By
Brenda Zulu, 14 March 2006
State Minister
of Trade and Industry of Ethiopia Ahmed Tussa officially
opened the Forum on Information Communication Technologies
(ICTs) and Economic Growth organised by the Economic
Commission for Africa (ECA) today with a view of conducting
old business in new ways and embracing of new business
opportunities that come with globalisation.
Speaking at the United Nations Conference Center,
Headquarters of the ECA, Tussa observed that the advert
of new ICTs has redefined the ways various activities
are carried out at national, regional and global levels.
“One of these activities is trade. The digital
economy is radically changing international trade,
affecting business practices and introducing new business
intermediaries, leading to an emerging e trade environment,
said Tussa.
He also pointed out that according to the Organisation
for Economic Corporation and Development (OECD), the
effective use of ICTs by enterprises could result
greater growth, a precondition for poverty reduction.
He added that Trade in goods and services was expanding
as a result of new technologies. In addition, ICTs
were enabling trade in other sectors by enhancing
market access and broadening the customer base, facilitating
customer, transport and logistics. He noted that ICTs
were playing an economic role by changing production
processes within firms.
He however noted that all these opportunities would
be accessed only if countries are ready to restructure
their economies, as this requires putting in place
trade and economic growth policies that deal with
the structural transformations associated with such
changes.
He outlined categories of export opportunities that
have emerged for African countries to include services
opportunities through the use of ICTs, software development
and hardware exports and E commerce activities.
“We are already witnessing African film making
use o f such opportunities and participating in the
global knowledge economy. Establishing a favourable
e trade environment will greatly facilitate activities
by enhancing trade efficiency and facilitating the
integration of African countries into the global economy,”
said Tussa.
In a goodwill message by ECA Executive Secretary Abodulie
Janneh, delivered by Aida Opoku Mensah, Development
Information Services Division (DISD), it was clear
that the harnessing of ICTs for development was a
critical element of the new thinking and development
action that is needed in to tackle the major challenges
faced by African countries and thus that it should
be considered a priority.
It was pointed out that many African stakeholders
have demonstrated the need to accelerate the pace
of building the African Information Society, by adopting
the African Regional Action Plan on the Knowledge
economy, which ECA and the AU jointly launched in
Tunis during the World Summit on Information Society
(WSIS).
“ICTs when applied to health, education and
other government services, are well known, however
what is less understood is the significant potential
to spur new opportunities for trade and economic growth
in developing countries and economies in transition.”
Aware of ICTs that are facilitating trade and commerce
activities in Africa an example of TradeNet initiative
was shared as it allows electronic transmission of
documents between customers freight forwarders, shipping
agents etc In the case of Mauritius this is reducing
the average time for clearing of goods from four hours
to 15 minutes.
The Forum and ICTs, Trade and Economic Growth will
run from 14 to 16 March 2006.
