Information and knowledge

The Burkinabe president, Blaise Compaore, on Thursday called for the acceleration of the establishment of electronic communication infrastructure in Africa, saying this would open up new technology-related opportunities and cope with the digital divide that threatens to further marginalise developing countries.



The Burkinabe head of state was speaking during the opening ceremony of the Third Panafrican Forum on « Best Practices in the Field of New Information and Communication Technology ».



With his Togolese counterpart, Faure Gnassingbe, by his side, the president of Burkina Faso first expressed satisfaction over Togo's support and designation of the Burkinabe capital to host this forum whose first edition was held Ouagadougou in January 2007.



"The world has got into an era where access to the sources of information and knowledge has become a decisive factor of competitiveness and economic growth," President Compaore suggested, and called for the fast-tracking of the establishment of communication infrastructure in the continent aimed at bridging the digital divide.

T

he vice-president of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean Didier Somba, denounced the absence of infrastructure, low investments in the field of ICT and called for the establishment of a sub-regional network with optic fibre cable connexions so as to facilitate safe and secured access to the Internet continent-wide.