Africa-Press – Botswana. Telecommunications sector is a catalyst for sustainable economic development.
As such, SADC countries need to fully realise the benefits of a progressive ICT industry.
Deputy permanent secretary (DPS) in the Ministry of Communications, Knowledge and Technology, Mr Cecil Masiga said this when giving a keynote address at the 44th Southern Africa Telecommunications Association (SATA) annual conference in Kasane recently.
He said ICT had a huge impact on economic growth as it had the potential to improve supply chain efficiency.
He acknowledged governments’ role in shaping the policies and strategies that created an enabling operating environment, adding that Botswana had taken a long-term view with its ICT Policy that was formulated in 2008, followed by the National Broadband Strategy in 2018.
The DPS said policy reforms had led the telecommunications sector to privatisation, having encouraged progressive liberalisation of services for the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors.
“Because of these steps, today Botswana ICT landscape is enriched with many service providers and numerous communications as well as a significant decrease in the price of services coupled with a significant improvement in the quality of service offered to the end user.”
Mr Masiga stated that Botswana’s ICT and telecommunications programmes sought to transform Botswana into a high-income economy over the next decade with knowledge and innovation as some of the key elements.
He said the conference theme, ICTs for the Benefit of All: Transforming our Society Through Broadband and ICTs Developments, complemented the important role that the telecommunications sector played on the road to achieving a fully connected SADC by 2030.
He said it was imperative for the SADC region to work harder in line with the Millennium Development Goals to transform into an attractive region strong enough to draw investments and trade, which would consequently uplift the quality of life of the people.
In his remarks, chairperson of SATA and CEO of Telkom Namibia representative, Mr Laban Hilewepo stated that the three-day conference would review the SATA 2019/24 Strategic and propose for its extension, having been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and conflict in the region.
He said the SATA Strategy, which aimed to improve inter-SADC connectivity and lower the cost of bandwidth in the region would, in collaboration with other stakeholders, be an opportunity to enhance trade in southern Africa.
Mr Hilewepo stated that ICT was a fundamental tool that strengthened communications, bilateral and multilateral relations, hence it was important for SATA states to be fully committed to the conference.
Furthermore, he said the increasing trend of traffic from outside the SADC region called for the area to accelerate infrastructure development and shape the broadband future to bring it to par with the rest of the world.
For his part, SATA executive secretary, Mr Jacob Munodawafa stated that ICT had transformed lives as people connected with the world virtually to participate in meetings while students studied and received lessons online.
The meeting discussed issues centred on strengthening connectivity in Southeast Africa and investing in telecommunication and ICT to accelerate economies.
He said as the region moved towards achieving digital transformation for economies, it was important to offer inclusive, accessible and affordable connectivity for people in the SADC region.
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