Minister of Information and Communication Technology

Transcription

1 Minister of Information and Communication Technology E-Commerce Validation Workshop Monday 16 April 2012 Maritim Hotel, Balaclava Dr. Sizo Mhlanga, Ag Director Sub-Regional Office of Southern Africa Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Ms. Cecilia Mamelodi-Onyadile Senior Programme Officer (Communication & ICT) SADC Secretariat Mr. Trilock Dwarka, Chairman ICT Authority Members of the press, Distinguished guests, I am very pleased and honoured to be in your esteemed company, this morning on the occasion of the opening of the SADC e-commerce Readiness Study Validation 1 of 11

2 Workshop which is being organized in collaboration with the ICT Authority and the SADC Secretariat. It is indeed a privilege for Mauritius to host such an important workshop and I would like to thank the SADC Secretariat for this choice of venue. I would also wish to commend the ICT Authority for its active participation and assistance in the organization of this event. And last but not least, let me salute the presence of the participants from SADC Member States to whom I extend a warm welcome. I wish them a nice and pleasant stay in Mauritius. Dear participants, You will be called upon today and to-morrow to validate the SADC e-commerce Readiness Study and Strategic Action Plan prepared by the Consultant, Mr Mustapha Mezghani, who was appointed by the SADC Secretariat to conduct a study on the state of readiness of e-commerce in five members states, namely Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Mauritius and South Africa. I have gone through the report of the Consultant and I must say that I am shocked by the enormity of the tasks and challenges lying ahead of us to make e-commerce a reality in our sub-region. According to the SWOT analysis contained in the report, our biggest strength in e-commerce is the existence of trade agreements but our weaknesses are many and include:- Lack of infrastructure Lack of cyber legislation Lack of trust Poor transport/logistics 2 of 11

3 Poor regional trade integration Restrictive foreign exchange regulations Restrictive movement of goods among member states. As rightly pointed out in the report, ICT represents an extraordinary potential in terms of economic growth, social development, employment growth and expansion of world and regional trade. E-Commerce is an outstanding catalyst of trans-national trade and regional exchanges development provided that there is a conducive environment, a co-ordination between national policies and the different stakeholders, on existing infrastructure as well as logistic to ensure the conclusion and execution of trade agreements. According to the Global Information Technology Report 2012 released by the World Economic Forum in New York on 4 April last, ICT readiness in Sub- Saharan Africa is still low. Poor skill levels and the high cost of stillinsufficiently developed ICT infrastructure do not allow for efficient use of that technology which is available. Mauritius ranks 53 rd over 142 countries in the Networked Readiness Index and the criteria for assessing the state of readiness are becoming more and more stringent. It is far from my intention to draw a bleak picture but the fact remains that much work needs to be done to raise standards and quality, to develop the human capital, and to improve our legal, institutional and infrastructural framework in the ICT sector in order to allow e-commerce to take off. The Consultant has made pertinent recommendations for the way forward. It is now the responsibility of each Member State to ensure, in collaboration with the SADC Secretariat, that these recommendations are effectively implemented. Time now is of essence and the more we delay to bring the necessary reforms, the more difficult it will be for us to join the band wagon of development and progress. 3 of 11

4 I do not want to create the impression that I am pessimistic. By nature, I am an optimistic person and I believe in hard work and dedication. As Minister, I am fully committed to the development and consolidation of the ICT sector so that more jobs could be created for our young people and more wealth generated for the nation. We are fortunate in Mauritius that the ICT sector is performing quite well but we consider that there is still much room for further improvement. We hope to address the shortcomings that the Consultant might have identified for Mauritius because we are very keen to promote e-commerce so that there could be more exchanges of goods and services between Mauritius and the rest of the world including, of course, Africa. Electronic commerce, as you all know, is booming on the Internet. However, there is a strong security requirement for electronic business services. Public key infrastructure, the PKI, is a recognized technology for facilitating seamless and trustworthy electronic transactions on the Internet. The Government of Mauritius, through the ICT Authority, is establishing a Mauritian Public Key Infrastructure to instill a secure fault-free provision of e-services on the Internet. A reliable and comprehensive Public Key Cryptography system is being set up to provide public key encryption and digital signature services for the issuance of various types and classes of public key certificates to businesses and citizens alike. I understand that a presentation will be made by the ICT Authority on the Mauritian PKI at this workshop to enable participants to have a better insight of the system. Mauritius is prepared to share this infrastructure with SADC Member States to give a boost to e-commerce in the region. 4 of 11

5 Africa, with its immense reservoir of natural and land resources, has the potential to become the next pole of development in the world. In addition to addressing the problems highlighted by the Consultant in his report, there is also an urgent need for people to have access to the Internet at affordable prices. It is worth mentioning here the initiative being taken by the African Union Commission for the re-delegation of the Dot Africa Top Level Domain to the Union. The African Union Commission proposes to use the Dot Africa to promote Africa, that is, its businesses, its peoples and cultures on the Internet. In fact, the implementation of Dot Africa will add value to the Internet namespace which focuses on the African identity and captures the essence of the African community. The African Union Commission strongly believes that the introduction of Dot Africa will create an attractive regional home for the Pan-African Internet community. It is expected that African institutions and small and medium size enterprises will greatly benefit from Dot Africa. In fact, the use of Dot Africa by individuals, businesses, organizations as well as community groups will harness the potential of the Internet as a platform for the economic growth of Africa. I am pleased to inform that Mauritius has fully supported this initiative and I have personally signed the support letter on behalf of Government last week to enable the African Union Commission to meet ICANN s requirement of written support from at least 60% of the countries in the geographic region. Mauritius, since joining SADC, has always actively participated in most projects and activities initiated by the Secretariat to enhance intra-sadc trade with a view to creating more wealth and prosperity for the Member States and improving the standard of living of their population. We strongly and sincerely believe that e- commerce has become an essential tool to increase exchange of goods and 5 of 11

6 services within the region and we are prepared to give our full support to make e- commerce in SADC a success. Let me conclude now by once again thanking the SADC Secretariat and the ICT Authority for their collaboration in the organization of this workshop and by wishing the participants plenty of success in their deliberations. I now have the pleasure to declare the SADC e-commerce Readiness Study Validation Workshop officially opened. Thank you for your kind attention. 6 of 11