Revamping a website in Burkina Faso

How did you prepare yourself for this project?

I began by asking myself what a lone Dutchman could achieve from spending just one week working on a development project in Ouaga, Burkina Faso. The network members were probably thinking the same thing. A lot of interesting plans for the website had been suggested in the past. However, it was important to create a learning environment in which all of the network members could put forward their ideas in order to reach a consensus and decide upon the way forward. This is why IICD decided to send in someone from outside the network to act as a facilitator, assess the situation, and ultimately provide advice on how best to proceed. This intervention eventually took the form of a project that was carried out within the framework of the public-private partnership between Inter Access and IICD.

How did you approach the project?

I decided beforehand to use the Integrated Architecture Framework model which I had first heard about at Corus. At Corus this was adapted as an approach through which the WHAT, HOW and WITH WHAT MEANS are determined, in order to differentiate between abstract issues, logical links and concrete solutions. I could use this to show others what the goal was.  

In my opening presentation I described the goal literally as follows: “Pour les bonnes raisons, faire les bonnes choses, à la bonne manière, avec les bons moyens, supervisé par les bons responsables, sauvegardé par les bonnes mesures de sécurité." This lengthy opening was greeted with an enthusiastic round of applause; something I had never experienced in the Netherlands.

What are the differences between working in Africa and working in the Netherlands?  

Here in Ouagadougou people worked exceptionally well with each other without becoming distracted or side-tracked by conversations with each other. At first, I was a bit concerned that they were just being kind to me. However, when some of the suggestions I put forward came in for a bit of criticism, I realised that this was not the case. I also had to be a lot more flexible with regard to planning activities than I was accustomed to in the Netherlands. I’m not used to beginning training sessions at eight o’clock in the morning, for example, nor am I used to having to wait patiently for someone when I already have an appointment with them.  On the other hand, when someone does have time to see you, they give you their full and undivided attention.

What made a lasting impression upon you in Ouagadougou?

I really like the way people behave towards each other here. I already had an inkling of it, but was still very much impressed by the fact that, as in the Netherlands, the people who were involved had a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve and how they intended to go about this. For example, a finely-honed procedure had been put in place for delivering content to the website and a clear set of selection criteria had been drawn too. All that was missing, perhaps, was the logical follow-up step of making the criteria available to the public. 

I also noticed children selling phone cards on every street corner. Without Information and Communication Technology the cards probably would not exist and the children would probably be selling paper handkerchiefs. I think that if ICT continues to become part and parcel of daily life in this way, it wont be long before a couple of successful micro-enterprises spring up that generate a steady stream of income for Burkina. At the moment, successful Burkinabes tend to move to Europe. Maybe one day that will no longer be necessary.

Greetings from Ouaga,

Richard Uijen,
Consultant, Management View. ICT-strategy, organisation & management.

More information:

IICD
Burkina-ntic
the development project
Ouagadougou