Monday, September 22, 2003
Digital Solidarity Fund
By Rebecca Wanjiku in Geneva
Africa could move along way towards bridging the digital divide within the next two years if an ambitious solidarity fund championed by the New Partnership for development (NEPAD) is adopted by the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) preparatory committee.
The Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) aims to benefit both countries of the north and south. Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade will supervise the fund bringing together African governments, the private sector and civil society to operate voluntarily within the framework of a digital solidarity charter.
Developed nations have given the DSF a lukewarm reception as they see it as an extra burden on their citizens who already contribute to existing multilateral and bilateral funds.
The Fund is expected to draw its strength from both the north and south. NEPAD feels that it will have universal benefits since access to ICTs calls for massive investments. “Northern governments say they can not enter into new strategies because the already existing ones have not been exhausted. But after intense discussions officials from Japan and United States of America have promised to study the proposal and give their feedback,” said Malik Ndiaye, Technical and Information counselor with the Senegalese government.
To fund its activities, Ndiaye said that the DSF will rely on contributions from computer and network equipment manufacturers, software developers, telecommunication operators, and other contributors. For this reason, northern governments believe the Fund as an unfair taxation strategy and therefore oppose it.
Ndiaye says, however, that the whole exercise would be voluntary and unwilling companies will not be compelled to contribute. He argues that Africa will have to design mechanisms to raise money and finance the Fund.
Diana Mercorios, regional programme manager for ABANTU, agrees that the concept is good but disagrees with the strategy. She says that the proponents of the Fund have not elaborated on how they are going to raise money from the companies or how the fund would operate. ABANTU is a civil society organization dealing with developmental issues in Africa.
“The European Union will definitely be opposed to the idea because they have other existing funding streams. Furthermore, their priority may be in areas such as health and education as opposed to ICTs,” she said.
George Muwanguzi from Uganda thought that it would be better for NEPAD to exhaust the existing bilateral and multilateral funds from northern governments.
Muwanguzi, a United Nations employee in Kampala felt that the proposal had serious tax implications and must be clearly evaluated before implementation.
He said that it was doubtful whether western governments would support the initiative. He added, “NEPAD is willing to proceed with the initiative without the northern governments. It is acknowledged that Africa is lagging behind and we need to bridge the gap”.
The third WSIS preparatory committee started on September 15 and by the end of this week, government representatives and civil society are expected to come up with a more refined draft declaration and an action plan ready for ratification in the main summit in December. Highway Africa News Agency
Ends
By Rebecca Wanjiku in Geneva
Africa could move along way towards bridging the digital divide within the next two years if an ambitious solidarity fund championed by the New Partnership for development (NEPAD) is adopted by the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) preparatory committee.
The Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) aims to benefit both countries of the north and south. Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade will supervise the fund bringing together African governments, the private sector and civil society to operate voluntarily within the framework of a digital solidarity charter.
Developed nations have given the DSF a lukewarm reception as they see it as an extra burden on their citizens who already contribute to existing multilateral and bilateral funds.
The Fund is expected to draw its strength from both the north and south. NEPAD feels that it will have universal benefits since access to ICTs calls for massive investments. “Northern governments say they can not enter into new strategies because the already existing ones have not been exhausted. But after intense discussions officials from Japan and United States of America have promised to study the proposal and give their feedback,” said Malik Ndiaye, Technical and Information counselor with the Senegalese government.
To fund its activities, Ndiaye said that the DSF will rely on contributions from computer and network equipment manufacturers, software developers, telecommunication operators, and other contributors. For this reason, northern governments believe the Fund as an unfair taxation strategy and therefore oppose it.
Ndiaye says, however, that the whole exercise would be voluntary and unwilling companies will not be compelled to contribute. He argues that Africa will have to design mechanisms to raise money and finance the Fund.
Diana Mercorios, regional programme manager for ABANTU, agrees that the concept is good but disagrees with the strategy. She says that the proponents of the Fund have not elaborated on how they are going to raise money from the companies or how the fund would operate. ABANTU is a civil society organization dealing with developmental issues in Africa.
“The European Union will definitely be opposed to the idea because they have other existing funding streams. Furthermore, their priority may be in areas such as health and education as opposed to ICTs,” she said.
George Muwanguzi from Uganda thought that it would be better for NEPAD to exhaust the existing bilateral and multilateral funds from northern governments.
Muwanguzi, a United Nations employee in Kampala felt that the proposal had serious tax implications and must be clearly evaluated before implementation.
He said that it was doubtful whether western governments would support the initiative. He added, “NEPAD is willing to proceed with the initiative without the northern governments. It is acknowledged that Africa is lagging behind and we need to bridge the gap”.
The third WSIS preparatory committee started on September 15 and by the end of this week, government representatives and civil society are expected to come up with a more refined draft declaration and an action plan ready for ratification in the main summit in December. Highway Africa News Agency
Ends
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