The Politics of Software Development

I happen to be in Ghana now, and I have been having some discussions with a fellow ICT consultant from Nigeria. We have discussed a number of issues regarding Kenyan and Nigerian ICT environments. What is coming out is how difficulty it is for an SME in Software Development to succeed in an environment of pathogenic software pirates, corrupt and short sighted Governments, disfunctional historical and cultural alignments and very aggressive but skewed business environments.

It pains to look at the potential that the local software development industry can offer to young enterpreneurs with the appropriate knowledge and skills. The software industry in many African countries has been left unregulated. This could be because of the inability of many Government officials to understand its growth dynamics. Many of the software development companies are just channel distributors selling solutions that they can do very little or no customisations on their own. Local talent goes untapped as many of these channel distributors relies on expertise from foreign countries. African has continued to be a continent of users with very little contribution to the global software development market.

The question is whether this environment is likely to change? Is there a real possibility that a vibrant software development market can be developed and sustained in Africa? I think this is very possible. The internet and especially Web 2.0 tools, peer to peer networks and other net based resources have contributed greatly in the transfer of knowledge. Though small in number, Africa is generating high quality developers participating in various global software development initiatives especially in the field of Free and Open Source Software.

As our Governments continue to sleep, this opportunity is slowly slipping away as other developing economies embrace and run with it. The world is now a knowledge economy. This realisation has enabled countries with minimal natural resources to evolve into global economies. Do I need to mention names? The countries that saw this opportunity early enough have significantly benefited.

There is a need to regulate the software industry. It is an industry just like any other that should be protected and nursed from adverse and unfair competition as it grows to be a national oppotunity. Entry barriers especially in tendering should be lowered. I do not understand how a Government can expect to find a local software development company that has a turn over of over USD 10M per annum. This is ridiculous and many Governments fail to realise that by doing so they automatically snuff the life out of any would be successful local software development company. The Government is the biggest spender in many of the African countries contributing to over 66% of all expenditure in the economy. If you are not doing business with the Governments then you may as well say you are not in business.