<h4>AfDB loans $50 mln for Africa satellite link</h4>
<div>Mon 6 Aug 2007, 12:41 GMT</div>
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<p> TUNIS (Reuters) - The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved
a $50 million loan towards the construction of a satellite to boost
communications in Africa's rural areas, the bank said.</p>
<p> The venture will provide several telecoms services including
international telephone calls and internet connections and permit
radio, television, and multimedia broadcast reception in each country,
AfDB's chief investment officer Hassan Farah said.</p>
<p> Eighty-five percent of Africans live in rural areas, the bank said.
Africa accounts for only 3.4 percent of global internet users and 3.2
percent of the world's computers.</p>
<p> The venture, involving 45 countries grouped in an organisation
called the Regional African Satelite Communications Organisation
Members (RASCOM), will extend telephone cover in rural areas and
provide cheaper pan-African interconnectivity for African telecom
operators, compared to charges levied by existing service providers.</p>
<p> "Farmers will have better access to market information, weather forecasts as well as new technologies," the bank said.</p>
<p> The bank had no word on when the project would be completed. French
electronics group Thales said in June the satellite was due for launch
in the last quarter of 2007 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French
Guyana.</p>
</div>
<p>© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved. <span> </span> | <a href="http://about.reuters.com/home/?WTmodLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage1-2" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">Learn more about Reuters
</a> </p>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><h2 align="center"><font size="4">Connect Africa Summit to be held in Kigali,
Rwanda, 29-30 October 2007</font> <br>
<font size="3">Marshall Plan for ICT to meet 2015 development goals</font></h2>
<b><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">
</font></b><p><b><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">Geneva, 11 July 2007 — </font></b><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">The <i>
Connect Africa </i>Summit will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, 29-30 October 2007.
This was announced by ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré at a Press
Conference in Geneva, held jointly with the UN Global Alliance for ICT and
Development (GAID). </font></p>
<p><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">While investment in ICT infrastructure in Africa has improved dramatically in
recent years, representing a total of USD 8 billion in 2005 (up from USD 3.5
billion in 2000), and growth in mobile phones has increased by as much as 400
per cent, Africa has fallen back in overall connectivity. While mobile has
surpassed fixed line telephone access, fewer than 4 out of every 100 Africans
have Internet access; broadband penetration remains below 1 per cent; and 70 per
cent of all Internet traffic within Africa is re-routed outside the continent,
driving up costs for businesses and consumers.</font></p>
<p><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">"We need a Marshall Plan for ICT infrastructure development in Africa," said
Dr Touré. "We have to mobilize the world's human, financial and technical
resources to support economic growth, employment and development across Africa."
He added that support was pouring in from partners in this endeavour, including
from leading ICT companies in Silicon Valley and elsewhere — who have been given
the challenge of replicating their successes in Africa — as well as from
governments, international organizations and development banks. He pointed out
that the Chairman of Intel Corporation Mr Craig Barrett is spearheading the
efforts through his leadership of UN GAID. </font></p>
<p><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">With less than 8 years left to meet the 2015 targets of the UN Millennium
Development Goals (MDG), drastic steps are required. Dr Touré pointed out that
meeting ICT connectivity targets would act as a catalyst in achieving the
broader development goals. "ICT is a means of creating wealth and sustainable
economic growth," he said.</font></p>
<font face="Trebuchet MS" size="3"><b>
</b></font><h4><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="3"><b><font size="3">UN Secretary-General to support <i>Connect Africa</i> initiative</font></b></font></h4>
<font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">
</font><p><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">Earlier, speaking at a function at the International Telecommunication Union,
UN Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-moon expressed his full support to the <i>Connect
Africa</i> initiative and said that it represented an important step in
overcoming the digital divide. "This is an important vision," he said. "We need
to make our best efforts, as part of our MDG programme, to bridge this gap." He
also said that ITU should broaden its vision and commitment to meeting long-term
global concerns, such as climate change.</font></p>
<p><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">The <i>Connect Africa </i>Summit will be held under the patronage of the
President of Rwanda, Mr Paul Kagame, and Chairman of the African Union,
President John Kufour of Ghana. It will be organized by the International
Telecommunication Union, the African Union, the World Bank Group and UN GAID, in partnership with the
African Development Bank, the African Telecommunication Union and the UN
Economic Commission for Africa. This collaborative effort will engage some 500
high-level stakeholders active in the region, including China, India, the
European Commission and G8, OECD and Arab countries, major ICT companies, the
United Nations Development Programme and other international organizations.</font></p>
<p><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">"This will not be just another Summit," said Dr Touré. "It will be a Summit
of commitment between partners, not a meeting to negotiate new resolutions." The
private sector, governments and international organizations will be called on to
work together, and there will be a commitment to creating an environment that
promotes the improvement of ICT. "ICT is a business, and the only way to ensure
sustainability and large-scale effects is to provide an environment that lets
business deliver ICT," added Dr Touré. "For too long we have had negative
information coming from Africa; we have to bring positive news."</font></p>
<p><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">Speaking on behalf of GAID, Mr Walter Fust, Director General of the Swiss
Agency for Development and Cooperation, said, "ICT is extremely important for
managing knowledge for development, and for bringing local knowledge into
development." He stressed the importance of the <i>Connect Africa</i> initiative
and said that emphasis should be laid on a few targeted areas, such as using ICT
to empower people with disabilities and to "reverse the pyramid of learning" by
ensuring that all schools are connected to the Internet. He added that the goal
is to establish 500'000 telecentres worldwide by 2015.</font></p>
<font face="Trebuchet MS" size="3"><b>
</b></font><h4><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="3"><b><font size="3">Online Media Accreditation for the <i>Connect Africa</i> Summit is now open</font></b></font></h4>
<font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">
</font><p><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">For Press accreditation, see </font><b><font size="2">
<a href="http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/connect/africa/2007/media/accreditation/index.html" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">here</a></font></b>.
</p>
<p><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">Information and media briefing notes are available at the designated newsroom
for the Connect Africa Summit, click
<a href="http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/connect/africa/2007/media/index.html" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">here</a>.</font></p>
<font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><b>
</b></font><p><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><b>For further information, see <a href="http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/connect/africa/2007/index.html" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
here</a> or please contact</b></font></p>
<p><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><b>Sanjay Acharya<br>
</b>Chief, Media Relations and Public Information<br>
ITU<br>
Tel: +41 22 730 6135<br>
Mobile: +41 79 249 4861<br>
<a href="http://www.itu.int/home/feedback/index.phtml?mail=pressinfo" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">E-mail</a></font></p>
<font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><b>
</b></font><p><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><b>Enrica Murmura<br>
</b>Secretariat of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development<br>
New York<br>
Tel: +1 212 963-5913<br>
</font></p><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">E-mail <a href="mailto:murmura@un.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">murmura@un.org</a> </font>
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