Global Connectivity for Africa Conference, June 2-4

Addis Ababa — Please find as follows a summary of the recommendations that emerged from Global Connectivity for Africa (GCA), a three-day conference which ended today in Addis Ababa.

A full conference report will soon be available on the ECA and African Information Society Initiative (AISI) websites (see below for urls). The websites also feature the Programme, an Issues Paper, Summaries of the plenaries and working sessions, Opening statements as well as other Background conference documents.

The conference was hosted and sponsored by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the World Bank Group, the Information for Development Programme (infoDEV), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of the Netherlands. The WorldSpace Corporation, Siemens, Teledesic, RASCOM and Iridium co-sponsored from the private sector.

The gathering -- the first regional follow-up to last year's Toronto Global Knowledge Conference - brought together some 400 market leaders in the field of communications around the common goal of discussing and examining projects that could impact positively on the growth and developmental impact of public telecommunication networks in Africa. More than 30 Communications ministers attended, along with civil society and private sector representatives.

Policy and Regulation

* Regularly review sector policies and regulatory arrangements to optimize the benefits available from the increased choice of technology;

* Licensing policies need to be adapted to facilitate the take up of the services that will be provided over new infrastructures;

* Technical by-pass is inevitable - it can be accommodated without losses to national operators;

* Regulatory intervention is needed to ensure that consumers benefit from the reduced cost of international access;

* Rules are needed to ensure that any exclusivity granted should not restrict the choice available of new technologies and services;

* Awareness-raising programs on changes in the accounting rate regime should be intensified;

* Governments and regulators need to develop specific strategies to cope with the changing accounting rate regime;

* Immediately introduce policies to address the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem.

* The efforts of African Communications ministers in defining a road map for establishing the infrastructure needed for Africa's Information Society (as outlined in the 'African Connection' document) was commended and should be widely supported. Endorsement should be sought from Heads of State for this initiative.

Access

* The new technologies increase options to improve access to communications rapidly, especially in rural communities;

* Explicit strategies need to be developed to implement and sustain access (regulatory issues, user and community involvement, design of appropriate projects, funding);

* Affordability is one of the key barriers - organizing the sharing of facilities can overcome the high cost of access in rural areas (e.g payphones, telecentres, community information centres);

* Universal service obligations need to be reformulated in concrete terms in the light of options now available (e.g. more specific requirements for rural service);

* There is a need for specific programmes to support indigenous content development, with the support of the private sector;

Capacity Building

* There is a need for more and better information on the availability and impact of the new technologies in Africa;

* Ensure that training institutions in the sector, including the Centres of Excellence, address connectivity issues;

* Sector regulatory bodies should share experiences and develop common approaches on connectivity issues;

* Establish an Africa-wide initiative to train ICT operators, and integrate African universities in the process as a fast track to improve capacities;

* There is a need for improved knowledge on the connectivity options and a continuous need for updating available information.

Financing

* The financing of the connectivity projects should be undertaken primarily by the private sector;

* Opportunities should be created to allow local financial participation, including micro-credit facilities in rural areas;

Partnerships

* Existing forms of partnership need to adapt, and new forms need to emerge, to accelerate and optimize the development potential of these technologies:

- greater participation by groups previously under-represented, such as women, users and communities;

- regional and sub-regional cooperation;

- public/private partnerships;

- support from development partners;

- foreign/local partnerships.

* Establishment by ECA of a forum for African Communications ministers to maintain the momentum on the positive dialogue and monitor progress in the development of an African Information Society.

For the Programme, Issues Paper, and other background Conference information, please visit: http://www.un.org/depts/eca/globalc/index.htm or http://www.bellanet.org/partners/aisi/globalc/index.htm

The sites were updated regularly during the conference.

For more information, please contact:

Peter K.A. da Costa, Senior Communication Adviser, UN Economic Commission for Africa, P.O. Box 3001 (official) or 3005 (personal) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel: +251-1-51 58 26 (direct) or: +251-1-51 72 00 ext. 35486 Fax: +251-1-51-22-33 E-Mail: ipspdc@harare.iafrica.com, daCosta@un.org, or ecainfo@un.org http://www.un.org/depts/eca

ENDS

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