ACCESS TO INFORMATION: THE DILEMMA FOR RURAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA. By Manir

The provision of information services in Africa has been dispersed and access to various information services has become more difficult; the principal victims of these developments have been rural people without having any individual means of becoming literate, due to them being too illiterate, too young, too old, too poor or too ill because of the economic and information poverty. The paper will provide a highlight on the value and usefulness of information as it affects rural community development and the need for it to be managed effectively. The premise of the paper is that promoting the role of information through the establishment of innovative community information centre (ICIC) will strengthen and empower the rural people to be among global players in the knowledge-based economy and also it will provide the opportunities for rural community development in general. This entails that the development of any rural community is a positive indicator for the development of a nation. Finally the paper provides a framework for which library and information services can be sustain to foster rural community development by making information as influential factor, which serves as an agent of social, educational, economic and political development.