential condition for the success of the exercise. In Bankilare, the solar broadcasting radio station will be in its operational phase under the complete supervision and management of the local populations. The populations' control will be expressed through the association organized for and composed with all social, cultural and ethnic groups living and effectively represented in the locality. The local and national authorities as well as involved partners in development will not assume any tutelage on the exercise. They have only to ensure a supportive accompaniment reinforcing the local population ownership on the operation. They could also draw up useful information on the feasibility of the project to enhance other similar projects, creating networking synergy between them. The option for solar equipment responds to the need to avoid hence foth recurrent charge linked to electricity or and gas oil. Anyhow, the local populations are required to seek for means to take charge of the functioning budget covering both animation and maintenance disbursements on their own. Moreover, the local populations directly or through their association will assume in straight collaboration with targeted populations the entire responsibility regarding the content, volume and conditions of production and broadcasting of programmes. Why is it so difficult to accept that rural radios could be considered as an important instrument of information and communication adapted even to poor and cut-off populations ? It is not impossible that later such an instrument should be an efficient means to enhance adapted income generation activities and livelihood and ameliorate job conditions for concerned populations. Two short examples to illustrate the approach feasibility : i) two rural radios localized one in Bankilare in the Western side of Niger, broadcasting in Songhaï and Tamachek, the second in Tanout in Eastern side of Niger broadcasting in Haoussa and Tamachek. Thanks to the future network, the populations of these two localities will benefit from programmes in Songhaï and in Haoussa through the Tamachek, a common language used in the two localities. Translation will be made by local capacities to be improved. Progressively and without precipitation local radios under network will provide local opportunities to promote economic, social and cultural public and private activities with possible income generation.
• Offering openness and flexibility for progress and modernism : Proposing to master the NTICs in a hostile environment like the Bankilare one could be considered as an audacious challenge. The technical and technological capacities for reparation and maintenance electric and electronic equipment do not exist in and around Bankilare. Management, animation or administration capacities to ensured a success for such an exercise do not exist as well. Development projects with presence of national and international expertise are rare. So far, Bankilare constitutes an ideal place to promote such an experience if partners in development wish to draw significant lessons for similar projects to be implemented in less difficult localities. In the Bankilare case a follow up will be ensure by the UNDP/SNV project and after one year an evaluation will be made to appreciate how the self managed local radio has met assigned objectives. Even in the annual period it is not impossible that the experience will give to the local involved populations innovative ideas to prospect in complementarily with rural radios other potentialities offered to poor and cut-off populations by the NTICs especially in multimedia fields.
• Taking charge of harmonization and coordination preoccupations between partners in development to facilitate an eventual generalization of the exercise : The expected probing assessment after one year Bankilare local solar radio experiment should probably open interesting perspective to repeat such an exercise in other localities after necessary adaptations to specific context. This objective of generalization of rural and local radios is to conform to the international community and United Nations commitment to support consequently underdeveloped countries to access and master the NTICs as fast as possible. The effort to build an effective partnership around the rural and local radio networks and synergies are suitable especially for those who aim to avoid sterile competition and useless duplications. Cooperation could be developed in many aspect such as those concerning the harmonization of broadcasting programmes through sensitization, animation and technical maintenance training, exchanges experiments and constitution of common programme banks in local, transnational and international languages. A preliminary collaboration has been enhanced between UNDP, UNESCO, AIF ex ACCT, UNECA/ACMAD, IRD ex ORSTOM, Worldspace Company and other bilateral and multilateral partners in development. This aims at promoting together a first exercise in Niger with the hope that this experience should serve to develop others initiatives at the sub regional and regional level. On the other hand, African civil societies and governments should take their responsibilities and assume the leadership in these initiatives to defend and encourage the African interest.

1. Thanks to the huge needs of rural populations in information and communication, the good will of Nigerien national authorities and the potentialities offered by collaboration between all concerned partners in development the momentum seems excellent to develop initiatives aiming at the duplication of operations like the Bankilare one. The challenge faced by promoters of such experiments is to prove that the Bankilare initiative, thanks to the technical support of UNESCO and multisupport and contributions from AIF ex ACCT, Worlspace and Baygen Foundations and other partners is feasible and profitable to rural populations regardless of their economic, social and cultural development level. The creation of a first network composed of a dozen of rural and local broadcasting stations, reinforced by densification exchange between them and supported by NTICs initiatives will develop a favorable climate and supportive dynamic. Later in the Year 2000 other initiatives promoted by bilateral as well as multilateral partners should cover several localities all over the country with broadcasting local and rural radios allowing local populations to democratically express their needs in several fields. Hedges will be built to connect Nigerien local and rural radio networks with other countries at the sub regional or regional level, sharing programmes using the same transnational local, continental or international languages. The production of programmes in these networks will feed in quality and quantity the programme banks which are promoted by UNICEF and AIF ex ACCT.

Conclusion

2. The following proposed recommendations aim at giving to the content of the above approach some operational elements at two levels :

• At the national level : rural, village, sub urban or urban local associations with polyvalent character which aim at the economic, social and or cultural objectives as well as local associations specialized in education health, environment, water sanitation, climate, meteorology, sport, etc… all these associations should dispose with local broadcasting radios and should constitute the principal actors and beneficiaries of the initiative. The associative network in its multiform interventions, supported by NGOs local administrations and decentralized institutions for population education and animation will create a favorable climate to empower the populations to make them able to freely express their needs, preoccupations and priorities. Technical decentralized and central administrations will support and promote such initiatives facilitating synergies between information and communication projects effectively self managed by local populations. The United Nations System field offices in the framework of their coordination mechanisms should be able to harmonize initiatives brought in the country by several Agencies of the UN System. Finally, the Government has to play a leading role, in the coordination of all the initiatives regardless of the funding origin or the beneficiary populations. All initiatives of this kind will be merge in an updated and concerted national programme.
• At the international level : on the basis of the lessons drawn from the field the United Nations Agencies Head Quarters using their coordination mechanisms should develop a significant finding around the rural and local radios as powerful instrument of economic, social and cultural development and of local democratic expression. They also should coordinate their interventions with bilateral and multilateral partners. They should take opportune initiative with private Foundations to mobilize more resources for the rural and local broadcasting initiatives.