Networking Africas Future 1316 April 2003

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Networking Africas Future13-16 April 2003

European CommissionDG Development Harry De
Backer
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Five generations of ACP-EU Agreements (Lomé
Cotonou)

• The worlds largest financial and political
  framework for North-South co-operation
  
• Fifth largest donor behind US, Japan, Germany and
  France in terms of Grant Finance
  
• EDF9 13.5B for the next five years
• EU is largest donor of humanitarian aid
• ACP states are free to table any request with one
  exception arms. These request are inscribed in
  National and Regional Indicative Programmes which
  contain pledges for a period of five years.
• The EC also provides funds for humanitarian and
  emergency aid and NGOs, Human Rights,etc.

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Priority activities for Community development aid

• Trade and development
• Regional integration and co-operation
• Support to macroeconomic policies with an
  explicit link with poverty reduction strategies
  
• Transport
• Food security and sustainable rural development
  strategies
  
• Institutional capacity-building, good governance
  and the rule of law
  
• ICT is not a priority as such. ICT can be a tool
  in the sectors above
  

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ICTs in the EDF programming

• None of the National Indicative Programmes in
  Africa contain an ICT component
  
• The Regional Indicative Programmes though provide
  sufficient leeway to establish ICT projects
  
• The SADC has foreseen an Knowledge-economy based
  programme.
  
• The COMESA intends to start a e-commerce
  project.
  
• The COI is finalising negotiations for a project
  to stimulate the private sector with a large ICT
  component.
  
• The ECOWAS will start liberalising the telecom
  sector
  
• The CEMAC is seriously lagging behind, but it
  intends to overcome this situation.
  
• Mid-term review (WSIS, Lobbying with the NAO)

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The Mid-term review The conditions

• The WSIS will stimulate requests for Information
  Society programs
  
• The EC is not the master of the game
• The ACP countries decide where the funding ought
  to end-up
  
• Lobbying with the National Authorization
  Officer
  
• National Information Society plan is a necessity
  to participate fully in the global economy
  
• Liberalisation of the telecom sector is a need to
  stimulate the economy in a whole.
  
• Lower price better service
• Risk of cream-skimming by the new entrants
• Direct grants to the Telecom sector are excluded
• Practice used in the past (110 MEuro)
• Avoid distortion of the market

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The Mid-term review The conditions

• Setting-up of Universal Service Funds
• less lucrative parts of the telecom business
• both the incumbent and new entrants could receive
  support from an USF.
  
• An independent telecom regulator otherwise no
  fair competition
  
• Incumbent can still be part of the government
  (conflict of interest)
  
• Training under the umbrella of Capacity
  Building
  
• One rule of thumb the EC does not like small
  projects because the workload for a 100kEuro
  project and a 10MEuro project is the same.
  

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Other sources of funding for the ICT sector

• The European Investment Bank
• cheap loans
• SAFE cable landing points in Western Africa
• www.eib.org
• The Centre for the Development of Enterprise
• Specifically for the ICT sector
• Test beds in Ghana and Senegal
• www.cdi.be

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Conclusion

• ICTs give the possibility to leapfrog into the
  world economy
  
• ICT is not an objective on its own, it is a means
  to help to achieve the Millennium Development
  Goals
  
• In the telecom sector
• No direct grants
• Universal Service Fund
• Training under capacity building
• Legislation and setting-up of Regulator under the
  umbrella of institution building
  
• European Investment Bank
• Centre for the Development of Enterprise
• The request need to come from Africa. No small
  projects

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Harry De BackerT 32/2/29 68222F 32/2/29
94176harry.de-backer_at_cec.eu.int