ECA, Africa and follow-up to WSIS
28 November 2005

Tunis, 28 November - The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held earlier this month in Tunis, ended with a strong call to speed up the pace of building a global information society.

The summit, which reaffirmed commitments made during the first WSIS meeting in Geneva two years ago, took decisions ensuring internet security and improving financial mechanisms to support ICT in developing countries.

It also examined ways of bridging the digital divide, improving internet governance and developing strategies for implementing the Geneva and Tunis decisions. In Geneva, participants had drawn up a road map aimed at building an inclusive information society.

ECA activities during the Tunis summit included two events jointly organized with the African Union Commission. These involved a meeting on the African Regional Action Plan on the Knowledge Economy (ARAPKE) and a partnership forum on implementing the WSIS outcomes in Africa. ECA also organized joint panels with other UN Regional Commissions, one of which was chaired by Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

The launch of the African Regional Action Plan in Tunis highlighted the continent’s involvement in ICT issues. It will have political leadership from the African Union and technical support from ECA. The Plan is drawn from ECA’s ICT4D [ICT for Development] work programme and the African Information Society Initiative (AISI), and incorporates the goals and priorities of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

“The Tunis summit demonstrated member states’ appreciation for ECA’s support in building an information society in Africa based on strong partnerships both inside and outside Africa,” commented ECA Executive Secretary Abdoulie Janneh. “As a result, African ministers themselves now constitute a strong advocacy group to champion ICT issues in their respective countries as well as collectively on the continent”.

The integration of the Regional Action Plan into the AISI will form the basis for ECA’s implementation strategy of WSIS recommendations, especially in assisting Africa achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This includes ensuring that the National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) plans are mainstreamed into national development priorities.

“The objective is also to work at the sub-regional level, with Regional Economic Communities such as ECOWAS, SADC, EAC and COMESA, to assist them develop sub-regional strategies based on the NICI of member states so as to strengthen regional integration goals”, Janneh added.

In this regard closer links will be established with the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank, he noted.

Activities will include promoting public policies for providing affordable ICT access at all levels, as well as capacity building - particularly in remote communities.

National e-strategies will also be geared to facilitating service delivery to improve government efficiency. And sectors such as health, education, agriculture, trade and the environment will be given priority in ECA’s technical assistance programme.