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Washington,
D.C.–March 23, 2001 – The Africa Technology Forum (www.africatechforum.com),
a global non-profit organization dedicated to growing
technology in Africa and encouraging African
entrepreneurship, has announced several new initiatives
that promise to help Africa bridge the digital divide.
The initiatives include:
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A
mass information / education campaign in Africa
touting the benefits of technology, using many of
the means utilized to transmit the AIDS message.
-
A
campaign to increase the number of technology
professionals through training programs delivered
over radio, through existing learning institutions,
with inexpensive books, and through other mass
means.
-
A
project to define what environment is needed for
technology to thrive in Africa and to communicate
this to policy-makers. This will focus on
infrastructure and laws, for example.
The
need for these pro-active initiatives in Africa is
illustrated by bleak statistics. It is estimated that
while Africa is home to more than 10 percent of the
world’s population, the continent accounts for less
than one percent of the world’s Internet users and
two-thirds of those are in South Africa. The U.N. says
that Africa’s 780 million people have as many Internet
hosts as the small country of Latvia, which has a
population of 2.5 million.
“By targeting the populations of Africa directly as
well as the continent’s governments, we believe Africa
will be able to take her rightful place on the world
technology stage,” said African-born Rebecca
Enonchong, CEO of AppsTech Inc., and founding member of
the Africa Technology Forum. “We recognize that
getting the governments of Africa involved will be one
of our greatest challenges, but we hope that by showing
results in technology-friendly nations first, the more
reticent governments will come around,” said
Enonchong.
The new initiatives were outlined at WorldSpace
Corporation in Washington, D.C. during the first
networking reception sponsored by the Africa Technology
Forum, which consists of high-level technology
executives and companies with interests in Africa. More
than 130 technology entrepreneurs and executives turned
out for the session in which Reggie Aggarwal, CEO of
Cvent, spoke about successfully building the Indian CEO
High Tech Council, a similar CXO networking group that
Aggarwal co-founded.
Since the Africa Technology Forum was established in
October 2000, it has attracted worldwide attention from
within the high technology community. Founding members
include Rebecca Enonchong, Founder & CEO of AppsTech
Inc.; Noah Samara, Chairman & CEO of WorldSpace
Corporation; Alberto Olympio, Co-Founder & Technical
Director of Galaxie Informatique International; Amadou
Mahtar Ba, President of allAfrica.com; Samuel Suraphel,
Founder & CEO of i3afri Global Inc.; and Leslie
Noukelak, COO of AfricaToday.com.
About the Africa Technology Forum
The Africa Technology Forum is a non-profit organization
dedicated to fostering high technology entrepreneurship
in the African community by providing a forum for
members to share ideas and intelligence on the high-tech
industry. Its mission is to create an environment in
Africa that will encourage the growth of the high-tech
industry throughout the continent. More information
about the Africa Technology Forum can be found at
www.africatechforum.com.
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