WEF Africa 2009: Entrepreneurial Spirit and Broadband
Last week in the beautiful city of Capetown, South Africa, the 19th World Economic Forum on Africa took place. Nine hundred participants from 50 countries participated on this event to candidly discuss the future of the region and its main challenges under the theme “Implications of the Global Economic Crisis for Africa.”
Infrastructure was top in the agenda, especially the need for broadband. Africa has a very low broadband penetration – 1 percent of the population on average and 3 percent for South Africa - and really has to invest in its broadband infrastructure now to help solve some of its social, economic and business issues.
Yvon Le Roux, Vice President Cisco Africa and Levant
We proposed the idea that broadband should be considered a basic infrastructure; a critical foundation for the knowledge economy and for productivity gains. Broadband is a low cost infrastructure compared with other forms of infrastructures and one that can provide instant and real benefits in the short and long term. Broadband can make countries and economies more competitive, give rapid access to the knowledge economy to big groups of the population, reducing poverty, creating jobs and securing education for future generations.
Education and entrepreneurship were high on the agenda as well. A recurrent question during the sessions was how to unlock the entrepreneurial spirit in the region, how to create more and bigger African companies and train the new generations in a culture that values risk and innovation. And here ICT and especially broadband, can play a critical role.
More comments and remarks about the WEF Africa from our Cisco delegation:
Anthony Vonsee, General Manager, North Africa and Levant
David Seda, General Manager, Nigeria and West Africa
Posted by Felipe Lamus at 09:18AM PST
Stu Jul 3, 2009
I entirely agree with the comments made in the article - installing a broadband infrastructure should be seen as a relatively high priority to enable the region to develop. Access to the Internet is becoming more crucial as a knowledge resource. A decent broadband infrastructure would enable the country to enhance it’s position and educate budding entrepreneurs.