RE: [Africa-CS-WSIS]Moving ahead 01 - Ethiopia/GHANA??

Where are the Ghanaians on this list?;-)

Ghana's comparative advantage is this:

1. The Kofi Annan IT Centre of Excellence
(http://www.aiti-kace.com.gh/index.htm)

The Centre houses West Africa's first supercomputer. The spacious meeting
and lecture rooms as well as the 802.11 wireless network guarantee that the
AITI can host close to a 1000 IT professionals, researchers, visitors and
trainees at any given time. AITI is committed to providing our clients with
opportunities for wealth creation through knowledge sharing and the optimal
acquisition and application of ICT.

Need I say any more, plus the VERY fact that Accra was chosen for the Africa
regional preparation for WSIS Tunis in February

2. Most continental embassies (could you please clarify, Nnenna) being,
US, UK, Ethiopian, etc???
3. Ghana will host UNCTAD XIII in 2008
4. Ghana will host African Union meeting in 2007
5. Ghana has a vibrant civil society
6. obtaining a sim card here is VERY easy.with just under 10 dollars
7. obtaining a landline can sometimes be problematic, but overall, the
process has been streamlined.you can get one within 1 month
8. many other international organizations here--FAO regional
secretariat for West Africa; UN Offices, UNDP offices, all AU country
embassies.
9. many frequent meetings of African decision-makers (both ECOWAS and
AU)
10. a strong South African presence here.

that's all I can think of for now.

This week, Ghana, in collaboration with other IT partners, launched a "TXT
your MP" service, where you can text your MP anonymously on questions you
have, which will be sent to him/her, without disclosing his/her mobile
number.

Cheers,

Emmanuel

  _____

From: africa-admin@wsis-cs.org [mailto:africa-admin@wsis-cs.org] On Behalf
Of Nnenna
Sent: vendredi 25 novembre 2005 12:53
To: africa@wsis-cs.org
Subject: [Africa-CS-WSIS]Moving ahead 01 - Ethiopia

Dear all

If I clearly remember, the choice of Ethiopia was made because of the
comparative advantages of :

* The Africa Union
* Most continental embassies
* The secretariat of the Africa Information Society Initiative
* The ECA
* The frequent meetings of African decision makers.

Ibrahima, I confirm what the diplomat said. Ethiopia is still running a
monopolistic state-controlled ICT service. It is the one country where
you cannot step in a get a personal phone number. The waiting in line takes
about 3 months.

The question here is what other comparative advantages will ACSIS get in
South Africa, Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria etc ... in terms of lobbying. On
another note, if I remember, the secretariat is only an admin unit. Work
will be done in countries.

One thing about Ethiopia though, you can get off the plane and get a visa.
This is not the case for Kenya and South Africa.

Very best

Nnenna

  _____

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Received on Fri, 25 Nov 2005 16:28:57 -0000