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South
African stakeholders assess the use of ICTs in facilitating
trade
2
August 2007
 A
two-day roundtable to review a study on ICTs, trade and economic
growth in South Africa was opened 30 July 2007 in Pretoria,
South Africa. Over forty participants were in attendance at
the roundtable drawn from various stakeholders including the
ICT private sector, representatives from the Department of
Communication as well as Department of Trade and Industry,
ISP Association of South Africa, regulator, telecom operators,
commercial and development banks, and other government agencies.
The results of the roundtable will be presented to concerned
Government agencies through the Department of Communications
for their implementation.
The
roundtable was aimed at reviewing the country study conducted
by a team of local consultants in the framework of the ePolicy
Resource Network (ePol-NET) as well as the ICTs, Trade and
Economic Growth Initiative, supported by the Government of
Canada through the Canadian ePolicy Resource Center (CePRC).
Opening
the roundtable, His Excellency Mr. Roy Padayachie, Deputy
Minister of Communications said that "the Government
of the Republic of South Africa has developed a number of
policies and legislations to promote ICTs for development.
However, the implementation of these policies and regulations
is found to be very slow, and effort is being made to accelerate
the implementation rate to reach the over national goal of
eradicating poverty and unemployment by 2014." He further
said that the Government is very much committed to developing
the necessary State machineries to effectively achieve this
goal through the provision of adequate and affordable ICT
access to all citizens and achieving the target of 7% contribution
to the GDP of the country, which currently at 5.2%".
The Deputy Minister has also stressed on the need for rollout
of full broadband connectivity as well as addressing the ICT
skill challenges through the reconfiguration of the education
system. Speaking about South Africa’s role in the African
development agenda, the Deputy Minister highlighted on the
critical and leading role that South Africa is playing in
spearheading Africa’s digital agenda and opening up
its markets for African businesses.
Mr.
Sizo Mhlanga, Regional Adviser, ICTs, Science and Technology
Division (ISTD) of the ECA, opening the roundtable on behalf
of Ms. Aida Opoku-Mensah, Director, ISTD, pointed out that
ECA was very much committed to assisting its member States
in promoting the use of ICTs for development in the framework
of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI). He further
noted that the roundtable marked a long standing partnership
with the Government of South Africa in its efforts in developing
the ICT sector for harnessing economic growth.
Mr.
Afework Temtime, Information Officer, ISTD, on his part explained
the genesis of the study, stating that "this initiative
was part of a series of national studies in six countries,
including Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and South
Africa, being undertaken by ECA and the Government of Canada
under the framework of the Global Electronic Policy Network
(ePol-NET)."
The
consultants made presentations on the key findings and recommendations
of the country study highlighting on assessments made regarding
the potentials and niches for South Africam, particularly
SMEs in using ICTs to enhance and facilitate domestic and
international trade. The study identified the existence of
various policies and regulations addressing ICT business as
well as trade facilitation in South Africa. Furthermore, the
study indicated that the ICT sector was contributing over
5% to GDP with a value of 45 billion Rands in 2006.
The
findings and recommendations of the study will be discussed
in more detail by stakeholders attending the roundtable.
For
more information contact: Afework
Temtime
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