ICT helped rebuild war-torn African countries — Minister

The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, said ICT had played a fundamental role in rebuilding some African countries that had been ravaged by war.
She made this assertion recently in a keynote address at the opening of the West African Information and Communications Technology Conference, WAFICT 2014 in Lagos.
The conference, organised by IT and Telecom Digest, had the theme: “Broadband for Transformation and Development in West Africa.’’
The Minister who was represented by her Senior Special Adviser on Media, Mrs. Efem Nkanga, cited the example of Mauritania, she said that the strategy used there was to reduce the digital divide and deploy broadband and ICT at affordable prices.
“Though decades of underdevelopment, backwardness, illiteracy, and ethnic wars have taken its toll in Africa, this can and is being addressed with ICT and broadband provision and adoption.
Efem stated further that the presence of broadband as a strategic tool in any nation enabled the creation of a digital economy crucial for fostering inclusive development.
“Broadband plays a very important role in fostering economic development as well as enabling innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation.
“Today, broadband is bringing positive changes to the way people live, work, innovate and trade across the globe, transforming the way things are done everywhere.’’
She said that broadband and the adoption of information and communication technologies had the potential to facilitate the creation of new industries, trade/e-commerce.
“Broadband and ICT have also transformed healthcare provision, energy management, public safety, and government to citizen interaction.’’