cc: <[email protected]>
>To: "All lists" <[email protected]>
>From: "CTO Media Relations" <[email protected]>
>Subject: CTO OFFERS GREATER REGULATORY SUPPORT TO AFRICAN NATIONS
>Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 18:57:11 +0100
>
>CTO OFFERS GREATER REGULATORY SUPPORT TO AFRICAN NATIONS
>
>The CTO has called on all African nations to consider collaborating with
>the Organisation in order to increase their capacity for regulating the
>ICT sector, a major component in the continent's strategy for sustainable
>development. The CTO's message, which was delivered during the ICT session
>of the Fourth African Development Forum held last week in Addis Ababa,
>Ethiopia, was reflected in the Consensus adopted on Friday.
>
>Organised under the theme "Governance for a Progressing Africa", the ADF
>IV was attended by public, private and non-for-profit African
>organisations as well as members of the international community with an
>interest in the region's political, economic and social development.
>Speaking during the session on the role of ICTs and e-Governance, Marcel
>Belingue, Manager of Communication at the CTO invited delegates to
>consider the CTO as a partner in their plans to use ICT in their
>development strategies. As an intergovernmental organisation which has
>reviewed its mandate to reach non-Commonwealth countries, we are in a
>position to facilitate capacity building beyond our member countries in
>the region. Regulatory capacity, especially in areas of human resources,
>is an important aspect in the development and use of ICTs and the CTO is
>ready to provide this assistance to countries and partners in the region."
>
>The CTO suggested to countries and institutions present to consider
>particularly the important dimensions of the organisational and functional
>capacity of regulatory bodies. In the CTO's message, regulatory agencies
>could contribute more to national development if they improve their
>ability to coordinate, consult, promote and leverage the contribution of
>ICTs to socio-economic improvement across all sectors, in addition to
>their usual pre-occupation with issues such as licensing, frequency
>management and monitoring. According to Mr Belingue, the developmental
>role of regulatory agencies is essential, as most regulatory agencies in
>the continent are dominated by professionals from the former monopoly
>operators, the PTTs, which themselves were established with developmental
>objectives. He noted that the rapid introduction of alternative and new
>services such as mobile telephony, terrestrial satellite transmissions,
>the Internet and other valued services, such as SMS, require new
>technical, legal and financial skills on the part of regulators. These new
>skills, combined with the right policies and true regulatory independence,
>could facilitate regional cooperation, improve investor confidence and
>attract the capital flows required to expand access to ICTs in Africa.
>
>The Consensus adopted by the Forum recognised that "Weak institutions...
>insufficient human resources... poor technical skills [and] lack of
>independence of governance institutions weaken their ability to function
>effectively and to establish accountability mechanisms." The text adopted
>called more specifically on African governments to leverage ICTs through
>the development of "appropriate policy frameworks, supported by
>legislation for e-Governance, that are linked to development objectives".
>Over the last four years, the CTO has acquired considerable resources in
>the area of regulatory capacity building in the Africa region, as part of
>the delivery of around 70 workshops and 16 studies through its Programme
>for Development and Training (PDT) and the partner-funded programme
>Building Digital Opportunities (BDO), delivered in the region between 2001
>and 2004.
>
>***
>
>For more information, please visit www.cto.int or contact Dervish Mertcan
><[email protected]> or telephone: +44 20 7930 4054
>
>About the CTO - The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) is
>an international development partnership between Commonwealth and
>non-Commonwealth governments, businesses and civil society organisations
>focused on information and communication technologies (ICT) and
>development. The CTO supports the international community's efforts to
>bridge the digital divide and promote social and economic development, by
>delivering to developing countries unique knowledge-sharing programmes in
>the use of ICTs in the specific areas of telecommunications, IT,
>broadcasting and the Internet. Recently, the CTO has significantly
>reviewed its mandate to reflect and respond more fully to today's global
>development challenge as set in the United Nations Millennium Development
>Goals (MDGs). Today, our mission is to offer the highest quality
>programmes for capacity development, knowledge-sharing and information
>services, expand and diversify partnerships between governments,
>businesses and other organisations to reduce global poverty and fulfil the
>global development agenda for ICT in the key sectors of food and
>agriculture, education, health, e-government and e-commerce. The CTO also
>facilitates the successful development of telecommunications and other
>businesses to support social and economic development objectives of
>governments and civil society.
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