SA is playing host to the Ministerial Oversight Committee (MOC) of the African Telecommunications Union (ATU), as it deliberates issues relating to development of information and communications technology (ICT) on the African continent.
The formal meeting, which takes place today, will focus on a number of important issues and is attended by the ICT ministers from Egypt, Cameroon, Uganda, Swaziland, Malawi, Lesotho, Ghana, Mozambique, Mauritius, Nigeria, Namibia, Gambia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Burundi and Tanzania.
According to Jan Mutai, chairman of the ATU, there are four crucial areas that the MOC will look at. These include positioning African ICT within the global telecoms community, regional integration within the continent, infrastructure development, and growing and developing the human element within the African ICT sector.
"We want to see Africa position itself alongside the rest of the world and take its rightful place in the global ICT sector, rather than being seen as the poor cousin," says Mutai.
"We also need to discuss regional integration, as there is far too much fragmentation in terms of this sector within Africa. As for infrastructure, the discussions will focus on the possibility of laying an east coast submarine cable - much like the one on Africa`s west coast, to boost integration."
He says that up until now, Africa has been practically voiceless in terms of the ICT sector, but this will change.
"We want to develop a common vision for Africa, to coordinate and harmonise our ICT sectors, so that we can then share this with the rest of the world and take our place in the global ICT community."
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