Critical mass will move
Africa forward
By Clive Emdon
Webtimes News
Editor
AFRICA can only improve its position in the modern world once a critical
mass of people has access to modern technologies.
This message from the South African
Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri was delivered on her behalf by
Stephen Mncube, the chairman of Sentech, on the eve of the Acacia
Conference.
Matsepe-Casaburri, who was withheld by
family commitments, said African leaders understood that breaking the
digital divide was a development challenge for the ICT-starved continent.
This meant developing telecommunications
infrastructure to improve access to ICTs, the minister said, adding that
this would assist in fast-tracking developmental programmes on the
continent.
Matsepe-Casaburri said the socio-economic
initiative in ICTs by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad)
was intended to bridge the gap “between urban and rural, between countries,
and between this continent and the developed world”.
She identified governance, health,
agriculture and commerce as areas where ICTs could make a difference, she
said.
“The E-Africa Commission, in particular,
had focused on e-readiness for a networked Africa by examining connectivity
and emphasising initiatives designed to bring about integrated development,”
she said.
For his part, Mncube said the collective
drumming had conveyed people’s joy, fear and happiness in the same way that
internet connectivity allowed. He was referring to a spectacular event in
which more than 200 participants, including delegates and sponsors.
|
.gif)
