KAMPALA
 An initiative worth £1.2million (about Shs4 billion) that will see all rural communities in African countries with access to Internet and telephone services, has been launched by the Commonwealth Union.
The initiative is meant to promote faster telephone and Internet connectivity for Africa according to Dr Ekwo Spio-Garbrah the chief executive officer of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), the organisation spearheading the initiative.
He said the initiative known as the Commonwealth Africa Rural
Connectivity Initiative (COMARCI) is designed to identify and assist in
connecting rural communities in the 18 commonwealth African countries.
Dr Garbrah was speaking at press briefing at the Commonwealth Media Centre in Kampala last week.
"It will minimise digital marginalisation and use ICTs to propel Commonwealth countries into the new age."
Dr Garbrah said the government of Malta had already pledged £50,000 for the project, which he said, had already kicked off.
"We are mobilising other partners but the plan is already in motion and
those who would like to join us can do so," he said. He said the rural
people have been deprived of such services for long leaving them
underpowered technologically and with not enough knowledge.
"It is no longer a debate whether ICTs play a role in the development
process, and especially how mobile phones and Internet are helping to
transform Africa's economies," he added. He said if Africa is to
attain the Millennium Development Goals, it must address "quickly and
creatively" the special challenges posed by the poor, illiterate,
marginalised, disadvantaged rural populations.
"COMARSI aims to take into account the technology transfer
opportunities and will look to assemble a body of knowledge that could
constitute a connectivity roadmap for Africa," he said.
The project will be one of the many projects under the Commonwealth
Connects programme, which aims at bridging the digital divide in the
Commonwealth countries.
The initial phase of the project will take place in the first six
months and the next twelve months will be used to identify pilot
projects that can be scaled up and spread across Africa.
Uganda’s milestones
Uganda’s ICT Minister Ham Muliira said under the Rural Development Fund
that is financed by revenue from telecommunication companies, the
government was making ICTs available to the rural areas.
"We have pay phones at village trading centres, tele-centres and also provided computers to schools," Dr Muliira said.
He said that this financial year, the government would give another 80
primary schools computers for use in schools, adding that mobile
telephone ownership now stands at 4.3 million up from the previous 2
million.
However, he said this is only 20 per cent of Uganda's population and with the majority of concentrated in the urban areas.
Uganda will host the e-government meeting next year.
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