Digital Malawi: Developing Hope in the Information Age on Takuya Kitazawa

Missing Link to Bridge the Digital Divide

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Digital literacy and skills are essential anywhere across the globe, but especially in developing countries where socioeconomic opportunities are limited. In the constrained environment, ICT can be a game-changing tool that eliminates physical boundaries and unlocks numerous possibilities in and beyond communities of the oppressed.

Thus, governments and organizations actively invest in technology development in the following forms.

Infrastructure: Internet penetration remains a key issue among us. We have policies and strategies, and continue to invest in the basic needs in collaboration with the private sector, like telecom companies.
Funding: Don't have money and equipment in the households and communities? No worries, we support the financing and procurement of phones and computers. We have funds available.
Training: Let's teach digital skills, such as typing, coding, and using AIs, to marginalized people. We run many programs across the countries.
The Impact: Employability of the target population increases, and they will eventually land jobs and become self-resilient. That's the way to an equitable society and poverty eradication!

This is, in fact, the narrative behind a lot of development initiatives and success stories focusing on digital skills. For example, the World Bank reported the positive impact of "digital skills for jobs" projects in the Middle East and North Africa context. The initiative doesn't seem different from the problematic approach I witnessed in southern Africa, though.

The End of the Beginning—What I Talk About When I Talk About Malawi

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

"How's Africa?"—my friends outside of the continent frequently ask.

Where should I start...?

Malawi—the 10th poorest country in the world¹, with a life expectancy of around 60 years², less than 30% internet penetration, a median age under 18, and more than 80% of the population living in rural areas³. It's a country far from discussions about race and ethnic diversity and predominantly uses underrepresented languages. This is the "Africa" I have lived in for the past 11 months as a Canadian international volunteer, and now I'm about to end my one-year assignment. Unsurprisingly, there are many immediate struggles you wouldn't experience in wealthier nations. But life here is actually not *that* bad and can even be happier than in more developed countries.

Let me be honest. I am exhausted, both mentally and physically. I don't know if it's due to the side effects of malaria prevention medicine, the full-time onsite work in a dark and noisy office space, the general safety concerns that hinder me from going out as frequently as I used to, or the people who stare at me whenever I'm outside. In any case, I've been struggling with fatigue and a sense of insecurity throughout the year. My body feels shockingly heavy (without any visible weight gain), and I cannot focus on anything, even when I need to. In a short period, I've completely lost stability in many aspects of my life, including mindfulness, fitness, finances, and intelligence. Despite this, the handful of valuable things I've received—such as connection, laughter, and joy—make me feel like these costs are worth paying. I have no issue with living in this country longer if necessary.

Materializing Digital Transformation

Mon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Start your digital transformation from the field, by understanding people. Please—your people are not here, in this big conference hall in the big city.

That's how I concluded my guest presentation at a conference organized by the ICT Association of Malawi (ICTAM) in the capital city earlier this month, reflecting on my engagements with Malawi's youth- and rural-centered population¹.

ICT is today's infrastructure—like roads, water, electricity—and literacy—like reading and writing. That is the power of the people, by the people, and for the people. Thus, the availability of technology is something very tangible, material, and life-changing, both positively and negatively².

You say "AI," for example. But AI for what? To whom? Where? When? How? These fundamental questions are often overlooked behind technological trends and advances. As a consequence, your "innovation" simply fails, if not significantly damaging surroundings. Downstream impacts of such failures can take multiple forms, such as consumer mental health challenges, exploitation and inequality, climate change, and loss of humanity at large.

I'm Not "China"—Connecting HERE and THERE in Systems

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

"China!" A random stranger yells at me. Welcome to Malawi—the Warm Heart of Africa—though I don't consider it "friendly" and it is simply racial discrimination¹. Over the last nine months living in the country, I've also received countless judgemental comments on my character, socio-economic status, and thought and behavioral patterns based on the stereotypes they might have against Japanese, Asians, and foreigners at large. Unfortunately, this kind of discomfort is the only yet non-negotiable reason why I cannot imagine my future living in this beautiful country; from my recent experiences in Ethiopia, Egypt, and Malawi, I learned being an Asian in Africa naturally puts me into an endless psychological tension with locals and brings a greater sense of insecurity and vulnerability. The alienated feeling strongly demotivates me to invest my short life in the environment.

