AU Commission Hosts SMART Africa Board & Steering Committee

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 9 February, 2018: The Smart Africa Board and Steering Committee concluded on 9 February 2018, a two-day deliberations at the African Union Headquarter in Addis Ababa.
African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy and Co-Chair of the Smart Africa Steering Committee, H.E. Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid opened the meeting with a call for the establishment of synergies and harmonization of ICT programs on the continent to achieve the shared vision to establish a single digital market for Africa.
The Commissioner further highlighted how digital technologies are transforming the world and invited members of the Steering Committee to observe a minute of silence in honor of Prof. Calistus Juma for his role in the application of technology towards sustainable development.
Dr TU Senlin, representing the Co-Chair and Secretary General of the ITU expressed gratitude to the Heads of State for their support and commitment to this initiative as demonstrated through their bi-annual meetings on the SMART Africa Board.

In his remarks, Dr. Hamadoun Toure, Executive Director, SMART Africa noted the efforts aimed at integrating the continent such as the free movement of people, Continental Free Trade Area and the Single African Air Transport Market.

“In the same vein, an open wave’s initiative to create a single digital market for Africa will contribute to the integration of the continent”, Dr. Toure opined.

The Steering Committee meeting discussed, endorsed and approved a number of policies and projects. These include: the Smart Africa Internal Policies and Action Plans; the Transform Africa Economic Forum (08 May 2018) and Transform Africa Summit (09 – 10 May 2018); the SMART Corridors; Public Private Partnership approach to implementing Smart Cities and other Smart infrastructure; One Africa Network clearing house and roaming hub; bulk purchase of long term sub-marine Internet & Satellite capacity initiative; Africa Space program initiative with Japan; Energy development cooperation initiative with China; the Africa Digital Corridor Initiative; and the Start-up investment fund.

The two day meeting was jointly organized by the African Union Commission (AUC) through its Department of Infrastructure and Energy and SMART Africa and was Co-chaired by the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy.

The following Member States and Organizations attended the meeting: Cote D’Ivoire, Djibouti, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, African Union Commission, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), African Telecommunication Union (ATU), SMART Africa, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Internet Corporation for Assigned Numbers and Names (ICANN), INMARSAT, Microsoft Corporation, INTEL Corporation, Erricsson, ECONET, Global Voice Corporation and Tillman.

Notes to Editors:
SMART Africa is an initiative within the framework of the Presidential Infrastructure Championship Initiative (PICI). The Steering Committee is composed of Ministers of ICT, International Organizations and the Private Sector.

Headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda, Smart Africa brings together African governments, the private sector, international organizations and academia to promote and ensure affordable access to broadband and ICTs in general, ushering Africa into the knowledge economy.

For further information contact
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: dic@africa-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

Media inquiry Contacts:
Gamal Eldin Ahmed A. Karrar / Directorate of Information and Communication E-mail: GamalK@africa-union.org

Esther Azaa Tankou / Head of Information Division / AUC / Tel: +251 911361185 /
E-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org

Follow us
Face book: https://www.facebook.com/AfricanUnionCommission
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_AfricanUnion
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/AUCommission
Learn more at:
http://www.au.int