African ICT Insights With Prof Victor Mbarika

By Ajong Mbapndah L

Information and Communication Technology (ICT’s) represent the best hope for Africa to bridge the development gap with the rest of the world, says Prof Victor Mbarika Founder and Board Chair of the ICT University.

Based in the USA, the ICT University Foundation that Mbarika champions, funds and designs quality education to people who do not have to leave Africa. The Foundation establishes Campuses across the world that have similar standards and curricula to those in the USA. With over 20,000 students served annually, from basic certificate programs to Ph.D. programs, offered onsite and online, the ICT -U has emerged as a formidable hub for education that meets 21st century development challenges.

With a plethora of programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels, including diploma and certification programs, the ICT University offers a dynamic and flexible learning environment that inspires innovation and creativity and lays emphasis on student access.

“We have brought America to Africa, that is what I am most proud of, the quality that we offer. Our fees have not been very different for the last ten years and I think that is amazing,” says Prof Victor Mbarika in an exclusive interview with PAV.

“ICT University has spread its wings and we are in discussion now to expand to Congo, Benin, and Equatorial Guinea. In the next 48 months, we will have at least two to three new campuses of the University. We are excited about it, and we keep growing,” Professor Mbarika says.

The contributions that ICT University alumni are making towards African development are palpable, says Mbarika in the interview which also dwells on trends and perspectives across the continent.

Could we start with your reading of the ICT landscape in Africa today, what progress have you seen and what are some of the setbacks?

Prof Mbarika: It is not where it is supposed to be, however, it is not where it was five years ago. I want us as Africans to see the strides we have made in terms of ICTs on the continent. The problem with many Africans is that we like to complain about what we don’t have instead of making good use of what we have now for the future. For example, when I wrote my first book on ICT Transfer to Sub-Saharan Africa, the tele density (number of telephones per hundred people) of most African countries was less than one.

Today, there is nothing prestigious about having 2 or 3 phones in Africa, it is common. The rate for paying for data on phones is steadily going down, they are not as expensive as they used to be, but they are not as low as they are supposed to be. The landscape is not where we are supposed to be, but it is promising.

Just how important is the ICT equation in helping Africa meet its development priorities?

Prof Mbarika: It is extremely important because we have to leapfrog the traditional approaches in development. In the United States and Europe, they still have a lot of lines going underground for people to be connected. Now with wireless, African countries do not have to spend so much money on infrastructure to dip trenches to be able to put in lines and connectivity and so on. We can leapfrog that and move directly into wireless telephony as we are already doing by the way for Africans to communicate with each other and do business to improve their livelihoods. There are challenges with wireless in that there are issues of security. They are prone to a lot of security issues in the IT world, but we cannot refrain from maximizing the use of these technologies we have just because we are afraid of cybercrimes and things like that.

As you crisscross the continent, do you get the feeling that African countries are aware of the stakes with ICT?

Prof Mbarika: Absolutely, almost all African countries are aware. I give credit to many African governments; before many did not understand what this was all about. Many governments in Africa looked at ICT as a cost centre and not a centre for the productivity of resources. They looked like these IT guys only wanted money, but now they are beginning to see how they can sell their economies, and products online, and they can be competitive internationally by using e-commerce. Many governments now use ICT to communicate with their citizens and their citizens communicate with them in what we call e-governance and others.

The way we talk about the African continent is horrible but using technology we can now promote the beauty of Africa and not make us look at ourselves as just poor black people. We are smarter than most people around the world, we can brag about our continent and its resources and do a lot for the continent.

Looking across the continent, may we have some worthy examples of countries where you see genuine and impactful progress?

Prof Mbarika: My beloved Cameroon is one. The cost of access to data to voice has gone down. There are countries where it is more expensive than in Cameroon. Today, the Minister of Secondary Education has made it so that parents can pay school fees for their kids through the Internet. I see great strides in Cameroon today, you establish a passport in Cameroon, and it takes just 48 hours. In America, the regular establishment of a passport takes 6 to 8 weeks. Cameroon is using technology in that domain better than America. Rwanda, Kenya, and Nigeria are other countries that are amazingly using technology. The majority of African countries are investing in ICTs.

