Sep 18 2007
A regional meeting of experts in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) from 23 African countries convene 15-16 September in Pretoria, South Africa, to look for ways on how to harmonise their respective national programmes in implementing the underwater fibre optic project in the Indian Ocean, a reliable source told PANA here Thursday.
According to a statement from the NEPAD secretariat availed to PANA in Kigali, the meeting seeks to assess the implementation of the agreement signed in October 2006 in Kigali by some 23 African countries supporting the initiative.
Among these countries are Botswana, DR Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Burundi and Angola.
The countries have further agreed to materialize the accord on 30 March 2008, according to the statement.
Experts in the field note that the fibre optic technology provides is faster and more reliable than the ordinary coaxial cables and mainly has a bandwidth network through which signals can transit for television, telephone, videoconference or computer data.