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The internet is as important to Africa鈥檚 future as food and water. So says 鈥渢he father of the internet in Africa鈥�, Ghanaian entrepreneur and computer scientist Nii Quaynor. He is evangelical about the power of computer literacy to bring about social and economic transformation, and his work won him the . He talked to Curtis Abraham about his hopes for African 鈥渢echno-liberation鈥�

You鈥檝e said that affordable computing in Africa is as important as basic necessities like food and clean water. That鈥檚 a controversial viewpoint.

Africans need food, water and so on, but we also need affordable computing. This will help us to feed ourselves and provide other basic necessities such as education, housing and sanitation, and in doing so bring about socio-economic development. Take large-scale water supply in Africa, for example. This requires networked computing resources and it is the absence of this capacity that creates a vicious cycle of dependence on foreign aid and failure of service delivery. Long discussions about water or food are immaterial, in my opinion, if we don鈥檛 also embrace the internet and computer technology.

So you think that 鈥溾�� are strongly related to human development and human rights?

The impact of a gap between the 鈥渉aves鈥� and 鈥渉ave-nots鈥� in a knowledge-based global economy may be devastating. Digital rights are not too far from a right to education, for instance. I believe that Africa is about to miss a great development opportunity, in much the same way as it lost out in the industrial revolution, unless serious and committed efforts are made by Africa to address the rapid expansion of the digital divide.

How did you help bring the internet to Africa?

In 1988 I established a networking company called (NCS) and by 1994 it had become the first company in West Africa to operate internet services.

How many Africans are now online?

At the moment, almost 5 per cent of people in sub-Saharan Africa have access to the internet, and these are mainly people in metropolitan areas with good education. At this level, Africa cannot boast of having narrowed the digital divide between the developed and developing world, but we can claim to have achieved this much, from scratch, in a decade and that鈥檚 good momentum for Africa.

We are trying to extend internet use to the other 95 per cent. I see promise in the convergence of cellphones and internet. This would save duplication and focus investment, and would also simplify the skills needed. We also need to find ways of improving community access, such as cybercafes, or even a mobile one like a bus with a wireless internet connection which collects and delivers emails when it passes.

What was life like for you growing up in Ghana during the 1950s and 60s?

Life was good growing up in Ghana. My family experienced no particular hardships at the time, although the instability of the coup in 1966 caused many students to move overseas for education. I left Ghana three years after the coup for the US for my university education. However, this wasn鈥檛 because of the coup. I was simply following a line of brothers who all went overseas to university.

Why did you choose to study science?

I was the youngest in a family of scientists and although my father did not have a university education, my siblings included an eye surgeon, a dentist, a wood technologist and a highway civil engineer. I admired all my elder brothers, who taught me a lot.

As a young African in the midst of the civil rights movement in the US, did you experience an enormous culture shock?

The culture shock was there, but my purpose in going to the US was to acquire knowledge so it was easy to adjust. I arrived at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire in 1969, when the civil rights movement was bringing about racial integration at the universities. Naturally, I was always among a small group of Africans and African-Americans who faced the challenges of a new intellectual world. So, in spite of the racial and social atmosphere during the early 1970s, the academic community encouraged those who wanted education. There was harmony when I studied.

Did the civil rights struggle affect your ideas about the future of Africa?

It brought attention to Africa鈥檚 potential for participation in the global economy. Naturally, the civil rights movement also reminded me of my African roots and the fact that I had become part of the diaspora. It also reminded me that only Africans could liberate and develop Africa. This inspired me to want to help my people in my area of expertise. It planted in me a desire and dedication to acquire knowledge for the liberation and development of Africa.

鈥淥nly Africans are able to liberate and develop Africa鈥�

So you decided to return to Africa?

The information and communication-technology revolution was under way, and I wanted to do something about the daunting digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world. As one of the first PhDs in computer science on the African continent, and the first in Ghana, I returned to establish a department of computer science at the University of Cape Coast in 1979. Later, I decided to branch out into business, to translate my academic work into practice.

Did the influential Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah鈥檚 dream of making science and technology the key to socio-economic development have an impact on you?

Yes, but others such as Nelson Mandela also steered my focus towards achieving 鈥渢echno-liberation鈥�. It is evident that lack of technical know-how means that Africa depends on foreign experts to move forward in computer technology. Like both Nkrumah and Mandela, I am certain that Africa has to own its development processes. A lack of specialised knowledge means that Africans are using computer and internet systems that they are not involved in producing.

You received the in 2007, in part for championing African involvement in international internet policies. Why did you take on this role?

I chose the role of getting Africa more technically educated, and an important part of this is for Africa to be more involved in global technical policy processes. Internet policies have an effect on economic development. I am glad to have contributed to getting more Africans involved. I donated the $20,000 honorarium that accompanied the award to help establish a fund called The Africa Fund for Capacity Building, Research and Internet Development. This will support young internet engineers with their education and research.

The project, which aims to produce a $100 laptop, has just launched its latest product, the X0-2. What do you think of this?

Lower-cost user interfaces are necessary for increased use of the internet for the benefit of Africa, and this is a welcome development. But this price will still be a barrier to access, because $100 is a lot of money when many earn less than $1 a day.