The session was organized by the African Development Bank (ADB), Microsoft and the NEPAD e-Africa Commission and focused on topics aimed at setting the tone for the main International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training, to kick-start on 25 May at the UN Conference Centre under the theme “empowering Africa through e-learning”.

Ms. Opoku-Mensah, told participants that although donors and development partners can lend a hand, “governments should own the process, stick to their commitments and visions, and commit resources for implementation so as to ensure sustainability and achieve better results.”

Participants agreed on the need for coordination of e-Learning activities through sound policies and strategies at national, regional and institutional levels.

At another session on “Partnerships for e-readiness” participants expounded on lessons learnt in building effective partnerships in e-learning initiatives.

One such example is Namibia’s unique experience in which the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) movement operates, co-exists and collaborates on education and e-learning policies with Microsoft with minimum conflict.

“We’ve learnt lessons in managing competing interests, said Shafika Isaaks of Schoolnet Africa, adding, “transparency, mutual trust and reciprocity are essential to our partnership, which extends to other organizations that we work in collaboration with.”

Echoing the importance of transparency, Ms. Opoku-Mensah noted that this has been the underpinning thread of the relationship ECA has with its partners in the area of Research and Development.

“With the Addis Ababa University’s Department of Computer Science and Mathematics, we are working on prototype applications using local languages and open source software to address its peculiar and pertinent needs.” The tri-partite (government, academia and UN) relationship has been instrumental in our initiatives.

“Managing competing interests is complex, especially when intellectual property comes into play”, she said, adding that this is where accountability and mutual trust are essential.

“What’s in it for me?” was the crucial question that participants agreed must be put on the table in order to clarify the expectations of those in any e-learning partnership.

Ms. Alice Hammer, ADB, stressed the need for governments to address e-learning within existing policies and added that ADB's policy is to support investments based on the needs and development priorities articulated by the countries.