adminpoverty levels.
“One of the targets of the AU is for the continent to make the transition to a knowledge based society, so that all citizens have access to equal education and employment opportunities,” Ibrahim said during a workshop on Knowledge Society Development in Africa as part of the African Leadership in ICT Course (ALICT).
The three year training programme was jointly funded by the Finish government to the tune of three million Euros and will be implemented by the Global e-School and Community Initiative (GESCI) .
During the event, over 200 senior middle and senior level public sectors managers from 12 African countries in eastern and southern African were awarded post graduate diplomas.
She said that the ALICT is AUC initiatives that will help the continent take its rightful place in the global community of nations.
“Due to the success of the programme, we are going to partner with other donors in order to roll it out to west, central and north Africa,” she noted.
“This will provide all African policy makers with the necessary skills to develop national policies required to enter into the knowledge age,” she said.
According to the AUC, Information Communication and Technology is now the dominant force for innovation and development.
“Broadband has the power to revolutionise education, no matter where the student is based,” she said.
Ibrahim said that ICT has already enabled Africa to make socio economic leaps but it is still in the early stages of harnessing its full potential. She noted that the AU also has a continental wide strategy for natural resources management.
“We are concerned that most of Africa’s minerals and hydrocarbons are exported to other continents in raw form to the detriment of Africa,” the AUC commissioner said.
She called on African countries to expand value addition operations locally.
AUC ICT Expert Moses Bayingana said that the introduction and intelligent use of ICT is a precondition for developing a knowledge society. — Xinhua.
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