SANDTON, South Africa-The African Connection project officially adopted at Telecom Africa ’98 has raised sufficient funds to proceed to the second stage of the process. The project was launched in May 1998 with the aim of mobilizing the continent to build a telecommunications infrastructure and information backbone.
That goal developed into four focused modules that constituted a viable basis of designing bankable projects and was presented to the Conference of Plenipotentiaries (Ministers of Communications) of the Pan African Telecommunications Union (PATU) in August 1998, in Lusaka, Zambia. The conference, represented by 44 African countries, adopted the African Connection as part of the PATU strategic plan for the next four years, the Lusaka Plan of Action.
A representative from South Africa was elected chair of the Ministerial Oversight Committee, which includes 10 African countries drawn from all sub-regions of the continent.
The key undertaking between October 1998 and March 1999 has been to mobilize multilateral institutions and donor funding for detailed feasibility studies. More than US$2.6 million has been raised for this purpose.
To proceed to phase two of the project, a dedicated secretariat of African experts must be appointed to oversee this next phase.
Phase two of the African Connection project will involve studies on how best to enhance rural connectivity, develop regional policy and regulatory frameworks, develop human resources, promote innovative private finance mechanisms, and identify business opportunities.
The outcome of the feasibility studies will be tested in an interactive process with the investment community. An investor roundtable is scheduled for sometime in 2000.
Despite the progress, the effort so far has not been all smooth sailing. As Connie Molusi, African Connection project coordinator, explained: “The starting point of this approach is the realization that … most of the sub-Saharan countries are classified as low-income countries. Therefore, approaches that have worked elsewhere in the world might not necessarily be appropriate or applicable to the [realities] in Africa. So we have to seek innovative solutions backed by solid empirical evidence of what will work best to the interest of developing countries on the continent.”
One important issue is to start redefining the perception of Africa in the eyes of the world as a region riddled with conflict, strife and famine and to determine what collaborative platform exists to drive cooperative projects in Africa.
