FORUM POUR LE DVELOPPEMENT DE LAFRIQUE 2000

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Third United Nations Conference on the Least
Developed Countries (LDC III) Brussels, 15-20 May
2001
Africa Puts Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) on top of its Development
Agenda
By Makane FayeTeam Leader, Promoting ICTs for
DevelopmentDevelopment Information Services
Division (DISD)Economic Commission for Africa
(ECA)
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CONTENTS

• Africas key development challenges
• The role of ICTs in addressing the
  development challenges
• African Information Society Initiative (AISI)
• Common position for Africas Digital
  Inclusion
• The way forward

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AFRICAS KEY DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

• Overcome the HIV/AIDS Pandemic
• Provide basic health services
• Invest in people Increase resources for
  education
• Enhance research capacities
• Improve key infrastructure
• Strengthen regional cooperation

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ROLE OF ICTs IN DEVELOPMENT

• ICTs are cross-cutting in addressing all the
  developmental challenges of Africa
• ICTs have a great role to play in all areas
  health, education, business and trade,
  RD, regional co-operation, etc.

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AFRICAN INFORMATION SOCIETY INITIATIVE (AISI)

• Common vision and mission statement for
  Africas quest to bridge the digital divide
  (since 1996)
• Guiding framework on ICT activities in
  Africa
• Speeds up Africas entry into the
  Information Age

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AFRICAN INFORMATION SOCIETY INITIATIVE (AISI)
AISI Adopted and endorsed by

• the twenty-second meeting of ECA Conference
  of Ministers in May 1996
• OAU Council of Ministers meeting in its
  Sixty-Fourth Ordinary Session held in
  Yaounde, Cameroon, 1 - 5 July 1996
• the African Regional Telecommunication
  Development Conference, organised by the ITU
  and held in Abidjan in May 1996

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AFRICAN INFORMATION SOCIETY INITIATIVE (AISI)

• AISI progress evaluated by African
  Development Forum 1999 (ADF 99), which was
  held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 24 to 28
  October 1999
• Theme the Challenge to Africa of
  Globalisation and the Information Age
• Resulted in concrete initiatives
• Wider participation gt 800 participants
  (governments, civil society, diaspora, media,etc.)

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COMMON POSITION FOR AFRICAS DIGITAL INCLUSION

• Meeting on Africas Contribution to global ICT
  initiatives such as the G8 DOT Force, UN
  ICT Task Force, etc. (11 - 12 May 2001,
  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
• Reviewed existing and new ICT initiatives in
  Africa
• Resulted in a COMMON POSITION for Africas
  digital inclusion

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COMMON POSITION FOR AFRICAS DIGITAL INCLUSION
Building Human andInstitutional Capacity
ICT Policies, Strategies and Regulation
COMMON POSITION
Improving Connectivity and Access to
Information in Africa
Implementing Sectoral Information Society
Initiatives in Africa
Partnership
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COMMON POSITION FOR AFRICAS DIGITAL INCLUSION
ICT Policies, Strategies and Regulation

• Organising national and sub-regional workshops
• Establishing ICT bodies at the very high level
  of political leadership
• Setting up liberalisation and privatisation
  strategies
• Creating a network of African regulators
• Developing indicators to evaluate the progress
  of the regulatory institutions in meeting
  national priorities (eg. SCAN-ICT) and
• Developing National Information and
  Communication Infrastructure (NICI) plans and
  strategies.

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COMMON POSITION FOR AFRICAS DIGITAL INCLUSION
Improving Connectivity and Access to Information
in Africa

• Supporting connectivity projects
• Supporting Research and Development activities
  for developing low cost access in African
  countries
• Supporting the development of sub-regional and
  regional telecommunication backbones and
  information networks and
• Empowering production and dissemination of local
  content, with special emphasis on indigenous
  knowledge.

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COMMON POSITION FOR AFRICAS DIGITAL INCLUSION
Building Human and Institutional Capacity

• Strengthening distance learning initiatives in
  Africa
• interactive and distance learning systems
• school networks (e.g, SchoolNet), university
  networks (e.g., VarsityNet) and networks of RD
  institutes (e.g., African Knowledge Network
  Forum (AKNF) and
• networks for marginalised people (e.g., Out of
  School Youth Network-OosyNet).
• Developing capacities for participation in WTO
  negotiations and other fora and
• Harnessing the African Diaspora.

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COMMON POSITION FOR AFRICAS DIGITAL INCLUSION
Implementing Sectoral Information
SocietyInitiatives in Africa
OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESS AND TRADE

• Promoting E-business
• Supporting the establishment of training
  institutions for e- business workforce
• Encouraging Small and Medium Size Enterprises
  (SMEs) in Africa with e-business
  orientation
• Encouraging e-business applications at local
  level, e.g., telecentres
• Creating the enabling environment for
  e-business
• Encouraging government as an early adopter and
  model.

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COMMON POSITION FOR AFRICAS DIGITAL INCLUSION
Implementing Sectoral Information
SocietyInitiatives in Africa
OPPORTUNITIES FOR HEALTH CARE

• Establishing a network of health professionals
• Developing multimedia health information
  systems
• Using ICTs to facilitate delivery of health care
  services
• Creating and strengthening telemedicine
  projects
• Instituting specialised training for health
  professionals
• Emphasising the use of ICTs in the fight
  against HIV/AIDS in Africa and
• Supporting the establishment of African centres
  of medical excellence.

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PARTNERSHIP

• Partnership for Information and Communication
  Technologies in Africa (PICTA) - vehicle for
  AISI partnership
• Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP)
• G8 DOT Force
• UN ICT Task Force
• African Connection
• UNDP
• UNESCO
• ITU
• WHO
• The World Bank
• The World Economic Forum

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THE WAY FORWARD

• AISI - Africas vision to the Information Age
  (since 1996)
• Commitment required from all partners and
  stakeholders in implementing programmes and
  specific actions envisioned under the AISI
  framework so as to ensure Africas digital
  inclusion
• Africas common position for partnership in ICT
  areas focuses on creating the enabling
  environment, support ICTs in health,
  education, business and trade (e-commerce),
  improving connectivity and and promoting
  e-governance
• Recent meeting of African Conference of
  Ministers, held in Algers, calls upon
  international partners to treat ICT as special
  priority for Africa.

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Thank you !