Africa: Rural connectivity project for Africa

Highway Africa News Agency

The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO)is to embark on a project for African rural inclusion known as 'Commonwealth African Rural Connectivity Initiative' (COMARCI).

The chief executive of the CTO, Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah said the project has been structured to promote faster telephone and internet connectivity for rural communities in the 18 Commonwealth African countries.

Spio-Garbrah said, COMARCI that was launched as a sideline event at the recent Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala, would cost about £1.2 million (about N295,966,12 million) with a £50,000 seed funding from the government of Malta through the Commonwealth Connects programme.

This, Spio-Gabrah stressed involves collaboration with the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

'There is no longer debate about the role information and communication technology (ICT) plays in the development process, and especially how mobile phones and the Internet are helping to transform Africa's economies,' he said.

Dr. Spio-Garbrah added that if Africa is to achieve the majority of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), 'it must address quickly and creatively the special challenges by poor, illiterate, marginalized, disadvantaged rural populations.'

According to him, the COMARCI project would eliminate the digital marginalisation of rural societies.

'It will enhance education, employment and empowerment in Commonwealth Africa. It will enable the people in Africa to become stronger participants in development by providing access to improved literacy, innovation, entrepreneurship and e-commerce, as well as e-governance,' he pointed out.

COMARCI, experts at CTO said would involve research, consultations and workshops to mobilise investment, funding and technology partnerships to assemble a body of knowledge to develop a connectivity roadmap for Commonwealth Africa, which would benefit the ICT sector, the business community and citizens.

Underscoring the importance, Uganda's ICT Minister, Dr. Ham-Mukasa Mulira noted that in national development and global integration, the true wealth of nations lies in people's ability to create, to communicate and to innovate.

'As such, ICTs have been key enablers of globalization, facilitating worldwide flows of information, capital, ideas, people and products. It is sad to note that about one-half of the world's population have not realised the benefits enabled by ICTs,' Mulira said.

The minister also emphasised that every government has a role to play in order to transform the digital divide into digital opportunity for national development and enhancement of regional and international integration such as the Commonwealth family of nations.