Speaker
Description
Fatima, A. M.
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State.
fatimaalkali1@gmail.com
Track: Inclusion, Equity and Digital Access
Faculty: Faculty management sciences
Email: fatimaalkali1@gmail.com, alkali_fatima@ibbu.edu.ng
Phone numbers: 08132241188,08147183366
WhatsApp No.:: 07059353388
Title: Government ICT Policy Frameworks and Equitable Digital Access in African Public Universities: A Political Economy Analysis of the Digital Divide
Abstract
The rapid digitalization of higher education across Africa has exposed deep-seated disparities in access to digital infrastructure, raising urgent questions about the role of government policy in either bridging or entrenching the digital divide. This study examines the relationship between national ICT policy frameworks and the level of equitable digital access among students in public universities, using a political economy lens to interrogate how governance choices shape technological outcomes in higher education. Drawing on comparative case data from selected African countries, the research employs a mixed-methods design, combining policy content analysis with survey data on student digital access, device ownership, and e-learning participation rates. Preliminary conceptual analysis suggests that variations in policy commitment—particularly funding allocation, regulatory support for public-private EdTech partnerships, and rural broadband expansion—correlate significantly with disparities in student digital inclusion, disproportionately affecting learners in rural and low-income institutions. The study argues that without deliberate, equity-oriented policy design, digital transformation initiatives risk reproducing existing structural inequalities rather than resolving them. Findings are expected to contribute to ongoing debates on digital governance in higher education by offering evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, university administrators, and development partners seeking to build future-ready, inclusive higher education ecosystems. This paper aligns with the conference's call to bridge the digital divide by foregrounding the political and institutional determinants of digital equity, offering a governance-focused complement to the largely technical and pedagogical discourses that dominate current digital education scholarship.
Keywords: ICT policy, digital divide, higher education governance, digital inclusion, political economy, Africa