Opening an East African broadband workshop at Serena Hotel in Kigali this week, President Paul Kagame noted that there is great need to adopt a harmonized East African ICT policy that would create free extension of inter-regional ICT connections. Kagame's appeal comes days after the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat announced a date on which to formally admit Rwanda to full membership status in the EAC regional bloc, where only Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are the only members of the EAC.Kagame told ICT minister from the region that for East Africa to benefit from ICTs, true regionalism has to take root. "We must maximize the benefits of holding this meeting here today, and come up with a coherent regional interconnectivity framework which will enable us to draw-in consistent investment on a much larger scale than we would achieve as individual countries," Kagame said.
"In that context, we have to think of the supply side-constraints, especially regional infrastructures, such as roads, rail, air, sea, and endeavor to modernise them alongside ICTs. Only then can we meaningfully engage in the regional and global markets," he added.
If the regional countries are not able to reach consensus on such fundamental investments that would make outstanding transformations, Kagame observed that, there is no doubt that the East African region as well as the entire African continent would remain poverty-stricken in a vibrant global economy.
The workshop was partly organized by the United States government, through its Digital Freedom Initiative (DFI), together with Rwandan government. The two parties opened a forum with the ministers of communication from the East African regional countries to discuss ICT policies that will encourage the expansion of broadband connectivity in the region.
The DFI was launched in 2003 at the White House, where the governments of Senegal and the United States agreed to pilot it. Since 2003 the DFI has grown to encompass programs in many countries using ICTs to help spur economic growth and policy reform.
The presence of high level ministerial delegations in Kigali, according to the Rwandan President is testimony to the fact that the East African region attaches great importance to ICTs.
"I trust that the post-San Francisco period (the last ICT meeting) has accorded all our countries time to develop stronger strategies of the development of ICT sector, as well as the type and scale of investment required to render this sector more effective," he said.
However, Kagame said that it is imperative for member countries that include Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Kenya and Tanzania to modernise agriculture along the ICT industry. According to the US Coordinator for international communication and information policy, Ambassador David Gross, the region has experienced tremendous growth in ICT over the past ten years.
Gross said the transformation has translated into higher rates of economic growth and foreign investments. But, as regional countries work to create open and competitive ICT markets and to facilitate continued growth, the Ambassador said, many key issues remain for policy makers to address in order to expand connectivity including: interconnection, and cross- border pricing as well as ensuring competitive and non-discriminatory access.
"In that context, we have to think of the supply side-constraints, especially regional infrastructures, such as roads, rail, air, sea, and endeavor to modernise them alongside ICTs. Only then can we meaningfully engage in the regional and global markets," he added.
If the regional countries are not able to reach consensus on such fundamental investments that would make outstanding transformations, Kagame observed that, there is no doubt that the East African region as well as the entire African continent would remain poverty-stricken in a vibrant global economy.
The workshop was partly organized by the United States government, through its Digital Freedom Initiative (DFI), together with Rwandan government. The two parties opened a forum with the ministers of communication from the East African regional countries to discuss ICT policies that will encourage the expansion of broadband connectivity in the region.
The DFI was launched in 2003 at the White House, where the governments of Senegal and the United States agreed to pilot it. Since 2003 the DFI has grown to encompass programs in many countries using ICTs to help spur economic growth and policy reform.
The presence of high level ministerial delegations in Kigali, according to the Rwandan President is testimony to the fact that the East African region attaches great importance to ICTs.
"I trust that the post-San Francisco period (the last ICT meeting) has accorded all our countries time to develop stronger strategies of the development of ICT sector, as well as the type and scale of investment required to render this sector more effective," he said.
However, Kagame said that it is imperative for member countries that include Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Kenya and Tanzania to modernise agriculture along the ICT industry. According to the US Coordinator for international communication and information policy, Ambassador David Gross, the region has experienced tremendous growth in ICT over the past ten years.
Gross said the transformation has translated into higher rates of economic growth and foreign investments. But, as regional countries work to create open and competitive ICT markets and to facilitate continued growth, the Ambassador said, many key issues remain for policy makers to address in order to expand connectivity including: interconnection, and cross- border pricing as well as ensuring competitive and non-discriminatory access.
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