By Issa Sikiti da Silva
Pan-Africanism, a highly-publicised ideology initiated by Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah and Thabo Mbeki’s African Renaissance ideals were in spotlight at this week’s ICT forum held in the Gabonese capital Libreville.
SATIC (Semaine Africaine des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication), which ended on Friday 30 January 2014 on a high note, brought together the continent’s ICT businesses, African and international experts, Gabon’s high-level state officials and various stakeholders to discuss the prominent role played by ICTs in the socio-economic transformation of Africa.
The three day-forum, which is an African Union recommendation, was held for three days to see how best Africans can use the ICTs to move the continent forward in the spirit of Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance.
Gabon minister of digital economy Pastor Ngoua N’neme emphasised the role of ICTs in Africa in his opening remarks, saying that the sector now constitutes an indispensable instrument in all areas of African society.
Pan-Africanism is a social vision, cultural and political emancipation for Africa and a movement to unite the Africans and its diaspora into a global African community, he said.
Delegates were also told that ICTs have the potential to offer various benefits in all sectors of life, including health, gender inequalities, education and poverty alleviation, and could bring multi-dimensional solutions to Africa’s problems.
