Prime Minister promises Internet access for all

Ethiopia, one of the poorest nations on earth, will boost Internet coverage from a handful of users to the entire country in three years, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi announced on Tuesday. At an information technology (ICT) conference in the nation’s capital, Addis Ababa, Meles said that high-tech information technology lay at the heart of transforming the impoverished country, where millions are dependent on foreign aid. "We are fully committed to ensuring that as many of our poor as possible have this weapon that they need to fight poverty at the earliest possible time," he said. "We plan to ensure universal access and Internet connectivity to all the tens of thousands of rural kebeles [districts] of our country over the next two to three years." Currently there are just 30,000 Internet lines in a country of 71 million people. Within six months that figure will be expanded to 500,000. The government has begun laying 10,000 km of fibre optic cables, and has invested around US $40 million in developing its Internet service. Ethiopia has a rural population of 57 million, most of whom eke out an existence as subsistence farmers. Only half the population can read or write, few have access to newspapers or phones and most have never used a computer. However, Meles said ICT could be used for e-schools, improving governance and e-healthcare. The government is to launch "schoolnet", which would provide 450 secondary schools with e-mail and Web access, and would be linked up with all regional and district government offices. "Healthnet" would connect all referral hospitals around the country, and form the basis of a nationwide telemedicine infrastructure. "Agrinet" – which aims to connect agricultural research and operation centres to improve knowledge among experts working in the field – would also be launched. "Not long ago, many of us felt that we were too poor to afford to seriously invest in information and communication technology," Meles told government ministers and experts in ICT. "We were convinced that we should invest every penny we have on securing the next meal for our people. We did not believe serious investment in ICT had anything to do with facing the challenges of poverty that kills. Now I think we know better. "We recognise that while ICT may be a luxury for the rich, for us the poor countries, it is a vital and essential tool for fighting poverty - for beating poverty that kills - and ensuring our survival," he said. One key aspect of the government’s plans is to promote ICT in healthcare and in the fight against HIV/AIDS. It also plans to use ICT to help foster businesses – particularly for women. The executive secretary of the UN’s Economic Commission for Africa, Kingsley Amoako, has called for governments to take advantage of the information technology revolution. "Challenges that we face include the need to mobilise the resources to implement ICT programmes in areas such as health and education," he said at a recent ICT conference.