African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Dr Elham Ibrahim told journalists in Naivasha that the switch will allow African countries to reduce the current high poverty levels.
“One of the targets of the AU is for the continent to make the transition to a knowledge based society, so that all citizens have access to equal education and employment opportunities,” Ibrahim said during a workshop on Knowledge Society Development in Africa as part of the African Leadership in ICT Course (ALICT).
The three year training program was jointly funded by the Finish government to the tune of three million Euros and will be implemented by the Global e-School and Community Initiative (GESCI).
During the event, over 200 senior middle and senior level public sectors managers from 12 African countries in eastern and southern African were awarded post graduate diplomas.
She said that the ALICT is AUC initiatives that will help the continent take its rightful place in the global community of nations.
“Due to the success of the program, we are going to partner with other donors in order to roll it out to west, central and north Africa,” she noted.
“This will provide all African policy makers with the necessary skills to develop national policies required enter into the knowledge age,” she said.
According to the AUC, Information Communication and Technology (ICT) is now the dominant force for innovation and development. “Broadband has the power to revolutionize education, no matter where the student is based,” she said.
Ibrahim said that ICT has already enabled Africa to make socio economic leaps but it is still in the early stages of harnessing its full potential. She noted that the AU also has a continental wide strategy for natural resources management.
“We are concerned that most of Africa’s minerals and hydrocarbons are exported to other continents in raw form to the detriment of Africa,” the AUC commissioner said.
She called on African countries to expand value addition operations locally.
AUC ICT Expert Moses Bayingana said that the introduction and intelligent use of ICT is a precondition for developing a knowledge society.
“In a more populous world, ICT will be vital in helping to deliver essential services such as education, health, and good government.”
Bayingana noted that ICT also plays a crucial role in ensuring farmers have access to information so as to assist them to improve yields.
GESCI Chief Executive Officer Jerome Morrissey said that the huge income disparities present in the continent are partly due to the huge pool of unskilled labor.
“However, a knowledge based society allows countries to expand technical and vocational training institutes that will empower those don’t go to universities,” he said.
He noted that ICT is one of key drivers that will enable equal access to education for both men and women. Morrissey said that Africa is the next continent that will achieve economic transformation.
“It has therefore emerged as a target of Foreign Direct Investment. The region will therefore need to set up the right policies that will allow the investors to have confidence in setting up operations in Africa,” Morrissey said.
Dublin City University, which is offering the course, said that a majority of Africans who complete secondary education will not get a formal job.
The university’s President Professor Brian MacCraith said that entrepreneurial skills are therefore an important part of education.
Finland Ambassador to Kenya Sofie From-Emmesberger said that her country is a forerunner in the development of a knowledge based society.
She added that three generations ago, Finland was an agricultural based society but was transformed through science and technology innovations.
“The ALICT will therefore assist African countries to implement national policies that will achieve positive social and economic development,” she added.
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Quelle/Source: Coastweek, 12.07.2013
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