Addis Ababa — Chair: Zephirin Diabre, Associate Administrator, UNDP Presenter: Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, Director, Development Information Services Division, ECA Panel: H.E. Justin Malewezi, Vice President of Malawi; Ingo Fehrmann, Vice President, Middle East and Africa, Siemens AG; Robert Valantin, Senior Advisor, International Development Research Centre, Canada; M. Yaovi Hounkponou, Director, Benin Press Agency;
Objective: This presentation aimed to set the scene for the rest of the work of the conference by: - briefing participants on the African Information Society Initiative (AISI); - stressing the importance of national information and communication policy processes; - introducing the four themes
Summary:
Panel chair Zephirin Diabre of UNDP, endorsed the goals of the Forum and affirmed that UNDP was committed and ready to participate actively in bringing about an African Information Age. In her presentation, Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane of ECA summarized the activities of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) over the past three years and detailed plans and strategies for the future. She underscored the need to move from the global vision and universal model to designing and implementing flexible and workable plans at the national level. National Information and Communications Infrastructure plans (NICIs) would vary from country to country but faced similar variables in terms of lead organizations, the participatory involvement of all stakeholders, compatibility with national development agendas and needs and clear sector applications. She also urged sensitivity to the gender dimension, full participation of the youth, a strong role for the media and the academic community, involvement of the African Diaspora and of African "think-tank" intellectual elites, as well as public/private sector partnerships.
H.E. Justin Malewezi of Malawi agreed that Government had an important, enabling role to play in building a national IT policy framework and infrastructure, and in extending popular access, especially in public and academic institutions. He acknowledged the role that ICTs were playing in Southern Africa in fostering regional integration, public policy development and public interaction, and he supported the establishment of telecentres and other types of shared computer and expertise pools. He urged that tariffs on telecommunications equipment be removed, as in the case of Ghana, and noted that, since levels of Internet access in Africa were as low as 2 per cent, traditional communications such as radio, television, telephone, print media in local languages and even all-weather roads should not be neglected.
Ingo Fehrmann of Siemens pointed out that Internet access in Africa cost 7 times more than in the U.S.. Despite this, and in light of the fact that costs were coming down, access offered unlimited opportunities to public and private sectors for revenues and profits, besides such sectoral benefits as distance learning and telemedicine. As a starting point, customer groups and centres of competence needed to be identified and expanded.
IDRC's Robert Valentin noted that technology capability was even more unequally distributed globally than capital. Africa needed reduced transmission costs but much capital could come from the private sector, given incentives and a positive regulatory environment. He said that ICT access and use was not just a matter of efficiency gains but of an information technology revolution that was demanding attitudinal and technological transformation to face the new millennium. Yaovi Hounkponou of Benin said Africa's information gap could be utilized positively in terms of utilizing research findings, appropriate content development and accessing resources. The late arrival on the scene should carry a positive force to create new attitudes and perspectives, overcome obstacles and create new markets and employment opportunities.
In the floor discussion that followed, the need to train and retain human resources was noted, given the shortage of trained personnel and the brain drain problem in Africa. It was suggested that the brain drain could become a "brain gain" if the expertise and other resources among Africans abroad, including Diaspora Africans, could be tapped. Government/private sector/civil society partnerships were advanced as a means to solve the financial constraints. Another key recommendation was that the World Bank and other aid institutions should change existing policies and help Africa to gain ICT infrastructural capacity. The monopolistic control of many African Governments over IT policy, infrastructure and services was seen as a virtual stranglehold on the industry. Tariffs in Africa were some of the highest in the world and liberalization and privatization were urged.
For more information on the Forum or to interview participants, please contact: Peter da Costa Senior Communication Adviser Economic Commission for Africa P.O. Box 3001 Addis Ababa Ethiopia Tel: +251-1-51 58 26 Fax: +251-1-51 03 65 Cell: +251-9-20 17 94 E-mail: dacosta@un.org or ecainfo@un.org Web: http://www.un.org/depts/eca
