Background Press Release

 ‘CONNECT AFRICA’ INITIATIVE TO BE FOCUS OF BRIEFINGS

 

AT UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, 19-20 SEPTEMBER

 

Craig Barret, Chairman of the Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Development, Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, Walter Fust, Director-General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and Mohsen Khalil, Director of Global ICT at the World Bank Group, will brief delegates and the media this week on a new initiative to bring ICT (information and communication technology) connectivity to Africa.

The Connect Africa Initiativewill bring together Governments, the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to carry out projects aimed at developing the continent’s ICT infrastructure.  Programmes and investments to support the Initiative will be the focus of a summit in Kigali, under the patronage of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, on 29 and 30 October.

A press conference at 11:15 a.m. on Wednesday, 19 September, in Room S-226 will feature Mr. Barrett, who is also Chairman of the Board of Intel Corporation, Mr. Touré, Mr. Fust and Mr. Khalil.

On Thursday, 20 September, at 11 a.m., a high-level briefing in Conference Room 8 will present the Initiative to delegates and NGO leaders.  The briefing, featuring Mr. Touré, will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

At the Global Alliance Steering Committee meeting in Silicon Valley last February, participants agreed to launch a major initiative to accelerate broadband and wireless connectivity in Africa, with the goal of providing high-speed, low-cost connectivity to all regions of the continent in the next few years.  The Connect Africa Initiative will function as a partnership to mobilize the human, financial and technical resources required to bridge major gaps in ICT infrastructure, with the aim of supporting affordable connectivity, applications and services.

Connect Africa will promote the private-sector investment required for sustainable network build-up.  It is designed to build on current public and private ICT projects by targeting gaps, mobilizing resources and enhancing coordination in support of national and regional activities.

The Initiative isorganized by the African Union, the Global Alliance for ICT and Development, the International Telecommunication Union and the World Bank Group, in partnership with the African Development Bank, the African Telecommunication Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

For information, please visit www.itu.int/ITU-D/connect/africa/2007 or contact:  at the Global Alliance, Enrica Murmura, tel.:  212 963 5913, e-mail:  murmura@un.org; at the World Bank Group, Henny Rahardja, tel.:  202 473 4857, e-mail:  HRahardja@worldbank.org; and at the International Telecommunication Union, Sanjay Acharya, tel.:  +41 22 730 6135, mobile:  +41 79 249 4861, e-mail:  sanjay.acharya@itu.int.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record