Yonas Abiye
3 May 2007
Addis Ababa — A high-level meeting on development information opened here Tuesday with a call to tap into the emerging knowledge economy to tackle employment challenges in Africa.
In his opening address to the fifth Committee on Development Information (CODI-V), Abdoulie Janneh, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said the continent cannot ignore the basic fact that the knowledge economy is key to long term growth.
Janneh said successes for present-day information driven society was based on the effective utilization of intangible assets, including knowledge, skill and innovative potentials, he said, were the key resources for competitive advantage.
"Do we have the requisite skills base, the right workforce or what is now termed 'knowledge workers' that can lead this continent into the knowledge age and economy?" he asked.
However, he pointed out that there were dangers associated with rising numbers of knowledge workers, according to a press statement from the ECA, which is hosting event.
Not only could these workers be lost to countries where the knowledge industries were more advanced, but also the demand for less-skilled employees could be at risk, he said.
"Africa could again be disadvantaged, aggravating unemployment problems and reducing the human resource capacity to support its homegrown and meaningful knowledge enterprises," he said.
"To avert this, African countries need to create the means by which they can utilize their skilled workforce, and address how the existing workforce can be re-skilled to meet new challenges, Janneh stressed.
"The future of employment creation in Africa's knowledge economy depends on what actions we take now," he said.
Other speakers noted the importance of "embedding" information technology to keep up the growth momentum in Africa.
This was particularly important for promoting e-health - a fundamental opportunity to boost medical care on the continent.
The keynote speaker, Prof. Yaw Nyarko of New York University, noted that Africa was well placed to take advantage of the knowledge economy to propel the continent forwards, because of two important factors.
Africans, he said, were enthusiastic about education, vital for the sector's development. And secondly, there was the legendary entrepreneurial spirit which was well suited to individualistic knowledge economy activities. He stressed that Africa should not miss out on the technological revolution.
Meanwhile Ethiopia was declared one of the winners of the innovative projects award in the field of information technology (ICT).
Ethiopia was recognized for an online courts administration reform to make legal redress more accessible to citizens.
Twelve innovative projects taking Africa forward in the field of information technology were rewarded for their enterprise at a glittering ceremony in Addis Ababa at a glittering ceremony on Tuesday night.
The first ever Technology in Government in Africa (TIGA) awards were handed out by the main sponsors of the event, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the Canadian government, in recognition of achievements that have led to changes at national, regional or provincial level.
Speaking at the ceremony, Canada's ambassador to Ethiopia Yves Boulanger said his country supported ICT as a "powerful enabler" of socio-economic development aimed at alleviating poverty in Africa.
The TIGA initiative received strong backing from the Finnish and Italian governments, Ethiopian Airlines, Microsoft and the Nokia-Siemens Networks which all stressed that the continent's future lay in the development of information technology and education.
The event took place on the sidelines of the Committee on Development Information (CODI) meeting currently underway in Addis Ababa.
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