African leaders urged to double efforts to guarantee access to Internet

Leaders of African countries have been urged to double efforts to ensure their populations access Internet at affordable prices.

"Everything should be done to ensure everyone in Africa has access to the Internet and to bandwidth services," secretary general of the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) Abdoukarim Soumaila said while opening a workshop in Cotonou to discuss the issue of bandwidth in Africa.

He noted that access to information and communication technologies, especially the high-speed Internet, could be a catalyst for development.

"The new Sustainable Development Goals of the UN highlight the importance of ICT connectivity," he said.

He, however, noted that to achieve this, much more needs to be done on the African continent.

"According to statistics from the International Telecommunications Union, today, countries with the least access to Internet are mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa," Soumaila deplored.

However, he observed, only one country, Mauritius, has an ICT development index that is higher than the global average of 5.03, and three other countries that include Seychelles, South Africa and Cape Verde, have an ICT development index that is higher than the average for developing countries.

"Due to these statistics, it is important to reduce the digital gap between Africa and other regions of the world," the ATU secretary general said. Enditem