Baltimore, USA, 24 June 2005 – Information and communications technology in schools will play a vital role in accelerating social and economic development in Africa, a leading software industry manager told a meeting of business and political leaders from across the African continent in Baltimore today.

Desi Lopez Fafié, Managing Director of Oracle’s African Operations, cited a new e-Schools Initiative from the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as an example of how the private sector can provide tangible benefits. “The e-Schools Initiative will ultimately provide computer-based learning to pupils at 600,000 schools in 20 countries across Africa,” he said. “This is precisely the kind of investment that will help Africa bridge the digital divide, and Oracle is proud to be playing a leading role.”

Mr Lopez Fafié was speaking at a workshop organised by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), entitled “ The United States Relationship to NEPAD”,at the Baltimore Maryland Waterfront Hotel. The meeting was set up to evaluate NEPAD's progress to date, discuss key goals and accomplishments and explore opportunities for US government and private-sector support for NEPAD initiatives and programmes.

Oracle is leading a consortium of nine companies that will provide ICT equipment, skills and knowledge to primary and secondary school students in Africa. The Oracle Consortium is participating in the NEPAD e-Schools Demonstration Project, a NEPAD initiative under the banner of the e-Africa Commission, to pilot the e-Schools Initiative ahead of the rollout across the continent. Implementation by the Oracle Consortium will begin at three schools in Ghana in July and then at schools in Kenya, Lesotho, South Africa, Mali, Gabon and Egypt.

In addition to providing ICT equipment, skills and knowledge to students to enable them to function in a knowledge economy, the project aims to improve health education, enable teachers to use ICT to enhance teaching and learning, and to provide school managers with skills so as to facilitate efficient management and administration. The Oracle Consortium also includes Mustek, Sentech, Multichoice Africa, Intel, CompuTainer, Learnthings, Fujitsu-Siemens Computers and Cambridge-Hitachi.

Mr Lopez Fafié pointed out that African governments and businesses increasingly are using ICT to improve efficiency, reduce complexity and lower costs. “The new economic reality of Africa is that funding for ICT projects is increasing,” Mr Lopez Fafié said. “Many companies, financial institutions and governments in Africa are already using ICT to establish their leadership and to stay abreast of international developments. Technology provides the opportunity for continuous improvement, helping companies to improve their quality of service. It is vitally important that African children not only use this technology to help with their education but also to acquire the necessary working skills for the new economy.

“At Oracle we believe that intelligent use of software can help organisations in the private and public sector alike know more and do more while spending less. Enterprise software is a great leveller. It enables small companies to compete more effectively with large ones and developing nations compete on a more equal footing with industrialised countries.”

He said that partnerships between government and corporations are becoming key to Africa’s development. “Oracle has an extensive footprint in Africa, and wherever we do business on the continent we profit from the relationships we are able to build between business and government,” he said. “Our commitment to the NEPAD e-Schools Initiative in across Africa is an extension of our drive to promote skills development, which is the foundation for any sustainable economic growth.”

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