By Brenda Zulu

ACCRA- As Africans meet in Ghana to discuss how to broaden access to information technologies in Africa, two completely different, and frequently opposing forums have been debating social and financial issues that will undoubtedly affect Africa.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) an annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland heard a call for action on African debt relief from a panel of special guests including Tony Blair, the prime minister of Britain; Bono, lead singer of U2; Bill Clinton, former president of the US; Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa; Olusegun Obasanjo, president of Nigeria and Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft corporation.
Public sessions in the first two days of the WEF focused heavily on social issues, notably poverty, disease and ethical business practices. Surprisingly, the agenda was not very different at the rival World Social Forum (WSF) which took place in Porto Alegre in Brazil.
The Africa Social Forum (ASF) participated in the WSF with a full agenda opposed to neo-liberalism. The WSF has however, recognised Africa’s problems and has therefore asked Africa to host the 2007 WSF.
Access: Africa’s key to an inclusive information society
The theme of the African Regional preparatory conference for the WSIS is “Access, Africa’s key to an inclusive information society”. The conference is aimed at preparing African countries for the second stage of the WSIS, to be held in Tunisia in November this year.
Participants at the Accra conference noted how the Davos meeting fed into the African WSIS process when politicians and business magnates held a session dedicated to ICTs and poverty reduction.
Sizo Mhlanga, a regional advisor of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) referred to a pledge made by Bill Gates, promising a significant donation for African children, as a constructive move that will help reduce poverty in Africa.
It is also clear from rockstar Bono’s remarks during the Davos meeting that “with 3000 Africans dying each day from mosquito bites, it is not a cause but an emergency.”
British prime minister Tony Blair speaking in Davos on Africa and the G-8, called for a realistic work plan to eradicate entrenched African poverty, famine and diseases.
According to a statement by president John Kufuor of Ghana, the Accra conference mirrors the continent’s resolve to totally embrace a common vision and strategy for an information based society that not only recognises ICTs as tool for economic innovation, but also as a platform for social development.
The conference aims to achieve concrete results that will address critical needs, such as a common GSM mobile phone card for Africa, the removal of regulatory obstacles and content provision for the internet, digital radio and television services says Aida Opuku Mensah, officer in charge of UNECA’s Development Information Services Division (DISD)
The action plan for Africa will include concrete proposals for facilitating investment in ICTs and recommendations on e-strategies and applications across various sectors such as education, agriculture and commerce as well as human resource development.
Government ministers charged with advancing ICTs in Africa will use the forum to take stock of the achievements made since the establishment in April 2004, of an African Ministerial Committee to act on proposals coming out of the WSIS in Geneva.
Just as in Davos and Porto Alegre we are expecting heated and in depth discussions as well as constructive proposals on the global partnerships Africa requires to finance access to information and communication technologies. It is likely that much of the discussions will focus on the Digital Solidarity Fund, proposed at Geneva Summit by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and subsequently adopted by the AU Summit of heads of state in July 2004, said Makane Faye ECA senior ICT policy advisor.