Characterising e-Participation in sub-Saharan Africa: A thematic review of the literature

e-Participation is understood to bring about greater participation, transparency and accountability in governance processes. North America, Western Europe and many countries in the South East Asia region, are reported to have made strides in transforming their governance systems in order to be able to accommodate e-Participation. All these countries happen to be ruled by democratic regimes. Africa on the other hand, and especially sub-Saharan Africa, is reported mainly ruled by post-colonial regimes that are not always amenable to democracy. That background suggests that little is known about e-Participation in sub-Saharan Africa. A review of a selection of most influential works was performed with the aim of characterising e-Participation in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings of the review suggest that the narrative of e-Participation in sub-Saharan Africa does not provide a proper understanding of local e-Participation actors; mostly only accounts of government led projects and initiatives; mostly only accounts of the overwhelming burden of contextual factors; does not offer clear accounts of the effects of initiatives; and does not provide a thorough evaluation of projects. Further studies should empirically examine sub-Saharan African actors, their online interactions, the effects that e-Participation has had on their lives and on their communities; making use of context relevant evaluation approaches and methods.