By Emmanuel Elebeke
The 2010 West African Information and Communications Technology Congress (WAFICT) ended last week with experts in the industry calling for full deployment of resources in the sub-region to fast-track economic growth and to make the vision 20 2020 dream a reality.

And for the world to truly become a global village, their position is  that the West African sub-region and indeed Africa as a whole must be part of the moving train along side other continents of the world for the global economy  to attain its full potentials.

They IT experts who frowned at the snail pace of technology penetration in the region, particularly broadband,  blamed  the trend  on inadequate policy framework and  lack of sufficient investment in the sector.

They cautioned that unless stakeholders in the industry  collaborate and step up investment plans  in the sector,  the dream of achieving Vision 20-2020 will be a mirage.  The event which held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos was  a gathering of sort and  who is who in the information and communication technology industry.  The theme of the event is  “Moving West Africa Forward: Policy and Technology Imperatives: Trends, Potentials and Challenges”.

The event, the second in the series, was organized by publishers of  IT and Telecom Digest magazine in conjunction with the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization (CTO) and jointly sponsored by Zinox Technologies,  and Phase 3 Telecom, Main One and Globacom.

In his presentation, Engineer Bashir Gwandu said  that a level playing field had become necessary in the swector in view of the current dynamics in the ICT industry to accommodate the interest of both the consumers and  that of the operators, and called on the operators to be sensitive to the yearnings of their consumers. He identified  broadband satellite bandwidth as a major challenge in the course development of technology in Africa, just as he described the Nigerian telecoms environment as the most attractive and investors heaven in Africa and the Middle East.

President of the Nigerian Internet Group, Dr Lanre Ajayi in his own presentation entitled “OverView and Outlook of the Nigerian Broadband Market”,  decried the cost of Africa’s digital exclusion and called for a reversal of the situation.

He said the causes of the broadband divide include lack of adequate copper cable for Digital Subscriber Line (DSL).  Ajayi also noted the lack of effective Internet Exchange Points (IXP) as a result of proliferation of Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) terminals and monopoly of the SAT 3 cable and expressed optimism that the GLO1, WASC and Main One submarine cables would perform optimally in order to effectively destroy the monopoly; and appealed for a roll-out of national backbone transmission lines to backtrack the traffic from the terrestrial wireless network.

Speaking on the topic, “Growth and development of ICT in West Africa,” Corporate Services Executive of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Wale Goodluck, who was represented by a staff of MTN, said, effective, seamless and borderless communication is one of the surest ways of achieving the ideals of regional cooperation and integration.

Though telecoms networks have played a pivotal role in regional economic integration and growth by providing a base for growth, he contended that the  future of the economic development of Africa will be largely driven by Broadband access.

The three day event brought together stakeholders and experts in the industry within and outside the sub-region who exchange  ideas on how best to sustain and improve upon the gains so far made in the industry, some of whom include: the representative of the Minister of |Information and Communication represented by  the Executive Commissioner, Engineering and Standards, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Engineer Bashir Gwandu, CEO, Main One Cable, Mrs. Funke Opeke, also represented at the event, the High Commissioner of India to Nigeria and Cameroon, Mr. Mahesh Sachdev; President of the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria, Engineer Titi Omo-Ettu; Director of Programmes, and the representative of  CTO, London, Mr. Bashir Patel. Exhibitors from within and outside West Africa used the occasion to showcase their products and exchange ideas with both old and prospective customers including Palette Business Solutions, Glo, Main One, Zinox among others.