African Development Forum '99: the challenge to Africa of Globalisation and the Information Age The ADF process The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa convened the first African Development Forum from 24-28 October 1999 under the theme "The Challenge to Africa of Globalisation and the Information Age". It marked the beginning of a process led by ECA to position an African-driven development agenda reflecting a consensus among major partners and leading to specific programmes for implementation at national, sub-regional and regional levels. ADF was born out of the conviction that Africa cannot achieve sustainable development unless Africans themselves design and own their development policies, strategies and actions. The issue of Globalisation and the Information Age was chosen for the inaugural ADF because of the importance of defining African-owned and African-led strategies to join the global information economy. The major goal of ADF '99 was to develop and support African initiatives that are fundamental to the shaping of the African Information Age. ADF '99 provided the first occasion for a broad range of African policy-makers and practitioners to come together as a group to assess the opportunities, confront the challenges and develop a plan of action for Africa in the Information Age. It was the culmination of more than three years of activities to build an African Information Society and the occasion to set future directions for the African Information Society Initiative. The Forum was unique because for the first time, it demonstrated how much was being done in Africa by Africans, in harnessing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) towards development. Much was already underway, and yet it was not well known, even within Africa itself. Some of the most vibrant and innovative applications of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for development occupied centre stage during the Forum. Attendance Some 950 participants attended the Forum from government, the private sector, civil society (including the academic sector and media), bilateral and multilateral organisations (The full list of participants is attached as Annex V). Participants ranged from community activists and technical experts to national and international policy makers, private entrepreneurs and Heads of State. Eighty-one percent of participants came to the Forum from the Africa region, ten percent from Europe, six percent from North America and two percent from elsewhere. Some 36 percent were from the African public sector, fifteen percent from NGOs, thirteen percent from universities and research institutions, fifteen percent from the private sector, and fifteen percent from development agencies. (Ten percent of participants listed their institutions as "other")Opening Session - Sunday, 24 October 1999 Setting the Scene - Monday, 25 October 1999 Closing Session - Thursday, 28 October 1999 Annex I - The Way Forward to a people-centred African Information Society Annex III - ADF '99 Documentation Annex IV - PARTNERS in adf ’99 Annex V - List of Participants
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