Can we have insights into the current state of the ICT University that you have been promoting over the years?

Prof Mbarika: It is amazing; ICT University has trained over a hundred thousand students around the world. Many times, people just talk about our numbers here in Cameroon, which is anywhere between 1200 and 1500 students, but we have trained well over a hundred thousand students if we include the certificate students we have trained in India, Uganda, Nigeria and more. We have touched a hundred thousand students in our last ten years of existence or so.

ICT University is growing and has now ventured into things like artificial intelligence, robotics, internet of Things. Our students are some of the best programmers and researchers anywhere in the world. One of our students developed the IntelliBra, a bra that a woman can wear, and it can help detect cancer. We have students who have developed smart trash cans and smart watering systems. I am excited at the great innovations that are coming out of ICT University by our great students.

At its inception, your vision was to have ICT Universities across the continent, may we know the progress that has been made in this direction?

Prof Mbarika: Many people know about the Cameroon campus, but we have the Ugandan campus that is doing well, we have a lot of PhD students from there. In Nigeria, we do a lot of things in technology, healthcare, and public health specifically in African traditional medicine. In India, we are doing a lot of work in digital literacy. ICT University has spread its wings and we are in discussion now to expand to Congo, Benin and Equatorial Guinea. In the next 48 months, we will have at least two to three new campuses of the University. We are excited about it, and we keep growing.

How affordable is it for students to get education in the ICT Universities considering that you try to make them meet international standards in all forms?

Prof Mbarika: The average MBA student in America will pay over 40 thousand dollars. In Cameroon, for the ICT University campus MBA Program, they will pay I think about 3 thousand dollars for the whole year. Our bachelor students pay the equivalent of a thousand two hundred dollars per year which is about 730 thousand FCFA to get an education like you will get at any American university in America or even better than quite several American universities.

If you look at the masters defences that students defend here at ICT University, I can tell you, most masters defences in America do not do that level of research that we do here at our Cameroon campus. The theses are there online, and people can go and check. I am very proud of our quality, but you get all these at a reduced cost than going abroad to get the same quality of education. We have brought America to Cameroon. We have brought America to Africa, that is what I am most proud of, the quality that we offer. Our fees have not been very different for the last ten years, so we have kept them within the same range, maybe 80-100 thousand francs different in ten years. I think that is amazing.

In terms of the alumni of these Universities, how have they fared, any mechanisms you have in place to keep track of their progress or impact on the development process in their respective countries or the continents as a whole?

Prof Mbarika: The alumni are doing very well. What I am proud of about them is that when they finish, many of them created their businesses and are doing well. Many have created companies and are employing many youths in Africa as opposed to putting the burden of employment on the government. We Africans have a very wrong mentality, we think the government should hire. The government does not have a lot of money, that is what people don’t realize. Our students create jobs for themselves and others and that is the pride of ICT University.

The Cameroon government does not owe anyone jobs, people should create jobs. Cameroon is a fertile country, why not go to the farm if I say that they will say I am insulting people; how can I have a PhD and go to the farm? Good farmers are some of the richest people in the world. I am going into farming, not only here in Cameroon but also in America. There is a lot of money in farming and the land is fertile.

May we know the kind of support or partnerships that ICT Universities have received from governments across the continent?

Prof Mbarika: Yes, a lot of government officials love this University, and support this University including the Head of State himself. We are thankful to this government, starting with the head of state himself for the support we get. Many private businesses have supported ICT University a lot. Some banks send their staff here, like NFC Bank. I am thankful to them and others for sending their staff to be trained here in their MBA program and we ask for more to come.

Prof Victor Mbarika recently bagged the African Achievers award in London, may we get insights on this award and what it meant to you?

