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The main premise of the diffusion of innovation theory explain how new ideas-in the case of

this paper, ICT could attract considerable interest and significantly diffused to all the different

countries in Africa. The philosophy of the diffusion of innovation theory popularized by Rogers’

(1962) diffusion of Innovations fits into ICT popularity in Africa.

Rogers (1962) identified a five-step process by which diffusion of an innovation could occur.

This process is of special interest to this paper because it shows how ICT in Africa could diffuse

through the decision made by either the government or representative leaders in various academic

settings. The Innovation Diffusion process occurs through a series of communication channels over a

period of time among the members of a similar social system. Ryan and Gross (1943) categorized the

five stages or steps of diffusing an innovation as awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption.

Further, in his research, Rogers (1962) advanced the five stages to: knowledge, persuasion, decision,

implementation, and confirmation.

 The knowledge stage is when the individual or community is exposed to the innovation but
lacks information about the innovation.
 At the persuasion stage, the individual is interested in the innovation and actively seeks
information detail about the innovation.
 At the decision level, the individual takes the concepts of the innovation and weighs the
advantages/disadvantages of using the innovation.
 The implementation stage, the individual employs the innovation to a varying degree
depending on the situation
 The confirmation stage is when the individual finalizes decision whether to continue using the
innovation and may use it to its fullest potential.

The most striking feature of diffusion theory is that, for most members of a social system, the

innovation-decision depends heavily on the innovation-decision of the other members of the system.

Empirically speaking, the successful spread of an innovation is determined by the initial adopters’

reactions to the innovation, because in a system where about 10-25 percent of the