N Pandor: Microsoft Government Leaders Forum Africa

10 July 2006

COMPETITIVE IN AFRICA

Special guests
Government Leaders in Africa

The key issue we must address is whether information and communication
technologies (ICTs) have the possibility of promoting accelerated development
in Africa. We believe they can.

We are committed to taking full advantage of the opportunities created by
modern technology.

As a country we believe that the promotion of a knowledge-based economy
creates a promise of scientific advancement, improvements in productivity and
the achievement of sustainable growth.

Achieving the required levels of knowledge creation requires targeted,
coherent and responsive strategies for educational improvement. Our continent
can only become globally competitive if the majority of our children attend
schools in sound buildings, with water, electricity and basic sanitation. We
can only build a viable research and scientific community if we triple the
number of young people succeeding in mathematics and the natural sciences. We
can only compete if our people are literate and numerate and connected to the
mainstream of economic development.

It is clear from all recent studies on educational progress that Africa
requires massive investment in education. Not just basic education, but
education from grade one right through to doctoral studies. Africa’s
universities, research laboratories and vocational colleges require
recapitalisation, so that these institutions become partners and effective
actors in strengthening our competitive edge.

In our country the development of our local communities has been constrained
due to a lack of engineers, town planners, rural development specialists and
project managers. These are skills that we should be able to build easily, but
due to the poor quality of some of our educational institutions we lag behind
in these professions.

What role might ICTs play in this complex set of challenges?

Our government recognises that the ICT sector has the potential to play a
critical role in the achievement of economic development. Investment in
broadband infrastructure is central in this regard.

Through building effective local and global public-private partnerships
(PPPs) we hope to turn the digital divide into a digital dividend in our
education sector.

Our policy on e-education sets a target for our schools.

“Our goal is to equip every manager, teacher and learner in general and
further education and training with knowledge and skills to use ICT
confidently, creatively and responsibly by 2013.”

It is a modest goal, and one we intend to pursue with the support of
business and civil society. We recognise that to make a success of our
objectives, we need innovative approaches.

We know that ICT offers an effective response to our urgent need to train
competent teachers. We believe best practice curriculum training programmes can
be expanded to multiply training sites for teachers. We know that we do not
have enough teachers competent in ICT to teach aspects of the new curriculum.
We plan to promote graduate internships as part of our promise to expand this
particular pool of skills.

There are several barriers to reaching our goals for e-education.

The first barrier is infrastructure, and the maintenance and sustainability
of the infrastructure. We need to equip all our schools with the appropriate
technology. We need a dedicated educational network that is accessible and
affordable to all.

The second barrier is the cost of access to the internet. Our schools need
broadband access to reliable, high-speed and high-volume infrastructure. We
need to reduce the cost and quality of connectivity in our rural schools. That
is where the real challenge lies.

The third barrier is the cost of software. In the Education Department, in
principle we support the open source movement. But schools must be able to
choose between proprietary and open source software. Through the Microsoft and
Symantec agreements, we have made it possible for managers, teachers and pupils
to choose which software to use.

This requires focused policy interventions, resource interventions and a
broad investment in human resources.

As all of us here will know, the continuing poverty of millions serves as a
constant reminder of our collective failure to put political leadership and
economic success to effective use.

However, positive strides have been made in the last three years and we need
to build on this progress. The debt relief provided to the poorest is making a
difference, as is the increased attention to education and health.

However, much more is required of global leaders if we are to fundamentally
transform the daily reality of the most deprived. Corruption, political
opportunism, weak or absent democratic structures and the neglect of good
corporate governance as well as the failure to honour promises made, must all
be attended to if we are to make real progress.

Various studies give insight into competitiveness.

Two reports have come to be known as the leading monitors of the
competitiveness of economies worldwide the Global Competitiveness Report of the
World Economic Forum and the World Competitiveness Yearbook of the
International Institute for Management Development.

The reports point to improving levels of competitiveness in most African
countries. Factors that contribute to a good ranking include: sound government
finances, a competitive exchange rate, judicial independence, and the
constitutional protection of property rights.

Negative factors include a relatively low tertiary-education enrolment, a
limited number of telephone lines and connections to the internet, and a low
savings rate.

The reports offer snapshots, shorthand, indexes; but they do provide a
benchmark from which to judge our countries in relation to the rest of the
world.

What they show is an Africa’s increasing competitiveness and visible
economic growth. New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has played an
important role and the Africa Peer Review process has also begun to have a
positive impact. These are still just beginnings.

The biggest impetus for change will be facilitated by focused, adequate and
sustained investments in education and the building of human capital in
Africa.

Furthermore, Africa must have a fairer share of international trade and a
greater say in international decision-making.

We must also provide support to the revival of higher education on the
African continent. Conditions for improving innovation in Africa should be
intensely addressed.

Moreover, we need to ensure that the commitments already made by world
leaders towards debt relief and aid and development for poorer nations are
kept. Following the Group of Eight (G-8) and European Union (EU) summits in
2005 and various other recent commitments by developed countries, annual
development aid is expected to increase by US$50 billion between now and 2010.
If these promises are acted upon, the investment will support sustainable
progress in the developing world.

In closing, we as African leaders appreciate the role of Microsoft have
played in expanding the use of ICTs. We are extremely grateful for the enormous
commitment Microsoft has shown to Africa.

Issued by: Department of Education
10 July 2006