[APCPress] Press release: Connect Africa Summit -- Civil society calls for new governance to make internet accessible to Africans

[Frédéric Dubois]

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE DISSEMINATION

Civil society calls for new governance to make internet accessible to 
Africans

KIGALI, Rwanda, 29 October 2007 – Convened by the Association for 
Progressive Communications (APC) on the 28th of October 2007, civil 
society groups have called for new forms of corporate governance to 
develop the ICT infrastructure in Africa. These new forms should “ensure 
the interests of all stakeholders, but above all, the interest of 
African consumers and citizens,” the statement insists.

The Kigali statement by African civil society delegates, academicians, 
researchers, consumer interest groups, and internet service providers is 
made in light of the Connect Africa Summit taking place in that same 
city on the 29th and 30th of October 2007.

Gathered to discuss the issue of connectivity to international, regional 
and national information and communication technology (ICT) networks in 
Africa, the participants recognised that private investment and public 
private partnerships play a key role in the deployment of infrastructure 
in Africa.

The African civil society welcomes the continued investment but asserts 
that it needs to be further encouraged through the implementation of a 
stable policy environment that protects the public interest.

The statement recommends twelve improvements to stimulate the 
development of internet and ICT infrastructure. Among them, it calls for 
governments to support the harmonisation of policy and regulation to 
develop and implement cross border connectivity. This means giving equal 
priority to the deployment of national backhaul networks and 
international access networks.

The Kigali participants mention the importance of the Universal Access 
principle and specify that “such access can only be sustainable if it is 
not only supply driven, but more demand driven and responsive to the 
expressed needs of target communities.” Civil society therefore upholds 
that governments need to ensure the participation of all relevant groups 
from civil society, communities and the private sector in defining and 
implementing ICT infrastructure.

The statement encourages governments to commit to supporting the 
development of national data, citizen-centred services and applications 
by themselves becoming key providers of content and implementing 
initiatives that attract organisations engaged in content and 
application development that improve access to education and healthcare.

The joint statement was issued on behalf of the Association for 
Progressive Communications (APC), the Open Society Institute for West 
Africa (OSIWA), Collaboration for ICT Policy in Eastern and Southern 
Africa (CIPESA), the Kenyan ICT Action Network (KICTANet), the African 
Internet Service Providers Associations (AfrISPA), and the Rwanda 
Research and Education Network (RERN).

The Association for Progressive Communications is an international 
network of civil society organisations dedicated to empowering and 
supporting groups and individuals through the strategic use of 
information and communication technologies, especially 
internet-technologies founded in 1990.
http://www.apc.org

Read the full Statement from participants in the “Civil Society Workshop 
on Open Access to ICT infrastructure in Africa”: 
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5262405

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For more information and media inquiries, please contact:
Anriette Esterhuysen, APC executive director, anriette at apc.org
Tel: +27 834 563 224