Kenya is among the 11 African countries set to benefit from an initial $16.2 million budget for Africa’s National Broadband Mapping Systems project.
This announcement was made on the sidelines of the recently concluded Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR-24) hosted in Kampala, Uganda by The International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The project, supported by the European Commission will help establish broadband mapping systems to foster investment and digital transformation in Africa.
ITU said in a statement that the project will use the data from the mapping systems to identify internet connectivity gaps in coverage, quality and affordability in countries covered by the project. It will initially benefit 11 countries: Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The ITU said the programme will “enable data-driven decision-making for investments in digital infrastructure”, which in turn will “foster investment and digital transformation in Africa”.
At the symposium, African regulators also endorsed a set of guidelines to maximize the benefits of transformative information and communication technologies (ICTs).
The “GSR-24 Best Practice Guidelines” agreed by ICT regulators include a series of considerations for balancing innovation with regulation to create a positive impact on societies and economies from emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).
“With one-third of humanity still offline and women and other vulnerable groups on the wrong side of the globe’s digital divides, GSR-24 and the Best Practice Guidelines highlight the innovation, trust, and inclusivity that we need in the policy and regulatory environment,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin.
Organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN Agency for Digital Technologies – the symposium brought together over 600 participants including Ministers, Heads of Regulatory Authorities, industry executives and academics to discuss pressing regulatory issues.
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