ECA AND AU WALK TALL

[ADDIS ABABA 2nd/FEB/2010 Wanjohi Kabukuru] The African Union and the Economic Commission for Africa both headquatered in Addis Ababa are walking tall after the successful opening of the AU Heads of State and Government's summit in the Ethiopian capital.
For the first time in its entire history, the AU summit dedicated its theme on ICTs. This has been a milestone success for the two organizations as slightly over a decade ago, they embarked on a highly ambitious undertaking dubbed the African Information Society Initiative (AISI). The main aim of AISI was to galvanise the continent to harness information communications technologies to leap-frog her development progress and agenda. At inception little was expected of AISI.
Wayback in 1995 AU gave ECA the mandate of spearheading the AISI agenda. In 1996 AISI came into being. This came about after the Conference of Ministers passed the now famous 1996 Resolution 812-XXXI which set in motion the operational framework of adapting ICTS within the member states. This then paved the way for member states to come up with policies and legislative agendas of the same. A quiet revolution has indeed taken place in Africa in ways that were hitherto unimaginable. In the last decade alone according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Africa has recorded the biggest growth in mobile phone penetration, internet growth and related technologies. By 2008 mobile phone users in Africa had reached 370 million users.
Since AISI came into being it has left the drawing board on to the practical implementation of its key tenets. Currently it is estimated that more than three quarters of the 53 member states of ECA have national e-strategies in tandem with their development agendas. As the National Information and Communication Initiative strategies undertaken by each member state took root in the continent, the transformation of the continent into an information society had began in earnest. In a multi-pronged strategy to highlight the importance of ICTs, member countries, civil societies, the media, bi-lateral partners and other stakeholders were all co-opted in a bid to make the continent an all-inclusive info-knowledge society.
It is perhaps on this background that the new AU chairman, Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika dedicated his speech to ICTs. In his acceptance speech President Mutharika proposed a slogan for AU. In his proposed slogan “Feeding Africa through New Technologies: Let us act now” Mutharika implored the African leaders; “I am convinced that information and communication technology can play a major role in the development of agriculture and food security on our continent.” he said hastening to add: “This would enable our farmers to access important information on agricultural products, advanced technologies, research findings as well as markets.”
Ever since AISI was mooted a boom of ICT successes have transforming lifestyles and trends in the continent have been spawned. In the Sahel, pastoralists use ICTs in the form of GPS/GIS-based maps linked with mobile phones to communicate with other groups of livestock herders pasture, water points and suitable graze lands. The same GPS technology is being used in Kenya, Botswana and Guinea by conservationists, hunters and fishermen respectively to track wildlife, game management, and police fishing grounds from poachers.
The latest vogue of this quite social-economic transformation is Mobile banking in Eastern Africa. All these unique developments are courtesy of what had been seen as a mere talk shop 15 years ago. As the summit progresses, the continent's leaders are looking back at how their decision has impacted on the continent and what ICTs mean for the future.
Little did the world know that the UNECA-driven AISI is actually the action framework that is fast transforming the continent into a knowledge hub. [ENDS]

"MY GRANNY CAN SEND ME SMS"

[ADDIS ABABA 1st/FEB/2010 by WANJOHI KABUKURU] Mozambique has embarked on an ambitious Information and Communication Technology Park whose initial construction cost is estimated to cost some $25 million.
“We know this is a large amount of money to invest in such a venture but we are convinced that the multiplier effects will pay off in the long run. We are looking forward at e-skilling our public and this technology park is envisaged to be an incubator for knowledge, skills and innovation generation” Venancio Mussingue the Mozambican minister for science and technology revealed this on the sidelines of the African Union's 14th Heads of State summit which is solely dedicated to ICTs.
This is indeed a huge undertaking for the South African nation with a population of 17 million and richly endowed in natural resources such as tantalum, titanium and graphite and massive hydro-electric potential.
“As a government we are looking forward at our population enjoying the benefits of e-government, tele-medicine, e-learning, e-commerce and all other benefits related to ICTs. We believe ICTs are a faster way not only to spur our economic growth index but also to unify our nation and uplift the quality of life enjoyed by a typical Mozambican.” Mussingue said.
The Mozambican government held a demonstration stall at the austere United nations Conference Centre Exhibition hall to showcase the Maputo government's commitment to ICTs. The minister revealed how his government has benefited greatly from ICTs which have been used in the management of land records, land demarcation, boundaries administration and also citizen bionic registration.
“We are better managing our land assets, our ID and taxation systems are also better managed ever since we deployed ICTs to all these areas. However the most important development I can confess to of ICTs is the fact that today my grandmother can send me an SMS.” he adds mirthfully. [ENDS]