How and Why

While African governments have developed information and communication technologies (ICTs) policies, there is still missing historical insights on how contextual issues shaped the formulation process in the context of developing countries. This paper analysed the formulation for national ICT policy of Malawi between 2001 and 2012. Historical approach was used where archival data was used to understand key events, contextual issues, and activities that shaped the formulation of the policy. The findings showed that there were external influences leading to the formulation of the national ICT policy. The local needs of stakeholders were not articulated adequately to come up with realistic policy objectives. Further, there were more pressing local issues that led to the policy being not prioritised and endorsed by the government administrations leading to the delays in policy formulation. The study offers insights that can assist for policymakers and practitioners when developing similar policies such as the national broadband policy and national cyber-security policy.