Prof Mbarika: I am thankful to the organizers as I received the Excellence in Leadership Award. It was an honour because I see where I am recognized for the work done in Africa; it brings such fulfilment to me than all the other awards that I have received in America and Europe for the work I do in those countries. Africa is where my placenta lies and I am honoured with the quality, and calibre of people that have received this award before such as Nelson Mandela (my hero) and Thomas Sankara, to be named even amongst such names is very humbling.

When you received the award, you were flagged with the Cameroon colours, what was your reason for doing that?

Prof Mbarika: I wanted the Cameroon flag to enter the British House of Lords, they colonized us and stole a lot from us. I am not ashamed to say that; I know many politicians will say don't speak like that because it is not good for diplomacy. Europe has stolen a lot from us, and we owe them nothing. So, I am proud to show the flag of Cameroon everywhere I go, and I am coming after them. We will get their resources and invest them here like we have started doing.

On the heels of the award, you were received by the Prime Minister of Cameroon, what was the message he had for you, and how is the government of Cameroon doing when it comes to promoting the kind of vision you have for ICT?

Prof Mbarika: I was honoured to be received by the Prime Minister Head of Government, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute. The Prime Minister is not only a government official, but he is also a bona fide University professor. He understands what a University is all about. The Prime Minister congratulated me, although he said he wasn’t surprised. He encouraged me to keep doing the things I do, not just for ICT University but for the state universities in Cameroon. He encouraged collaborations between the ICT University and State Universities in Cameroon. It is a win-win situation between the institutions.

The government of Cameroon has been supportive of the ICT University vision. When I started the ICT University, registering the University in Cameroon, no one asked me for a bribe. That proves that there are many good-hearted people in the country who want to see the country develop. The government has gone beyond my expectations for the things we do and the support we get. We had over 6 or 7 government ministers at our last graduation about a week ago. This was amazing, the prime minister personally sent an envoy to represent him and speak at the graduation.

When you look at the dynamics in Africa, what gives you hope for the future and what are your fears?

Prof Mbarika: Africa has a great future when it comes to ICTs. My biggest fear is that we keep complaining about what we don't have and not looking into the technologies that we have at hand to see what to do to improve our situation in Africa. Complaining will not take us anywhere. Most people, even in the villages in Africa, have smartphones. The question is not whether we have the technology but how we use it for the future, how we use it for business, and how we use them to make our lives and families better on the continent. My fear is people not optimizing the use of existing technologies while we look to improve in the future.

My second fear is that I don't want many youths to leave hands-on work or what they are doing professionally and join politics. Yes, some people have to do politics, but I want the majority to get into many areas of vocational ICTs to improve the long-term development of the country. Again, I want to emphasize, I have nothing against politics or politicians. I am just saying that youths should not all dream of being big politicians. I think 20 per cent should go into politics and 80 per cent go into other areas of work.

Any other words of wisdom to the youths in Cameroon and Africa as we round up this interview?

Prof Mbarika: The President's speech on 31 December every year acknowledges that there are challenges. The president of the Republic does not refuse that there are challenges but how we navigate those challenges is what matters and he encourages us to do so. I will point our youths to look at the number of foreigners who fly into Cameroon. I fly first class; I am blessed to do that. In first class when I fly into Cameroon, it is full of white people from different countries. Sometimes it could just be two to three black people in first class, and I know how much it costs to fly first class. If there was nothing in Cameroon what would all these foreigners be flying in to do?

There is something, they are not just flying in for the love of Cameroon, they are flying in to make money. I encourage the youths not to sit and cry about their country but to be productive and ready to compete with these people, coming to get all our country's resources and use them elsewhere. There is a lot of potential in our home country and above all, let us remember that you can never go wrong with the land of Cameroon. The land is fertile, if it means going into agriculture, you will make it and make it big.

**Culled From August Edition of PAV Magazine