By IANS
Johannesburg : African governments must end their isolation and collaborate to develop the Information Communication Technology (ICT) as key factor in sustained growth, a gathering of telecommunication leaders of the continent has been told.
Speaking at the annual African ICT Achievers Awards, Mauritius Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Etienne Sinatambou said Saturday one of the key challenges facing Africa was the lack of collaboration among governments in the field, South African news agency BuaNews reported Sunday.
He said that seven years ago 16 African countries did not even have an ICT policy.
He stressed that countries, both within and outside of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), needed to learn from one another. “Collaboration, partnership and learning from each other are vital for Africa’s development.”
The minister pointed out that ICTs created competitiveness and that this could be used as a tool to create jobs and therefore reduce poverty.
With regard to access to ICT, the highest performing African economies are Mauritius and Seychelles.
The minister emphasised that the ICT sector must be liberalised and pointed out that Africa was the continent with the highest number of telecommunication monopolies.