By Mary Kimani

“Africa Renewal, United Nations”.

The small, dusty village of Mayange lies 20 kilometres from Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. Its health centre has fewer than 40 beds but serves an estimated 35,000 people. The Mayange centre could well be like thousands of other health facilities across the continent struggling to meet patients’ needs with very few resources and staff.

The open character of the way knowledge is spread over the Internet, and the way electronic communications make distance and national borders much less relevant in carrying out business and related financial transactions, holds promise for economic progress in poor countries, a new UNCTAD report says.

These are a collection of papers on the issue of ICT and poverty reduction.