* Malawi is undoubtedly beautiful. My concern, and future opportunities, inversely, are centered around its people and businesses.

Meanwhile, I was recently traveling to Frankfurt in Germany, Tallinn in Estonia, Helsinki in Finland, Stockholm in Sweden, and Copenhagen in Denmark for two weeks by plane, ferry, and train. Although I'm willing to write a full article about the trip, the biggest surprise was that nobody stares at me in the public spaces and shops and restaurants. In Malawi, on the contrary, I always feel someone is looking at me whenever I'm outside. Thus, it's been a while since the last time I felt it was okay to be my authentic self from the deepest part of my heart, and I simply enjoyed the emotional freedom during the trip. What a great pleasure running in the city center of a large Scandinavian city for 10km with an empty mind! As running is an essential part of my life, I could easily live here permanently.

Language: Behind the Power Dynamics in Information Society

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Muli bwanji? ("How are you?" in a polite way, in Malawi's local language called Chichewa)

A police, immigration, or military personnel asks.

If you respond Ndili bwino. Kaya inu? ("I'm fine. And you?"), they smile. If you reply in English with confusion, like Ah...hello? there is a higher chance that the personnel will ask you to show your passport and explain what you are doing here.

Language is more than an interface to exchange semantics. It tells a lot more about the contexts, such as your identity, mood, and status. I recently learned that the Malawian officers try to efficiently read this information by greeting in the local language, even if they can speak English fluently. Thus, if we could understand and speak a local language, we could be united stronger. Otherwise, there will be more tension and hassle.

Languages represent the power

This experience reminds me of the history of the world's most widely spoken constructed language, Esperanto; it is recorded that its creator L. L. Zamenhof worked on the language to foster harmony between people from different countries. Eventually, language is the foundation of humanity.

One of the Poorest Life Is Not That Bad

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Over the last few articles, I kept introducing Malawi as one of the poorest countries in the world. The statement is based on the World Population Review's "Poorest Countries in the World" report, and Malawi is ranked the 10th poorest country in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), according to the World Bank-sourced data. But, what does the 10th poorest life look like?

Imbalance between earning and spending

First and foremost, as of February 2024, Malawi's monthly minimum wage for general workers is 90,000 Malawian Kwacha (MWK) both in rural and urban areas (!). That is, since 1,000 MWK is about 0.59 USD as of writing, we can expect to earn about 53 USD per month in Malawi at minimum. Yes, you read it correctly. It should be noted that a different lower rate may apply for domestic workers, and the World Bank once reported¹ that around 80% of the population is relying on agriculture for their livelihoods, occupying more than 60% of total employment. Hence, I would imagine the general population's income stream is fairly inconsistent in practice.

Relativize Malawi, and Rethink Their Contexts

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

During the holiday season, I traveled to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Dubai in UAE, and Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan in Egypt. It was an awakening experience visiting these big cities after staying almost half a year in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world¹. At first, I was excited to relativize the situations I observed in Malawi compared to more developed environments in North Africa and the Middle East. However, when our plane was about to land at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, I soon realized the effort in making a comparison between Malawi and the rest was essentially meaningless; the numerous lights shining under the sky in the city were completely at the different level from the Malawian standard, and my intuition told me it is impossible to directly project the brightness onto Malawi's future.

* The outside view near the destination was too different from the origin, and I impulsively took this photo from an airplane window.

Is Computer Education Always Good?

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Children are the hope, and they represent the future. That's what I immediately understood after becoming an international volunteer in Malawi, a small African country with more than 50% of the less-than-18 population. Thus, although it won't be the same, I was able to deeply relate my experience to Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal, which illustrates Conor Grennan's volunteering journey started at an orphanage in Nepal.

To make the children's future brighter, one of the "low-hanging fruits" we can pick is an investment in education; ever since I started researching international development, I've seen a lot of young people-focused education and training programs funded by organizations and governments to promote equitable access to intellectual resources and directly empower the future generation. As a volunteer in the ICT domain in Malawi, I have also been part of these initiatives over the last few months with a particular focus on computer skills.

