Johannesburg, 23 Oct 2007
Intel chairman Craig Barrett will visit Rwanda and Nigeria next week. His African trip is in support of the Intel World Ahead Programme and United Nations initiatives to increase access to technology to create economic opportunities, and improve healthcare and education across the continent.
Barrett will lead a United Nations group that promotes the role of technology in achieving international development goals, says Intel in a statement.
"The gate to Africa`s development will be providing inexpensive connectivity over broad stretches of territory," he says. "We will try to bring together the public and private sectors to achieve this."
Barrett will meet with educators, government officials, and technology and communications companies to address these topics.
As chairman of the UN`s Global Alliance for ICT and Development, Barrett will play a leadership role in the Connect Africa Summit, to be held at Kigali, Rwanda, on 29 and 30 October, says Intel.
The summit will aim to bring connectivity to Africa and promote "Connect Africa", a partnership that seeks to expand the continent`s ICT infrastructure, especially broadband Internet, to attract investment needed for employment and economic growth.
"Connectivity in Africa poses a challenge. The average monthly cost for a 256kps connection can be more than the total hardware and software costs. Broadband connectivity costs should ideally fall by more than two-thirds by 2009," Barrett says.
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