10th Annual African Telecommunications Conference Opens in U.S.

FCC's Powell cites ways to attract investment

Washington -- The 10th annual African Telecommunications and Information Technology Conference (AFCOM) opened July 18 with its founder, Professor Raymond Akwule, declaring that the "disparity in access to information technology" known as "the digital divide" must end if Africa hopes to prosper in the new global market.

Akwule, an instructor at George Mason University and head of the Virginia school's Center for Media Research and Telecommunications, began the three-day meeting in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, by expanding on the theme "Bridging the Digital Divide." He told his audience, which included 17 African information ministers as well as U.S. government officials and representatives of the communications industry, that the digital divide could have "severe consequences" for Africa because "telecommunications [telephones], computers [Internet, e-mail], broadcasting [television and radio], and [industrial] robotics," which Africa lacks, have become one of "the driving forces in the economic and social transformation" of many nations.

The result, said Akwule, is that "communities with the tools and skills to compete in the digital economy are at a distinct advantage over communities that don't [have these tools and skills]."

The challenge facing Africa, he said, is to attract the type of investment that can help build a telecommunications infrastructure that expands information resources and thus the economic base of nations on the continent. The question, he said, is basically, "How does Africa approach the 21st century without being further marginalized in the global economy?"

To counter that drift, Akwule recommended "investing in people and increasing our competitiveness and diversification of economies within Africa and reducing aid dependence and strengthening partnerships" with the private sector and outside investors.

Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, gave the keynote address at the AFCOM conference, saying, "I consider the challenge of underserved populations both here and abroad very important."

Powell, who was first named to the FCC by President Clinton in 1997 and then made its chairman last January by President Bush, pointed out that Africa faces many challenges in expanding its telecommunications sector. However, the "good news," he says, is that expansion is occurring. For example, he noted that the number of Internet users in Africa has increased from 2.5 million in 2000 to nearly 5 million in 2001.

But to really expand their telecommunications infrastructure in order to compete globally, Africans must "focus on the establishment of an environment that fosters innovation, entrepreneurship, and change," he said.

Powell explained that "these concepts are always risk-taking ventures and the way government policy should be adapted is to consider what it can do to lower the already high risks of entrepreneurship and innovation in order to foster more development within one's borders. As policymakers we need to understand the linkage between technology, appropriate regulation, and capital markets."

On the business side, Powell said: "We need to respect and understand the capital markets. Put simply, infrastructure development and deployment is very expensive. One of the greatest challenges throughout the world is to foster an economic and regulatory environment that will amass capital and await a return on that capital some time in the future."

The U.S. official said such regimes are important because "there must be a perception by investors of a fair and unbiased and stable regulatory forum in order to attract investment and capital."

He added: "I want to assure my colleagues here from Africa that under my chairmanship the FCC will continue aggressively to stand with your efforts to create respected, independent telecom regulatory regimes. "The conditions to attract that kind of investment are one of the central challenges not only around the world but in the United States as well. And I would suggest that the key then is to get in place that basic infrastructure that is ideally privately owned by several competing providers and is designed in a way that can be reasonably adapted and migrate with advances in technology."

Powell concluded by saying: "The ability to access, share, and distribute information is vital to every country's social, political, and economic well-being. It's clear that the development and use of information in communications technology will only improve the lives of people in Africa, in developing countries everywhere, and throughout the world."