* With the trainees I'm teaching computer programming (cf. "Malawi's Mzuzu e-hub empowers youth through tech").

Starting with Humanity—Growth and Technology Otherwise Hurt You

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In September 2023, I was reading Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow for the month's book club I have been organizing with my friends back in Canada for the last 12 months.

It's a story that uses digital games as an interface between human beings; throughout the book, the nerdy characters communicate through the games, grow with the games, and are helped by the games. Takeaway? Humanity is the foundation of the digital world. The book thoroughly illustrated the point by connecting the characters' attitudes to games with something more realistic, such as money, reputation, despair, hope, friendship, and love. As a millennial born and raised in Japan, who spent most of his teenage days playing video/computer games, and pursued a career in tech after being attracted by such digital content, the book instantly became special to me.

* Although I read the audiobook version, I coincidentally found a printed copy of the book at an Italian-owned restaurant in my neighborhood in Malawi.

Dilemma over "Best Practice": How We Could Develop Data Protection Practices in Malawi

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Here in southeastern Africa, I see Malawi's digital transformation is still immature and yet to be caught up in many aspects. As a software developer volunteering in the country, one of the immediate questions I came up with was about data privacy. Unfortunately, while the use of digital technologies is slowly but certainly progressing in various sectors, data governance is rarely spoken as far as I can see. Let me think about what I might do if I were a Malawian service provider who lets users install an application to their phones, collects and stores data digitally for analytics purposes, or launches a web portal for businesses.

The basics

Importantly, as GDPR, CCPA, or any regional regulation define, it's not a matter of where you (developer; service provider) are physically present. It's more of who uses your service from where, and how their data is stored and processed. In that sense, we first need to be clear about the target audiences and why we collect their data for what purposes. Then, if the audiences do include people accessing the service from a certain country, that's where we should double-click their local regulations.

Definition, Role, and Current Status of Digital Literacy in Malawi #LiteracyDay

Fri, 08 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

It's International Literacy Day. As an ICT Advisor at a Malawian local organization, I'd like to review the state of digital literacy in Malawi. An important context here is that, as the Digital 2023: Malawi reported, the country's internet penetration, and digital literacy inherently, stays very low, and the urgency let the Government of Malawi implement the Digital Malawi Program to accelerate the country's digital transformation.

But, what does the reality—an actual state of digitalization in the country—look like? What do all the data and development activities mean to Malawian's daily life and future? How digitally literate are they? What's digital literacy for them, after all?

TL;DR

In Malawi, access to the basic IT necessities such as computers, the internet, and smartphones is still very much under development, and hence it's not trivial for their young- and rural-centered population to talk about digital literacy.
Even if people do have access to digital tools, their knowledge and skills are usually basic and very limited, compared to my Western view of being digitally literate.
Businesses rarely talk about (and hardly know how to implement) cloud, data, security, or privacy. Clearly far from AI, Blockchain, or AR/VR. Their interests are similar to what I saw 10 years ago in Japan and the US, such as the use of smartphone applications and social media, or computer-driven mechanization in some sectors. The role of digital literacy in this context is to empower Malawians, especially young people, for the country's bright future, before things become too late.
That said, what being digitally literate means also depends on cultural traditions, work environment, and local regulations. It's still too early to make a judgment and say how it should be.

To begin with, we should better understand who are the "people" we are talking about, in terms of population statistics.

Starting Field Study on How Information Flows in Malawi

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

On July 28, 2023, I moved to Malawi, a beautiful landlocked country in southeastern Africa, for a Canadian international volunteering program at World University Service of Canada (WUSC). The program is funded by the Canadian government, and the organization sends Canadians, including permanent residents, to developing countries to advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy.

As of writing, I've already spent three weeks in the country. Interestingly, there hasn't been much of a culture shock so far, probably because I visited mostly urban areas where we see a lot of influences from Western countries; at a surface level, if you subtract the economic growth from Southeast Asia, it's here.

* Lake Malawi, the source of fresh and delicious fishes like chambo and usipa.

However, the reality isn't that simple, and one of the poorest countries in the world is suffering from various forms of gaps, between rich and poor, urban and rural, and the other countries. These gaps are the very reason why I'm here, and you can read more about the motivation at my fundraising page.