Administrator
25 June 2008
The government of Sweden has pledged its unwavering support for developmental initiatives undertaken to extend telecommunications and ICT connectivity to rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
The announcement was made when a delegation of African ICT Ministers, Regulators and other government officials paid a courtesy visit to the Swedish seat of government in Stockholm as part of a week-long European-African Roundtable aimed at fostering interactions between key decision makers in the ICT sector in Africa and private sector organisations in Europe.
Welcoming the delegation, Mr. Gunnar Wieslander, State Secretary to the Minister of Trade at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said private sector companies are leading the world in sectors that are of great importance for developing countries to move forward.
"Sweden believes that there are many advantages in linking private sector initiatives and investments to development cooperation," he said.
Mr. Wieslander emphasised that Sweden has a number of governmentally supported financial institutions that can contribute to the financing of telecommunications and ICT infrastructural projects within Africa.
Sweden, he said, is well prepared to provide financial solutions. He mentioned Swedfund, Sweden's Export Credits Guarantee Board (EKN) and Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK), among others.
The rapid evolution of telecommunications and ICTs worldwide has brought about lasting changes to some economies and societies, said Mr. Wieslander, who expressed confidence that ICTs and mobile revolution will be key in transforming African economies in a number of ways.
"At present, over 100 WTO Members have commitments to open markets in some or all telecommunication services. We can today safely conclude that opening telecommunications services have indeed been a win-win game," he said.
"Today, we are building a global information society and global tele-density in developing countries is increasing, considering that average mobile subscriptions increased considerably in most African countries the past few years. ICTs can make it possible to bring high-quality education, health and business services virtually everywhere, even to remote villages, and provide the potential for job creation and human capacity development among deprived communities.
Liberalising trade in telecom services, Mr. Wieslander said, must be seen as a vital tool in economic growth and development. He encouraged all to work together to promote technical co-operation between developing countries and to lend support to international standardisation to ensure compatibility and interoperability of networks and services.
As part of a week-long European-African Ministerial and Regulatory roundtable organised by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), the visit aimed to create a desirable platform on which decision makers from the eighteen Commonwealth African countries could discuss and brainstorm with experts from the European private sector.
CTO's Director of Programmes Mr. Bashir Patel said that bringing ICTs to rural Africa is a challenging task that requires strong partnerships between the public and private sectors. Donor agencies must work side-by-side to create successful programmes and projects that utilise ICTs to develop human resources and create the right framework for the development of small-scale business initiatives, he said.
Mr. Bashir acknowledged that Sweden has long been involved in the deployment of technologies to help African governments connect rural communities. The CTO as an intergovernmental telecommunications and ICT organisation is open to collaborative work with Swedish development agencies and private organisations on a number of fronts, including research, consultancy, capacity development and training programmes, he said.
The delegation also visited the Swedish Telecommunication Regulatory Agency and the Ministry of Communications.
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