Mozambican Transport and Communications Minister Tomas Salomao has warned that further investment in computerisation is "crucial" for the future of Africa.
Addressing on Wednesday evening the closing session of a Johannesburg conference on "Attracting Investment for the Development of Information and Communication Technologies in Africa", Salomao stressed that there is a pressing need for the private sector to lead the process.
Salomao criticised the failure of most African governments to take such meetings seriously. Only three ministers attended the conference, from Mozambique, South Africa and Lesotho. the delegations from countries in east and west Africa were led by company directors and other business people. Salomao said that the more ministers attend the meetings, the more "our countries will exchange ideas and share experiences".
He urged Africa to act as a block, because only thus will the continent be able to solve its problems.
He stressed that "only we Africans will solve our problems", - and this requires closer interaction between governments, the private sector, legislators, the bodies that regulate information and communications technologies and society at large.
In her speech, South African Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri said that this is the moment for the African Continent to open up opportunities to the private sector to play an active role in creating the necessary infrastructures.
She said that this sector should take the lead, but gave the unfortunate example of the South African mobile phone company, Vodacom. Speaking as if she represented this company rather than the government, she praised Vodacom for expanding its operations to other African countries, particularly within the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
But she did not mention the ignominious withdrawal of Vodacom from the Nigerian market five weeks ago, amidst allegations of corruption that cost Vodacom Deputy CEO Andrew Mthembu his job.
Fonte: AIM
