On Tuesday, up to 1000 delegates concluded the high-powered summit meant to set a faster tone to broadband infrastructure and strengthen connectivity for Africa. The Summit also sets out to meet the World Summit on the Information Society goals for capacity building, establishing an enabling environment for investment, and e-government services.
Governments say there will be a level playing field for the industry to compete. It was also decided to ensure harmonization of the regulatory framework to stimulate cross-border integration in large-scale projects. Capacity building was identified as one key area for cooperation among all stakeholders.
Mobile operators of the GSM Association are to invest USD 50 billion over the next 5 years to expand and upgrade networks across the continent by 2012. This would provide mobile coverage to more than 90 per cent of the population in the fastest-growing sector over the last five years, the group said.
The World Bank said it would double commitment to connectivity in Africa to $2 billion for five years as well from ongoing investments amounting USD 1 billion since 2001.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) expects to invest 60% of its concessional resources on infrastructure, including wiring up the continent in the next three years. The Bank has already injected some USD 65 million into two RASCOM and EASSy.
The EU through various channels plans to provide some 100 million Euros in grants and 260 Million Euros for loans for the period 2007-2008. The funding targets cross-border projects or national projects with a regional and continental impact that would include ICT. The International Telecommunications Union will have Euro 6 Million for regulatory reform initiatives on the continent.
"Investment and trade - as opposed to aid and charity - must drive the transformation of our economies", President Kagame of Rwanda told delegates on Monday launching the summit attended by seven heads of states.
He called for a dynamic ICT sector to connect Africa to the global information superhighway. "In order to realize this much-needed economic revolution, we have to forge productive relationships between government and business," said Kagame.
Sounding upbeat when asked to assess the success of the summit during the closing session on Tuesday afternoon, ITU Secretary-General Mr. Hamadoun Touré said: "Africa is open for business."
"We are looking for investment through win-win partnerships in a viable marketplace by an expanding ICT industry."
He also said wealth creation is key to achieving the five UN development targets known as the Millennium Development Goals aimed at halving world poverty by 2015. "This new investment in ICT infrastructure will lead to new jobs and overall economic growth," said Dr Touré.
The ICT industry however maintains that the problem has always been the recipients but otherwise the technology has been around for ages. The industry wants African governments to put their houses in order by reforming regulatory structure and stop the conflicts that would eat away their invested resources.
"This is not a technology problem - the technology is waiting to be deployed," said Mr. Craig Barrett, who serves both as Chairman of Intel Corporation and the United Nations' Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development. "We now need the government priorities, decisions, and policies to drive the implementation of a pan-African infrastructure."
Quelle/Source: AllAfrica, 01.11.2007
