Uganda decision to close down businesses selling refurbished computers

I am honestly hoping this is not true. I got word yesterday that Uganda has decided to close down all businesses selling refurbished computers within three months.

If it is true it is an incredibly short sighted decision that will have serious long term consequences for the country. The argument that the Ugandan government is giving for making this decision is around environmental impact reasons.

For a long time there has been a perception that refurbished computers are not a good approach to taking on the deep digital divide issues in the developing world because ultimately the computers break down and become electronic waste. A convenient way for the wealthier nations to off load the problem of computer disposal onto the developing world.

This is absolute nonsense and is an argument driven by big corporations telling the developing world to buy new computers to increase their profits and market share.

The truth is this. No matter how new a computer is, it will break down in Africa. The environment out here (especially the humidity and dust) makes it extremely difficult for computers to last the way they do in the developed world. On top of that, power supply issues across the continent can shorten the life span of a computer. Even military standard equipment struggles out here.

What is key to these problems is the need to give people here the skills and knowledge to maintain and repair computers (much more regularly then in the developed world) so that their computers last longer.

Once you address this issue then it does not matter what kind of computer you start with. In fact, it even makes more sense to use refurbished computers because in the process of refurbishment you learn the essential skills of computer maintenance and repair.

Here are some of the consequences of the Ugandan government sticking by there decision:

The education departments will spend vast amounts of money on technology at the expense of other equally important technology investment needs (like power supply and telecommunications infrastructure).

A large percentage of their population will not get access to affordable ICT and so will remain on the wrong side of the digital divide.

And ultimately big multi-national corporations will increase their profits and their market share once again at the expense of the poorest people on the planet.

We really live in an unjust world. And we in the west still naively think that we know best in terms of moving society forward. It genuinely makes me feel ashamed.